GZF South Africa to Host Open Meeting

Dear All
The Global Zimbabwe Forum South Africa chapter kindly invites you to an open consultative meeting

Venue: Amnesty International Board Room, 10th Floor Braamfontein Centre, Johannesburg

Date : Saturday 5th November 2011

Time : 10am to 1pm

RSVP: Nora Chengeto Tapiwa on +27 79 138 3896

Human Rights Are Not Only For the Majorities!

by Daniel Molokele

Why is it that in our quest to realise the full attainment of our own human rights, we often find it so difficult to appreciate the fact that there are others out there too who are in the same journey with us? Why is it that we find it so hard to accept that it is not just us who deserve the full realisation of our own human rights?

My simple point is that human rights are not just universal but are also very individualistic in terms of practical application. In other words, human rights are a very personal experience.

Put in other terms, no one has the right to decide which rights can be enjoyed by another human being to the exclusion of other available rights. Absolutely no one!

This is more so in particular in cases where there is a dominant and vocal majority in question. It is just that when it comes to the realisation of human rights, the majorities are not always right!

Ideally, it is such a very sad scenario when a powerful minority group imposes its own interpretation on the practical application of human rights over the majorities. Such was the case during the colonial era when the minority white races originally from Europe, managed for hundreds of years to enjoy a much larger chunk of human rights at the expense of the marginalised black majorities. Colonialism was and remains a totally unacceptable and very indefensible system of government.

Related to that, the world has also experienced another form of racial injustice that ensured that for almost fifty years, a small minority white group enjoyed more human rights than a black majority group. Such was the abominable case with regards to the Apartheid system in South Africa from 1948 to 1990.

However, it must be pointed out in no uncertain terms that what is good for the goose is also equally good for the gender! In as much as we must all abhor and condemn any form of human rights applications in society that excludes the majorities, we must also be loud and vocal in deriding similar practices that marginalise the minorities in our midst.

In other words, we must not be reluctant to challenge any populist view however moralist it may sound, as long as it is seeks to practically deprive the full realisation of human rights for minority groups.

In an ideal democracy, the full attainment of human rights must always hinge on every individual citizen. Both the state and the government must be keen to equally protect both the rights of the majorities and those of the minorities in that country.

No state law or government policy must be accepted if it seeks to derogate any rights of the minorities under whatsoever circumstances! This is crucial especially when it comes to the country supreme law of the land, the national Constitution.

We must also seek to ensure that the Bill of Rights in every Constitution primarily seeks to protect the individual rights of every citizen and not to withhold any of their human rights entitlements.

This principle must apply to all the nations, including Zimbabwe among others.

Amnesty International to Host Consultation Meeting With Zimbabweans in SA

Amnesty International will host a consultative meeting on human rights issues with some representatives of the Zimbabwean community in South Africa soon.

The representatives will be drawn mainly from the various Zimbabwean civil society and community based organisations that are operational in the country

The meeting will be held at a venue in Johannesburg on Saturday 22nd October 2011

Global Zimbabwe Forum (South Africa) is actively assisting with the preparations for the event.