Zimbabwe - Country of Concern update: 30 June 2014
Updated 21 January 2015
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The human rights situation in Zimbabwe between April and June 2014 remained relatively stable with a steady reduction in the number of reported human rights violations.
Throughout this period, Zimbabwe has been in the process of finalising its UN Universal Periodic Review mid-term report, due for submission to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2014. The report, in consultation with the UN Development Programme and NGOs, will detail progress made in implementing the recommendations accepted during the peer review process in 2012.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) continues to be dogged by administrative challenges and limited fiscal support, though a $2 million allocation by the Treasury in April led to the establishment of the commission’s secretariat in May. Its budgets are tightly controlled by the Ministry of Justice. In April, the ZHRC begin outreach into the community and conducted a national survey on human rights concerns to help establish a baseline and guide for future activities.
The civil society organisation, the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), continues to record incidents of inter- and intra-party political violence. Of particular concern is the inter-party violence which broke out after a Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T) political rally in Epworth on 4 May. The violence followed an incident where a house belonging to a Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) supporter was petrol-bombed. Reports indicate victims from both main political parties were assaulted and had property damaged.
On 30 May, members of the Johanes Masowe eChishanu apostolic church, based in the high-density Harare suburb of Budiriro, attacked several police officers and a ZBC cameraman. The violence erupted when President Bishop Johannes Ndanga of rival sect, the Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe, called for the Masowe eChishanu church to be banned over alleged human rights abuses towards women and children and visited Budiriro with anti-riot police. Journalist bodies and human rights organisations condemned the violent attack. There has been no formal decision by the state to ban the sect.
In April, President Mugabe publicly warned that diplomats who promoted gay rights would be expelled. On 17 May, local gay rights group GALZ and the Dutch Embassy held an event on International day against Homophobia (IDAHO) to discuss the challenges homosexuals face in Zimbabwe. Following this, a ZANU-PF councillor, Richman Rangwani, publicly championed gay rights.
On 13 June, the government repealed the Statutory Instrument on Postal and Telecommunications Regulations following an adverse report by the Parliamentary Legal Committee, which found the regulations were unconstitutional, as they allowed third parties to access personal data without a court search warrant.
The media continues to be heavily state-controlled with the state monopoly on TV station, radios and newspapers. In April, Freedom House’s latest annual report retained its 2013 rating of Zimbabwe as “not free” for civil liberties, political rights and press freedom. The political rights rating did improve slightly due to a decline in harassment and violence against political parties and opposition supporters during the 2013 elections.
A more vibrant and more independent media environment is slowly emerging with more newspapers and radio stations emerging and fewer reports of the harassment of journalists. On 20 May, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe shortlisted 18 applicants for local commercial radio licences, although doubts remain about how genuinely independent any of these will be. On 17 June, police raided the offices of community radio station, Radio Kwelaz in Kwekwe, Midlands, for operating illegally without a broadcasting licence and that the production of CDs is a violation of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA).
On 19 June, the editor of the Sunday Mail, Edmund Kudzayi, was arrested and charged with “attempting to commit an act of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism” and “subverting the constitutional government”. All the charges carry a life sentence upon conviction. He is accused of attempting to subvert a constitutionally elected government and communicating statements that are prejudicial to the state. He is also accused of running a fictional Facebook profile called Baba Jukwa, which is critical of ZANU-PF. Local reporting suggests this is a politically motivated attack, rather than an attack directly on press freedom.
On 12 June, the Constitutional Court ruled against the Criminal Defamation Law, which curtailed the freedom of journalists. As a result, on 20 June, two journalists, editor Stanley Gama and reporter Fungai Kwaramba, were released from remand prison on charges of defaming businessman Kamal Khalfan.
In June, the government passed an Anti-Human Trafficking Act, which seeks to prevent and punish trafficking, especially of women and children.
Human rights organisations in Zimbabwe marked the 26 June UN Day in Support of Victims of Torture with a “fighting impunity” event in Harare. Civil society called upon the government of Zimbabwe to uphold the constitution, which prohibits torture, and to honour its 2012 commitment under the UN Universal Periodic Review to ratify the UN Convention Against Torture.