|
Back to Index
NGOs
strengthen appeal to SADC leaders to break silence on Zimbabwe human
rights violations
CIVICUS
August
12, 2005
Johannesburg
- Zimbabwe’s current political and economic turmoil will be
high on the agenda when the Southern African Development Community
Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (SADC-CNGO) meet from
13 -16 August in Gaborone, Botswana, prior to SADC’s 25th
Summit on 17 August.
Joining over
100 civil society organisations at the NGO meeting, CIVICUS: World
Alliance on Citizen Participation will launch ‘Zimbabwe at
the Crossroad’, a documentary film aimed at encouraging
regional leaders to break their silence on the ongoing human and
civic rights violations in Zimbabwe.
Reflecting on
Zimbabwe’s promising past and tumultuous present, this engaging
film follows citizens and civil society groups at recent regional
solidarity rallies and concerts co-facilitated by CIVICUS and Amnesty
International Southern Africa, in conjunction with local organisations
in the respective countries.
The rallies,
held on 12 March, two weeks prior to the 31 March election, gathered
over 8,000 people at three Zimbabwe border points at Musina (South
Africa), Livingstone (Zambia) and Manica (Mozambique) to appeal
for regional and international awareness of violations of freedom
of expression, assembly and basic human rights in Zimbabwe.
"The situation
in Zimbabwe cannot be ignored by neighbouring countries," says
David Kalete, CIVICUS Director of Programmes, in the film. ‘In the
absence of clear messages from African leaders, the impression is
given that Western countries are taking the lead in delivering the
hard messages on Zimbabwe. We need to take a lead in creating a
change in the country," says Kalete.
For more information
or to order a copy of the ‘Zimbabwe at the Crossroad’ documentary
(in VHS
video format), please contact:
- Julie Middleton,
CIVICUS Civil Society Watch Programme Associate at cswatch@civicus.org
or +27 11 833-5959
- Florence
Kiff, CIVICUS Communications Manager at florence@civicus.org
or call +27 11 833-5959 ext 112
For further
information on CIVICUS, please visit http://www.civicus.org
and www.civilsocietywatch.org
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
