ZLHR STATEMENT ON AFRICA DAY

ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) joins the rest of Africa and the world in celebrating the milestones and achievements of the African continent and of its citizens as it commemorates the African Union (AU)’s 60th anniversary.

On 25 May, the AU is celebrating its 60th anniversary by commemorating the significant accomplishments it has registered in the last six decades from the time that it was known as the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) from 1963 before transforming into the AU in 2002.

ZLHR appreciates the successes and progress of the African continent to date and acknowledges the hurdles that the resilient African people have overcome over the past six decades in the fight against the legacy of colonialism and unfair discrimination.

ZLHR notes that 60 years after its establishment, the continental bloc faces more failures than successes as conflicts are just as prevalent now as during the time of the set-up of OAU, with the AU struggling to make significant interventions, even though it now has sufficient legal framework to address issues of peace, security and other matters.

ZLHR notes that after establishing a noble initiative of Silencing the Guns as part of the African Agenda 2063, the AU has missed its target of ‘silencing the guns’, by 2020 resulting in the programme and target being pushed forward by a decade to the end of 2030.

With conflicts erupting in parts of the continent, the recent one being in Sudan, it’s regrettable that the burden of conflict is being passed to future generations and yet Africa should be freeing the continent of civil conflicts, wars, genocide, human rights violations, humanitarian crisis, electoral disputes and coups.

Despite the gloom, ZLHR takes heart in that with commitment from AU member states’ leaders, the AU’s aptly chosen theme for 2023, which is “Acceleration of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) implementation” should spur African countries to deepen the economic integration of the continent through the ambitious trade pact.

While the rest of the African continent is committing and gearing itself towards accelerating economic growth, in Zimbabwe, ZLHR is concerned that government is failing to improve the economic situation of citizens despite the fact that the country is endowed with rich mineral resources. After the widely reported exposure of incidents of gold smuggling and money laundering in Zimbabwe, ZLHR is disturbed that Zimbabwean authorities have chosen not to take and implement corrective measures including prosecuting the identified culprits.

ZLHR is further concerned that government keeps defending its enactment of repressive legislation such as the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill, which is contrary to international human rights and the Financial Action Task Force, the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog standards, and which if passed into law will have far reaching implications for human rights, humanitarian and development sectors and will result in the closing down of civic space.

In celebrating the legacy of defeating colonialism and other injustices, ZLHR urges government to;

Stop the over regulation of the non-profit sector through the enactment of the PVO Amendment Bill and withdraw it.

Implement legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system without unnecessarily undermining the democratic space and contributing to over-regulation of the not-for-profit sector in Zimbabwe;

Stop persecution and prosecution of human rights defenders and perceived government opponents and review sanctions imposed on some of them;

Ensure a pre-electoral operating environment that protects political pluralism and open civic space, including domesticating the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, which provides clear standards for democracy, respect for human rights, and the holding of regular, free and fair elections.

Source: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights