HARARE Zimbabwe is one of the top eight countries with the worst human rights records in the world, according to the findings of a survey published by British risk analysis and rating firm Maplecroft last week.
The Human Rights Risk Atlas 2011, released to coincide with International Human Rights Day on 10 December, evaluated 196 countries on their performance across 30 human rights categories, which included human security, labour standards and protections, civil and political rights and access to remedy.
Zimbabwe, which has been classified as one of the countries in the extreme risk category since the survey started in 2006, slipped two places in the latest rankings from 10th position last year. Zimbabwes poor ranking in the overall human rights risk index reflects the dire situation found across several core human rights areas, where the country is ranked among the worst violators of basic freedoms.
These include violation categories such as freedoms of speech and the press, minority rights, judicial independence, and arbitrary arrests and detention. Zimbabwean lawyers are often harassed for taking on politically sensitive cases while victims of human rights abuses are obstructed in seeking redress.
The southern African countrys performance is compounded by the actions of state security forces acting with impunity, which are reported to take part in extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary arrests. Labour rights violations are also commonplace in Zimbabwe due to weak and inconsistent enforcement of labour laws. The Harare authorities constantly monitor and harass labour rights organisations and political opponents.
Post published in: Politics