The Forum is a coalition comprising of 21 non-governmental human rights groups in the country.
It encompasses reports gathered nationally by the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), the Counselling Service Unit (CSU) and the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights.
In a report released this week, the Forum said there was need for the government to respond urgently and deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Forum remains deeply concerned with the continued defiance of Covid-19 regulations by citizens amidst evidence of increasing cases of the virus. In light of the above, the Forum reiterates the need for effective and meaningful strategies by the government to respond to and to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said in its report.
ZPP Monthly Monitoring Report (December 2020)
Format
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The year 2020 was, by all accounts, a very difficult year for Zimbabwe. The global COVID-19 pandemic went beyond being just a health issue and the Zimbabwean government conveniently used the outbreak as an excuse to clamp down on human rights in Zimbabwe.
For most of the year, state security agents were the major perpetrators of human rights violations and this was largely under the guise of the enforcement of COVID-19 lockdown regulations.
As the year 2020 ground to its end in December, the trend continued, with little prospects of a better situation in 2021.
Africa: Violence, Forcing Women Out of Mining allafrica.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from allafrica.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Violence, forcing women out of mining
Date: December 9, 2020
By Fortunate Muzarabani
Lungile Sibindi (43), emerges from the bellies of the earth, her face covered in dust of the red soils of Inyathi. She needs to take a brief lunch break, however she and her colleagues will have to round up work as the skies are threatening a downpour.
The rule is that when it rains nobody must be underground, it is too risky.
She walks across debris to a makeshift kitchen with pots on a hearth with more smoke than fire. She picks a few plates from the tattered 4 men tent which is slowly giving in to the harsh weather elements.