ON ZIMBABWE

The FIDH Congress:

1. TAKES NOTE with appreciation that post the last Congress in Quito, Ecuador in 2003 the African Union (AU) through the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights and the United Nations (UN) through the Special Envoy on Human Settlements Anah Tibaijuka made adverse findings of systematic violations of human rights by the government of Zimbabwe and made numerous positive recommendations to assist the state party of Zimbabwe to stop human rights violations and assist her to comply with her obligations in terms of international human rights standards.

2. HOWEVER NOTES WITH GRAVE CONCERN THAT the government of Zimbabwe has largely ignored and defied the recommendations from these supranational bodies in particular in the following respects:

As for the AU recommendations Zimbabwe has defied the recommendations in the following respects;

• On National Dialogue and Reconciliation where Zimbabwe needed to accept “mediators and reconcilers who are dedicated to promoting dialogue and better understanding” and free society from the shackles of control.
•  In Creating an Environment Conducive to Democracy and Human Rights where inter-alia the government “should abide by the judgements of the Supreme Court and repeal sections of the Access to Information Act, calculated to freeze the free expression of public opinion and The Public Order Act”.
• HavingIndependent National Institutions in terms of which the Government was urged to establish independent and credible national institutions that monitor and prevent human rights violations, corruptions and maladministration” such as an Independent Electoral Supervisory Commission.
• Restoring The Independence of the Judiciary including attending to conditions of service to protect them from political pressure; transparent and fair appointments to the bench; protection of presiding officers; complying with judicial orders.
• Restoring A Professional Police Service through non-politicisation of the police service and making the police serve the Constitution and enforce the law without any fear or favour; disbanding the law and order unit which operates under political instructions and without accountability; and removing the youth militia from policing
• Restoring a Free Media “essential for democracy.”

As for the UN recommendations Zimbabwe has defied the recommendations in the following respects;

In General the Congress observed the Conclusions and Recommendations of the Special Envoy who investigated the forced evictions operation Murambatsvina (drive away the filth)  which read “The unplanned and over-zealous manner in which the Operation was carried out has unleashed chaos and untold human suffering. It has created a state of emergency as tens of thousands of families and vulnerable women and children are left in the open without protection from the elements, without access to adequate water and sanitation or health care, and without food security. Such conditions are clearly life-threatening. In human settlements terms, the Operation has rendered over half a million people, previously housed in so-called substandard dwellings, either homeless or living with friends and relatives in overcrowded and health-threatening conditions. In economic terms, the Operation has destroyed and seriously disrupted the livelihoods of millions of people who were coping, however poorly, with the consequences of a prolonged economic crisis. Politically, the Operation has exacerbated an already tense and polarized climate characterized by mistrust and fear. It has resulted in a virtual breakdown in dialogue between different spheres of Government, between Government and civil society, and once again put Zimbabwe in the limelight of international scrutiny. Efficiently executed in a militaristic manner, Operation Restore Order provides clear indications that the Government of Zimbabwe has the wherewithal to implement policies at a lightning speed when it has the political will.”  Recommendations ignored include that;

• The government of Zimbabwe embark on a sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation effort, and to bring to account those who have acted, or caused others to act, with impunity and outside the framework of international and national law.
• The Government of Zimbabwe to facilitate humanitarian                  operations within a pro-poor, gender-sensitive policy framework.
• The Government of Zimbabwe should grant full citizenship to those former migrant workers and their descendants who have no such legal status. Mostly people of Malawian, Zambian and Mozambican origin, they are among the most vulnerable and adversely affected group. This group comprises every third person found sleeping out in the open.
• The Government of Zimbabwe disregard of laws and court orders during the Fast Track land reform programme set a bad precedent. The Government of Zimbabwe should set a good example and adhere to the rule of law before it can credibly ask its citizens to do the same.
• The need to restore judicial independence after a “regrettable failure of some members of the Bench to remain independent from the national and local politics of the day.”
• The strong recommendation of the Special Envoy that the culprits who have caused this man-made disaster be brought to justice under Zimbabwean national laws. The international community would then continue to be engaged with the human rights record in Zimbabwe.

3. CONSEQUENTLY THE FIDH CONGRESS ADOPTS THE RESOLUTION THAT:

• That the Government of Zimbabwe immediately takes public, visible, transparent and concrete steps within publicly given time parameters to ensure compliance with the aforesaid recommendations and to stop holding the UN and the AU in contempt through such wanton disregard and defiance of recommendations from these bodies or their organs.

•  That the Government of Zimbabwe stops the further serious systematic and sustained persecution of human rights defenders including arbitrary arrests and detention, selective application of the law and subjecting them to organized violence and torture.

• That the UN and the AU (including SADC) apply necessary pressure and publicly censure the government of Zimbabwe for its persistent defiance and disregard of their recommendations and the rule of international human rights and humanitarian law as well as give the government of Zimbabwe specific timeframes to comply with the recommendation.

• That Civil Society including democracy movements, women’s movements, students and youth movements, workers movements, grassroots leaders and professional bodies should cohere their inter-dependent programming to ensure a systematic and sustained oversight over the state of compliance or non-compliance with the aforesaid resolutions of the UN and the AU.

Dated at Lisbon, Portugal, this     day of April 2007