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End
of year statement on the Human Rights Crisis in Zimbabwe
African Civil
Society Consultation on Zimbabwe
December 23, 2003
A group of participants
from the African Civil Society Consultation on Zimbabwe, who met in Gaborone,
Botswana, on August 5 and 6,
2003, today express our concern about the continuing human rights
crisis in Zimbabwe and the attitude of several governments in the region
to that crisis. In particular, recent statements made by South African
President Thabo Mbeki demonstrate a wilful blindness to the reality of
the situation in Zimbabwe and a total disregard for regional and international
human rights obligations.
We, participants in
the African Civil Society Consultation on Zimbabwe, which represented
over thirty civil society groups from Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa,
Namibia, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya, issued a Concluding Statement following
our meeting in Botswana in August, condemning the human rights and humanitarian
crisis in Zimbabwe and calling for urgent action to address this crisis.
We are disturbed that so many of our demands have not been met.
That Zimbabwe is in
crisis is unquestionable and the nature of the crisis has been well-documented
by courageous local human rights activists and civil society organisations.
These Zimbabwean activists, several of whom attended the African Civil
Society Consultation in Gaborone, are under constant attack from the government
of Zimbabwe, in an effort to silence them and hide the truth about the
situation in the country. Lawyers, judges, trade union leaders, journalists,
churchmen and members of non-governmental organisations have been threatened,
arrested, beaten, tortured and harassed throughout the year, and with
no sign of respite.
In our Concluding
Statement, issued in August, we called, among other things, for the Commonwealth
states to ensure the continued suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth
until it complies fully with the principles contained in the Harare Declaration
of 1991, and takes concrete steps to restore the rule of law, to respect
human rights and to hold perpetrators of human rights violations accountable.
Given the total lack of progress towards these goals, there was no basis
on which the Commonwealth states could re-admit Zimbabwe and remain faithful
to the organisation's principles and the Harare Declaration.
Despite the overwhelming
evidence of serious human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, several governments
have criticised the Commonwealth decision and seek to portray the country's
crisis as centred on the issue of land and racial division. We reject
this false image and condemn the efforts of those who thus seek to minimise
or ignore the suffering of the Zimbabwean people. Of particular concern
are comments by President Mbeki accusing human rights defenders in Zimbabwe
and internationally of using the issue of human rights as a tool to effect
"regime change." Such comments denigrating the work and courage
of human rights defenders serve only to increase the risks that they face
in Zimbabwe.
We therefore reiterate
the demands made in our Concluding Statement, issued in August 2003, and
call for an immediate end to all human rights violations being committed
in Zimbabwe.
We urge President
Mbeki and other SADC leaders to recognise publicly the nature and seriousness
of the human rights crisis in Zimbabwe and to engage constructively with
local and regional human rights defenders to bring an end to the crisis.
We further encourage
President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria to use his position as chair of
the Commonwealth to seek new ways to engage the Zimbabwean government
and to bring the country back into the organisation once the government
complies with the principles contained in the Harare Declaration and restores
the rule of law and respect for human rights.
We also request once
again that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN human
rights bodies take measures to investigate and publicly denounce all human
rights violations that are being committed in Zimbabwe.
Finally, we express our support for and solidarity with the people of
Zimbabwe, and for all those who are striving for respect for basic human
rights in the country.
For more information
on the African Civil Society Consultation, please go to http://www.lchr.org/defenders/hrd_zimbabwe/hrd_zim_11.htm
Or contact
Kristin Flood
Human Rights Defenders Program
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
333 Seventh Avenue, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10001-5004
Telephone: 212.845.5298
Facsimile: 212.845.5299
Web: www.lchr.org
E-mail: floodk@lchr.org
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