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ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM Annual Report of the Human Rights Research Unit: January to December 2002 A Report by the Research Unit of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum January 2003 The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (also known as the "Human Rights Forum") has been in existence since January 1998 when 9 non-governmental organisations working in the field of human rights joined together to provide legal and psychosocial assistance to the victims of the Food Riots of January 1998. The coalition’s membership has since increased to 14, wiith 13 core members and 1 asssociate member. The Human Rights Forum has now expanded its objectives to assist victims of organised violence, using the following definition: "Organised violence" means the inter-human infliction of significant avoidable pain and suffering by an organised group according to a declared or implied strategy and/or system of ideas and attitudes. It comprises any violent action, which is unacceptable by general human standards, and relates to the victims’ mental and physical well-being." The Human Rights Forum operates a Research and Documentation Unit and offers legal services through the Public Interest Unit of the (formerly the Legal Unit of the ZHRF.) Core member organisations of the Human Rights Forum are:
Associate Member:
The Human Rights Forum can be contacted through any member organisation or through: The Administrator, P O Box 9077, Harare – email: admin@hrforum.co.zw The Public Interest Unit, P O Box 9077, Harare – email: legal@hrforum.co.zw The Research Unit, P O Box 9077, Harare – email: research@hrforum.co.zw Address: Suite 1, 1 Raleigh Street, Kopje, Harare; Telephone/ Fax: 772 860 The International Liaison Office, 33 Islington High Street, London N1 9LH – email: zimbabwe@article19.org; Telephone: +44 (0)20-7239.1194 Website: www.hrforumzim.com Previous reports of the Human Rights Forum can be found on our website.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Publications Produced by the HRRU Rationale for production of the publications Monthly Political Violence Reports Impact and Challenges Faced in Production of Publications Chapter 3. Overall Assessment of the HRRU’s Activities Chapter 4. Funds Utilized Chapter 5. Outline of Planned Activities for 2003 Advocacy, Lobbying and Capacity Building Distribution and Printing of Reports
CHAPTER ONE Objectives of the HUMAN RIGHTS RESEARCH UNIT The primary objective of the Human Rights Research Unit (HRRU) is to record, research on, verify and publish gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. This is accomplished through the compilation of a database covering violations of the various rights and protections indicated in the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These databases are used to provide the statistical/background information for publications and in addition to service enquiries on human rights abuses by donors, organizations and individuals. The literature produced by the HRRU is targeted at a wide cross section of society due to the varying types of publications produced. The publications are further discussed in Chapter 2. Information utilized in 2002 was mainly recorded in statements taken by the Legal Unit (LU) of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. However as the information that the HRRU receives from the LU is insufficient, research capacity is supplemented by collecting data directly from member NGOs dealing with the victims of human rights abuses. Member organizations that provided information in 2002 were:
Partnerships have been forged with other organisations that are able to assist with such information on the basis that the information will be used to mutual benefit. In 2002 the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) assisted with information to this end. The HRRU also records human rights violations reported in the press. The following newspapers are used to this end:
In attempting to verify the politically motivated murders, the Human Rights Forum’s Legal Unit has carried out and is continually in the process of carrying out research on all the reported politically motivated murders. This research follows their reportage in the press or to the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. The verification process was mainly to ascertain whether these deaths occurred and what the progress was in terms of police investigations. The Legal Unit has engaged the assistance of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in this process. Dependent on availability of resources, the Unit intends to increase efforts to collect information from a wider base of reliable sources and carry out verification of information received from such sources. Initially, one database was envisaged for all cases of human rights violations recorded by the Human Rights Forum. However, by March 2000, in the aftermath of the constitutional referendum and in the run-up to Zimbabwe’s June elections, it had become urgently necessary to create a separate database for human rights violations resulting exclusively from political violence with the original database remaining for what were termed "ordinary" human rights violations. It was deemed desirable, and for certain purposes necessary, that all the separate databases be interfaceable, so that specific entries may in the future be imported and exported between them if required. The databases are set up on Apple Mac computers using basic database software. This software has proved time consuming and tedious in terms of extracting statistics, thus affecting the speed at which statistics may be extracted for report writing purposes and to service information requests. In the upcoming year it would be desirable for the HRRU to obtain database software that is more amenable to data extraction and more user friendly. This has not been the case to date.
CHAPTER TWO PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED BY THE HRRU Rationale for production of publications Monthly Political Violence Reports This report has been necessitated by the long-term presence of ‘political’ abuses of human rights in Zimbabwe. At present the assumption is that it will continue at some level, as based on previous experience, political violence is established as an integral part of ‘normal politics’ in Zimbabwe. The separate monitoring, analysis and reporting of such abuse is therefore necessary and as such this publication is necessitated and cannot be effectively merged with the Human Rights Monthly. The publication is to continue until such conditions as make it necessary are deemed by the Research Unit Management Committee to no longer be in place. The report is produced in electronic copy and distributed to a mailing list comprising of media, local NGO’s, embassies and donors and any other local individuals who request to be added to the mailing list. The rationale for the production of the Human Rights Monthly is to spread and deepen within Zimbabwe a "human rights culture" that fosters values of transparency and accountability. The report is produced in hard copy and distributed free of charge to a wide cross-section of society. However it is specifically targeted for and is therefore written for the understanding of the general public and disadvantaged sections of the population. 45 000 copies of each issue of the Monthly have been printed and disseminated through a wide network of NGO and educational institutions including the members of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, other civic organizations, as well as public libraries. Special Reports are used to highlight a particular social/political event or phenomena e.g. Enforcing the Rule of Law, Gender and Constitutional Issues, Parliamentary Elections etc. The reports are produced in hard copy and distributed through member NGO’s. They are also sent to all other interested stakeholders. Special Reports are produced quarterly or less frequently, as determined by the Research Unit Management Committee. The purpose of these is to highlight topics/areas to which the Forum wishes to draw attention or to cover an aspect not covered by the above categories of reports that the HRRU produces. The issues covered by these reports are pertinent issues requiring specific attention. Topical issues are selected as and when they arise to keep the issues covered by these reports current. IMPACT AND CHALLENGES FACED IN PRODUCTION OF THE PUBLICATIONS Monthly Political Violence Reports The HRRU set out to produce one Monthly Political Violence Report following the end of every month. This translated to 11 reports with the report for December 2002 being produced in January 2003. The reports were expected to cover incidents of human rights violations occurring in the month covered by the given report. This was achieved in each month with the report highlighting increased violence occurring around elections. The HRRU endeavoured throughout the pre and post presidential election period to thoroughly document events taking place during this time. The monthly political violence report covered these events closely and an undertaking was made to produce the report biweekly, as opposed to once a month, for the duration of this period. This was to keep readers as updated as possible on the turn of events. This reporting arrangement continued until the end of May 2002 and thus also covered the post election period. In addition over the election weekend, 9 – 11 March 2002, and during the counting period, the Human Rights Forum issued daily updates that chronicled any incidents of violence and unlawful arrests and detentions that were prevalent at this time. This proved to be a reliable source of information for both the public and election observers. The Monthly Political Violence Report has proved, far beyond our expectations, to be a reliable, valuable and expected source of information to local and international media, individuals, diplomats and donors. Unmet Targets and Reasons The report was on one occasion released only 3 weeks after the month end resulting in a significant delay in getting the information out to expectant recipients. This was due to staff constraints as some staff were away on a human rights course. Challenges All the sources of data for the report suffer the problem of self-selection in the following ways: with reports collected by NGO’s, it is inevitable that only specific groups of victims will feel comfortable reporting human rights violations perpetrated against them to any one given NGO, even though the NGO welcomes reports from all individuals; some reports taken from newspapers are incomplete, others inaccurate and most difficult to verify. To partially overcome this challenge the Human Rights Forum will only print reports that are reliable and that can be defended 100%. The report at times received negative publicity from the State controlled media.
Targets and Expected Results The HRRU set out to publish the following topics in the monthly publication – the Human Rights Monthly. The February and March issues were merged into one as they were covering the same topic. The distribution network of the Human Rights Monthly was to be increased and ties with the existing networks strengthened. 7 of the 10 issues set to be published in 2002 were produced. January Political Violence – Pre presidential election February-March Presidential Election April Internally Displaced Persons May Children’s Rights June Organised Violence and Torture July Treaty and Reporting Bodies August Freedom of Expression September Review of the food situation October Political Violence November Gender and Sexuality December Overview of the year (to be produced in 2003) Unplanned Achhievements The Monthly, previously printed in only one language – English – is now printed in the three main languages of Zimbabwe – English, Ndebele and Shona. This was in response to a demand expressed in the process of an evaluation exercise conducted in 2001 in which a strong sentiment was expressed that this should be done Unmet Targets and Reasons The Human Rights Monthly was produced behind schedule for the greater part of the year. This was due, for the most part, to staff constraints with the Unit having been short staffed from April 2002. Only 7 issues, up to the August 2002, issue were produced in the year under review. Challenges Although an evaluation exercise was held in 2001, it is difficult to keep in touch with the readership and thereby keep updated on whether the publication is achieving the desired impact and in which topics the readers would be most interested. Targets and Expected Results Only one special report had been planned for production before the unexpected departure of the program manager in early 2002, whose brief it was to produce special reports. This was down from 3 Special reports produced in 2001. The Special Report "Human Rights and the Presidential Election March 2002" was released in early May 2002. Unplanned Achhievements None Unmet Targets and Reasons The Unit did not manage to produce reports on a quarterly basis. This was due to staff constraints. It is hoped it will be possible to produce 3 special reports in 2003. Targets and Expected Results To produce reports on special focus issues as when topical issues rise to the fore. There is no minimum or maximum limit to the number of reports of this nature that may be produced as they are produced on a need basis. Two such reports were released in 2002
The reports were well received by organizations and individuals both locally and internationally. Unplanned Achhievements The reports have reinforced, far beyond expectations, the regional and international reputation the Human Rights Forum has gained as a reliable source of information. Unmet Targets and Reasons All targets set out in 2002 were met. Challenges Sources for information for Ad hoc reports are limited and therefore at times it is impossible to produce material on a topic that would otherwise be deserving of attention.
CHAPTER THREE OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE HRRU’S ACTIVITIES The HRRU set out to meet its primary objective of recording, researching on, verifying and publishing gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The literature produced by the HRRU did manage to target a wide cross section of society. Expected results were achieved in the face of a difficult environment and, at times, lack of adequate staffing. The Special, Ad hoc and Monthly Political Violence reports were well received by organizations and individuals both locally and internationally, while letters from readers indicated that the Human Rights Monthly was also appreciated. During the Presidential election Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) set up a command centre of which the Research Unit of the Human Rights Forum was a part. The Research Unit, together with several volunteers, were part of the "Rapid Response Unit" and focussed on documenting cases of human rights (including voting rights) violations that were reported during this period. In November 2002, the HRRU sent a representative to present a paper at a fringe meeting to the EU –ACP Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels. The trip was a valuable experience for staff concerned in terms of staff development and moreover for the organisation as a whole. The organisation increased the level to which it is internationally recognised while important contacts were made with MEPs in Brussels, Amnesty International and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Problems were experienced in adhering to the set schedule for publications. However two of the HRRU’s four main publications remained on schedule while the remaining two were at over 60% of expected targets. One of the main problems faced by the HRRU in documenting human rights violations is having inadequate sources of information. Aside from some current sources of data suffering from self-selection, collection of data is centralized in Harare and therefore information received on events occurring in remoter areas is limited. In addition, at times there are several sources for a single incident and summarising the essential facts from conflicting sources proves difficult. Compounding this, a lack of cooperation from the Zimbabwe Republic Police has been experienced when verifying incidents.
CHAPTER FOUR (see attached schedule)
CHAPTER FIVE OUTLINE OF PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR 2003 Consolidating the HRRU’s past work will involve updating the information on the election challenges and collecting all judgements with respect to these cases. The process of consolidating past work will include generating cumulative figures of violations recorded by the HRRU for reference by interested individuals. Part of this process will be producing a dossier on all politically motivated murders. Human Rights Monthly
Monthly Political Violence Report
interested individuals; envoys and donor community Special Report
process in as far as transparency and human rights are concerned
Ad hoc Reports
Library
judgments), journals etc.
ADVOCACY, LOBBYING AND CAPACITY BUILDING The HRRU will endeavour to be an influential information source for the region on the human rights situation in the country. A network should be formed with willing NGO’s in the SADC region that can use information provided to pressure their Governments into assuming a decisive standpoint aimed at regional involvement in resolving the essential issues forming the crisis in the country. In addition, information recorded and published by the Unit should be used to lobby visiting regional delegations or any legitimate fact finding mission or investigative delegation such as that of the ACP – EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly due to visit the country in early 2003. The HRRU must be able to present powerful, accurate information. The Unit, with training (Amnesty international has already offered capacity building in this regard) will make submissions to the thematic committees of the United Nations, the Commission on Human Rights, and in particular the Special Rapporteurs on Torture and on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
DISTRIBUTION AND PRINTING OF REPORTS Manual distribution – Extend current distribution network, particularly in towns and cities ex-Harare. Identify and utilize library services in both urban and rural areas (explore the option of rural libraries). Extension of distribution into rural areas may also be accomplished through willing churches and mission hospitals. Electronic Distribution – be proactive in identifying new key contacts in the local NGO community, diplomatic community and in Africa, with a special focus on the SADC region. The International Liaison Office to identify key contacts internationally. The website must be kept up to date with all reports issued. There is scope for using the website as a tool to encourage regional and international NGOs to assist with information dissemination and to welcome assistance for the activities of the HRRU and Human Rights Forum. |