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This article participates on the following special index pages:
2002 Presidential & Harare Municipal elections - Index of articles
Appeal
to Regional Civil Society Organisations - Crisis Alert
Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition
February 22, 2002
As the 2002 Zimbabwe Elections approach, the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Committee would like to appeal to civil society organisations in
the SADC region to lobby the governments of the region to take a
firmer stand on the political crisis in Zimbabwe.
There is very
little that can be said in mitigation of the actions of the government
in relation to its conduct since the race for the Presidential elections
in 2000. Thousands of Zimbabweans are being affected by human rights
violations of every kind, including torture, rape, abductions and
detentions. The government is training youth paramilitaries who
are harassing civilians in rural areas and high density populations,
demanding that travelers show party cards and chant ZANU-PF party
slogans. There is no public access to the state media which has
been turned into a propaganda machine for the government. Citizens
can no longer expect protection from the police, who have made few
arrests in response to state-sponsored violence. All manner of tactics
are being used by the government to influence voting and large numbers
of the population have been disenfranchised by the passing of new
electoral laws.
Despite efforts
by the international community and the governments of the region,
there has been no improvement in the political situation. However
it is critical that governments continue to put pressure on the
Mugabe regime to respect fundamental principles of human rights
and dignity and put an immediate stop to state-sponsored terror.
We stress that while the need to address landlessness is a legitimate
issue around which there is broad national consensus, but this is
not a justification for the state to victimize its own citizens.
All claims by
the government that it is respecting the rule of law, and that it
is the opposition that are the "terrorists" need to be
compared against the facts on the ground as have been witnessed
by credible civic organisations and citizens.
We appeal to
regional civil society organisations to pressure their governments,
acting within the framework of SADC, Commonwealth or ACP Group structures
to:
- recognize
the extent of the crisis in Zimbabwe, and objectively assess the
role of the government in this process
- review the
policy of quiet diplomacy that has been the position to date in
favour of a much harder line, starting with an outright denouncement
of the government’s actions
- broaden their
range of interlocutors to include other sectors of society outside
the government, in terms of finding a solution
- ensure a
permanent presence on the ground of external observers
We believe that
the long term political stability of the region depends on our ability
to ensure effective regional interventions wherever there are violations
of human rights and basic democratic principles. The SADC region
must be built on principles of social justice, equity and respect
for human dignity. We all need to play a part in ensuring that governments
make these principles a priority and have the integrity and courage
to intervene where violations of these principles occur.
Visit the Crisis
in Zimbabwe fact
sheet
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