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<p>Since the abduction of human rights defender Mr Itai Dzamara in March 2015, the
UK has worked closely with international partners to raise awareness of his case and
to put pressure on the Government of Zimbabwe to investigate it. We regularly raise
Mr Dzamara’s disappearance in the course of our discussions with the Government of
Zimbabwe. Following a number of statements in 2015, the EU Delegation to Zimbabwe
released a further statement on 9 March, in agreement with EU Heads of Mission in
Zimbabwe, marking the one year anniversary of Mr Dzamara’s disappearance and expressing
its deep disappointment at the lack of progress in this case. We urge the Government
of Zimbabwe to take effective steps to prevent the disappearance of human rights defenders
and other activists and to investigate existing cases.</p><p>The UK is not a signatory
to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
and therefore has not made representations to the Government of Zimbabwe to ratify
it. However, there is an existing UK framework which protects human rights, prevents
arbitrary arrests and holds national security organisations to account.</p>
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