Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Pre-session working group – Zimbabwe 11 maternal health care information and services for women and girls living in Operation Garikai settlements, including in particular antenatal care, skilled birth attendants, emergency obstetric care and post-natal care; Ensure that costs are not a barrier to accessing essential health services including emergency obstetric care and other reproductive and maternal health services;
Ensure effective referrals for access to health care for pregnant women – including transport – in particular for populations living at a significant distance from the nearest health care facilities;

Ensure access to clean water and sanitation in all Operation Garikai settlements; Ensure that victims of violations of the right to health can access effective judicial and other appropriate remedies;

Where the government is unable to meet its obligations it should seek international cooperation and assistance to ensure at least minimum essential levels of healthcare including emergency obstetric care and postnatal care - and clean water and sanitation for all. 4. VIOLATION OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, ASSOCIATION AND PEACEFUL PROTEST (ARTICLES 2 AND 7(C)) In response to the disproportionate impact of the economic decline on women’s access to basic goods and services in the past decade, a strong grassroots women’s social justice movement has emerged in Zimbabwe. One of the leading organisations in this movement is Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), which engages in non-violent peaceful protests focussing on women’s access to food, water, health care, electricity, and education for their children and other dependents. WOZA has a membership of about 80,000 activists making it the largest organisation of grassroots women in Zimbabwe. WOZA activists engaging in peaceful protest to highlight lack of access to basic services often suffer human rights violations by police including police brutality. WOZA members constitute the majority of Zimbabwean activists who have been arbitrarily arrested, unlawfully detained and subjected to torture and other ill-treatment while in police custody. While in detention WOZA members have been subjected to sexist attacks designed to de-legitimize their concerns and activism as women. They have also been subjected to other ill-treatment including denial of food and medical treatment. The detention of women activists has also had a disproportionately negative effect on their own welfare and that of their children and dependents. Amnesty International is concerned that the Zimbabwean authorities have repeatedly violated women human rights defenders’ right to promote and protect human rights, and has allowed impunity for such violations to persist. The government has used the law, excessive force against peaceful women protesters, and torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment in order to stop women human rights defenders from going about their legitimate activities to campaign for the protection of their human rights. Index: AFR 46/014/2011 Amnesty International June 2011