While the Zimbabwean Constitution Select Committeedrafts a new constitution for the country, The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights notethat the constitution lacks transparency and, importantly, legitimacy.Zimbabwe’s planned 2012 electionmay be a long-awaited opportunity to fairly and freely elect a candidate.
The list of human rights violations during Mugabe’sprolonged presidency is extensive. Rights groups allege torture within Zimbabwe’s prisons and widespread corruption within Mugabe’sregime.
Yesterday, 660 people were treated for typhoidin the country’s capital. The U.N. confirms that cholera is still a danger, and that Zimbabweans are increasingly at riskfor malaria due deteriorating waste management systems.
PHR documented in 2009 the connection between Zimbabwe’scholera epidemic and the collapse of the country’s healthcare system. Thereport, Health in Ruins: A Man-Made Disaster in Zimbabweexposes the state’s failure to maintain safe water, sanitation, or afunctioning health system. PHR continues to monitor the health and human rightssituation in the country and calls on Zimbabwean authorities to adopt suggestedimprovements given during the country’s Universal Periodic Review before theHuman Rights Council last year, including investigating alleged human rightsviolations and holding perpetrators accountable.