By Pearl Matibe| UN resolution 20 (XXXVI) of 29 February 1980 which was further adopted by the Human Rights Council under A/HRC/RES/36/6, states that the Commission on Human Rights decided to “establish for a period of one year a working group consisting of five of its members, to serve as experts in their individual capacities, to examine questions relevant to enforced or involuntary disappearances of persons.”
Zimbabwe is a member state, yet involuntary disappearances are continuing.
On 9 March 2015, Itai Dzamara—widely known for speaking out against the government—vanished. He has never been seen since. The perpetrators are yet to be held to account in Zimbabwe yet, a forced disappearance is a heinous crime. No-one has ever been tasked with assisting his family to determine the fate or whereabouts of his disappearance.
5-years after Itai Dzamara vanished into thin air, 3 young women have gone missing in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.
On 14 May, the Zimbabwe Republic Police confirmed that they had arrested them, and on the same day change statements to begin stating the very opposite. They tweeted what they claim as their official position which is, “The ZRP wishes to make it clear that the MDC Alliance members who include Johanna Mamombe, Obey Sithole, Ostallos Siziba, Stanley Manyenga and Justin Chidziva who were involved in an illegal flash demonstration on 13/5/20 in Warren Park, Harare are not in police custody.”
The arrest, detention, abduction or other form of deprivation of liberty by the State followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or the concealment of the whereabouts of the disappeared person is an enforced or involuntary disappearance according to the UN.
A decade ago in 2010, in an effort to raise the importance of greater efforts to deal with the problem of forced disappearances at the United Nations Jeremy Sarkin, Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances described it as “a scourge which must be eradicated.” “By employing enforced disappearances as a tactic, governments instill fear and terror into the populace. It creates confusion and panic in the society. Victims’ families may not even attempt to seek information about their loved ones out of fear that they will suffer a similar fate,” he said.
Today, involuntary disappearances continue in Zimbabwe.
Establishing a channel of communication between the victims’ families and the government, to ensure that individual cases are investigated, with the objective of clarifying the whereabouts of persons who, having disappeared, are placed outside the protection of the law, why they are being detained, and of they are being treated with dignity is critical.
Under the guise of implementing COVID-19 regulations, security forces continue to conduct atrocities. There is however helpful information for the victims’ families in that you can report a cases to the UN an a helpful resources is: How To Report A Case.
Fresh debate should be had on Zimbabwe’s ratification of the UN resolution just as calls ought to be made for the prevention and eradication of this odious practice.
Columnist, Pearl Matibe has geographic expertise on U.S. foreign policy and global affairs. You may follow her on Twitter: @PearlMatibe