18 June 2009
Amnesty International has a long and consistent record of campaigning on human rights issues in Zimbabwe, going back more than 40 years.
This Amnesty International mission comes at a critical juncture in Zimbabwe's history, nine months after the adoption of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and four months after the setting up of the inclusive government, following a decade of political crisis marked by high levels of human rights violations. The purpose of the Amnesty International mission has been to assess the human rights situation and the commitment of the government to end human rights abuses and bring about reforms in line with the GPA, and to make recommendations to the government and to the international community on the way forward.
We met with the Vice- President Joice Mujuru, Minister of Defence Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Minister of Education David Coltart, Minister of State in the President's Office Didymus Mutasa, Deputy Minister of Justice Jessie Majome, Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi, Minister of Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa, Minister of State (National Healing) Sekai Holland, Speaker of the House of Assembly Lovemore Moyo. The delegation met with Minister of Housing Fidelis Mhashu.
We did not get an appointment with the President although we had requested a meeting with him. I will meet with the PM in London on Monday 22 June.
We appreciate very much the open and frank manner with which the government has engaged with Amnesty International and the full and free access that we enjoyed.
We also met with a wide range of civil society representatives in Harare and Bulawayo, and with men, women and children in urban and rural areas, including survivors of political violence and other human rights abuses. We visited a rural community near Bulawayo, urban settlements for displaced people and a primary school in Harare. We also met with representatives of the diplomatic community from African and western countries.
Our findings are based on extensive research just prior to the mission as well as on the meetings and discussions we had during this mission.
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