Zimbabwe Human Rights - lest we forget

Dear Friends, 
 
Tonight, 30.07.2010, the Forum will launch, at a high profile event in Bulawayo, the second volume of our “Taking Transitional Justice to the People Outreach Report”. The launch will take place this evening at 6.00pm in the Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel. Key speakers will include Hon. Senator David Coltart, Zimbabwe's Minister of Education, Sport, Art and Culture and Hon.Gordon Moyo who will officially launch the report. 
 
The Outreach Report sets out the experiences of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, its members and associates, who conducted community-based outreach meetings on transitional justice. The report gives a brief background to transitional justice in Zimbabwe and the rationale for the Forum's involvement in the process. It describes the methodology used at the meetings and the challenges experienced by the facilitators. The overriding plea of the participants was for truth recovery and truth disclosure to redress past human rights abuses and work towards national reconciliation. The Forum’s Press Release, issued today, and the programme for tonight’s launch can be accessed via the following link: http://www.hrforumzim.com/frames/inside_frame_press.htm and scheduled programme on: http://www.hrforumzim.com/taking-transitional-justice-to-the-people.pdf 
 
Our “Taking Transitional Justice to the People Outreach Report” will be available to read in full on our website after tonight’s launch. We will remind you by providing a link in our next mailing. 
 
*Reports/statements issued by our member organizations in recent days include the following items:* 
 
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) issued the attached HRDs Alert on 29.07.2010. It contains news of the harassment and detention of a Banket Town Councillor and a charge laid against MDC official for allegedly publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state. 
 
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) has released the attached items in recent days: 
 
· Today (30.07 2010), the attached Constitutional Bulletin reports on Day 30 of the constitutional outreach process. 
 
· On 28.07.2010 ZimRights issued the attached Constitutional Bulletin reporting on Day 29 of the outreach process. 
 
· Further reports issued on 27.07.2010 on Day 28 of the outreach process are contained in the attached ZimRights Constitutional Bulletin 
 
· The attached Newsflash of 29.07.2010 contains a report of a workshop with the farming community to raise awareness noting particularly the need to protect farm workers from being exploited through low wages and women from gender-based violence and other forms of abuse. ZimRights also encouraged the workers to participate in the ongoing constitution-making process. 
 
· The attached Newsflash of 28.07.2010 highlights the recent ZimRights launch of a peace-building project with traditional leaders as essential players in peace building though the influence that they have on activities that take place in their respective communities. 
 
· The attached Newsflash dated 27.07.2010 reports on a public meeting in Masvingo to raise awareness on torture and its different forms through individual testimony and discussion. Participants recommended that ZimRights set up a local office to enable people to report cases relating to torture and other human rights abuses. 
 
Today, 30.07.2010 the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) issued the attached 'Weekly Media Review' (Issue 28) which, amongst other issues, looks at the continued broadcast of ZANU PF publicity songs and the recent unilateral appointment by Mugabe of six ambassadors at Zimbabwe's missions abroad. 
 
*Recent statements/reports on **Zimbabwe* *by other civil society organisations and international bodies include the following items:* 
 
The Civil Society Monitoring Mechanism (CISOMM) released which monitors the compliance of the inclusive government of the Global Political Agreement in the period May-July. Amongst many other items, the report highlights that human rights violations committed by the police and other security services is still prevalent and that unlawful arrests and detentions of civil society activists and political actors has continues. There are also worrying findings about the failure of the inclusive government to do anything for internally displaced people, the denial of food aid on political grounds and the withholding of food handouts from inmates’ relatives at Chikarubi Maximum Prison. The report can be read in full via the following web-link: http://www.cisomm.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&Itemid=5&gid=13&orderby=dmdate_published <http://www.cisomm.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&Itemid=5&gid=13&orderby=dmdate_published>  
Today, 30.07.2010 the Solidarity Peace Trust (SPT) launches a report entitled “A Fractured Nation: Operation Murambatsvina – five years on” and an accompanying film (“Poverty on Top of Poverty”) looking specifically at Hopley farm. The report provides an assessment of the effects of Operation Murambatsvina five years by analyzing the combined effects of the Operation and the economic meltdown in the years that followed. To access the report and film please see the following link: http://www.solidaritypeacetrust.org/ 
 
The attached Press Release of 29.07.2010 contains the adopted decisions of the African Union's (AU) 15^th Summit held in Kampala, Uganda from 19-27.07.2010 under the theme “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa. The Summit urged member states to embrace the AU’s ‘Year for Peace and Security in Africa’ by signing and ratifying all relevant AU instruments, including the Charter on Democracy, Elections and Good Governance. Further information can be found via:http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/index/index.htm 
 
On 28.07.2010 the Bulawayo Agenda issued the attached 'Daily Agenda' with news and updates on the constitution-making process. It provides a summary of the constitutional outreach activities including the abolishment of the death penalty, the need for the Government to provide social welfare to disabled persons and also on the issue of a Bill of Rights superficially calling for the codification of the second-generation of right to healthcare. 
 
* * 
 
-- International Liaison Office 
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum 
56-64 Leonard Street 
London EC2A 4LT 
Tel. +44-(0)20-7065 0945 
Email: IntLO@hrforumzim.com 
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The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has been in existence since January 1998 when non-governmental orgainsiations working in the field of human rights joined together to provide legal and psychological assistance to the victims of the Food Riots of January 1998. The Forum consists of 19 Zimbabwean human rights organisations. The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum operates a Research and Documentation Unit and offers legal services through the Public Interest Unit from the Headquarters in Harare, in addition to the information service that is offered internationally from the International Liaison Office. The International Liaison Office of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO in an effort to ensure the widest possible coverage for our reports, constantly updates and adds to the email addresses on our list using member organisations' contact lists or other sources. If you would like to have your name removed from the list, please send an email to zimhrforum@btconnect.com with the word 'unsubscribe' in the subject field.