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Zimbabwe: Call for SADC Action
AfricaFocus Bulletin
Jul 1, 2007 (070701)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
Over 100 human rights groups, mainly in Africa, have urged South
Africa's President Thabo Mbeki and other SADC leaders to put human
rights at the center of any mediation efforts on the Zimbabwe
crisis. The appeal was initiated by Amnesty International, the
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights,
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains the text of the statement and
excerpts from the transcript of a discussion on SW Radio Africa of
the current situation in Zimbabwe, The full transcript, along with
much additional background information and commentary, is available
on http://www.kubatana.net
For earlier AfricaFocus Bulletins on Zimbabwe, visit
http://www.africafocus.org/country/zimbabwe.php .
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Human rights issues must be at the centre of any dialogue between
the government of Zimbabwe and the opposition political parties
Joint statement
Amnesty International, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights
29 June 2007
http://www.kubatana.net
Three months after the extra-ordinary Summit of the Heads of State
and Government of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC),
which took place on 29 March 2007 in Dar-es Salaam, the United
Republic of Tanzania, a myriad of international human rights and
civil society organisations have come together to call on SADC
leaders to urge the government of Zimbabwe to end human rights
violations in Zimbabwe. In particular, we call on President Thabo
Mbeki of South Africa, in his capacity as the SADC-appointed
mediator, to ensure that human rights issues are prioritised in any
settlement to be agreed by the government of Zimbabwe and the
political opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC).
Attacks on members of the political opposition and civil society
organisations are taking place in the context of a severely
declining economy as well as an increasingly repressive environment
in Zimbabwe, in which the rights to freedom of expression,
association and assembly are regularly suppressed by the government
and incidents of state-sponsored organised violence and torture are
increasing.
President Mbeki was mandated to facilitate a dialogue between the
government of Zimbabwe and the MDC, following the torture and
ill-treatment of a number of leaders and members of the MDC and
other civil society organisations by the Zimbabwe Republic Police
on 11 March 2007. The MDC and human rights activists were arrested
for attempting to attend a prayer meeting organised to protest a
three month ban of rallies and demonstrations imposed by police in
parts of Harare under section 27 of the Public Order and Security
Act.
We are concerned that since the SADC meeting, arbitrary arrest and
detention, torture and organised violence have been on the increase
in Zimbabwe.
At least 30 political detainees arrested on 28 March 2007,
including MDC Member of Parliament Paul Madzore and MDC Director of
Elections Dennis Murira, spent over two months in custody awaiting
trial, and 18 have since had the charges dropped.
The detainees' lawyers, Alec Muchadehama and Andrew Makoni, were
also arrested outside the High Court on 4 May 2007 after submitting
court papers on behalf of Amos Musekiwa, one of the political
detainees. The lawyers were only released on bail on 7 May.
On 8 May police in Harare beat lawyers who had gathered outside the
High Court to protest the unlawful arrest of Alec Muchadehama and
Andrew Makoni. Police forced some of the lawyers including
Beatrice Mtetwa, President of the Zimbabwe Law Society, into a
police truck before driving to a secluded area and reportedly
beating them. They were then released.
The Zimbabwean government has justified arbitrary arrest,
detention, torture and ill-treatment as a response to attacks on
police by alleged opposition supporters. As with all alleged
criminal acts, we urge the government of Zimbabwe to immediately
and impartially investigate these attacks, respecting the rights of
the suspected perpetrators, including the right to a fair trial.
However, incidents of violence by protestors by no means justify
excessive use of force, torture or ill-treatment by the police.
We are also concerned that two years after an estimated 700,000
people lost their home or livelihood or both when the government
embarked on a programme of mass forced evictions codenamed
Operation Murambatsvina (Restore Order), the government has failed
to provide an effective remedy to the victims. Most of the victims
are still in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The SADC
initiative should not forget these victims of human rights
violations.
These human rights concerns have been well documented, including in
the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights' report of its
2002 fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe. However, the government of
Zimbabwe has failed to implement key recommendations contained in
the African Commission's report and its resolution adopted at the
38th Ordinary Session in November 2005.
The human rights situation in Zimbabwe requires immediate action by
SADC leaders. President Mbeki and other leaders of SADC should
send a clear and unequivocal signal to the government of Zimbabwe
that they will not remain silent about the violations of human
rights perpetrated in Zimbabwe and should ensure that the
government of Zimbabwe takes immediate steps to respect and protect
human rights of all people in Zimbabwe, including ending the use of
excessive force, torture and ill-treatment. Central to resolving
the crisis in Zimbabwe is the need to ensure that perpetrators of
human rights violations are held accountable and that the victims
have access to justice. Any attempt to circumvent the needs of
victims will not bring a lasting solution.
In their mediation efforts, President Mbeki and the other member
states of SADC should not be limited to finding a short-term
political solution between the government of Zimbabwe and the MDC,
but should aim to find a long-term solution to the human rights
crisis in Zimbabwe. This can be achieved by consulting widely among
civil society organisations in Zimbabwe and ensuring that all
stakeholders are able to contribute to the process.
Through their mediation efforts, we urge President Mbeki and the
other member states of SADC to ensure the following:
- all parties involved in the mediation process agree to clear
timelines and bench marks, including the respect and protection of
human rights for all, an end to organised violence, and fulfilment
of Zimbabwe's obligations under the African Union and UN human
rights frameworks.
- the government of Zimbabwe immediately ends its campaign of
intimidation and harassment of human rights activists, civil
society leaders, members of the political opposition parties and
other critics of government policies;
- the government of Zimbabwe fully respects the right to freedom of
association, peaceful assembly and expression and repeal or amend
its national laws to bring them into line with regional and
international human rights standards, including the African Charter
on Human and Peoples' Rights and the International Covenant of
Civil and Political Rights to which Zimbabwe is a state party;
- the government of Zimbabwe takes immediate steps to end torture,
other ill-treatment and serious human rights violations by the
police and other security forces. Relevant authorities in Zimbabwe
should investigate and hold the perpetrators of violations of human
rights accountable;
- all those who are currently homeless as a result of the mass
forced evictions have access to humanitarian assistance, including
emergency shelter, food, water and medical care. The victims of
forced evictions should be given an effective remedy.
Transcript of 'Hot Seat' interview with Jenni Williams, Chenjerai
Hove and Stan Mukasa
Violet Gonda, SW Radio Africa
June 12, 2007
http://swradioafrica.com/pages/hotseat130607.htm
Audio interview can be heard on SW Radio Africa 's Hot Seat
programme (12 June 07). Comments and feedback can be emailed to
violet@swradioafrica.com. Broadcasts are between 7:00 and 9:00 pm
Zimbabwe time on shortwave; in the 25m band 11775kHz, 11810kHz,
12035kHz and in the 60m band 4880kHz. Also via the internet at
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Transcript reproduced on http://www.kubatana.net
[Excerpts only]
Violet Gonda: The discussion on the programme Hot Seat this week
centres on the issue of talks and elections [in Zimbabwe] and
whether or not there are alternatives to talks and elections. My
guests on the programme are Jenni Williams, the co-ordinator of the
pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise, Zimbabwean poet and writer
Chenjerai Hove and Professor Stanford Mukasa, a political
commentator. Welcome on the programme Hot Seat.
All: Thank you
Violet: I'm going to start with Jenni on the issue of the talks and
also the elections that are scheduled for next year. What is the
feeling on the ground on these two issues?
Jenni Williams: On the issue of an election, you know, as far as
we're concerned as members of WOZA and MOZA, and, just as ordinary
Zimbabweans, to have an election in a climate where you are
starving, where 4000 people are dying every day, is totally
irrelevant. And, right now I don't know whether anyone is even
pre-occupied or thinking or even looking forward to the day of any
election and even thinking they will leave their homes for that
day. So an election and even the discourse about an election is
pretty irrelevant. We are just looking at how to survive today. On
the issue of talks we have a little bit of a slightly different
reaction because the situation; the cost of living, everything is
just tough ...
Let me spend a little bit of today thinking about how we can put
pressure to make this Mbeki initiative at least become something
close to being genuine ...
Violet: And you were arrested in Bulawayo last week together with
7 other women and just on Monday about 150 WOZA women were arrested
after they handed themselves in at the Filabusi Police Station.
Now, your group has been holding demonstrations, or trying to, for
inclusion in these talks. Are any of these demonstrations having
any impact on the talks?
Jenni Williams: Well, I don't know if we actually want to be
included in the talks. I think our role is more to project what
should be on the agenda of the talks, and that is more what we are
pre-occupied with. We do not think that sitting right directly
there will be time well spent because our role is a watchdog role.
...
Violet : And what should be on the agenda?
Jenni Williams : It should be dealing with the socio economic
crisis. We have our ten steps that we have recommended and in each
of those ten steps, if they are progressively done, we will be able
to have a better climate and then we will be interested in talking
about an election. Until we get those ten steps addressed and until
we have a better climate, until all the unjust laws have been
repealed and until we have done an audit of the civil servants and
disbanded the Law and Order, we won't be able to have a climate
where a truly free and fair election with one man/one woman one
vote can be conducted and give us a now independent and fresh start
for Zimbabweans. ...
Violet : And, Mr Hove, what are your views on these talks?
Chenjerai Hove: I think the talks should be all-inclusive. By that
I mean that it is no longer possible for political parties to deal
with the situation in Zimbabwe . It is important that all
interested parties should be included in these talks so that they
don't seem to be pushing party political agendas. They have to be
inclusive; everybody: WOZA, MDC, the constitutional movement, the
youth, Lawyers for Human Rights, they must be included in these
talks if they are going to be substantial talks.
Violet: But the Opposition has said that these other stakeholders
would be included in these talks and this is just a preliminary
stage.
Chenjerai Hove: Yes, yes, it's better to include everybody in the
preliminary stage because you have to draft the agenda, you have to
get all the items on the table which are coming from everybody and
then you go on. Otherwise you can't take people or some other
people on half way through the journey. So I think it's important
that we realise that this is a national crisis which is political,
social, economic and cultural. It must include everybody who has a
stake in what we want to do for our country. ...
Violet: And also, Mr Hove, what about the situation on the ground
right now that is worsening, so while people are talking about
talks, Mugabe is carrying on with what he's always done for seven
years especially, you know beating up opponents, arresting
opponents. Now, shouldn't that be a precondition to talks, you know
to stop the violence, to stop the arrests?
Chenjerai Hove: The violence definitely has to stop. I think Mr
Mbeki, if he wants to be seen as a serious negotiator; facilitator,
he should make sure that he clearly tells President Mugabe that
this has to stop. You can't negotiate while you are killing the
other negotiating partners, you are torturing them, people are
being disappeared and being people are being imprisoned. So that
violence has to stop and that negotiation table must include a lot
of basic changes. The laws which have been made to safeguard
Mugabe's power; ZANU PF's power; must be on the table and those
have to be removed. Electoral laws, POSA; all those laws just make
it impossible to have no violence in the country. So, if those are
put aside and negotiations are done on that basis; a genuine basis.
Because, if you look at what happened to Ian Smith, for example, it
was one South African President who said 'if you don't negotiate
with the blacks in Zimbabwe, the consequences are going to be too
ghastly to contemplate and this is exactly what Mbeki must tell
Mugabe.
Violet: And now, Professor Mukasa, you know there are those who
believe that Mugabe is using delaying tactics and that the MDC
seems to be following his agenda and that it's becoming like a
daily pilgrimage for the Opposition going to South Africa . Now,
are there an alternative to talks and is the initiative becoming a
waste of time?
Professor Mukasa : Yes, of course there are alternatives to talks
but those alternatives are aimed at bringing pressure. Ultimately,
any conflict is resolved at a conference table. The problem with
the present talks is that Mugabe's agenda is likely to prevail
simply because MDC does not have any bargaining power at all. You
see, if you go to a conference table and you have nothing on your
side to show that you are also strong, you are going to be
swallowed up by the other person's agenda. ...
What MDC needs to do now is to link up with the rest of the civil
society and make it clear to Mugabe that if he does not accede to
the basic demands; demands like just social equities, you know, the
basic necessities that Jenni talked about; the need to bring about
free and fair elections, the need to bring back the Rule of Law,
the need to bring back true democracy and the kinds of economic
reforms that are needed to make Zimbabweans move forward and make
Zimbabweans feel there is something for them in this post-colonial
era. Unless MDC can marshal that power and strength; that power
base, they are going as junior partners to the conference table
with Mugabe. And, Mugabe can postpone the talks as much as he
wants, and even if he were to come to the conference table, he is
not likely to take those talks seriously because he has got so much
confidence in this own power base.
And, one thing that must be recognised is that, the agenda for
talks; according to Mugabe; is not to save Zimbabwe , but to save
himself; to save himself from the kinds of prosecutions that could
arise. Mugabe has lost interest in the welfare of the people of
Zimbabwe , Mugabe has no vested interest in bringing back free and
fair elections. He knows what's going to happen to him. Free and
fair elections are going to be a death knell to him politically and
in terms of his career and his party. And, he knows what lies ahead
for him if the Rule of Law is ever to return to Zimbabwe . So, he
has a power base, namely the military, and because he does not
believe that the talks as envisaged by the MDC and Mbeki and the
International Community will work to his interest. He is going to
hold out. He has survived for seven years now and he feels he can
hold out indefinitely. So, what is needed right now, I wouldn't
talk about alternatives to talks, I would talk about developing a
power base in order to become a real force at the talks or to force
Mugabe to move away from his agenda of self survival to the agenda
for the survival of the nation.
AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication
providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with
a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus
Bulletin is edited by William Minter.
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