President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been threatened with a lawsuit for failing to hold accountable members of the security forces accused of human rights violations including killing civilians.
Mnangagwa last year signed into law the Zimbabwe
Independent Complaints Commission Act providing for the investigation and
prosecution of members of security services for misconduct.
This followed complaints of human rights abuses and reports
of alleged partisan conduct by members of the security forces in the discharge
of their duties.
Mnangagwa has, however, been delaying to appoint
commissioners of the Independent Complaints Commission (ICC), raising eyebrows
over his sincerity and political will to act on human rights violations
involving the security forces.
On Friday, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
gave him a November 30 deadline to provide answers or face court action.
"We have given him up to November 30 to ensure that he
complies with the provisions of the constitution," the ZLHR said in a
press statement.
In a letter addressed to Mnangagwa by ZLHR lawyer Kossam
Ncube on behalf of Nesbert Munyuki, a Harare resident, the president was
accused of violating section 6 of the Independent Complaints Commission Act.
"This failure and the delay to appoint commissioners
renders the essence of the protection of members of the public as provided for
in section 210 of the constitution nugatory, as the complaints mechanism is
compromised by the fact that President Mnangagwa’s Office has not fulfilled its
statutory mandate of appointing commissioners to deal with complaints filed
against delinquent members of the security services," Ncube said in the
letter.
Ncube said his client would pursue remedies available at
law to ensure that his grievances were addressed.
Political analyst Romeo Chasara said there was no political
will to hold members of the security forces accountable for their actions.
"The government has shown time and time again that it
is not willing to take action against members of the security forces who commit
human rights abuses,” Chasara said.
Zimbabwe has continued to hog international headlines over
human rights abuses. In recent months, there have been reports of arbitrary
arrests, detentions including abductions and torture by suspected members of
the security forces.
The government has denied these allegations, but human
rights groups have called for an independent investigation. Standard
0 comments:
Post a Comment