The Zimbabwe Peace Project reiterates its call for, among other things, genuine security
sector reforms.
The conduct of the security services has a bearing on the political, social and economic
state of the country and government should therefore take necessary measures to ensure
that the security sector is reformed to be an apolitical, professional and people-centred
institution.
This is because the human rights violations that ZPP has continued to record in the past
year, all point to the members of the state security as the major perpetrators of human
rights violations.
Government should also act to deal with the inequalities in communities – especially rural
areas- where some services and processes like the distribution of aid, are politicised, and
where political party activists control such processes, which should be left in the hands of
professional government services.
Zimbabweans are, in essence, under attack from their own government. In light of the
sustained attack on civil society players, political party activists and any perceived
government and ruling party opponents, there is an urgent need to mobilise critical
democratic forces for joint actions to compel the government of Zimbabwe to return to
constitutionalism, democracy and security sector reforms.
Government should implement the Constitution to its fullest and that includes Section
210, which stipulates that there must be an Act of Parliament to provide an effective and
independent mechanism for receiving and investigating complaints from members of the
public about misconduct on the part of members of the security services, and for
remedying any harm caused by such misconduct.
This act is long overdue as it will provide room for the thousands of Zimbabweans whose
rights have been violated with impunity by state security agents.
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