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The Forum commemorates Africa Human Rights Day
Zimbabwe Human
Rights NGO Forum
October 21, 2010
The Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) joins the rest of the continent
in commemorating Africa Human Rights Day, on 21 October 2010. The
theme for this year's commemoration is Realising Human Rights: A
key to Achieving Sustainable Peace in Africa.
The conceptualisation
of the underlying message in the theme, that the attainment of sustainable
peace is dependant upon the realisation of human rights, is critical
to unlocking the conflict in Zimbabwe. This is particularly relevant
in the current context, which is characterised by a contentious
constitutional consultative process and escalating calls for elections
in 2011. Historically there is a strong link between elections and
political violence in Zimbabwe. This correlation became most pronounced
in 2000 and reached alarming levels during the inconclusive 2008
electoral period.
Democratic practice
is a prerequisite for sustainable peace. There can be no peace where
individual and collective rights and freedoms are not acknowledged
and respected. Such freedoms include, among many, the rights of
citizens to freely assemble, express various political views and
participate in the governance of their country through free and
fair elections. Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa today is beset by
the scourge of so-called unity or coalition governments that are
brokered by political elites thereby circumventing the popular will
of the people. These negotiated pacts are a negation of Article
13 of the African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which stipulates: "all
citizens shall have the right to participate freely in the governance
of their countries, directly or through freely chosen representatives."
Zimbabwe should thus embrace the concept of electoral democracy
and the right to participate as human rights.
Furthermore,
the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections
mirror international best practices for the conducting of free and
fair elections and require member states to observe certain imperatives,
which include:
- Constitutional
and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of the citizens.
- A conducive
environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
- Non-discrimination
in voters' registration
- Updated and
accessible voters' rolls
- Transparent
funding of political parties
- Timeous announcement
of election dates
- Neutrally
placed polling stations
The Forum calls
on SADC, as the guarantor of the Global
Political Agreement, to ensure the following, as strongly recommended
by SADC's own Treaties and Protocols:
- The signing
up to and implementation of a national peace accord and the repudiation
of political violence by all political parties in Zimbabwe, together
with the establishment of Provincial and District structures for
monitoring the adherence to such an accord.
- Return of
full control of the security forces to civilian authority and
the placement of senior military advisors from SADC within the
security forces to ensure that the Zimbabwe security forces respect
non-partisan civilian authority.
- Strict adherence
by Zimbabwe to the SADC Principles and Guidelines for the Holding
of Democratic Elections.
- Deployment
of supervisors of the electoral process, technical assistance
to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and long-term observer groups
to determine the adherence to the Principles and guidelines.
- Acceptance
and respect of the election result that meets the standards outlined
in the SADC Principles and Guidelines for the Holding of Democratic
Elections.
Visit the Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum fact
sheet
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