Stop enforced disappearances now and remedy damage caused - ZLHR

ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) have said they stand in solidarity with the victims, survivors and families of enforced disappearance as the world commemorates the United Nations International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances and called for the stop of the practice.

ZLHR said the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance defines "enforced disappearance" as the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law.

"ZLHR notes with great sadness that the culture of enforced disappearances as defined above remains rampant in the country, more than 36 years into independent Zimbabwe. The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances is therefore an opportunity for all Zimbabweans to collectively reflect and come together to condemn a practice that has been described as the "mother of all gross human rights violations" due to the fact that its commission invariably results in the violation of other rights recognised under domestic and international law," the organisation said.

"As we commemorate the day, we recall cases of enforced disappearances that have been documented since independence without any action taken to bring those responsible to account. The post- independence disappearances in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces remain fresh in most people's minds due to their gruesomeness and failure by the State to ensure justice and accountability."

ZLHR said what those cases and other subsequent cases of enforced disappearances have shown is the politically motivated nature of the human rights violations, suggesting acquiescence and direct participation of State actors in the said disappearances.

"The recent disappearances of pro-democracy activists and human rights defenders such as Itai Dzamara, Paul Chizuze and Patrick Nabanyama continue to open further wounds of pain and suffering to the affected families and the general citizenry who are supposed to be protected by the State from such egregious human rights violations. 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," said ZLHR.

"Whilst the 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, the conduct by State and non-State actors still show absence of political will to follow the letter and spirit of the Constitution."

The organisation said it is imperative for the State to ensure that all persons under its jurisdiction are protected from enforced disappearances and other such violations.

"Laws, policies and conduct of State actors must reflect the spirit of the Constitution and international law in relation to protection of rights of individuals. ZLHR calls upon the government to undertake prompt, impartial, and effective investigations into Dzamara, Nabanyama and Chizuze's cases and all other outstanding cases of enforced disappearances and provide effective remedies and reparation to all victims pursuant to its national, regional and international legal obligations," said ZLHR.

ZLHR urged the government to 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, which is an international legal instrument that was adopted to address the issue.

"ZLHR calls upon the government to move with speed in doing so as it has already accepted to ratify these outstanding human rights instruments under the United Nations' Universal Periodic Review of Zimbabwe convened in 2011," the organisation said.