The Parliamentary Privileges and Immunities Act has been used to force journalists to reveal their sources regarding reports on corruption before the courts and parliament. A publisher whose newspaper reported on a suspected coup plot in Zimbabwe was arrested the day after two of his employees were released from detention after having being tortured. Three supreme court justices subsequently called on Mugabe to affirm the rule of law by reminding the army that it had no right to arrest civilians and that torture by anyone was unacceptable. Instead, Mugabe defended the military s conduct, denounced the press, and called on the justices to resign. Women s rights enjoy extensive legal protection, but de facto societal discrimination persists.
Women have few legal rights outside of formal marriage.
The supreme court issued a ruling relegating African women to the status of junior males within the family, declaring that African women who marry under customary law leave their original families behind and therefore cannot inherit property. Married women still cannot hold property jointly with their husbands. Especially in rural areas, access to education and employment for women is difficult. Zimbabwe has signed international human rights treaties, such as the Women s Convention. Zimbabwe s once lively economy is now in precipitous decline.