United Nations experts have called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to reject the highly criticized Private Voluntary Organizations (PVO) bill saying it curtails fundamental freedoms of civic society groups and the right to freedom of expression.
The bill provides for disproportionate and discretionary powers to the newly established Office of the Registrar of PVOs, without independence from the executive branch.
“It is not too late for the President to change course,” the experts said in a statement yesterday while citing that by approving the bill, the government will be shrinking the civic space.
“We stand ready to assist the Government to revise the Amendment Bill to ensure compliance with international human rights norms and standards,” the experts said.
They warned that actions considered to be in breach of certain provisions in the Bill could lead to criminal prosecution, with penalties ranging from heavy fines to imprisonment.
“While one of the stated aims of the Bill is to counter terrorism and money laundering in Zimbabwe, the restrictions contained therein will have a chilling effect on civil society organizations – particularly dissenting voices. By enacting this legislation, authorities would effectively be closing an already shrinking civic space,” the UN experts said.
The panel of experts is made up of Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.
