VIOLATION of human rights happens on daily basis. It may be at homes, streets, villages, or even regions where children, teens, and adults get abused.
In the social, print and electronic media, abuse of children and women rights is common place. The violation of human rights which are typically widespread in the communities, includes mob justice, abuse of people with disability, gender based violence, battering, corporal punishment, bullying and denial of basic rights such as education, health and shelter.
But when people talk about violation of human rights, they normally blame law enforcers yet the abuse may only be a fraction of those causing suffering to the citizens.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), say most people who suffer human rights abuses sometimes do not know that their rights have been violated, and even if they know, they do not know where or who to turn to for help even within their own countries.
In series of forums held in different places in Zanzibar, before and after the International Human Rights Day (December 10), people raised their voices against police, land conflicts, and difficulty in getting justice in courts as some of the serious violations of Human Rights, which need to be addressed.On 10th December every year, the world celebrates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and the theme for 2015, Human Rights Day was ‘Our Rights Our Freedoms Always.’
The day also included the launch of one-year campaign commemorating two international treaties adopted 50 years ago: The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Created in the aftermath of WWII, the two Covenants along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights became the International Bill of Human Rights setting out the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights that are the birth right of all human beings.
The UN says fifty years on, many people are still unaware of the existence of the International Bill of Human Rights and many countries around the world still have much to do to build political institutions, judicial systems, and economies that allow ordinary people to live with dignity.
The growth of hate speech against religious and racial minorities, the justification of rights violations in the name of combating terrorism, the clawing back of economic and social rights in the name of economic crises or security, and the failure to respect the right to privacy in the digital age, show the relevance of the two Covenants and the need to respect them.
During the debate at the forums, participants like Ms Bahati Omar said she was among the many people who have little knowledge about Human Rights, attributing to increased domestic and sexual violence.
“We are told that religions teach about refraining from killing, stealing, beating, cheating, and raping, which are violation of Human Rights.
It is unfortunate that many only regard police brutality as abuse, and not what an individual does to a daughter or son at home,” Ms Omar said.
Lawyers in Zanzibar: Judge, Mr Mshibe Ali Bakar (Chairman of Law Reform Commission), Ms Haruc Mpatani (Director, Zanzibar Legal Services Centre (ZLSC), and Mr Ibrahim Mzee (Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), said on different occasions that each person has a role in promoting human rights.
“The challenge so far is the implementation of the conventions by the government. People’s chances to question the authorities are limited, if they do not get the needs,” said Mr Ibrahim Mzee.
He said although the constitution safeguards human rights, it does not allow people to go to court to demand for cultural, economic, and social rights. “For example if you are without proper health care, water, and education, you cannot go to court to demand,” he said.
The DPP said in one of the forums in Zanzibar that governments are supposed to make sure that Human Rights are protected, and also people understand their role in promoting human rights in the country.
Being equal before the law should be encouraged alongside avoiding delays in hearing and judgment of the case, and deliberate absence of witnesses hampers Court proceeding and occasionally leads to dismissal of the case, he said.
“There is no case without witness, yet many people in criminal cases including sexual abuse, are reluctant to stand as witness.
Ignorance, corruption, and coyness which leads to forgive criminals, are some of the challenges facing the judiciary system in the Islands,” said Mr Mzee.
Chairman of the ‘Zanzibar Law Reform Commission (ZLRC), Judge Mshibe said that sea and road accidents are also violation of Human Rights, “therefore safety measures should be observed to minimize such violation of human rights.”
The judge said that members of the community including parents, teachers, and leaders should learn that any act of aggression and denial of basic needs was violation of human rights, and that for a long time; the community has failed to address the problem of violence because of negligence and ignorance of the laws and procedure to search for justice.
Mr Mshibe argues that awareness of human rights has been increasing in the country through various campaigns organized by activists, but a lot more efforts are required to promote respect of human rights from streets, villages to national level.
Lawyers in Zanzibar join ACHPR to emphasize that it is very important for NGOs and governments to educate people about their human rights and inform them of the local and international remedies available to them when their rights are violated.
International intervention is always chosen as a last resort when the local justice delivery system has failed to reinstate the victim in his or her rights.
One of the main functions of the Commission is to attend to communications submitted by individuals, NGOs and States Parties to the African Charter, alleging violations of human rights by these states.
/Daily News.
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