N AT I O N A L I N Q U I R Y R E P O R T ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION For Human Dignity 1.1 Establishment of the National Inquiry and its Terms of Reference Image 2 ZHRC Commissioners and Staff at the Public Hearing in Matebeleland North Province The ZHRC conducted its maiden National Inquiry at its own initiative in 2019 – 2020 as part of its mandate in terms of Section 243 (1) (j) of the Constitution. The resolution to conduct the National Inquiry was made in 2018. This decision was informed by issues that were emerging in the course of ZHRC programming work pointing to the fact that challenges in accessing national documentation were widespread. This challenge had become a systemic human rights problem across the country affecting several people. Through its Monitoring and Inspections function in Care Homes, Prisons and Children’s Homes, it was observed that adults and children did not have documentation due to various reasons. Through the Complaints Handling and Investigations function, the ZHRC received several complaints articulating the problem of access to national documentation. Similarly, a recurring concern of non-documentation was also noted during public outreaches and mobile human rights clinics under the Education, Promotion and Research function of the ZHRC. The resolve by ZHRC to conduct the National Inquiry was furthermore informed and strengthened by research and work of other stakeholders such as Legal Resources Foundation (LRF), Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, Defence and Security Services, and TRACE’s Access to Documentation (ATD9) survey, and the media. Information from these sources was consistent with ZHRC’s empirical evidence which demonstrated the wide spread challenges citizens were facing in accessing documentation. The decision to conduct the National Inquiry was also informed by concluding observations and recommendations arising from the consideration of Zimbabwe’s State Party reports by international and regional Treaty Bodies10 and mechanisms11, further demonstrating the widespread shortcomings in birth registration. The Treaty Bodies expressed concerns on the low number of births registered, the low number of birth certificates issued, especially in rural areas and to low-income households and the absence of legislative provisions to guarantee that children See Annexure 2 for Literature Review. Concluding observations on the second periodic report of Zimbabwe, Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2016, available at https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/ZWIndex.aspx, and Concluding Observations and Recommendations by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) on the Republic of Zimbabwe Report on the Status of Implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, 2015, available at https://www.acerwc.africa/reporting-table/. 11 Universal Periodic Review, Recommendations made to Zimbabwe, 2016 available at https://www.uprinfo.org/en/review/Zimbabwe. 9 10 2 2