[afro-nets] Zimbabwe: African Union slams human rights record

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Zimbabwe: AU slams human rights record
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JOHANNESBURG, 3 January (IRIN) - The African Commission on Human
and People's Rights (ACHPR), an African Union (AU) institution,
has adopted a resolution strongly denouncing Zimbabwe's human
rights practices.

"This will exert a lot of pressure on Zimbabwe - this is the
first time such a significant body, so close to African heads of
state, observes and condemns such defiance of human rights com-
pliance," Arnold Tsunga, Director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights, told IRIN.

The ACHPR resolution, passed at a meeting in Gambia in early De-
cember 2005, would test African leaders' "capacity and political
will to deal with African problems", Tsunga remarked.

"This gives the AU heads of state an opportunity to show they
have the ability and are committed to deal with such issues."

The earliest possible date for AU heads of state to adopt the
resolution is at their next meeting, scheduled for the end of
January or early February 2006.

"Zimbabwe is expected to comply with international treaties, and
if there is no voluntary compliance it is up to other [AU] mem-
ber states to use their political muscle to ensure that it does.
Political and economic sanctions could then follow and Zimbabwe
would become a pariah state," Tsunga warned.

He stressed that the resolution, based on findings by an inde-
pendent expert group appointed by the AU heads of state, "al-
ready vindicates civil society groups working on human rights in
Zimbabwe. It shows that what we are doing is not in vain and
gives human rights defenders a tool, a benchmark, to measure the
government's performance on human rights issues."

The ACHPR also expressed concern over the estimated 700,000 peo-
ple affected by the Zimbabwe government's controversial two-
month-long urban cleanup campaign, Operation Murambatsvina
('drive out filth' in the local Shona language), which began in
May 2005.

"Because the responsibility for Operation Murambatsvina lies
with the highest office, president Mugabe, it won't be possible
for anyone to demand accountability," Tsunga alleged.

Bahame Tom Nyanduga, an ACHPR representative and Special Rappor-
teur Responsible for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally
Displaced Persons in Africa, attempted to gauge the impact of
the operation in July last year, but had to leave the country
without completing his mission after his visit was described by
Zimbabwe's official media as "unprocedural" because diplomatic
protocol had reportedly not been followed. [ENDS]