Addis Ababa, 29 June 2005 - H.E. Alpha Oumar Konare, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, has designated Commissioner Bahame Tom Nyanduga, a member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Special Rapporteur, Responsible for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, to carry out a fact finding mission in Zimbabwe between 30 June and 4 July 2005, following the clean up operation conducted by the Government of Zimbabwe against illegally constructed houses and shelters.
During his mission, Commissioner Nyanduga is planning to meet with the Zimbabwean authorities and relevant human rights organizations and to visit the Hatcliffe, Mbare, Mufakose, and Chitungwiza surburbs and Caledonia farm among other places, as well as any villages where the people whose shelters were demolished have moved to, in order to assess the prevailing the situation.
At the end of the mission, the Commissioner is expected to report back to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.