TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE PEACE IN ZIMBABWE
The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) commends the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) for its work in
investigating and issuing strong recommendations on service delivery-related human rights violations by local
authorities, particularly the City of Harare. Guided by its constitutional mandate to promote, protect, and enforce
human rights and administrative justice, the Commission has raised serious concerns over preventable loss of life and
systemic neglect. The deaths of two council workers on 31 August 2025 at the Glen View sewage plant, after inhaling
toxic gases due to a faulty valve, highlight gross negligence and failure to provide protective equipment, violating
their rights to life, dignity, and safe working conditions. Workers have also reported unpaid salaries, unhygienic
environments, and hazardous exposure. Additionally, the preventable death of Ms. Clara Bear, who fell into an
uncovered trench, reflects the City’s disregard for public safety and its duty of care.
ZPP urges the City to urgently address these violations and several other service delivery human rights violations
particularly relating to inhuman treatment and calls on ZHRC to continue thoroughly investigating other serious human
rights concerns rooted in corruption and neglect, and culminating in health crises, inequality, and discrimination,
ensuring accountability and adherence to constitutional obligations and administrative justice standards.
10 STEPS BACKWARDS
The Dark Side of Unseen Human Rights Violations
When one looks across Africa, where armed conflicts dominate headlines in several countries, Zimbabwe may appear,
on the surface, to be a peaceful nation. Politicians often proclaim stability, pointing to the absence of open warfare
as evidence of harmony. However, beneath this calm exterior lies a troubling reality of systematic and often unseen
human rights violations that continue to undermine fundamental freedoms.
From the Zimbabwe Peace Project’s observations, many citizens are prevented from freely expressing themselves due
to a deliberate and sustained commitment by the state or members of its institutions, to silence dissent. Journalists
who publish critical voices have faced repeated arrests and persecution. At the community level, victims are
threatened against exercising their political rights, discouraged from supporting opposition voices, or even from
openly discussing the prevailing political climate. This culture of fear forces people to retreat from public discourse,
allowing local and national leaders to trample upon citizens’ rights with impunity.
Widespread corruption further deepens these violations. As public resources are mismanaged, communities are
deprived of essential services such as healthcare, roads, schools, and clean water. In mining communities, forced
evictions and exposure to hazardous conditions have become routine, with politically connected investors shielded
from accountability. Meanwhile, serious abuses, including torture and abductions, often go uninvestigated,
perpetuating a cycle of impunity.
Local authorities, despite collecting rates and holding a public mandate, frequently neglect their duties to provide
basic services, compounding citizens’ suffering. These hidden and systemic violations challenge the simplistic narrative
of peace. They compel us to rethink Zimbabwe’s human rights situation collectively, confront impunity, and reimagine
sustainable peace rooted in justice, accountability, and respect for human dignity.
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