Opinion / Columnist
Zimbabwe's insincerity on human rights evident
23 Nov 2016 at 07:46hrs | Views
Hardly before the ink on the recommendations made by the recent United Nation's Human Rights Council's Periodic Review of November 2016 had dried, Zimbabwe reverted back to the poor and alarming human rights practices.
On Friday, 18 November 2016, Zimbabwe experienced another abduction and torture of a high profile activist, Partson Dzamara.
Other activists who were abducted and tortured by unidentified armed men – who remain not arrested or prosecuted – in the past few months, include Silvanos Mudzvova, Ostallos Siziva and kudakwashe Kambakunje.
Partson Dzamara's own brother Itai Dzamara was forcibly disappeared in March 2015 and remains missing.
Partson Dzamara was abducted after the unidentified men intercepted a convoy of cars with human rights defenders, setting the vehicles ablaze and later dumping Dzamara near Snake Park along the Harare – Bulawayo Road.
As long as there is no investigation done into the rampant acts of abductions and torture of well-known human rights activists, there can be no doubt that Zimbabwe's commitment to human rights remains questionable, in doubt and greatly at stake as well as in need of rectification.
In clear violation of constitutional rights last Friday, the police arrested Advocate Fadzai Mahere, Mudiwa Mahere, Pastor Phillip Mugadza, Henry Munangatire, Barry Rowlings, Sean Mullens, Talent Chademana, Thobekile Ncube, and Nyasha Mushandu at Africa Unity Square in a bid to quell a citizen protest against the introduction of an unpopular surrogate currency.
What is clear is that Zimbabwe's human rights violations are not stopping, but continuing in clear disregard of the concerns of the country's peers in the United Nations community.
Equally in jeopardy of being continually devalued, negated and belittled by these human rights abuses are the values emanating from the will of the people enshrined in the country's democratic constitution.
Zimbabwe's human rights record regarding torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and enforced disappearances as well as non-ratification of treaties, regarding eradication of the same malpractices remains worrisome.
This is also given the fact that these are some of the issues for which recommendations were made by the UN Human Rights Council's periodic review earlier this month of November, but the country dithered from making a commitment and promised to examine them by March 2017.
ZimRights calls upon the government and non-state actors sympathetic to the ruling party to stop victimisation of human rights defenders, not to interfere with freedoms of assembly and expression, respect the Constitution, to uphold the rule of law and honour all the country's human rights commitments.
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Source - zimrights
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