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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Post-election violence 2008 - Index of articles & images
Violence
and human rights abuses must not hinder democratic development in
Zimbabwe
Association for Justice, Peace and Democracy (AJPD)
July 30, 2008
The Angolan human rights
organization Association for Justice, Peace and Democracy (AJPD),
wishes to express its strong opposition to the current situation
of human rights violations in Zimbabwe, and is concerned there is
a danger that the regime of President Robert Mugabe or the opposition
MDC may ignore such violence in order to maintain or take control
of power.
All governments
and private entities have an obligation to defend human rights.
The brutal violation of the human rights which are enshrined in
Zimbabwe 's Constitution,
in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' rights, and in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Zimbabwe is
a party, is a matter of concern for all interested parties. In terms
of the rule of law of democracy, President Mugabe and his executive,
generals and armed militia have seriously violated their citizens'
right to cast their vote freely, and continue to use physical violence
to hinder the path of democratic development which Zimbabwe 's
voters have opted for.
AJPD also believes that
President Mbeki of South Africa has played an unacceptable role
which has departs from that of impartial mediation, given that all
his efforts appear to be focused on a solution which will reprehensibly
benefit President Mugabe, cancelling out the results of the legislative
elections and legitimising the second round of the presidential
election, which cannot be considered valid given that Zimbabwean
citizens were unable to exercise their vote freely.
The African Union has
equally failed to take into account the results of the legislative
elections and the invalidation of the presidential elections and
is effectively acting as a guarantor of a illegitimate and undemocratic
President who is alleged to have incited and participated actively
in the torture and murder of thousands of Zimbabweans. By accepting
the presidential elections as a as a fait accompli and the fact
that the repressive power of the state is under Mugabe's control,
respect for democratic principles and for human rights are sidelined
in favour of power-sharing as the solution to the refusal of a dictatorial
regime to submit to the will of the majority of voters, when freely
expressed.
In homage to those thousands
of Zimbabwean who have been tortured and assassinated by the Mugabe
regime, AJPD believes that the MDC and its leader should resist
the temptation to negotiate a political accommodation with the party
in power as this is not supported by the will of the people. The
results of the legislative elections must form the basis for the
next government.
AJPD calls on the governments
of the USA and the European Union member states, and on African,
European and American human rights organizations to take action
and not to accept the current situation as a fait accompli. Robert
Mugabe's Presidency is illegitimate and the allegations of
his participation in murder and torture of citizens must be taken
seriously by the African Union and the rest of the international
community. AJPD further calls on human rights organizations to prepare
a legal complaint against perpetrators of human rights violations
in the Mugabe regime to be filed with competent international bodies.
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