Political rights are the rights that involve participation in the establishment and governance of a government. Political rights protect individuals’ freedoms from infringements by government institutions and individuals and ensure one’s ability to participate in the civil and political life of a society without state repression and retaliation. The rights include but are not limited to; the right to vote, to be elected to public office, to engage in the free debate of public policy and governance through freedom of speech.
Political rights are essential for artistic freedoms and cultural rights as they ensure that arts and culture participants and the citizens exposed to artistic works freely exercise their rights through the arts without political persecution and repression. Political rights allow for citizens debates to be made through artistic expressions that enable a society to think critically about the issues of the time through their various artistic media and question cultural norms that may do harm to society.
Nhimbe Trust strives to promote political rights by engaging with and leverage resources, expertise and political access through civil society networks and intergovernmental organisations that are committed to the protection of political rights, artistic freedoms and cultural rights.
