HRC50: Zimbabwe must implement recommendations on defenders and civic space
Since its last Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Zimbabwe’s human rights situation has greatly deteriorated. The country must urgently implement recommendations on defenders and civic space.
On 1 July 2022, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi, presented the outcome of its Universal Periodic Review. Out of the 264 recommendations the government received, it only accepted 168. While several States and NGOs congratulated Zimbabwe on the efforts made to implement measures to improve its education system as well as the rights of people with disabilities in the country, challenges remain when it comes to the enjoyment of freedom of assembly as well as the protection of civic space and human rights defenders.
In a joint statement, ISHR and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights raised our concerns over the shrinking civic and democratic space in the country. Indeed, NGOs and civil society are often denied their rights to peaceful assembly and protest. Moreover, human rights defenders are frequently subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, ill-treatment in custody, and lengthy and abusive sentences.
To improve this situation, ISHR recommends that Zimbabwe:
Cease restrictions on peaceful protests and assemblies
Repeal restrictive criminal provisions violating freedom of expression, assembly and association
Cease issuing denigrating and threatening statements against human rights defenders, NGOs and victims of rights violations
Abandon or amend the Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill 2021 to protect civic space
In addition, several civil society organisations urge Zimbabwe to implement all the recommendations that they received concerning the rights of LGBTQI+ persons. Indeed, the government only accepted 2 out of 12 of those recommendations, which shows a certain lack of political will in that regard.
Author
Adélaïde Etong Kame
Adélaïde has a Master in International Law and Relations from the University of Clermont-Ferrand. Adélaïde worked with indigenous people and minorities in Mauritania for better protection of their rights, especially victims of slavery. Previously, she advocated for the rights of women in Poland and Macedonia as well as the advancement of freedom of expression in Central Africa.
Author
Samira Ben Ali
Samira has joined the Geneva team as a programme Intern. She is actually completing a Master’s degree at Sciences Po Rennes that focuses on the upcoming transitions, with a focus on legal transitions. She also likes to get involve in actions that promote climate justice wether it is locally, with her local Oxfam group, or regionally, with the World’s Youth for Climate Justice Campaign.
At the 83rd ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, held in Banjul (The Gambia) from 2 May to 22 May, ISHR delivered an oral statement calling for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the continuation of the process toward a human rights defenders protection law in Zambia, reparations for Africans and people of African descent, and a binding treaty on environmental rights in Africa.
On 3 May 2025, on the sidelines of the 83rd ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ISHR co-sponsored a side event on the situation of human rights defenders in the Sahel, organised by the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation against Torture.
On 4 May 2025, on the sidelines of the 83rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, ISHR officially launched its new report on the situation of human rights defenders in the African island states: Cape Verde, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Seychelles.
