Human Rights Commission Bill goes through second reading

amendments creating that body was read for  the second time yesterday in the House of Assembly.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Parliamentary and Constitutional Affairs, which had been on a whirlwind tour of the country gathering people’s views tabled its report where it raised reservations on the Bill, some of which include the powers of the responsible minister which they felt ought to be limited. They said the Human Rights Commission should submit reports directly to Parliament and not to a minister as he might either tamper with the report or withhold it.
Steering the Bill, Justice and Legal Affairs Minister, Patrick Chinamasa said he had taken a considerably long time to bring the Bill before the House because of some contentious issues which were ultimately resolved through the involvement of negotiators to the Global Political Agreement.
“The Bill is a product of wide ranging consultation,” said Minister Chinamasa.
Committee chairperson, Mr Douglas Mwonzora implored the minister to revisit some of the provisions of the Bill which the committee felt curtailed the independence and impartiality of the commission.
Some of the provisions raised by the committee include, the need to limit the powers of the minister which they felt were too excessive, broaden the scope of human rights violation to include the country’s international obligations, recruitment of the staff and its jurisdiction to conduct investigations.
“Human rights should be defined not only by reference to domestic law, but also by reference to all international human rights instruments which Zimbabwe has ratified or to which it has acceded. Thus whether the treaty has been domesticated or not is immaterial,” said Mr Mwonzora who is also Nyanga North MP (MDC-T) while presenting the report.
It was also noted that the appointment of a deputy chairperson should be left to commissioners to choose a person among themselves based on identifying the most competent person with appropriate leadership qualities.
“The appointment procedure is problematic, with a lot of executive influence and possible politicisation. The current provisions of the Bill do not cultivate independence of the commission since all its leadership is chosen by politicians and the executive,” said Mr Mwonzora.
On appointment of staff members and contractual labour, the committee recommended that this must be done by the commissioners and executive secretary to maintain its independence and avoid packing it with sympathisers of members of the Executive whose independence could be compromised.
On matters of discipline and removal of commissioners, the committee recommended that it be done through Parliament’s Standing Rules and Orders Committee and not through the Executive to ensure autonomy.
The committee also recommended that the period within which a complaint must be filed with the commission should be increased for as long as the evidence is still available and not limit it to three years.
It was also recommended that the commission’s investigation of violations be extended to go beyond the proposed February 13 2009.