from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe
HARARE, (CAJ News) – FOURTY years after attaining independence, Zimbabweans are still yearning for the enjoyment of human rights.
This is according to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) as it joined the rest of the world on Monday in commemorating International Day of Peace.
It marked the day, celebrated yearly on September 21, with a call for both state and non-state actors to embrace and strengthen the ideals of peace and build a safer future for all people in Zimbabwe.
“Forty years after the attainment of independence, Zimbabwe still carries the dictatorial hallmarks of erosion of personal liberties, repression, abductions, enforced disappearances, torture, surveillance and abuse of the criminal justice system to harass, intimidate and persecute human rights defenders and ordinary citizens,” ZLHR stated.
In 2020, International Day of Peace is commemorated under the theme “Shaping Peace Together.”
“The theme could not be more appropriate as it galvanises us all to implement and respect instruments that enforce values such as peace, freedom, justice, equality, development and human dignity across Zimbabwe and the world,” ZLHR stated.
The organisation noted that in 2020 it commemorated International Day of Peace amid an unprecedented global health pandemic in the form of coronavirus (COVID19).
“In Zimbabwe, the devastating social and economic consequences of coronavirus coupled with the unjust enforcement of national lockdown measures by government, have brought some forms of violence against people and robbed them of peace while exposing them to abuse and violation of several of their basic rights.”
The Southern African country of 14 million people is enduring political and economic crises.
– CAJ News