By Fungi Kwaramba, HARARE
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe government has dismissed a joint
statement by five United Nations (UN) human rights experts, which concluded
that three MDC-Alliance youth leaders were abducted as “premature and
unreasonable” since investigations to get to the bottom of the matter are still
ongoing.MDC-Alliance members (from left) Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova at Harare Magistrates’ Court recently.
In
response to allegations by the five United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights Special Procedures mandate holders who concluded that Joana Mamombe,
Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marowa had been tortured and subjected to degrading
treatment, the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Ambassador Pearson Chigidi said the “promotion and protection of human rights
of all Zimbabweans was a primary responsibility of the Government of Zimbabwe
working with national institutions, civil society and the people themselves”,
and therefore the Government cannot abduct its own citizens.
“Generally,
the Government of Zimbabwe expresses its concern that the five special
procedures mandate holders fell short of the standards that they are expected
to comply with in their work and failed to uphold their moral authority and
credibility.
“Their
joint communication and news release are punctuated by subjective language and
are over prescriptive on matters still under investigation. Domestic remedies
have not been exhausted in this matter, so it was unreasonable and premature
for the five special procedures mandate holders to involve themselves at this
stage,” he said.
Early
this month, five UN human rights experts (special procedures mandate holders)
called on Zimbabwean authorities to immediately put an end to the reported
pattern of torture and disappearances, and this was not just before
investigations had been carried out but also based on hearsay.
Ambassador
Chigidi said the fact that Zimbabwe has in the past opened the doors for
special procedures mechanisms is testimony that the Second Republic has nothing
to hide and values constructive and honest engagement.
“Unfortunately
in the case at hand, instead of engaging all the relevant stakeholders,
including the investigating authorities of the State, the five special
procedures mandate holders rushed to draw conclusions after hearing only from
one side, that is the alleged victims,” read the response in part.
So far
investigators into the alleged abduction of the MDC Alliance trio of Mamombe,
Chimbiri and Marowa have poked holes into their case.
Home
Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe early this month
indicated that a multi-agency investigation that is seeking to establish
whether the alleged kidnappings did occur and to identify the alleged
perpetrators, whether purporting to act on behalf of Government or other forces
and bring them to justice is still ongoing.
And
thus raising concerns with the manner in which the five special procedures
mandate holders came to a conclusion on the alleged abduction of the three
MDC-Alliance officials, Ambassador Chigidi said they disregarded their own code
of conduct as detailed in Article 6 (a) of the code of conduct for special
procedures mandate holders, which states that they should “always seek to
establish the facts, based on objective, reliable information emanating from
relevant credible sources, that they have duly cross-checked to the best extent
possible”.
“Our
expectation is that the special procedures mandate holders should discharge
their mandates with due respect to the time-honoured and universally accepted
principles of independence, transparency, impartiality, objectivity and
non-selectivity”.
In
their statement, they boldly stated that the charges against the three MDC-
Alliance activists should be dropped in a prescriptive stance that also
overreaches their mandate and ignores the fact that authorities in Zimbabwe are
investigating the alleged abduction.
While
addressing the media, Minister Kazembe said the ongoing investigations into the
alleged abduction cannot be used to detract authorities from a separate
investigation and due process currently underway concerning the trio’s alleged
participation in an illegal demonstration in Warren Park, Harare, on May 13.
Authorities
have also raised concern with the pattern of the numerous cases of so-called
abductions, which are usually scripted to coincide with major regional and
international events.
For
instance, the alleged abduction of the three MDC Alliance officials coincided with the Sadc Troika
Summit that was attended by regional leaders.
In
September last year, just before the UN General Assembly and also when a
high-ranking delegation was visiting Zimbabwe to assess the human rights
situation, Dr Peter Magombeyi, a leader of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors
Association (ZHDA) was also allegedly abducted in yet another case that exposed
machinations to soil the image of the Second Republic.
With the five Special Procedures mandate holders expressing a desire to visit Zimbabwe again, Ambassador Chigidi said they should come with an open mind and conduct proper and full investigations when granted such visits.
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