Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi says of the 264 human rights recommendations made by the United Nations community to Zimbabwe, 168 were accepted by the government while the rest were deferred.

Apparently, he told the UN Human Rights Council that the imposition of Western sanctions has severely hampered the country’s economic development.

Presenting a Universal Period Review report today, Ziyambi called for the unconditional removal of the sanctions describing them as unjust.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZHLR) urges the Zimbabwean government to fully embrace the progressive recommendations that were proposed by United Nations (UN) member states in Geneva on 26 January 2022 during the UN Human Rights Council-led Universal Periodic Review (UPR) ‘Interactive Dialogue Session’.

The UPR is a special peer review mechanism led by the UN Human Rights Council to examine the human rights records of all the 193 member states of the UN. It was established in 2006 when the UN General Assembly created the UN Human Rights Council.

The UPR process aims to improve the human rights situation in all nations of the world by providing a platform for member states to make recommendations, and review each other, to encourage adherence to human rights best practices.

It is a unique mechanism designed in a manner that ensures that all countries are treated equally when their human rights records are assessed.

States are assessed periodically, at least every four and half years, when their implementation of state recommendations on human rights compliance made in the previous cycles is monitored.

Apparently, Zimbabwe has a poor human rights record.

Zwnews