UN urges Zimbabwe to cease mass evictions
The United Nations today urged Zimbabwe’s government to halt its campaign of mass evictions, saying it was a clear violation of human rights.
Miloon Kothari, a UN expert on the right to adequate housing, reminded the government of its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The covenant, which Zimbabwe ratified in 1991, says that evictions should never leave victims homeless.
Police in Zimbabwe have been evicting urban poor and demolishing their shacks around the country in a crackdown the government calls a clean-up campaign. More than one million people in the capital alone could be left homeless since the action began on May 19.
The campaign, which is mainly targeting street vendors and shack dwellers, is seen as an attack by the government on its political opposition, which has wide support among the urban poor.
Amnesty International has condemned the crackdown, which it says has left whole communities without shelter and destroyed thousands of livelihoods.
Amnesty said police and other security forces are using excessive force - burning homes, destroying property and beating individuals.
