Communication 351/2007- Givemore Chari (represented by Gabriel
Shumba) v Republic of Zimbabwe
Summary of the Complaint:
1. The Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples‟
Rights, (the Secretariat) received this Complaint on 5 November 2007. It is
submitted by Gabriel Shumba (the Complainant), representing Givemore
Chari (hereinafter referred to as the Victim), against the Republic of
Zimbabwe (the Respondent State).1
2. The Complainant states that the Victim is an unemployed male citizen of
Zimbabwe who was 27 years old at the time the Complaint was
submitted. He states further that in 2005, the Victim was the President of
the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the Bindura University in the
Mashonaland Province of Zimbabwe, which was highly critical of
Government policies on higher education.
3.
The Complainant alleges that in October 2005, the Victim was suspended
from his studies by the University authorities after leading a peaceful
march of students which demanded timely and adequate payouts, as well
as their general welfare. According to the Complainant, the Respondent
State was involved in the Victim‟s suspension because of the harassment
he suffered from the State police responsible for throwing him out of the
1
The Republic of Zimbabwe ratified the African Charter on 30 May 1986, and is consequently
a State party to the African Charter.
1