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The Harare Metropolitan Residents Forum (HAMREF), a Residents Associations in the Harare Metropolitan Province has condemned the latest wave of forced evictions in rural and urban areas as they fall far short of adherence to human rights principles provided in domestic and international legal frameworks.
The organisation said it is aware of the government’s objective of fighting against land grabs and illegal land sales, however, the latest wave of rural and urban evictions has left them with other ideas.
“In terms of international human rights law, there must be procedural safeguards before and after an eviction to ensure that other human rights are not violated, and simply issuing statements, intimidating, and incarcerating the victims is not sufficient to safeguard the human rights of these victims but further violate other human rights provided in our Constitution”, read part of their statement.
This has the potential to create a serious human problem like the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina which left 700,000 people homeless. Those who lost their property should be compensated.
The statement said, “We are deeply concerned that these forced evictions are mainly targeting the beneficiaries of the land while exonerating the powerful politically connected land barons and corrupt officials who “illegally” sold or parcelled out land to these victims. Allowing people to settle “illegally” for more than 20 years is a big sign of failure by both local authorities and central government to administer both rural and urban land”.
In terms of Section 243(1) (d) and (e) the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission has a role in receiving complaints from the public, and protecting the public against abuse of power by the state and public institution.
The kangaroo courts currently being hurriedly conducted will not address the underlying issues of the emergency of the so-called “illegal settlements.”
The situation is worsened by corruption and abuse of power by public officials who work in cahoots with politically connected land barons who are known. The government is recommended to arrest land barons first and public officials involved.
The association challenged the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission to conduct broader public hearings or consultations on this matter, and then come up with a report that will inform the next steps on the illegal settlements and illegal land sales.
“This should be easy because there is an outstanding report of the Justice Tendai Uchena Commission of Inquiry into sales of land in peri-urban settlements which has not been published”, said the statement.
The President of the Republic should use the same powers he has over communal and urban land to improve access to housing, promote the right to shelter, and put local government on the legislative agenda for the next session of Parliament.
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