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Open Society mobilizing for AU intervention in Zimbabwe
Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA)
May 07, 2008

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) has launched a campaign aimed at mobilising the African Union (AU) to intervene in the Zimbabwe crisis. OSISA has circulated a letter prepared for the AU, to civil society organizations from 21 countries in Africa to endorse. The letter sets out certain demands regarding an election run-off in Zimbabwe.

Says OSISA in the letter prepared AU: "The Zimbabwean crisis requires urgent leadership from the African Union. The post election environment has been characterized by organized violence, harassment and intimidation against people that are assumed to be MDC supporters.

"Their homes and granaries have been burnt and they have been forced to flee and are currently seeking shelter, as displaced people, in towns, most often in MDC offices that are not equipped to provide such shelter and protection. A significant number have been seriously injured while some have been killed. Credible reports from various sources have stated that the violence is organized and targeted and state perpetrated.

"Against this oppressive environment of fear, the MDC is expected to contest a presidential run-off, after a disputed election result was announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) giving none of the candidates the required 50% + 1 vote. It is both unreasonable and wrong to require Zimbabweans go to the polls in the present conditions of impunity and intimidation. The electoral playing field is anything but even.

"As civil society organizations from 21 countries in Africa we feel strongly that it is the African Union that is best placed and most able to meaningfully intervene to address the Zimbabwean crises. We urge and implore the AU leadership to see this as the last chance for the Union to take the initiative to protect the people of Zimbabwe from ongoing and systematic abuse and to ensure that the electoral environment is conducive to the holding of a free and fair election.

"The Union 's commitment to good governance, human rights protection, the rule of law and democracy is evidenced in its Constitutive Act and the Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. We believe that it is time that the Union goes beyond 'expressions of concern' and take more concrete steps to address the political crisis and protect the people of Zimbabwe."

The letter calls on the AU:

• To make a call for the immediate cessation of violence and the protection of the Zimbabwean people
• To deploy an exploratory mission of experts into Zimbabwe to assess the electoral environment. This mission should be composed of people with electoral experience and skills and have credibility to speak with authority and compassion on the Zimbabwean crisis. The mission will also assist the Zimbabwean people as their presence will serve as an important deterrent against state perpetrated violence. The terms of reference for the exploratory mission must ensure their free movement throughout the country and access to information. The mission should be sufficiently large to enable their presence throughout the country. The mission should report back to the Chairperson and this report shall provide the background to an extended election observer mission of the AU.

Adds the letter: "The election observer mission must be the foremost mission to observe the elections and must be composed of a large number of skilled electoral experts, with high standing in their countries and on the continent. The terms of reference of this mission must ensure free movement throughout the country and access to information. The mission must remain in Zimbabwe to observe the counting and the announcement of the results.

"That in the event of an electoral dispute where one candidate refuses to accept the result of the election, the Union should take the lead in negotiating or mediating the impasse to reflect the will of the people.

"We believe that if the AU does not act decisively and swiftly at this juncture the situation in Zimbabwe will further deteriorate and will result in untold suffering for Zimbabweans. The region will be detrimentally affected and the consequences on the continent will suggest that the AU is prepared to countenance blatant abuses of the rule of law and human rights by one of its Member States."

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