International Labour Conference
Commission on the application of standards
97th session, 2008
ZIMBABWE (ratification: 2003)
The Chairperson of the Committee invited the Government representatives to participate in the discussion. In addition, to confirm the absence of the delegation of Zimbabwe, which had been duly accredited and registered before the Conference, she referred to the working methods of the Committee. The refusal of a government to participate in the work of the Committee represented a
considerable obstacle to the achievement of the main objectives of the International Labour Organization. For this reason, the Committee could discuss the substance of those cases regarding governments registered and present at the Conference who decided not to appear before the
Committee. The discussion regarding such cases would be reflected in the appropriate part of the report, concerning both individual cases and the participation in the work of the Committee.
The Worker members indicated that the Government of Zimbabwe had embarked in a systematic and malicious spate of activities in violation of the Convention, including arrests, detentions, brutality and harassment of trade union leaders, activists and human rights defenders. Under the same government administration, Zimbabwe had once been a democracy and a food basket for the southern African region, with a strong currency, but had since allowed itself to degenerate into a despotic State that had let its economy run into the abyss through bad governance.
The Government’s flagrant disregard for the Zimbabwean people manifested itself by discretionary denial of civil liberties through the constant use of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act of 2006 and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) to regulate trade union activities. The Worker members reported that, regrettably, Mr Wellington Chibebe had been arrested for the second time, together with Mr Lovemore Matombo, the President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). They had been incarcerated in remand centres for 12 days and were currently out on bail. A request of the subregional ILO representative to visit them had been rejected. Both ZCTU members and ordinary workers had become victims of torture, arrests, victimization and displacement. In the rural areas, many teachers had been victimized and brutally beaten in front of their pupils; 67 teachers had to be hospitalized, and Mr Raymond Mazongwe had been arrested and later released.
The Government should be reminded of the Resolution concerning trade union rights, adopted by the Conference in 1970, which pointed out that the absence of civil liberties such as those enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights removed all meaning from the concept of trade union rights. Similarly, the Committee on Freedom of Association had stated that the rights of workers’ and employers’ organizations could only be exercised in a climate free from violence, pressure or threats against the leaders and members of the organizations, and that it was for governments to ensure that this principle was respected.
The Government of Zimbabwe had deliberately boycotted this Committee and perennially undermined itsadvice concerning trade union rights and civil liberties. The Worker members therefore called upon the Committee to strongly urge the Government to stop using the POSA in trade union affairs; to repeal the Criminal Law that criminalized trade union activities; to stop demanding prior authorization of trade union activities; to discontinue violence, harassment, detentions and brutality against both trade unionists and ordinary citizens; to withdraw all cases against trade union leaders; to compensate all victims of torture; allow displaced citizens to return peacefully to their homes; to resuscitate social dialogue and to apply the Convention in law and in practice. Finally, the Worker members wished to call for an ILO mission to thecountry and urged the Committee to include the conclusions in a special paragraph.
The Employer members stated that the Government of Zimbabwe continued to enact legislation that paralysed freedom of association, in particular the POSA, and to initiate criminal proceedings against trade union leaders participating in public demonstrations. The Government had also refused a high-level technical assistance mission of the ILO. However, by ratifying the Convention, the Government of Zimbabwe undertook international obligations to bring its law and practice into line with the Convention. This included the protection of civil liberties.
Regrettably, this was the second year that the Governmenthad not appeared before the Committee, although it had participated in the discussions of the Committee this year. In accordance with the Committee’s working methods, as revised at the present session, the discussion of this individual case would therefore be included in Part II of the Committee’s report, and should also be mentioned in a special paragraph for continued failure to apply the Convention.
This case involved flagrant violations of the most basic elements of freedom of association. There was evidence of assaults, arrests, torture and police violence against trade union leaders. There was an absence of civil liberties, including freedom of speech, movement, association, assembly, as well as freedom and security of persons. This case was about a country that rejected human rights, including the most fundamental cornerstone of the ILO, freedom of association.
The Employer member of South Africa stated that the events in Zimbabwe were a tragedy. The atrocities and human suffering were beyond description. Workers were being denied rights and were persecuted for standing up for justice. The situation also affected employers. The Government’s refusal to appear before the Committee was evidence for its disrespect for the ILO and its fundamental principles. Given the continuing violation of the Convention by the Government, it was time for introspection not only for Zimbabweans, but also for African and international leaders to use all appropriate means to avert further human suffering. Millions of workers had left the country and families were being split.
The Worker member of Zimbabwe stated that Convention No. 87, one of the pillars by which democracy was measured and tested, was under threat due to the Government’s refusal to abide by the previous conclusions of the Conference Committee. The issue before the Committee was whether Zimbabwe had improved with respect to its observance and application of the Convention since the Committee’s discussion in 2007. This was unfortunately not the case.
In 2007, the Committee had discussed the need for labour law reform to allow public servants to be part of mainstream unions, with the authority to negotiate their conditions of service by way of a National Employment Council. He noted with grave concern the Government’s dithering on this distortion in the country’s industrial relations which had been criticized by the Committee of Experts. Surprisingly, after the 2002 harmonization of the Public Service Act (PSA) with the Labour Act, the Government had reverted to the PSA in 2005 without consultation with relevant industrial relations stakeholders. Furthermore, prison service staff and the police were still not allowed to form trade unions.
The Worker member also recalled that the Labour Act was not in compliance with even the minimum international labour standards. Chapter 28:01, section 2A, merely referred to international labour standards, and the courts refused to apply them because the relevant Conventions had not been incorporated into domestic law. This was the essence of the problem faced by trade unions in their everyday struggle to protect their members.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) had suffered its fair share of brutality from the Government. The Government refused to learn from its previous acts and omissions. On 13 September 2006, a number of workers, among them ZCTU leaders, who had gathered to raise the authorities’ awareness of the unbearable poverty levels and the need for access to anti-retroviral drugs, had met with the worst kind of police brutality. The torture they had gone through merely for expressing themselves was beyond any description. Arrests and detentions remained the norm.
After May Day commemorations organized by the ZCTU, on 8 May 2008, police had visited the homes of its leaders, including the speaker himself, and arrested them. They had been charged with “communicating falsehoods which where prejudicial to the State” and later released on bail, on condition that they made no political statements. However, it was impossible to know what exactly was considered political or non-political when dealing with issues in the workplace and at national level. ZCTU members had also suffered violence in the context of the 2008 elections, with civil servants and teachers having been targeted the most because they were thought to be opinion-makers in their communities. Yet, the ILO supervisory bodies had requested the Government to respect the right of workers to operate in a free and democratic environment.
Although the POSA was rarely being used at present, its place had been taken by the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act of 2006. The Worker member stated that this Act had been used to infringe the right of the ZCTU and its affiliates to express their views on the Government’s economic and social policy. He himself was due to stand trial under the Act on 23 June 2008.
The Government member of Slovenia spoke on behalf of the Governments of Member States of the European Union, and the candidate countries of Turkey, Croatia and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the countries of the Stabilization and Association Process and the potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the EFTA countries Norway and Switzerland, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Armenia.
He deeply regretted that the Government of Zimbabwe once again refused to participate in the discussion of the Committee and urged the Government to resume its dialogue with the ILO immediately and to accept a highlevel technical assistance mission of the ILO under the terms requested by the Committee in 2006. The deterioration of the situation relating to trade unions rights in Zimbabwe remained alarming. He shared the continuous concerns of the Committee of Experts with respect to the POSA. The Government should take all necessary measures to ensure that the POSA was no longer used to infringe the rights of workers and their organizations.
He further noted with great concern acts of anti-union discrimination and interference under the Criminal Law related to political activities of trade union members and agreed with the relevant findings of the Committee on Freedom of Association. The Government should drop all charges connected to trade union activities and abstain from measures of arrest and detention of trade union leaders or members for reasons connected with such activities. The Government was requested to provide full and detailed information with respect to the cases of Mr Matombo and Mr Chibebe.
He further stressed the interdependence between civil liberties and trade union rights. A truly free and independent trade union movement could only develop in a climate of respect for fundamental human rights. The Zimbabwean people had the right to enjoy freedom of expression without harassment, intimidation or violence and to live under the protection of the rule of law. He therefore urged the Government to restore full respect for the rule of law and take immediate steps to end the continuing human rights violations.
The Worker member of Botswana declared that the acts of violence in Zimbabwe were also targeting teachers, students and education communities. The Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) and the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) witnessed many acts of violence such as killings, torture and other forms of abuses against teachers in rural areas.
In the context of the national elections of 2008, teachers had been accused of influencing the vote as role models of their communities. In some areas, teachers had been told to vacate their schools or to relocate, while others had been threatened. Most violence had allegedly been perpetrated by war veterans and the youth militia. Some teachers had been arrested or abducted by the Central Intelligence Organization operatives. Furthermore, thousands of teachers had been prevented from voting in the first round because they had deliberately been deployed outside their voting wards as polling officers. This was a violation of the constitutional right of teachers to elect their political leaders.
The PTUZ had reported that at least 250 schools in 23 districts throughout the country had been affected by some forms of violence in the period between 3 and 9 May 2008. In some instances, teachers had been beaten in front of pupils and community members. Sixty-seven teachers had been hospitalized in Harare, Kotwa, Karoi, Rusape, Bonda, Howard, Guruve, Marondera and elsewhere; 139 teachers had to flee their schools and 213 teachers’ houses had been looted. Many teachers had fled to neighbouring countries and were unlikely to return, worsening the brain drain in the education sector.
On 15 May 2008, Mr Raymond Majongwe, the General Secretary of the PTUZ, had again been briefly arrested by the police at the High Court of Zimbabwe where he had been attending a hearing of trade union leaders. His arrest had occurred following advertisements posted by the PTUZ deploring the fact that teachers were being beaten and harassed at their workplaces. Mr Raymond Majongwe had regularly been harassed and detained for voicing demands aimed at improving the crippled education system in Zimbabwe. On 6 October 2007, the police had intervened brutally to disperse a World Teachers’ Day celebration, arrested Mr Majongwe and interrogated him for hours. Earlier, his passport had been seized to prevent him from leaving the country to attend an international trade union meeting. The acts of violence committed by the Government against teachers and trade unionists were to be condemned. The Zimbabwean authorities were urged to respect all human rights and trade union rights. Public Service International, Education International and the ILO should send special missions to Zimbabwe.
The Government member of the United States stated that her Government noted with profound regret that the Committee was discussing this extremely serious case without the participation of the Government of Zimbabwe. Her Government was deeply disturbed by the pervasive and systematic abuse of worker and human rights in Zimbabwe. The Government of Zimbabwe’s unequivocal record regarding trade union rights, confirmed by both the Committee of Experts and the Committee on Freedom of Association, included obstruction, harassment, imprisonment, and reprisals, constituting massive, flagrant and defiant violations of Convention No. 87, freely ratified by Zimbabwe. Recent events demonstrated that respect for the rule of law in Zimbabwe continued to deteriorate.