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 CHAPTER 5: THE IMPACT OF LACK OF DOCUMENTATION ON THE ENJOYMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS Image 12 Witnesses narrating the painful impact of lack of documentation on their human rights 5.0 Introduction Zimbabwe’s Constitution provides for a number of fundamental human rights and the enjoyment of these rights depends on a variety of issues, systems, procedures, personnel and even structures. Documentation as has been previously indicated is a critical tool that has a major bearing on the enjoyment of rights. ZHRC in its work on this issue discovered a number of findings which highlight this particular aspect of documentation. This Chapter is a summary of key research findings that came out of the National Inquiry that documented the impact of lack of identity documentation on the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms. It was earlier indicated in this Report that one ground justifying the ZHRC decision to conduct the National Inquiry was the impact of non-documentation on realisation of rights. Chapter 4 Part 2 of the Constitution elaborates the human rights and freedoms that every person is entitled to. Access to documentation as encompassed in the right to nationality, name and birth registration is a right on its own and a foundation which facilitates enjoyment of other rights such as education, political rights and access to social welfare. Fundamentally, access to documentation cannot be promoted without understanding that when it is not protected, there is negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights which the Zimbabwe Constitution guarantees. In every submission of testimony made, individuals and groups could link the lack of documentation to certain human rights that they were failing to enjoy as demonstrated in annexure 7. It was very evident that non-access to documentation impacted negatively on the enjoyment of human rights for a significant number of people who took part in the inquiry as illustrated in detail in Figure 13 below. 42 42