Tag: Special Reports

This shadow report establishes that the Government of Zimbabwe has committed a series of abuses of the rights enshrined in the African Charter and has badly failed in its obligation under Article 1 of the African Charter to take legislative and other measures to give effect to the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Charter.…

The utterances of political leaders can be very revealing. Their commitment to democracy and human rights is most tested when there is a serious challenge to their continued hold on power or when they attract heavy criticism. At such times, the leaders either display political tolerance or they lash out at their critics and opponents.…

Gender stereotyping, usually associated with a society which identifies with patriarchal norms, is easily identified as prevalent in Zimbabwe where it often presents itself under the guise of traditional African or conservative Christian values. In Zimbabwe, despite equality clauses in the country’s Constitution and the fact that Zimbabwe is a signatory to Convention on the Elimination…

The primary focus of the present report is the behaviour by Zimbabwe Republic Police, although it also touches upon the conduct of other law enforcement agencies and the conduct on the part of army personnel when acting in concert with the police force. This report examines the political environment in which the law enforcement agencies have…

Unlike its predecessor, the Cotonou Agreement expanded the cooperation between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States into the political sphere, explicitly giving cognisance to the fact that issues of governance are inseparable from economic development. This aspect of the agreement has been successively strengthened, particularly through amendments introduced by Annexure…

This report makes an audit of whether or not the government of Zimbabwe has addressed the concerns of the UN and implemented the recommendations of the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement regarding major devastations and large-scale suffering following "Operation Murambatsvina". Operation Murambatsvina was launched in May 2005, supposedly to put a stop at illegal activities,…

Since the Food Riots in 1998, there has been a steady decline in the observance of human rights in Zimbabwe. This has been well documented in a plethora of reports by Zimbabwean human rights groups, as well as by international human rights groups. These reports have been denied by the Zimbabwe government, and consistent doubts…

The situation in Zimbabwe presents a related, yet somewhat different, challenge to traditional post-conflict transitional justice situations. As the country remains in the grip of a repressive nationalistic regime, prospects for meaningful change in the short term remain doubtful. Indeed, the situation looks set to continue deteriorating, especially in the wake of ZANU(PF)’s victory in…

This analysis provides a robust audit of the progress made in Zimbabwe with regard to the recommendations formulated by a African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) fact-finding mission in 2002. The recommendations addressed the government and had the aim to improve the human rights situation in Zimbabwe that was earlier found to be…

This report is a follow up to the previous Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum preliminary report entitled Order out of Chaos, or Chaos out of Order? A Preliminary Report on Operation ―Murambatsvina‖ issued in June 2005. This latest report traces developments that have taken place since our June report and gives an overview of the main…

An investigation as to whether the 2005 Parliamentary election was fair, whether people were able to cast their vote freely over the voting period, and whether the announced results accurately reflected the vote..

“Operation Murambatsvina” and “Operation Restore Order” are the code names used by the police for a massive operation that began in Zimbabwe towards the end of May. This nationwide campaign, which has been conducted in the cities and towns, in peri-urban areas, and on farms settled after land invasions, has led to the destruction of…

There is a clear difference between the electoral climate preceding the current 2005 parliamentary elections on the one hand and the previous parliamentary elections of 2000 and presidential elections of 2002…

This is the third report on compliance by the Zimbabwean government to the Abuja Agreement, released on the 2nd anniversary of the Agreement, two months ahead of the Heads of Government meeting of the Commonwealth in Abuja…

This report covers the period between 1 January 2001 and 31 June 2002. It documents 238 individual cases of human rights abuses against teachers…

A Report by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum on Torture by state agents in Zimbabwe from January 2001 to August 2002…

Five candidates contested this election. Robert Mugabe stood for re-election against Morgan Tsvangirai (Movement for Democratic Change), Shakespeare Maya (National Alliance for Good Governance), and two independents, Wilson Kumbula and Paul Siwela, whose parties (ZANU and ZAPU) refused to endorse their candidacies. ‘Public’ media coverage of the election campaigns was widely condemned as biased. Two days…

This report examines the nature and causes of political violence in Zimbabwe during the period from 1 June 2001 to 30 June 2002, and attempts to identify those who were responsible for it…