Zimbabwe: Government Urged to Suspend Civil Liberties to Contain AIDS
A group of prominent Zimbabweans calling itself Citizens' AIDS Survival Trust (CAST) is lobbying government to evoke section 13 (2) G of the Constitution of Zimbabwe to contain the AIDS pandemic. Section 13 (2) G calls for the suspension of civil liberties in the event of an outbreak of infectious and contagious diseases. CAST has called on the government to declare a state of emergency as the best option to contain the AIDS epidemic.
Under a state of emergency, every Zimbabwean
Child must be tested for HIV and issued with a certificate of negativity or
positivity. Such a certificate would be a mandatory requirement for entry
into school, college, university or employment and a host of other services.
CAST is made up of eminent Zimbabweans including a former deputy minister
of health, practicing medical doctors, businessmen and senior army
officers, and, their collective voice is something to reckon with.
CAST's initiative has received mixed reactions. Human rights groups content
that no one has the right to suspend civil liberties except God. The deputy
minister of health hinted that the government may consider selective
mandatory testing for groups such as pregnant mother and prisoners.
Supporters of the CAST initiative point out that the move could eradicate
the disease within 15 years through natural wastage.
CAST's strategy rests on the mandatory testing of all youth. It is however
not clear what would happen to those who are already positive. WHO
statistics indicate that over 2000 Zimbabweans could be getting infected
every day and over 2000 Zimbabweans are also dying each week from AIDS
related illnesses. WHO also notes that about one in five Zimbabweans could
be HIV-infected. The country has now registered a zero population growth
and experts predict the country could soon registering minus population
growth.
Cast justifies the suspension of civil liberties on the basis that if the
status quo is maintained, there would be no future generation to talk about
and therefore no human rights to enjoy.
Joshua Chigodora - Harare
E-mail: [email protected]
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