In
recent
months
and
weeks,
some
local
and
central
government
authorities
have
enlisted
the
services
of
law
enforcement
agents
and
descended
on
some
villagers,
where
they
arrested
and
detained
them
and
also
getting
them
prosecuted
for
allegedly occupying gazetted land without
lawful
authority.
In
some
instances,
judicial
officers
have
convicted
the
villagers
and
ordered
them
to
move
from
their
homesteads
and
land,
which
they
have
occupied
for
several
years
as
it
is
their
ancestral
land.
The
intervention
by
ZLHR
in
representing
the
villagers
and
through
filing
appeals
in
court
challenging
their
eviction
as
an
infringement
of
their
right
to
freedom
from
arbitrary
eviction
guaranteed
in
section
74
of
the
Constitution,
has
saved
them
as
High
Court
Judges
have
set
aside
the
evictions.
The
insensitive
and
callous
eviction
of
people
against
clear
Constitutional
provisions
that
protect
against
arbitrary
eviction
stamps
from
both
the
local
and
central
government’s
intention
to
continue
violating
their
constitutionally
protected
rights
and
commit
rights
abuse
excesses
with
impunity. It
is
worrisome
that
both
the
central
and
local
governments
have dismally
failed
to
follow
the
dictates
of
the
law
in
executing
evictions.
ZLHR
does
not
support
lawlessness
in
occupying
land,
however,
forced evictions
have
the
effect
of
stripping
affected
families
which
include
women,
people
with
disabilities
and
children,
of
their
constitutional
right
to
freedom
from
arbitrary
eviction
and
dignity
and cause
loss
of
livelihoods,
life,
and
property
and,
in
turn,
impact
basic
social,
economic,
cultural,
political
and
civil
rights
of
several
people.
Despite
adopting
a
progressive
Constitution
in
2013, which
guarantees
freedom
from
arbitrary
eviction,
it
is
incomprehensible
that
both local
and
central
governments
have
once
again
chosen
to
embark
on
an
infamous
operation
to
forcibly
evict
and
displace
people
without
offering
them
any
alternative
accommodation
or
shelter.
The
heartless
evictions
and
displacements
amount
to
inhuman
and
degrading
treatment
of
citizens
in
contravention
of
guarantees
contained
in
the
Constitution
and
regional
and
international
instruments
to
which
Zimbabwe
is
a
state
party.
ZLHR
calls
upon
local
and
central
government
to
immediately
halt
the
forced
evictions,
ensure
the
protection
of
several
internally
displaced
people
and
other
vulnerable
groups
and
take
remedial
action
to
protect
the
rights
provided
in
the
Constitution
and
the
International
Covenant
on
Economic,
Social
and
Cultural
Rights.
It
is
prudent
for
both
the
local
and
central
government
to
invest
efforts
and
resources
in
creating
a
stable,
safe
and
just
society,
which
places
people
at
the
centre
of
development
plans
and
commits
to
advancing
social
development
including
uplifting
marginalised
communities
rather
than
perpetuating
injustice.
Local
and
Central
government
should
wherever
possible
prevent
people
from
constructing
houses
in
undesignated
areas
than
to
wait
for
them
to
finish
constructing
and
then
demolish
properties
without
following
the
due
process
of
law.
Post
published
in:
Agriculture