Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare. The second largest city is Bulawayo. A country of roughly 15 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most common. Beginning in the 9th century, during its late Iron Age, the Bantu people built the city-state of Great Zimbabwe which became one of the major African trade centres by the 11th century, controlling the gold, ivory and copper trades with the Swahili coast, which were connected to Arab and Indian states. By the mid 15th century, the city-state had been abandoned. From there, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe was established, followed by the Rozvi and Mutapa empires.
Ladies in White is an opposition movement in Cuba founded in 2003 by wives and other female relatives of jailed dissidents and those who have been made to disappear by the government. The women protest the imprisonments by attending Mass each Sunday wearing white dresses and then silently walking through the streets dressed in white clothing. The color white is chosen to symbolize peace.
There were widespread reports of systematic and escalating violations of human rights in Zimbabwe under the regime of Robert Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF, between 1980 and 2017.
Solange Pierre, known as Sonia Pierre, was a human rights advocate in the Dominican Republic who worked to end antihaitianismo, which is discrimination against individuals of Haitian origin either born in Haiti or in the Dominican Republic. For this work, she won the 2006 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.
Women of Zimbabwe Arise or WOZA is a civic movement in Zimbabwe that was formed in 2003 by Jenni Williams to provide women, from all walks of life, with a united voice to speak out on issues affecting their day-to-day lives, empower female leadership that will lead community involvement in pressing for solutions to the current crisis, encourage women to stand up for their rights and freedoms and lobby and advocate on those issues affecting women and their families.
Jestina Mukoko is a Zimbabwean human rights activist and the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project. She is a journalist by training and a former newsreader with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
Sekai Holland is the former Zimbabwean Co-Minister of State for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration in the Cabinet of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Sekai has been involved in a number of human rights issues, from those of the Australian Aborigines, ending the apartheid system in South Africa, the rights of women and democracy in Zimbabwe.
Presidential elections were held in Zimbabwe between 9 and 11 March 2002. The elections were contested by the incumbent president Robert Mugabe, Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, ZANU–Ndonga leader Wilson Kumbula, Shakespeare Maya of the National Alliance for Good Governance and independent candidate Paul Siwela. Although Mugabe won with 56.2% of the vote, it was the closest presidential election to date. Several members of the opposition party were murdered by the government in state sanctioned assassinations. Three members of Parliament, who were members of the opposition were assaulted by soldiers and police offices in what appeared to be a targeted attack ordered by the government. Amnesty International wrote "Freedom of expression came under increasing restrictions during the year. Journalists and lawyers were arbitrarily detained, beaten, tortured and threatened for reporting on political or human rights issues or representing the victims of human rights violations." The same report added "Zondiwa Dumukani, a 32-year-old driver working at the Blackfordby farm in Waterfalls on the outskirts of Harare, was reportedly beaten to death by a group of eight "war veterans" and ZANU-PF youths. According to reports, police officers in the area ignored the assault and did not try to intervene." During the build up to the election Zimbabwean human rights groups reported forty-eight deaths of opposition members caused by state violence. During the same period, Zimbabwean human rights groups reported "333 cases of torture and 533 of unlawful arrest or detention" noting that " In almost all cases, the victims are supporters of the MDC, farmworkers, farmers, and civil society activists such as students and trade unionists." Although the Organisation of African Unity described the election as "transparent, credible, free and fair", the conduct of the election was strongly condemned by the Commonwealth, Norwegian observers, Zimbabwean opposition figures, the governments of Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Botswana, Malawi, India, Sri Lanka, Lesotho, Jamaica, Belize, Grenada as well as Western governments and media. Zimbabwe was consequently suspended from the Commonwealth for a year. However, France, as led by Jacques Chirac made a conscious decision to try and form an alliance with Mugabe in the wake of these events, leading to condemnation from other western governments. Chirac invited Mugabe to a conference in Paris shortly after the election, where Mugabe was lavishly hosted by the French government. The UK had previously tried to get the European Union to deny Mugabe the right to come to Europe, citing human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said it was "a slap in the face for the French Government or any government in Europe to be accommodating him." Ministers were said to be "furious" at the prospect of Grace Mugabe, the President's wife, returning to the stricken country with "crates of luxury goods" while Zimbabwe was in the middle of a self-inflicted crisis that resulted in mass starvation. A British minister remarked "The thought of Mugabe gorging himself on French food while his people starve is morally repugnant." The French government paid for Robert and Grace Mugabe to stay at the five-star Plaza Athénée Hotel. About the meeting the U.S. publication the Washington Post wrote: "Who would be irresponsible enough to lend legitimacy to Mugabe, a man whose brutal land-seizure tactics have reduced much of Zimbabwe to starvation? But you have probably guessed the answer: It is that friend of liberty, fraternity and equality -- the president of France."
HazviperiBetty Makoni is a Zimbabwean women's rights activist who in 1999 founded the Girl Child Network, a charity which supports Zimbabwe's young sex abuse victims. The organization has rescued more than 35,000 girls and provided mentoring to at least 60,000 girls around Zimbabwe. She earned two degrees from the University of Zimbabwe, and has been awarded numerous national and international awards. Orphaned as a child and sexually abused, Makoni is the principal subject in the documentary film, Tapestries of Hope.
The Mourning Mothers are a group of Iranian women whose spouses or children were killed by government agents in the protests following the disputed Iranian presidential election of 2009. The group also includes relatives of victims of earlier human rights abuses, including mass executions during the 1980s. The principal demand of the Mourning Mothers is government accountability for the deaths, arrests, and disappearances of their children. The mothers meet on Saturdays in Laleh Park in Tehran, and are often chased by the police and arrested.
Magodonga Mahlangu is a women's rights campaigner from Zimbabwe who in 2009 was awarded the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Zainab Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is a Bahraini human rights activist, and a participant in the Bahraini uprising. She rose to prominence after posting tweets online about the protests under the name AngryArabiya as well as for protesting her father Abdulhadi Alkhawaja's detention during his hunger strike.
Ginetta Sagan was an Italian-born American human rights activist best known for her work with Amnesty International on behalf of prisoners of conscience.
Samar bint Muhammad Badawi is a Saudi Arabian human rights activist. She and her father filed court cases against each other. Badawi's father accused her of disobedience under the Saudi Arabian male guardianship system and she charged her father with adhl—"making it hard or impossible for a person, especially a woman, to have what she wants, or what's rightfully hers; e.g, her right to marry" according to Islamic jurisprudence—for refusing to allow her to marry. After Badawi missed several trial dates relating to the charge, an arrest warrant was issued for her, and Badawi was imprisoned on 4 April 2010. In July 2010, Jeddah General Court ruled in Samar Badawi's favor, and she was released on 25 October 2010, and her guardianship was transferred to an uncle. There had been a local and international support campaign for her release. The Saudi NGO Human Rights First Society described Badawi's imprisonment as "outrageous illegal detention".
Razan Ghazzawi is a Syrian-American blogger, campaigner and activist and currently a PhD researcher at the University of Sussex. She has been highly involved in the events during the Syrian Civil War, and has been particularly outspoken on activists' arrests and the violations of human rights committed by the Bashar al-Assad government. She was called "iconic blogger and leading activist" by The Telegraph. Jillian York wrote that Ghazzawi was "one of [her] heroes."
Tep Vanny is a prominent land rights activist and human rights defender, leader and creator of Boeung Kak 13, an activist group that has led peaceful protests since 2008 against the Cambodian government leasing land to the Shukaku corporation, which has led to the forcible eviction of almost 20,000 people in the region of Boeung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh. Her arrest and detention sparked an international campaign asking for her release.
Julienne Lusenge is a Congolese human rights activist recognized for advocating for survivors of wartime sexual violence. She is co-founder and President of Female Solidarity for Integrated Peace and Development (SOFEPADI) and director of the Congolese Women's Fund (FFC). She is the recipient of the 2018 Women’s International Rights Award from the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy and the 2016 Ginetta Sagan Award from Amnesty International. She received the Human Rights Award from the Embassy of France and named a Knight of the Legion of Honour by the French Government. She was awarded an International Women of Courage Award in 2021. On October 10, 2021, she was awarded the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, at the Armenian Monastery on the island of San Lazzaro in Venice, Italy.
Amal Khalifa Idris Habani is a Sudanese journalist.
Yolanda Becerra Vega is a Colombian feminist and pacifist activist. She is the founder of the National Directorate of the Popular Women's Organization, an entity created in 1972 in the Diocese's Pastoral Ministry, which in 1988 became an autonomous organization based in Barrancabermeja to support women in peaceful resistance against violence and defend peaceful dialogue. She is currently putting her efforts into establishing entities for women such as the construction of a Museum of Memory and Human Rights for Women.
Jeannine Mukanirwa Tshimpambu is a Congolese women's rights activist. She has been recognised by Amnesty International for her work for women's rights and peace promotion.
