Beware of another ‘Tibaijuka’ !!

In 2005 the ZANU PF led government embarked on a purge of settlements largely in opposition controlled urban areas under the guise of a clean-up operation led by Local government Minister, Ignatius Chombo. This clean-up campaign became known as Operation Murambatsvina, an exercise that demonstrated the ruthlessness of the regime against its people. The effects of Murambatsvina were felt on a global scale to the extent that the UN sent the Special Envoy on Human Settlements, Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka to investigate the matter independently.

Tibaijuka came in amid hype and the government hijacked her visit I presume in a bid to convince her to produce a favourable report.  Minister Chombo took it upon himself to put a positive spin on the sufferings of the people as a result of government’s action by taking the Commissioner to the shoddy houses in Whitecliff as a model to address the housing crisis. I remember vividly ZBC news senior reporter, Rueben Barwe doing an exclusive coverage of the Special Envoy, giving nothing but praises. I suppose that was part of the spin to hoodwink her into believing that it was okay to destroy people’s homes and livelihoods.

Anna Tibaijuka

Navanethem Pillay

I see that ZANU PF has not learnt anything since Tibaijuka’s visit. It is using the same old tried, tested and failed method to get a favourable report on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe by trying to manipulate the itinerary of the visiting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay who is in Zimbabwe on a five day visit.  In the process they have used dirty tricks to try to bar the Commissioner from having independent meetings with civil society.  Surely the Commissioner has to make an independent assessment by meeting all stakeholders, even if ZANU PF thinks some of them are the “enemies”, in order to come up with a credible report.  Attempts by the ZBC to label Civil Society as anti-government is cheap and embarrassing to say the least.

Even after attempting to waylay Tibaijuka, her report was spot-on and highlighted gross human rights violations perpetrated by the Zimbabwe government.   The obvious response was that Tibaijuka was under pressure from Western governments to produce such an adverse report.  Murambatsvina happened in the eyes of everyone and the evidence was all there for people to see.  Even after attempting to paint a rosy picture from a government perspective that there are no human rights violations in Zimbabwe, the evidence is all there for people to see.

What the government needs to acknowledge, which the Prime Minister did, is that even with the Inclusive Government there are still human rights violations in Zimbabwe.  No action or programme has been put in place to address politically motivated violence against women and it is that responsibility that we need the inclusive government to commit to ending.  Teachers continue to live in fear in their communities and are subjected to the excesses of traditional leaders, councilors, SDC officials and even fellow teachers because they are viewed as opposition supporters.  War veterans e.g. Jabulani Sibanda, go about beating people in the rural areas and tell them to vote for ZANU PF or else… and they are not prosecuted.  Chipangano has terrorized the Mbare community and we all know that. The state media continues to demonise opposition parties and nothing has been done.

Surely, these are issues in the public sphere and all there for the commissioner to see. I don’t believe she is dumb, I am confident that she will come up with a credible report without fear or favour.  When she does that, come tomorrow, be prepared to accept it and not try to discredit her as was done to Tibaijuka. I believe the Commissioner will draw up a programme of action for government to follow-up and act on, because this Inclusive Government has failed on its mandate to address continued rights violations.

Raped and Pregnant – What are the Options?

Politically motivated rape has been reported in Zimbabwe particularly around elections over the last decade but there has been little interest by the government to address it.  Political leaders have recently been reported in the media as saying political violence must end but no one has specifically mentioned rape.  That little naivety left in me says they are quiet because they are so ashamed by what has been committed in their name that they cannot bear to talk about it but then the realist, unfortunately the realist in me is very cynical, says yeah right, they are silent because it is a crime against women!

According to Zimbabwe law rape is defined as the act by a male person of knowingly having sexual intercourse or anal sexual intercourse with a female person, and, at the time of the intercourse, the female person has not consented to it; and he knows that she has not consented to it, or realises that there is a real risk or possibility that she may not have consented to it.

So it is a crime against a woman by a man. When a woman is raped she is encouraged not to talk about it as she will bring disrepute to not only herself but also to her family. By not talking about it she does not seek medical attention and does not receive post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and medication for other sexually transmitted infections. She does not receive emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy, leaving her with the very high possibility of being infected by HIV and/or with an unwanted pregnancy. She does not get emotional and physiological support.  She does not report to the police therefore she has no documentation to get assistance in the event of the above happening.  If a woman is pregnant as a result of rape the law states that she must get a magisterial certificate to terminate the pregnancy under the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1977.  When reading the Act one would think this certificate is granted promptly but alas it is not. The magistrate must be satisfied that;

•  A complaint has been lodged with the police;
• An examination of any relevant documentation submitted by the police has been done;
• The woman has been interrogated as well as any other person that the magistrate considers necessary;
• An affidavit must be produced stating under oath that the pregnancy is a likely result of the rape.

This could take weeks and in worst case scenarios, months, exacerbated by the corruption and partisan politicking within the police force and the judiciary by the time the certificate is issued the pregnancy is too far along to terminate.  The woman who is a victim of politically motivated rape is forced to carry to term a baby she does not want and whose father she does not know as she was likely raped by a gang. In my view this certificate should be issued as a matter of urgency. A recent media report entitled Our ugly secret: abortion in Zimbabwe, illegal but thriving stated that illegal abortions and baby dumping are on the increase, this article focus on the economic hardships and that women find themselves unable to fend for their children and hence opt for abortion or dumping.  These are women who have had consensual sex.  For how long are we going to take the moral high ground and refuse women the right to choose especially where they have been raped?

Human Rights Commissioner coming to Zim!

The United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Mrs Navanethem Pillay is due in Zimbabwe for a five day visit starting on the 21 May. The High Commissioner is expected to meet with civil society organisations and government officials, including meeting with President Mugabe on her mandate; human rights.

Photo accredited to http://www.godwyns.com

Civil society is preparing for this visit, collecting and collating information to give to the High Commissioner on the gross human rights violations perpetrated by the state. There will be a substantial pile of reports, testimonies, photographs and videos available for her perusal as Zimbabwean civil society has been documenting violations as far back the 1980s during Gukurahundi through the farm invasions, Murambatsvina, the violence associated with elections culminating in the worst election violence this country has ever seen in 2008, Chiadzwa up until today. These violations included amongst others assault, abduction, property destruction, looting, arson, forced disappearances, rape and murder.

The ZANU PF government has consistently stated that these non-governmental organisations are funded by the West and are thus fabricating these abuses for their own survival and to please their masters. This however no longer holds water as the President himself has come out and said that political violence should end; Zimbabweans should be free to participate in political activities of their choice. He admitted that violence was used for political gains. This however is not the first time that he has admitted that human rights violations were committed, after Gukurahundi he is on record saying it was a ‘moment of madness’. This admission however is insufficient as it is not an apology for the victims and there is no justice as the perpetrators of these violations have not been brought to book and to account for their commission of violence.

I would give anything to be a fly on the wall in her meetings with the ZANU PF government officials, listening to how they are going to blame the West, the MDC, civil society and goodness knows who else for the crimes that were committed in the name of their party.

For me the thrust of the High Commissioner’s visit should be to insist on an independent investigation of the human rights violations, we all know they happened and why they happened. For most of the crimes there is no statute of limitations so even crimes that happened 30 years ago can still be investigated. Where there is merit the perpetrators should be prosecuted and if found guilty sentenced to an appropriate jail term. This would be in accordance with Article 18(c) of the Global Political Agreement. Zimbabwe cannot move on with the albatross of violence hanging over our heads.

A State of Shame

By Dominic Mhiripiri |

 Before the strange men burst into the house where she was sleeping alone, before they scoured the house for her sister and her husband – political enemies they “most likely wanted to kill” that night – before they harassed her with a blizzard of questions she could not answer, before they each took turns to rape her violently, one rough man after the other, before she faced cameras to pour out her story – before all of this, Netsai Moyo (not her real name) was an everyday, unmarried woman living with her parents on a plot in Chivhu, central Zimbabwe.

But following that February 2008 night she can not recount without breaking into plaintive sobs, Netsai’s life will not be the same again; she got pregnant and infected with the deadly HIV virus from the gang-rape; her son, too, tested positive for HIV, and she says traveling and getting anti-retroviral drugs in her rural hometown is a nightmare.

Netsai (pictured left) was attacked in my hometown, Chitungwiza, while visiting her sister, whose husband is a well-known musician and opposition supporter; his songs openly deride the government and President Robert Mugabe. When the intruders could not get their target – the couple had already escaped – they settled for Netsai, who is also a supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC.)

I have not met Netsai in person to know her story; I have attended the screening of a documentary the chronicles the cases of five victims of politically motivated rape in my home country, Zimbabwe. It is the opening day of the Annual Human Rights Film Festival at Maitisong in Gaborone; the nine-day festival is run by the center for human rights in Botswana, Ditshwanelo.

Dozens of people pack the auditorium for the screening, afterwards, fielding questions at Kudakwashe Chitsike, program manager at Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU,) a Harare-based non-profit that made the film.

The documentary – A State of Shame: Politically Motivated Rape in Zimbabwe –  chronicles, in their own words, the harrowing tales of four other victims, each a woman in a different part of Zimbabwe, each raped by one and sometimes several people, and each, for the crime of supporting the “wrong” political party.

One was dragged from her house where she slept with her child, blindfolded, then gang-raped in a nearby bush; her husband was in hiding, and for three days after he returned, she was too traumatized to tell him of the attack. Another, as soon she had been raped, was thrown into a nearby river as her assailant disappeared into the bushes. A third, who was raped on three different occasions by a militia commander – including once at the “base” where they held her hostage – felt “relieved” because at least on the first attack, her rapist had the courtesy of wearing a condom.

Politically motivated rape goes as far back as the gory 1970s civil war that led to independence in Zimbabwe. In 2008, the climactic year in country’s political crisis, scores of women were seized, abducted and raped because their or their husbands’ political leanings.

“These are the stories of only five women,” says RAU program manager Chitsike, about her organization’s film. “No-one knows exact the number of women raped in Zimbabwe. There could be dozens, or hundreds, or thousands.”

Estimates put the number of women raped between May and July 2008 at 2,000, according to the film festival’s official flyer. Where women are raped in conflict areas such as Congo, Ivory Coast, Bosnia and other countries – in what ex-United Nations special representative Margot Wallström terms a “war within a war” – Zimbabwe’s politically motivated rape cases are rather a “war within a peace.”

And according to Chitsike, the absence of a full-blown war presents a challenge of rallying support and sympathy about these stories outside of Zimbabwe. Internally, her organization has met indifferent responses from government leaders.

“Why are you showing us MDC (opposition) women only?” they ask, and go on with their business, while Chitsike’s organization insists that their project was open for women from all parties. Chitsike adds that although no additional security will be provided for the women in her documentary, they bravely agreed to have their faces shown and their stories captured on film in order to spread awareness.

While police systematically ignore these cases, a few women have gotten justice when they removed their stories from the political context within which they occured. The militia commander who raped an unnamed woman and Judith, one of the women in the film, was later charged, tried, and convicted. He received a 52-year sentence, but with good behavior, will serve only 25 years in jail.

According to Chitsike, Judith only got justice after she reported her rape without mentioning the political motivations of her rapist. Despite these isolated cases of justice served, the authorities’ blind eye to politically motivated sexual crimes remains an uphill battle for human and women’s rights activists in Zimbabwe, like Chitsike and her organization, RAU.

Original post available at http://www.globalconversation.org/2012/05/04/state-shame

Getting a Zero Percent Pass Rate

In 2011, the Ministry of Education reported that 19 schools had recorded a 0% pass rate after sitting for their public examinations. The worst affected were rural schools where the majority had recorded zero
percent pass rate in Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) Grade Seven examination results. The overall pass rate ranged between zero to nine percent pass rate.

It is very difficult to imagine that in a group of pupils sitting for grade 7 Zimsec exams, the outcome produces a 100% failure or perhaps you would rather have me say a 0% pass rate? This is serious in the sense that it is unbelievable to imagine that a whole community has failures at grade 7 continuously for years. What it means is that a whole generation has been condemned to failure and this has repercussions for the community.

I was interested in finding out why a school failed to get at least one pupil who passed national examinations and the discoveries I made were fascinating. Yes communities may be disadvantaged in terms of resources. However one of the key areas has been addressed-thanks to the donation of text books by UNICEF in conjunction with the Education Ministry. The books however, continue to be condemned by certain people with an agenda that is meant to discredit anything that is perceived to be “Western”. Surely textbooks as a resource in schools are important whether they come from the United Kingdom government just as computers are necessary even if they are a Chinese donation. (But that is something for another time.)

In my investigation I discovered that certain communities do not attract nor retain qualified teachers. There is always a high staff turn-over, with political violence as the major factor influencing these movements. As a result, schools in these affected areas are manned by untrained teachers whose contracts expire after every term, with new teachers coming in and continuing with the same pupils in a business-as-usual fashion. This is very disruptive for children and because the teachers are engaged for a short while, they do not take time to understand each child and give them special attention they need.

A friend of mine who studied child psychology explained that the mind of a child is very delicate, hence the violence witnessed by children in 2008 may manifest later in the years. For example disruptions at grade 2 level can manifest at grade 7 and therefore it is very possible to get a 0% pass rate. It is fact that most of the violence took place in rural communities and it is no surprise that rural schools have the highest levels of failure rates. I do not want to under play other factors contributing to this failure but political violence remains a key factor.

Political interference in the running of schools is also rife with some reports indicating that teachers in the Mashonaland provinces have been openly told to look for employment elsewhere because the local leadership viewed them as undesirable elements. Surely any trained teacher would not want to go to such areas where schools are run by politicians who know nothing about education. The repercussions fall upon the communities as they face a future with a whole generation cursed because of the ‘sins’ of their fathers. We  seriously need to defend our pride as the most literate country on the continent and situations such as the one we face now where communities are disempowered and other grade 7 candidates can’t write their own names should become a thing of the past.

Yes, it was wrong!

‘We have done wrong to our people through violence and fighting among ourselves. We must now take absolute care and caution and ensure the fights of yesterday are buried in the past, all fights, all struggles that were violent should not be allowed. Political party membership should never be forced. We organize ourselves on the basis of freedom of choice, belonging to a party of choice and freely voting for the party of choice.’ President Mugabe

18 April was Independence Day and some people chose to celebrate it in the stadium to hear the President speak and watch a soccer match. The President got my attention when he spoke of political violence, a problem whose existence and extent ZANU PF has, in the past, denied. To hear the leader of the party publicly acknowledge that it was wrong was a balm to my heart. Yes, we can never erase the pain we felt, nor the homes we lost, neither will it bring back the loved ones who perished but the first step to any recovery is to admit that there is a problem.And to Zimbabwe the admission is that political violence occurred-no doubt- and a lot of lives were destroyed.

I agree with the President’s sentiments on political violence. Every political party needs to commit to no violence and make their supporters understand that their neighbour with different views is not the enemy. Therefore there is no need to set up party bases during elections because we are not at war? There is no need to force people to attend political rallies; after all they will be alone in the ballot box. There is no need to pull people out of their homes at night to beat them up; political opinion no matter how absurd is a human right.

I applauded President Mugabe’s bold move to state the obvious, that his party is guilty of perpetrating violence. However I believe that more can be done. Yes he admitted it, but that was the first step. There is need to take a second step, to make amends to all those who were harmed. This is so that Zimbabwe as a whole can move on.

Making amends may take different forms from imprisoning the perpetrators of violence and those who instigated the violence to bringing compensation to those who suffered some harm. It may just take the form of a simple apology from the leaders and the perpetrators to those they harmed. Whatever form it may take it is a necessary component in a restorative process for a nation that was wrecked by political violence.

So far, all we have are noble words from the President, now we wonder if these words will  be followed by any form of action, or they will remain just words that will be quoted in history text books 30 years from now?

Get it off your chest

During election periods and other national processes people belonging to opposing parties are subjected to horrific human rights violations; these violations are documented and publicised but the real stories of what happens to women are not told as much. From the 2008 election period there are many anecdotal reports of politically motivated violence against women, but the Government of National Unity (GNU) has not launched an investigation to these reports, especially reports of rape, although the Global Political Agreement states that perpetrators of violence should be brought to book.

In RAU’s focus group discussions we asked whether it is important  for women to speak out about violations even 4 years after the violations occurred and the below are some of the responses we got:

• Violations must be talked about so that the victims can find peace
• It prevents the same from happening in the future especially if the perpetrators are arrested for the crimes
• Keeping quiet does not help in anyway, as you can’t get any assistance because no one knows what you need
• By sharing what happened to you can encourage another person to also speak out and get help.

Others however stated that there is no point in talking about past abuses because:

• The police do not investigate the cases if you belong to the ‘wrong’ political party
• The police themselves are involved in the violence
• The perpetrators mock you and taunt you saying how much worse things are going to happen in the next election

In most cases the women themselves do not want to talk about what happened to them. In addition to the above reasons it is too painful to relive the past; they stand to lose respect and status in communities and this is magnified when they have been victims of sexual violence because of the stigma associated with it. However there are women who have been brave enough to talk about their experiences with politically motivated violence; these women even named the perpetrators who are senior politicians, army officials, police officers and youth militia.

See below two documentaries that detail the stories of women who overcame their fear and spoke out;

http://hub.witness.org/HearUs-ViolenceAgainstWomeninZimbabwe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vThYv6rUP34.

These women have inspired many others who have heard their stories; they are no longer victims but survivors.

Why treat the symptom and not the root cause?

On Wednesday, 4^thApril the Herald reported the governor for Mashonaland East Cde EniasChigwedere acknowledged that there were over 1000 vacant teaching posts in his province. Chigwedere called upon government to come up with a plan so that the teacher-child ration is reduced. I cannot agree more with the governor. If Mashonaland East has over 1000 vacancies, I can only imagine the numbers for other provinces.

Former Education Minister & now Mashonalnd East Governor Chigwerede. Photo accredited to http://www.myzimbabwe.co.zw

But one has to interrogate why there is a shortage of teachers in Zimbabwe, yet the country produces thousands of graduate teachers every year. Perhaps the simplest explanation could be poor working conditions and low salaries especially in the rural areas. However, there are more intricate issues that have resulted in teacher shortages in Zimbabwe especially in rural communities. It is reported that Zimbabwe lost nearly 70,000 trained teachers especially to South Africa between 2000 and 2010. Some of the causes were economic, but it is also a fact that teachers were victims of politically motivated violence.

The Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) in collaboration with the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) carried out a national survey on teachers’ experiences during elections since 2000. The findings of the study revealed that most teachers in the rural areas were in one way or the other victims or witnesses of politically motivated violence. The report pointed to the fact that teachers were targeted by war veterans, youth militias, traditional leaders, soldiers, CIO and even fellow teachers because of the influence they are purported to exert on their respective communities. Teachers were accused of working for the opposition political parties which resulted in the defeat of ZANU PF in key strongholds.

Female teachers were sexually violated and embarrassed at political rallies. Militia bases were set up in schools resulting in many disruptions of the learning processes. Teachers were summoned to night vigils to receive political re-orientation and be taught about the country’s history. In some worse cases, teachers were beaten during assembly in front of school children or at their homes in full view of the community and made examples of how ‘sell-outs’ would be dealt with.

To be safe teachers had to flee communities where they had been terrorized and the logical thing was to seek a teaching post at an urban school. When they couldn’t get one, the next best option was to go and do menial jobs such as waiting tables or farm labourers in South Africa, just to run away from political violence.

Civil servants striking, photo accredited to http://www.bulawayo24.com

The situation on the ground is that the threats to teachers have not been removed and teachers are living in constant fear. They are under surveillance and village Headman now have power to dismiss teachers whom they feel are a ‘threat’ to ZANU PF interests. In some cases even headmasters are terrorizing teachers for participation in trade unionism.

It is dangerous to be a teacher especially in rural communities where political party structures interfere with the professional running of schools. Coupled with low remuneration, poor housing and perhaps no ‘incentives’ from the poor communities, teachers will also look for ‘greener pastures’ and unfortunately this is not to seek employment in a rural setting.  I can imagine how many vacancies are available in Masvingo and Mashonaland Central Provinces which reported high incidences of violence in the same period.

To address this problem genuine political will is required and that may include banning all political activities in schools and guaranteeing the safety of teachers. Teachers are professionals and for them to report to the headman is a mockery of the noble profession. Perhaps what Honorable Governor Chigwedere can do to address the staffing problems in rural areas is to support a motion in Parliament for making schools ‘Politics free-zones.’

For the full report on teachers, refer to our RAU website; www.researchandadvocacyunit.org