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Zimbabweans in the Diaspora must be included
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF)
June 14, 2007

Letter to President Robert Mugabe

The Zimbabwean government is in the process of amending the Constitution to allow for electoral and other changes. This development comes in the wake of Your Excellency's appointment by the Southern African Development Community to mediate in the Zimbabwe crisis. The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) has serious concerns about the SADC process as well as the proposed amendments to the Constitution.

In the first place, ZEF is concerned that amendments to the Constitution have been proposed at a time when negotiations are just beginning, thereby seemingly pre-empting any consensus regarding whether the Constitution needs an overhaul or simply needs to be amended. The fact that the government proposes to amend the Constitution unilaterally and without consultation with all stakeholders also means that legitimate concerns about what should or should not be changed as part of the negotiation process may not be taken on board.

In the second place, ZEF believes together with the majority of Zimbabweans that to perceive the crisis of governance in Zimbabwe as a problem between the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the ruling ZANU (PF) parties is to misread the root cause of the woes in the country. We believe that civil society organisations, church and community, other opposition parties as well as victims of crimes against humanity should also be included in the SADC-sanctioned negotiations for a peaceful settlement to Zimbabwe's problem. Any process that is not inclusive is likely to spawn more problems for the country's future than the ones we have today.

Further to the above, there is an estimated 4 million Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who fled torture and other human rights abuses while others have been forced into exile by the socio-economic meltdown in Zimbabwe. All these people have been disfranchised and excluded from the electoral processes in Zimbabwe and have been stripped of their right to vote. Any negotiations geared towards normalcy in Zimbabwe should by all means seek to also engage the populace in the Diaspora. Excluding the Zimbabweans in the Diaspora is tantamount to rendering them stateless when issues relating to choice of political leadership of their countries are discussed.

Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) therefore urges the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the South African President Thabo Mbeki to ensure that talks to end the crisis in Zimbabwe are as inclusive as possible.

Yours faithfully

Gabriel Shumba
(ZEF Executive Director and Human Rights Lawyer)

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