The United Nations will dispatch a special rapporteur to Zimbabwe in October to investigate the impact of Western sanctions on the enjoyment of human rights, the world body said on Wednesday.
The UN said in a statement that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, Alena Douhan, would undertake an official visit to Zimbabwe from 18-28 October at the invitation by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
“The Special Rapporteur and her team will collect information and hold a series of meetings with Government authorities, civil society organizations, private sector and opposition,” the world body said.
Douhan is expected to present a public report on the Zimbabwe visit to the UN Human Rights Council during its 51st Session in September 2022.
Zimbabwe has been under a raft of economic sanctions imposed by the European Union, United States and other Western nations in retaliation to the decision by the southern African country to compulsorily take land from white farmers in 2000.
The special rapporteur was appointed following a March 2017 Human Rights Council resolution on human rights and unilateral coercive measures.
The resolution stressed that unilateral coercive measures and legislation are contrary to international law, international humanitarian law, the UN Charter and the norms and principles governing peaceful relations among States.
It highlighted that in the long run the measures would result in social problems and raise humanitarian concerns in the States targeted.
JN/APA