ZLHR statement on Dzamara abduction

 11 MONTHS ON-ITAI DZAMARA STILL DISAPPEARED

TUESDAY 09 February 2016 marks 11 months since Itai Dzamara, a pro-democracy campaigner and freelance journalist was disappeared.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) remains gravely concerned about the continued disappearance of Itai, who disappeared without a trace.
Itai, a father of two children was abducted by some unidentified men from a barber-shop near his home in Glen Norah at around 11:00 hours on 9 March 2015 for yet to be established motives. The unmarked vehicle used during his abduction has been identified as a white Nissan Hardbody.
It is saddening to note that while in March 2015, High Court Judge Justice David Mangota issued an order directing authorities to investigate, establish his whereabouts and update his family and lawyers on progress, this has not been fully complied with.
ZLHR remains very concerned that probe reports submitted by the ZRP as ordered by the High Court in March 2015 show very little progress if at all.
Those responsible for disappearing Itai have committed a serious crime under international law. It is pertinent to note that in Zimbabwe it is not only Itai who has been disappeared but also other citizens among them Paul Chizuze and Patrick Nabanyana have been missing for several years without being accounted for.
Zimbabwe's new Constitution adopted in May 2013 contains some progressive provisions particularly section 53 that guarantees freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and section 51 on the right to human dignity.
But it is regrettable, that citizens and human rights defenders continue to be subjected to flagrant violations of their fundamental rights by State and non-State actors. Abduction, arbitrary arrest, torture and detention of human rights defenders remain common.
So traumatising is the painful reality that the government and all the powerful State security organs cannot account for the whereabouts of Itai, Paul and Patrick. The situation of these people is not only disheartening but also shocking as they remain unaccounted for several years and months after they were disappeared.
Each case is not only a part of the global statistics on enforced disappearance but signifies a flagrant violation of the most basic rights to life and liberty, the right to a family, to a community, to a decent work and many more. From the testimonies of those who surfaced alive, after being subjected to involuntary abductions, enforced disappearance subjects people to torture, degrading and inhuman treatment. Not only does it instill excruciating pain and suffering to the immediate victims, it also causes pain and anxiety to the surviving families and relatives. Especially if the victims were breadwinners, the disappearance not only causes emotional and psychological anguish, but also economic dislocation to the surviving families.
Perpetrators of abductions and enforced disappearances must understand that abduction and holding people incommunicado is an outdated, inhumane, and ultimately ineffective practice that destroys the lives of innocent people – the victims, it also affects their relatives and friends.
As an organisation committed to foster a culture of human rights in Zimbabwe, ZLHR therefore calls upon the government to;
(a) Take all necessary and urgent measures to ascertain the whereabouts of Itai, Paul and Patrick among other disappeared and missing people;
(b) Fully investigate the circumstances surrounding their abduction and afford them their own right to truth including the full reasons of their abduction and ensure that those responsible for their enforced disappearance are brought to account;
(c) Ratify, domesticate and implement provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances and the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Protocol;
(d) Stop enforced disappearances now!