Posted on 06/29/2002 3:29:56 AM PDT by Clive
Harare - An African commission on human rights on Friday wrapped up a six-day fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe, where it was investigating widespread allegations of rights abuses.
Jainaba Johm, who headed the delegation from the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, said the team had accumulated 20kg of documents, interviewed victims of political violence, and met with officials from government, police, the opposition, pro-democracy groups and local rights bodies.
"As for what our conclusions will be at the end of the day, that is for our report," she told a press conference.
Her team's report will be released at the commission's next meeting in Banjul, Gambia, from October 17 to 31.
Even if the commission, which is part of the Organisation for African Unity (OAU), confirms reports of abuses, it has few powers to force changes in Zimbabwe, suffering from more than two years of political and economic crisis.
"We cannot enforce, but our documents have been very persuasive. Governments have adopted some of our recommendations," Johm said.
The commission's visit came as international rights watchdog Amnesty International accused Zimbabwe's government of systematically shielding people responsible for torture, abductions and political killings from justice.
The government used armed gangs to crush the opposition, subvert the rule of law, undermine the judiciary and harass the private press, Amnesty charged.
Zimbabwe's Human Rights NGO Forum has documented 55 deaths in political violence this year, mainly surrounding the March presidential election. - Sapa-AFP
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