The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has successfully presented its case before the Conference, on human and trade union rights violations in the Zimbabwe. This resulting decision was that Zimbabwe was placed in the Special Paragraph, alongside other pariah states.

The Zimbabwean government decided, at the last minute, against appearing before the Standards Committee after they had failed to lobby other governments to support them. The government had earlier indicated a desire to appear but after ‘consultations’ with colleagues in Zimbabwe they wrote to indicate that a representative would not be attending.

With this in mind the Standards Committee made its decision and the Zimbabwean government was found guilty of human and trade union rights abuses.

UK campaigning organisation, Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), works in close partnership with ZCTU. “We are delighted by the Standards Committee’s ruling at the International Labour Conference that the Zimbabwean government are guilty of human and trade union rights violations. The government must be made accountable for its actions and this important and emphatic step taken by the international labour movement is a positive move to make sure this happens” said Kathryn Llewellyn, Director of ACTSA.

Further conclusions of the hearing will be made available in due course.