Lawyers’ group: Bolster rights panel ahead of polls

January 1, 2013

New Zimbabwe

1 January 2013

A leading advocacy group is calling on government to strengthen the poorly-equipped Human Rights Commission ahead of elections this year so it can effectively deal with rights violations that may arise.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) says the government should fully address the commission’s inadequacies and inefficiencies raised by outgoing chairman Reginald Austin who resigned in protest last Friday.

Austin, a respected law professor, quit citing the body’s lack of independence and resources, among other reasons.

He accused government of abandoning the rights panel with “no budget, no accommodation, no mobility, no staff and no implementing Act or corporate legal status.”

The lawyers’ group says the government should quickly act on concerns raised by Austin before the country goes to a constitutional referendum and a high-stakes general election expected mid-year.

“The spotlight is now focused firmly on government to take immediate concrete and positive measures to resource the commission, establish a professional secretariat and ensure that it is enabled ahead of elections,” the ZLHR said in a statement.

It added that Austin’s move was “an unequivocal statement of condemnation of the current operating framework of the commission, in particular excessive powers of the executive.”

“Executive interference must be minimised and legislators must act swiftly to improve the enabling Act ahead of the constitutional referendum and elections.”

ZLHR said empowering the commission would “put perpetrators on notice that they will not escape liability for any human rights violations during an election period, or generally.”

Zimbabwe’s successive elections since independence in 1980 have been marred by varying levels of intimidation and violence perpetrated mainly by President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party against opposition activists.

Hundreds of MDC supporters were killed in the run-up to the 2008 run-off vote, forcing Morgan Tsvangirai to pull out of the contest.

Rights defenders described Austin’s departure as a major setback for the human rights agenda.

Education Minister David Coltart, a veteran lawyer, said: “I am saddened by the resignation of Prof Reg Austin… I understand and sympathize with his reasons.”

Coltart’s sentiments were shared by Deputy Justice Minister Obert Gutu who appeared to blame Zanu PF for Austin’s quitting.

“The system has made sure that he is frustrated into resigning before the commission even starts it’s real work,” Gutu, an MDC-T official wrote on Facebook.