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Press Release on the resolution of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe
CSO Forum
June 28, 2007

Zimbabwean Civil Society in Accra, Ghana following a public meeting on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe held there on 28 June 2007. Adopted by the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Forum on the sidelines of the AU Heads of State Summit Session

Africans meeting at a Civil Society Organisations Forum on the sidelines of the African Union (AU) Heads of State Summit Session have resolved to call upon the 9th African Union Heads of States Summit to take action to contain the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

This came out of a public hearing on Zimbabwe held in the Ghanaian capital of Accra's Teachers' Hall on 28 June 2007 under the topic Zimbabwe - The Case for Democracy and Human Rights.

In a resolution addressed to the summit, participants condemned the increasing violence, human rights violations and selective application of the law perpetrated against Zimbabweans. Participants noted with concern that the recommendations to the Government of Zimbabwe contained in the African Commission Report of the Fact Finding Mission to Zimbabwe in June 2002, contained in Annex II of the 17th Annual Activity Report of the African Commission have been largely ignored. They requested the Summit to press the Government of Zimbabwe to implement without further delay these recommendations.

The resolution also expressed deep concern over the recent events in which lawyers, trade unionists, students, journalists, legitimate political activists and prosecutors have been subjected to abductions, extra-judicial executions, arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, denial of access to legal representation as well as medical treatment and food in custody.

On the legislative front, participants were concerned by the promulgation and threats of promulgation of laws for criminalising human rights work to create a pretext for the closure of human rights and humanitarian organisations. They deplored the continued undermining of the independence and effectiveness of the judiciary and other institutions of protection including defiance of court orders by law enforcement agents which contributes to a culture of impunity.

They therefore called upon the Summit to call upon the government of Zimbabwe to desist from harassing, intimidating, assaulting, arresting and detaining lawyers, journalists, civic society activists, and human rights defenders. They further called upon the Summit to insist on an environment where the enjoyment of constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedoms such as expression, association, assembly and fair trial will not be compromised in any way.

Following various defiances of court orders by law enforcements agents, participants requested the Summit to demand that the government of Zimbabwe respects judicial processes, in particular ensuring the enforcement of all court orders by the authorities.

In the resolution, CSOs further pleaded with the Summit to urge the government of Zimbabwe to comply with its obligations as articulated in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Principles and Guidelines on the Right to A Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa, the Declaration of Principle on the Right to Freedom of Expression in Africa, and other international human rights instruments.

Concerning the Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiative mandated to the South African President, Thabo Mbeki, participants asked the Summit to lend its support to the initiative to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe by insisting on the effective participation of all stakeholder groups including civil society and to set specific milestones, deliverables, parameters and timeframes.

The resolution ended by encouraging other African CSOs, including democracy movements, women's movements, students and youth movements, workers' movements, grassroots leaders and professional bodies, to work together to ensure a systematic and sustained oversight of the state of compliance or non-compliance by the government of Zimbabwe with the aforesaid resolutions of the AU.

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