Zimbabweans Take Stock of Abuses During COVID-19 Lockdowns
Voice of America
HARARE - Human rights groups in Zimbabwe say the government has frequently violated people’s basic rights since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The groups presented their findings at a partially virtual meeting with officials in the capital Thursday.
At the meeting, rights groups presented a report they call "The Impact of COVID-19 on Socio-Economic Rights.” The report chronicles how Zimbabwe’s government has violated human rights since COVID-19 lockdowns started in March 2020. Calvin Fambirai, executive director of Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, was one of the speakers. He said the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the gap in medical care between the haves and have-nots in the country. “The haves were able to secure that equipment and the bedding facilities in private hospitals whose pricing was far beyond the majority of poor Zimbabweans. The right to health is also another component that relates to torture and inhumane and degrading treatment,” said Fambirai.A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.