Maravi

Govt should protect citizens' rights - Chongwe

Govt should protect citizens' rights - Chongwe
By Mwala Kalaluka
Wed 11 July 2012, 13:40 CAT

PROTECTION of any right has a cost and the country should be prepared to spend resources in order to guarantee its citizens a minimum of economic, social and cultural rights, says prominent lawyer Dr Rodger Chongwe.

In a presentation titled 'South-North Aspects of Human Rights and Business: A story and experience from Zambia' delivered to a conference on Human Rights and Business organised by the Hague-based African Legal Aid AFLA in Johannesburg on Friday, Dr Chongwe said economic, social and cultural rights had been relegated to mere pious aspirations.

He said financial constraints should not be a factor in determining whether these rights should be justiciable or not.

"The fact that a country is poor does not constitute a legitimate excuse for it to avoid striving to ensure that its citizens enjoy economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to adequate food, education and health care," he said.

Dr Chongwe said unlike the first generation rights which are universal to both the North and the South, the third generation rights were not universally applicable to much of Africa south of the Sahara.

"The reason for this is that the economic, social and cultural rights have always been regarded as gradual in their application as they depend on the resources available to a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights," he said.

Dr Chongwe said while the South was hungry for foreign investment, there were clear difficulties confronting many African governments in policing regulations that protect the interests of workers and local communities.

He said it was futile to imagine that the courts would provide protection as they are also likely to be affected by endemic corruption as were the investigative wings.

"Executive influence is also rife in some jurisdictions providing protection to corrupt political elements," he said.

Dr Chongwe said most Zambians were unable to raise capital so as to meaningfully invest in their country and depended on direct foreign investment.
"There is need for foreign business to comply with requisite laws relating to the environment and land degradation," he said.

"In case of the investment in mining, this continues to hold two faces, the shining public face of job creation and possible tax revenues that is beloved of African governments and the hidden one of exploitation of both workers and traditional land owners and pollution left behind."

But Dr Chongwe said mining was not the only area of difficulty. He said lack of seriousness on the part of successive governments had curtailed well-meaning efforts at constitution making in Zambia.

"In November 2011, a new government that took over power on the 23rd September 2011 appointed a Committee of Experts to write a new Constitution for Zambia," said Dr Chongwe. "The team of experts has dealt with issues of political, economic, social and cultural rights extensively in an effort to make all these issues justiciable and enforceable by the courts."

Labels: HUMAN RIGHTS, ROGER CHONGWE

posted by MrK @ 8:07 PM