International Instruments There are a number of International Instruments that provide for the right to property which the Zimbabwean government could have relied on in the land reform process Article 26 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provides that: “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other 23 status”. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, which interprets states' obligations under the ICCPR, has made it clear that Article 26 provides for protection against discrimination in the enjoyment of all rights, including rights not mentioned in the ICCPR, such as the right to property.24 These provisions make it clear that a programme of land reform that discriminates in law or fact, on the grounds of political belief or other grounds, is not in accordance with international human rights law. Land reform is generally advocated in Zimbabwe as urgently necessary to address the stark inequalities in land distribution and wealth. However, as stated in the African Charter and reinforced by the provisions of the ICCPR and other binding international treaties, the rules providing for compulsory purchase should be clearly set out in law and those affected should have the right to voice opposition to the acquisition and to challenge it before a competent and impartial court. In addition, the security forces and criminal justice system must provide equal protection to all those who are victims of violence and the law should take its course without interference from political authorities. The African Charter provides, in article 21(2), that: "In case of spoliation the dispossessed people shall have the right to the lawful recovery of its property as well as to an adequate compensation." 25 This has not happened in Zimbabwe because acquisition of land by the state took a partisan rather than a national stand. These, and many other violations cited by the CFU, attacked the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 (Article 17) which states that "everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others," and that "no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property." Article 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, however, provides that: "The right to property shall be guaranteed. It may only be encroached upon in the interest of public need or in the general interest of the community and in accordance with the provisions of appropriate laws."26 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination sets forth in Article 5 the right of everyone to equality before the law without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, including the enjoyment of "the right to own property alone as well as in association with others." The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) establishes the same rights for both spouses with respect to ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property (Article 16). Property Rights Violations Property rights violations entail planned or unplanned assault on the right to tenure or entitlement whether law or traditional norms protect this. There were wide spread property rights violations motivated by the lawlessness nature of the fast track land reform programme in Zimbabwe. This process of violation still continues on the remaining few commercial farms in Zimbabwe. Property rights violations entail planned or unplanned assaults on the right to tenure or entitlement. The Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe (CFU) has documented more than eighty-nine methods used in Zimbabwe to violate rights to property, which include unsolicited visits by high ranking politicians on one's property, cruelty to animals, torture, pegging-off land by settlers, damage to property, theft of equipment, trashing and looting of homes, burning of crops, barricading of homes, stock thefts, police searches and occupations without proper offer letters.27 23 ICCPR, Art. 26 www.UNHCR.org/human rights 25 African Charter on Human and People's Rights, Article. 21. (2) 26 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Article 14 24 27 Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe Report on Farm Disruptions, Vol. XXVII, December 2009 9