SADC officials have denied that the Tribunal has been suspended, shortly after resolving to review the role functions and terms of reference of the court. The review process is set to take six months and during that time the court wont be handling any new cases or completing any current ones. Despite this, SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamao insists that the Tribunal has not been suspended.
SADC is now facing criticism for using the review process to avoid confronting Robert Mugabe for disregarding the rule of law. The Tribunal ruled in 2008 that Mugabes land grab campaign was unlawful and discriminatory, and ordered the Zimbabwe government to protect commercial farmers, their rights to their land, and pay compensation for land already seized.
But in Zimbabwe the Tribunal has been snubbed by the government, with Mugabe and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa declaring that the Tribunals rulings were null and void. The High Court then ruled that the Tribunals orders on land reform have no authority in Zimbabwe, despite the country being a signatory to the SADC Treaty.
Chegutu farmer Ben Freeth, who heads the SADC Tribunal Rights Watch group, told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that there are serious concerns over the motives behind SADCs decision. Freeth and his father-in-law Mike Campbell led the farmers Tribunal case against Mugabes government in 2008. He said on Thursday that the decision to review the mandate of the court is a serious threat to SADCs credibility.
The net result of this is that justice gets delayed, and justice delayed is justice denied, Freeth said.
Freeth and Campbell still have outstanding legal matters in the Tribunal, but despite assurances that the court hasnt been suspended, one of the farmers cases has already been delayed. Freeth explained that hes already received a letter from the Tribunals registrar to say that their case, meant to be heard next, has been indefinitely delayed.
Nobody really knows what is going on and even the Tribunal staff was shell-shocked when I spoke to them, Freeth said. At the end of the day it seems like politics is trumping justice.
The Zimbabwe governments refusal to honour the ruling has also affected a number of South African farmers, who are still facing intimidation and persecution by land invaders in Zimbabwe. Those farmers eventually turned to the South African courts to try and have the SADC Tribunal ruling enforced. The South African courts this year set a precedent by recognizing the SADC decision as being enforceable, ruling in favour of the farmers.
The farmers have been represented by South African civil rights initiative AfriForum. The group legal representative, Willie Spies, told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that the decision to suspend the SADC Tribunal was a source of serious concern. He warned that it is very bad news for the Southern African region if disregard for the rule of law is supported in this way.
We do not want to be sending a message from Africa that we are disregarding human rights. We do not want to send a message that the rule of law is being tramped on when it does not suit the rulers in power, Spies said.
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