Abstract
Various human rights violations on the part of the ordinary people and human rights defenders have been reported in Zimbabwe since the late 1980s to date. It is widely acknowledged that such violations were mostly perpetrated by the government through its different organs for political and other related reasons. Human rights violations were also easily committed against ordinary people and human rights defenders because there was no Constitution that adequately protected such people's fundamental human rights (including their civil and political rights and their socio-economic rights) in Zimbabwe. Given this background, the article discusses the protection of human rights in Zimbabwe, in light of the Zimbabwe Constitution Amendment 20 of 2013 (Zimbabwe Constitution 2013). This is done in order to investigate whether the promotion, protection, enforcement and the respect for human rights in Zimbabwe has now improved. To this end, the functions of selected national human rights institutions and other related role-players, namely, the civil society, the judiciary, the law enforcement organs and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission are briefly discussed first. Secondly, the functions of selected regional and international institutions, namely, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the United Nations are discussed in relation to the protection of human rights in Zimbabwe. Thereafter, concluding remarks and possible recommendations that could be utilised to combat human rights violations and enhance the protection of human rights in Zimbabwe are provided.
 
Highlights
The independence of the judiciary does guarantee the protection of human rights but it upholds the rule of law in any country.14. Be that as it may, it is submitted that the judiciary has in some instances failed to protect the people's fundamental human rights, especially before the enactment of the Zimbabwe Constitution 2013.15 Notably, the executive and its organs have in some instances refused to enforce binding court orders and decisions that were seemingly unfavourable and detrimental to the aspirations of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF)
The significance of the HRIs has been recognised by the United Nations (UN) and its relevant organs since 1946.143 For instance, the UN Commission on Human Rights introduced the Guiding Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions (Paris Principles) in 1992, and they were adopted by the General Assembly in 1993.144 These Paris Principles provide useful guidelines on the formation of human rights institutions as well as the standards and principles that must be employed by such institutions in order for them to perform their functions effectively
As indicated above,202 the Zimbabwe Constitution 2013 brought about some key changes, such as the protection of the judiciary and the rule of law as well as the establishment of the Constitutional Court, in order to revamp the promotion and protection of all people's human rights in Zimbabwe
Summary
Several violations of the human rights of ordinary people and of defenders of human rights have been perpetrated by government officials and other related unscrupulous persons in Zimbabwe since the late 1980s.1 It is widely acknowledged that such violations were perpetrated mostly by the government through its different organs for political and other related reasons. A number of human rights violations were committed against ordinary people and human rights defenders because there was no specific Constitution that adequately protected such people's fundamental human rights in Zimbabwe. Given this background, the article discusses the protection of human rights in Zimbabwe in the light of the Zimbabwe Constitution Amendment Act 20 of 2013.5 This is done in order to investigate whether the promotion, protection, enforcement and. A number of human rights violations were committed against ordinary people and human rights defenders because there was no specific Constitution that adequately protected such people's fundamental human rights in Zimbabwe.. Respect for human rights in Zimbabwe has improved.6 To this end, the functions of selected national human rights institutions and other related role-players, namely civil society, the judiciary, the law enforcement organs and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) are briefly discussed first. The main functions of independent human rights institutions are inter alia to promote and protect the fundamental human rights of all the people in their respective countries.. The main functions of independent human rights institutions are inter alia to promote and protect the fundamental human rights of all the people in their respective countries.9 These institutions can promote good governance in any country in a number of ways.
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