The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Justin Mutendadzamera, Mr. Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, Mr. Moses Mzila Ndlovu, Mr. David Mpala, Mr. Abednico Bhebhe, Mr. Peter Nyoni, Mr. David Coltart, Mr. Roy Bennett, Mr. Job Sikhala, Mr. Tichaona Munyanyi, Ms. Pauline Mpariwa, Ms. Trudy Stevenson, Ms. Evelyn Masaiti, Mr. Tendai Biti, Mr. Gabriel Chaibva, Mr. Paul Madzore, Mr. Giles Mutsekewa, Mr. Austin Mupandawana, Mr. Gibson Sibanda, Mr. Milton Gwetu, Mr. Silas Mangono and Mr. Edwin Mushoriwa, all incumbent members of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/175/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted by the Governing Council at its 174th session (April 2004),

Having before it the case of Ms. Thokozani Khupe, Mr. Willias Madzimure, Mr. Fidelis Mhashu, Mr. Tumbare Mutasa, Mr. Gilbert Shoko and Mr. Jelous Sansole, as contained in the Committee’s report, and the case of Mr. Paul Themba Nyathi, Mr. Renson Gansela, Mr. Blessing Chibundo and Mr. Edward Mkhosi, which has been the subject of a study and report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians in accordance with the "Procedure for the examination and treatment, by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, of communications concerning violations of human rights of parliamentarians",

Having before it the written report on the mission to Zimbabwe which the Committee carried out from 28 March to 2 April 2004, and the written observations provided thereon by the authorities and the parliamentarians concerned,

Considering that Mr. Coltart provided the following observations on the information contained in the report concerning the case brought against him under the Firearms Act: when he was first brought to court on 18 February 2002, his lawyer gave the court the names of independent witnesses able to state that he was nowhere near the scene of the incident and that the shot in question was in fact fired by the leader of the youth militia; the police did nothing about this evidence for over a year until the court ordered them to investigate; the police then failed to report back to the court, presumably because the witnesses confirmed Mr. Coltart’s version of the events; nothing further has happened since, and the file has been closed,

Taking account of the information and observations provided by the delegation of Zimbabwe in two separate hearings with the Committee on the occasion of the 111^th Assembly (September 2004),

Considering the following information provided since the mission took place:

• on 5 August 2004, the defendants, including Mr. Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, in the case of the murder of Cain Nkala, were found not guilty and discharged; the defendants were all Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) members;
• Mrs. Masaiti, Ms. Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga, MP for Glen, and Mr. Nelson Chamisa were arrested and detained for short periods in April 2004, July 2004 and early September 2004, respectively; at the hearing, Minister Patrick Chinamasa stated in this respect that whenever there were international events, like the IPU meeting, MDC MPs would provoke incidents to draw international attention to them;
• on 11 September 2004, Mr. Blessing Chibundo was attacked by youth-militia during an authorised meeting while police reportedly looked on without intervening;
• since early September 2004, 12 MDC meetings, including report-back meetings, have apparently not been authorised by the police,

Considering that proceedings relating to contempt of the House are under way not only against Mr. David Coltart but also against Mr. Gabriel Chaibva and Mr. Roy Bennett; the latter concern the following incident: on 19 May 2004, Minister Chinamasa reportedly had called Mr. Bennett’s forefathers "thieves and murderers", which provoked a scuffle between Mr. Bennett and others; Minister Chinamasa felt that the incident reflected what whites had been doing to blacks over the years; with regard to the contempt of the House proceedings against Mr. Coltart, he said that Mr. Coltart had knowingly made false statements and that Parliament was not a platform for propagating falsehoods,

1. Thanks the delegation of Zimbabwe for its cooperation;

2. Commends the delegation of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians for its written report; considers that the oral and written observations made do not detract from the relevance of the report’s conclusions, which it therefore fully endorses;

3. Stresses that the fundamental notion underlying democracy is the respect of the other; democratic life entails both the right to differ and the acceptance of such difference by all; therefore notes with deep concern the perception which the executive authorities in particular have of the opposition MPs, whom they tend to demonise and criminalise so that they are not only prevented from discharging the mandate entrusted to them by their electors, but also in many cases suffer serious infringements of their human rights, including the right to physical integrity and security;

4. Calls on both parties firmly to pursue the dialogue which, as stated in the report, has started at an informal level, since only such dialogue can guarantee that the country progresses on the path towards justice and dignity for all its citizens;

5. Considers that for such dialogue to be meaningful, past injustice must be remedied and everything done to avoid it in the future; calls therefore on the authorities, and in particular Parliament, to match words with deeds and so to ensure that the instances of torture, such as in the case of Mr. Sikhala, are investigated with the necessary diligence and the culprits brought to justice; likewise urges them to ensure the implementation of court orders which in some cases, especially that of Mr. Bennett, have been totally disregarded over a long period, and to avoid discrimination against opposition MPs in regard to the exercise of freedom of expression and of assembly;

6. Affirms that Parliament has a duty and special interest to ensure that all its members are treated in a way consonant with national and international law and with the human rights standards to which Zimbabwe has subscribed, in order that they may carry out their mandate without hindrance;

7. Is dismayed that an parliamentarian can hold a fellow parliamentarian accountable in Parliament for all the ills of colonial rule;

8. Notes that the contempt of the House proceedings against Mr. Coltart, Mr. Chaibva and Mr. Bennett are sub judice; wishes to be kept informed of the proceedings; and hopes that such proceedings will not be resorted to in order to prevent opposition MPs from fully exercising their parliamentary mandate;

9. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the authorities, the parliamentarians concerned and the sources;

10. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 112^th Assembly (April 2005).

* The Zimbabwe delegation, in two separate interventions, provided observations on the resolution and the report on the on-site mission, which may be found in the Summary Records of the 175^th session of the Governing Council.

 

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 111th IPU Assembly and related meetings in PDF format (file size 520K approximately ). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

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