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This article participates on the following special index pages:
2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Anniversary
of bloody crackdown in Zimbabwe stokes concern for free and fair
vote
Zimbabwe
Exiles Forum (ZEF)
March 11, 2008
Pretoria -
Today marks the first anniversary of President Robert Mugabe's
violent crackdown on a peaceful prayer service led by members of
Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic, his main political opposition.
With elections in Zimbabwe
scheduled for March 29, the anniversary of this bloody event that
saw one killed and many more viciously beaten and arrested is an
important reminder of the perilous state of democracy in Zimbabwe
and the likelihood that the upcoming vote will be anything but free
and fair.
Since the Movement
for Democratic Change first challenged Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF
party for power in 2000, Mugabe has institutionalized violence and
intimidation and willfully destroyed Zimbabwe's once prosperous
economy in an effort to maintain his grip on power. After Zimbabwe's
last elections in 2005, Mugabe ordered the razing of entire urban
neighborhoods where support for the MDC was strong in an operation
dubbed "Clean
Out Filth."
The countless atrocities
the Mugabe regime has committed against its people have never been
properly prosecuted. As Rights & Democracy and the Zimbabwe
Exiles Forum (ZEF) have previously urged, institutions such as the
Commonwealth, African Union, Southern African Development Community
(SADC) and the United Nations should properly condemn these human
rights atrocities as well as ensure that the upcoming vote adheres
to the guidelines for free and fair elections that were established
by the SADC in 2002 and endorsed by President Mugabe himself. Indications
in Zimbabwe already suggest that these guidelines are being violated,
notably the absence of independent media and the selective distribution
of food aid in exchange for pledges of allegiance to Zanu-PF. In
addition, over four million Zimbabweans living in exile as a result
of Zanu-PF's political and economic policies have been denied
the right to vote.
"Any election that
ignores this significant segment of Zimbabwe's voting populace
can never be considered legitimate nor can it be considered to represent
the will of Zimbabwe's people," said Gabriel Shumba,
Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum.
Although violence has
not been as rife as in previous elections, Rights & Democracy
and ZEF remain concerned that arrests of opposition candidates and
activists abound. Rights & Democracy and ZEF also condemn threats
made by the General Commander of Zimbabwe's Defense Forces
on the weekend regarding the army's willingness to resort
to a coup in the event of an opposition victory.
Visit the ZEF
fact
sheet
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