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SADC: Supervise Zimbabwe's next election to prevent state-sponsored violence
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
August 24, 2010

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition calls upon the Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders to put in place an elections supervisory mechanism for Zimbabwe's next vote to prevent state-sponsored violence, which has characterised previous elections. SADC leaders met recently in Windhoek, Namibia but failed to come up with a clear roadmap towards the next Zimbabwe election to ensure it is radically different from the violent 2008 sham election.

Owing to superficial reforms, Zimbabwe's institutions remain too weak and compromised to prevent state-sponsored violence or to deliver a democratic election. SADC must be the midwife to help deliver democracy in Zimbabwe. Without that, it will be another stillbirth for democracy in Zimbabwe.

We therefore demand that SADC and the African Union by extension;

• Supervise Zimbabwe elections to ensure full compliance with SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections - including impartiality of electoral institutions, prevention of state-sponsored violence and non-interference in electoral processes by the state security sector;
• Facilitate technical support to the newly appointed Zimbabwe Electoral Commission by more experienced regional electoral bodies such as the South African Electoral Commission and;
• Guarantee the democratic transfer of power to the eventual winner of the proposed elections. In tandem with this, SADC must also use political and diplomatic pressure to ensure that that the Inclusive government prioritises security sector-reform in Zimbabwe to ensure that security forces are non-partisan in the execution of their duties;
• Deploy monitors in Zimbabwe to closely assess the ongoing constitution-making process and to investigate reports of widespread violence, intimidation and the setting up of militia bases across the country.

The chaos, violence and intimidation authored predominantly by president Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party around the constitutional outreach program clearly indicate that instruments of repression remain active and that they are likely to be used again in future elections.

The only lasting solution to the continuing political crisis in Zimbabwe is a fresh election that is supervised by SADC and monitored by the international community, which adheres to set standards of conducting democratic elections, in order to prevent violence and other electoral malpractices.

Visit the Crisis in Zimbabwe fact sheet

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