Zimbabwe: A five point human rights agenda for the inclusive government 9 Set up a national Human Rights Commission in conformity with the Paris Principles. The commission should be granted full independence and freedom of action and resources to conduct its work, and have a broad mandate to cover Zimbabwe’s long history of human rights violations, including violations that took place in the 1980’s in the Midlands and Matabeleland provinces. 4. END PARTISAN POLICING AND COMBAT IMPUNITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY THE SECURITY FORCES Some units in the Law and Order section of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) appear to operate under political instructions and without accountability to the ZRP command structures. Several victims have testified before Zimbabwean courts about their torture and other ill-treatment while in the custody of the Law and Order section. For example, on or around 23 December 2008 the section received victims of enforced disappearance from their abductors. Even though the courts had ruled that the abduction of some of the victims was unlawful, no-one was arrested. Senior officers from the Law and Order section were complicit in ensuring that the victims were unable to identify the perpetrators. Hundreds of people have been severely beaten while in the custody of the Law and Order section simply for belonging to opposition parties or a human rights group. Amnesty International urges the new government to: Reform relevant units of the ZRP to ensure that they are not used as instruments to perpetrate human rights violations. Public officials and employees, in particular those in the security forces, should receive comprehensive and ongoing training in human rights standards and their implementation. If the new government is unable to undertake this exercise it should immediately seek international support and collaborate with civil society organisations to implement such training. Ensure that those in the Law and Order section implicated in human rights violations, including torture and other forms of ill-treatment, are held accountable and removed from public office. The officers who carried out the violations as well as their superiors should be held to account. Put in place effective oversight mechanisms for the security forces so that action is taken promptly to ensure lawful practices at all times. Invite the AU and the UN to send human rights monitors to monitor the activities of the security forces and to investigate allegations of human rights violations perpetrated by the security forces. 5. PRIORITISE THE FULL REALISATION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Retrogressive government policies and practices have led directly to the reduction of the entire population’s access to food, healthcare, education and housing. Hyper inflation has also eroded the capacity of both rural and urban populations to access food. In 2008, the country experienced serious shortages of seed and fertilizer. Food security – nearly half of Zimbabwe’s population is dependent on food aid from the World Food Programme. Despite the high levels of food insecurity and in clear violation of its obligations under international human rights law, the government has consistently used food as a tool to Index: AFR 46/009/2009 Amnesty International February 2009