housing and health care services. The ICESCR Committee provides that discrimination undermines the
fulfilment of economic, social and cultural rights for a significant proportion of the world’s population and that
there should be no discrimination on the basis of birth, including for children of stateless parents and those born
out of wedlock.71
Stateless people live in poverty in Zimbabwe including living in poor housing structures. Photo Credit: Amnesty International/Tsvangirai Mukwazhi.
The ICESCR recognizes that “primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all” and provides that
“higher education shall be made equally accessible to all.”72 However, stateless people in Zimbabwe without
birth certificates and IDs have struggled to access education, including being excluded from sitting for
secondary school and other public examinations, thereby limiting their prospects of future employment.
8.3 AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’
RIGHTS
Zimbabwe is a state party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter).
In its interpretation of the ACHPR provisions around citizenship, the African Court on Human and Peoples’
Rights stated in the case of Anugo Ochieng Anugo v Republic of Tanzania that “while the granting of nationality
falls within the ambit of the sovereignty of states, the power to deprive a person of his or her nationality has to
be exercised in accordance with international standards, to avoid the risk of statelessness.”
The African Court listed the conditions under which a person may be deprived of their nationality:
71
i)
they must be founded on clear legal basis;
ii)
they must serve a legitimate purpose that conforms with international law;
iii)
they must be proportionate to the interest protected;
Article 1 and 26 of General Comment 20: Non-discrimination in the ICESCR.
13 of the ICESCR.
72 Article
WE ARE LIKE “STRAY ANIMALS”
THOUSANDS LIVING ON THE MARGINS DUE TO STATELESSNESS IN ZIMBABWE
Amnesty International
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