SADC NGOs call for end of human right violations in Zimbabwe and Swaziland

A representative of SADC non-governmental organizations and human rights defenders meeting in The Gambia has urged the Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 49th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) to adopt resolutions on Zimbabwe and Swaziland calling for an end to impunity and the culture of human rights violations in the two countries.

In a statement on the human rights situation in southern Africa during the Forum of NGOs underway in Banjul, The Gambia,  Corlette Letlojane of Human Rights Institute of Southern Africa (HURISA), said the ACHPR Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Special Rapportuer on Freedom Expression and  Access to Information, and the Special Rapporteur on Torture, should be called upon to investigate cases of  torture, and violations of freedom of expression in Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

Letlojane blamed difficulties in accessing justice and enforcement of judgments in Zimbabwe on the breakdown of rule of law and continuous violations of human rights. She cited the non- enforcement of the SADC Tribunal’s landmark decision against the Zimbabwean government following an appeal to the regional body by white commercial farmers against the country’s controversial land reforms.

She also highlighted how draconian pieces of legislation continue to shrink the democratic space impinging on the citizens’ right to freedom of expression, assembly and association.

The recent arbitrary arrests and detention of Abel Chikomo, Director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Macdonald Lewanika, the Co-ordinator of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Munyaradzi Gwisai and 45 others from International Socialist Organization, were cited as examples of such violations. //End//
 
Reagan Malumo
Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
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