After a long political stand-off, government on Friday gazetted the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Act (Chapter 10:30).
Gvt sets up Human Rights Commission After a long political stand-off, government on Friday gazetted the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Act (Chapter 10:30).
The commission will investigate violations and seek to promote human rights. The investigation of human rights abuses will be confined to the post-2009 era and will not have jurisdiction over what happened in preceding years.
This provision formed the main bone of contention in Parliament between Zanu (PF) on one hand and the other political parties that had been insisting the commission’s jurisdiction should be more roaming.
According to the Act, the commission will be also be responsible for visiting and inspecting prisons, places of detention, refugee camps and related facilities in order to ascertain the condition under which inmates are kept.
The ZHRC “shall consist of a Chairman who has been qualified for at least five years to practice as a legal practitioner and who is appointed by the President after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission” reads the Act.
The Commission is to be made up of nine commissioners, “at least four of whom shall be women.”
The persons appointed to the ZHRC will be chosen for their knowledge and experience in the promotion of social justice or the protection of human rights and freedoms.