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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
THE Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission has urged people from Matabeleland provinces to report cases of human rights violation to the rights watchdog.
Addressing Gwanda residents during a meeting, ZHRC Commissioner Japhet Ndabeni Ncube said each time they deliberate on reports of human rights violations, only about two percent of reported cases they deal with are from Matabeleland provinces.
“The responsibility of our commission is to look at the rights of people and when they are violated, we intervene. However, we are concerned as we rarely get reports from Matabeleland North and South Provinces.
“We meet in Harare every three months to deal with these cases and in a case where we have about 100 reports, about two will be from Matabeleland region or there would be none at all. Other provinces such as Harare and Bulawayo usually have the highest number of reports. Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central also submit a significant number of reports,’’ he said.
Comm Ncube said they investigated allegations that people from Matabeleland provinces did not report human rights violations because they were afraid of being victimised.
He said some citizens do not understand the operations of the commission and still doubted that it was an independent body.
Comm Ncube said the commission opened an office in Bulawayo to cater for people from the southern part of the country.
“We investigated why people are reluctant to report and learnt that they are afraid of victimisation.
“People assume that the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission is affiliated to a political party but it’s an independent body. There are a number of cases of violation of people’s rights which go unreported.
“I would like to urge people from Matabeleland to report cases. The commission has the power to summon anyone except the President of the country. We can summon Ministers, Governors, MPs and companies, therefore people shouldn’t be afraid but they must report so that issues of violation of human rights can be dealt with,’’ he said.
Comm Ncube said ZHRC had plans to open offices in all provinces and districts but was facing resource challenges.
Speaking during the same meeting, Chief Mathema appealed to the commission to raise awareness within communities about its existence and roles.
He said some people did not submit reports because they do not know about the commission. — @DubeMatutu
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