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ROHR Zimbabwe takes to the streets of Harare

Thursday, 09 October 2008 00:00 administrator

DEMAND FOR DEMOCRACY AND JUSTICE CAMPAIGN DEMONSTRATION

Today ROHR Zimbabwe members take to the street of Harare to demonstrate. This protest marks the inauguration of the campaign for Democracy and Justice in Zimbabwe whose primary aim is to see Zimbabwe hold fresh election within 2 years. Our hopes are underpinned in the need for people to embrace and feel passionately for the need to be ruled by a government that will be accountable to them simply because they chose it into power.

An arm-twist kind of a deal that is a product of clandestine negotiations among the political elite on a platform that suffers from a calculated exclusion of the ruled and other important stakeholders in the Zimbabwe's crisis, falls short of the acceptable democratic standards, and sets a very bad human rights precedence. The 15 September 2008 GNU ‘deal' is a compromise arrangement, a painful alternative to an ideal government that Zimbabweans want. The bottom line is people in Zimbabwe , like any other country, have a right to a democratically established government, which is a true representation of the wishes and aspirations of the majority.

The Zimbabwean crisis continues unabated despite the fact that the principal parties to the crisis, Zanu-PF and the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, are engaged in talks aimed at arriving at a government of national unity.

At the moment, there is a deadlock in the talks as to the real power sharing, with Mugabe and Zanu-PF trying to ensure that the MDC emerges from the talks powerless than had been anticipated after March 29, 2008.

Zanu-PF is making frantic efforts to retain power that it lost to Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC during the March 29 election, a situation that is a direct assault on the people's power and constitutional right to choose the leader they want.

Thus, the people's will and right to choice has been subverted by a political process that was flawed from the onset.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 19:06 Read more...

Cash Situation Urgent ROHR Zimbabwe Vs. RBZ

Friday, 03 October 2008 00:00 administrator

CASH SITUATION URGENT

ROHR ZIMBABWE VS RBZ COURT CASE UPDATE

On Thursday 25 September 2008 , Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe (ROHR Zimbabwe) filed an urgent court application to the high court for an order to scrap, or else review, the prohibitive cash withdrawal limit that was by then pegged at $1000. On the same day The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe , Gideon Gono pre-emptively increased his withdrawal limits per day to 20,000, a move that we feel was meant to make the case irrelevant. We instructed our lawyers not to withdraw the application, since we felt that the review was not adequate, cosmetic and unilaterally imposed without prior consultation with the people directly affected. Besides, a week has passed since the review and the queues have not disappeared. On the contrary they have increased.

On 3 October, The Herald newspaper under the headline "CASH CASE NOT URGENT" , quote Justice Joseph Musakwa as saying the cash case in which ROHR Zimbabwe members were suing the Central bank Governor and the Finance Minister is not urgent and should join the long civil case queue for it to be heard. In other words we are supposed to join another queue to stop the cash queues!

Gideon Gono through his unilateral adhoc policies is presiding over the continued suffering and deterioration of living standards of hundreds of thousands of people in Zimbabwe . People's constitutional rights and the Universal declaration of human rights such as the people's rights to food, freedom of movement, access to health, and right to life are in the process curtailed due to the inaccessibility of their hard earned cash.

The Organisation pooled together four individuals, who we are sponsoring, to represent all Zimbabwean suffering due to cash problems. The individuals are Rodgers Chigwededza, Tinashe Gotora, Jackson Mabota, and Precious Mateyeni and are all members of ROHR Zimbabwe.

Jackson Mabota's wife is pregnant and he is the only bread winner. His salary is deposited in the bank and is struggling to get his money from the bank so he can sustain his family needs. Mrs Mateyeni has two school going children who have been missing classes because of the cash crisis caused by Gono's policies.

Fellow Zimbabweans, We believe that these people's stories are no different from what most of us are going through. Actually the reality is even worse for a majority of Zimbabweans including nurses, police, security guards and students. Over the week, we have seen an increase in the winding cash queues, which to an observer look resemble political rallies. The elderly, children and women are forced sleep at banks, spend more than 8 hours in the blistering sun and then in the biting cold, day and night, for cash they are not guaranteed to get. There is reasonable risk of the spread of diseases and the situation is unpredictable especially now that a cholera epidemic is wrecking havoc. Denying people access to their hard earned cash is unacceptable.

Furthermore, On Friday 3 rd of October, the reserve bank governor suspended the RTGS system ' with immediate until further notice' , a move that is likely to increase demand for cash as parents would have to be forced to use cash to pay school fees, medical bills and many transactions that could be completed by the RTGS system of transferring money. Given the circumstances, we feel it is unfair to inconvenience the majority of the populace by enforcing policies that are meant to deal with a fraction of the so-called elites and dealers who are abusing the system.

ROHR Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans at large cannot afford to let the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor to continue unabated with such dangerous and ill informed "intervention measures" as long as they stand in the way of the people's rights. We will pursue the matter with whatever means is necessary until we see a change of behaviour on the part of the Reserve bank.

Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe, P.O box 8719, Harare

+263 4 744593, 0912426638,

Our vision is to see a peaceful, just and free nation that is conscious of and respects human rights.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 19:02

ROHR takes Reserve Bank to Court

Thursday, 25 September 2008 00:00 administrator

STATEMENT ON ROHR ZIMBABWE, R.B.Z COURT CASE REGARDING REVIEW OF BANK WITHDRAWAL LIMITS, SEPTEMBER 25, 2008

Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe (ROHR Zimbabwe) has, today, taken the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to court over the central bank's failure to review bank withdrawal limits in line with the economic situation prevailing in Zimbabwe.

The court action is in line with the organization's mission seeking to promote a culture of human rights in Zimbabwe through community mobilization and capacity building and active responses to human rights.

It is prudent to highlight that the untenable situation obtaining in Zimbabwe where people have since last year, struggled to access their cash from banks, is a serious infringement on the rights of the people of Zimbabwe.

While the situation was dire last year, it has become even more risky this time around as people have resorted to spending nights in queues to withdraw paltry amounts that are insignificant to meet their daily demands.

The development has seen Zimbabweans, to a great extent, being reduced to mere beggars who have no idea, whatsoever, as to how this cash logjam would be unlocked and when.

Having to spend time in queues has also exposed citizens of this once great nation to a cocktail of ailments and diseases- a situation we believe as a human rights defence organization could be addressed by the authorities and powers-that-be.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 19:00 Read more...

ROHR's Position on the Zanu-PF MDC Powersharing Deal

Friday, 19 September 2008 00:00 administrator

ROHR Zimbabwe greets with scepticism the initiative by the political parties to forge a deal whose agenda is to find a long lasting solution to the problems that have besieged Zimbabwe for the past decade. We believe in dialogue and tolerance as pillars to any progressive society insofar as they create the foundation for economic recovery and stabilization underpinned in the principles of democracy, good governance and human rights. From a human rights perspective, the agreement comes as a relief for the ordinary Zimbabweans who bore the brunt of the conflicts and struggles between the ruling party and the main opposition. From such a background, we welcome the truce to the needless and costly encounter and support any overtures towards working together and integrating the heavily polarised citizenry for the sake of progress.

Our hope, like that of the nation, is grounded upon the desperateness and desire of Zimbabwe's peoples and the International community supported by the realization by political leadership on the need to see an end to unbridled impunity, economic malaise and the hopeless suffering that obtains for the majority of Zimbabweans, wherever there are. We are hopeful, but remain reserved on the ability and capacity of the new Government to steer Zimbabwe from the abyss of this economic crises.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 18:57 Read more...

ROHR Position on the Powersharing Talks

Saturday, 19 July 2008 00:00 administrator

We as ROHR Zimbabwe, dismiss the outcome of the sham one-man election held on June 27 which was marred by State authored violence countrywide, intimidation, murders, abductions, economic plunder, rape and widespread internal displacements. Far from being a reflection of the will of the people, the June 27 sham election was a blue print of the Zanu PF strategy to retain power at all cost even if it meant loss of life.

We therefore reiterate our position that Robert Mugabe is not the legitimate president of Zimbabwe and that he earned his position at the negotiating table through unorthodox and insensitive means.

He used violence to have an edge over his contestant and then called for talks. This scenario is not peculiar to the current case. In the early 80s, Mugabe purged the supporters of PF ZAPU and the Ndebele people in order to cow them into submission. The negotiations that followed were a result of a desperate and worn out opposition in which huge concessions were granted, much to the detriment of the nation and democracy. Suffice to say PF ZAPU was swallowed in the process resulting in a defacto one party state with Robert Mugabe as life president.

In addition to orchestrating a violent war against the innocent and the defenseless citizens', the Robert Mugabe regime and ZANU PF denied the dying and sick of food and medical relief from NGO's and removed all of what remained of democratic space necessary for a credible election thus effectively driving the nation and opposition into submission.

In light of Mugabe's deployment of violence and terror to earn his place at the negotiating table and his known history of deceitfulness; the weakened position of the opposition in which some of its leaders are either missing in hiding, facing spurious charges or still nursing fresh wounds and the exclusionary nature of the talks were civil society and other stake holders are not involved thereby turning the talks into an elitist form;

• We believe that the people of Zimbabwe have a right to a legitimate government born out of the exercise of their right to choose in a free and fair environment.

• We believe the continued suffering of Zimbabweans be it economically, socially and politically is needless and avoidable and that this calls for a holistic approach to the Zimbabwean question.

• We believe that there is an urgent need for an all stakeholders platform to map the way forward for Zimbabweans. The people of Zimbabwe should not be alienated in deciding their destiny.

• A civil rights campaign must be launched to empower the people of their rights and obligations as citizens of Zimbabwe .

• The civil society and all stakeholders should demonstrate their displeasure with nature, scope and methodology to the current talks. Further we believe in the unfettered right of citizens to resist unjust laws and polices and their right to be heard as sacrosanct.

ROHR will continue to name and shame the perpetrators of violence .We will also continue to maintain a register at local level of violators of human rights to ensure that justice will be done one day.

As an option a transitional authority from all stakeholders including churches , trade unions, students etc should be established to overseer the creation of a new people driven constitution that guarantees respect for the rule of law, end to human rights violations and bring to justice all human rights violators.

Further the transitional authority should create a conducive environment in which free and fair elections can be held.

Zimbabwe belongs to Zimbabweans!!

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 18:54

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