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This article participates on the following special index pages:
2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Post-election violence 2008 - Index of articles & images
SOAWR
statement on Zimbabwe
Solidarity
for African Women's Rights (SOAWR)
June 12, 2008
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/zimbabwe/48704
Stop
the violence in Zimbabwe now!
An open
letter to:
- H.E. Jakaya
Kikwete, President of the Republic of Tanzanian and Chairman of
the African Union
- H.E. Commissioner
Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission
- Mr. Ban Ki-moon,
Secretary General of the United Nations
- Members of
the United Nations Security Council
- Members of
the African Union Peace and Security Council
- H.E. Sir
Katumile Masire, President of the Republic of Botswana and Chairman
of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)
- The Executive
Secretary of the SADC Secretariat
Preamble
On 29th March 2008, Zimbabwe went to the polls to elect its next
government. Results of the Presidential elections were announced
a month later and people in Zimbabwe maintained peace. Reports from
Zimbabwean civil society organizations (CSO) [names are with held
for security reasons] indicate that from 2 April 2008, the government
organised a retribution campaign to target those who allegedly voted
for the opposition and "since then there has been terror in
mostly rural Zimbabwe with youth militia under the command of the
army and police confirmed to have gone on to unleash terror in a
campaign to teach the rural people how to correctly vote as the
country gears up for a presidential run-off on the 27th June 2008."
No election
observers are yet in the country, despite the urgent calls, appeals
and pleas of the Zimbabweans to the Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations.
The world is
watching as a silent genocide of the poor and the powerless goes
on as a result of politically induced murders, criminal actions,
and the collapse of basic services. Most of the affected are women
and children.
According to
reports received from concerned CSO from Zimbabwe:
The post election
murders, burnings, looting and intimidation have mostly affected
women and girls since 80% of women live in rural areas which is
the epicenter of the violence.
Over 800 homes
have been burnt down, making it traumatic for mothers who have to
feed the children and care for the sick
Over 10 000
people have fled their homes, are displaced or are squatters with
relatives. Displaced children are not in schools
Over 50 people
have been murdered in cold blood, and mostly from the opposition.
An estimated
7000 teachers have fled their schools as a number have been beaten
in the eyes of parents and pupils.
Doctors
for Human Rights report that over 2000 serious cases of physical
torture and beatings have passed through their hands and a lot of
those they treated have suffered serious fractures to an extent
that most are permanently handicapped.
The oldest victim
of the post election violence is an old woman with 12 grandchildren
all of them orphaned and whose son is alleged to have campaigned
for the opposition.
The youngest
female victim is a 15-year-old girl who was stripped naked and together
with her pregnant mother, forced to lie down and beaten on the breasts
and buttocks. Just as many women have been so battered.
Several girls
and women are feared raped. The youngest child seriously assaulted
is only 3 years.
More than 3,000
Zimbabweans die every week due to AIDS, and life expectancy is 34
years for women.
Unemployment
is 80% and inflation is 165 000 %, the highest in the world.
Over 200 000
women were made homeless and jobless by the government 2005 Operation
Murambatsviina.
Over 3 million
Zimbabweans are immigrants in South Africa where they are facing
xenophobic attacks.
The Solidarity
for African Women's Rights (SOAWR) Coalition joins the Zimbabwean
women and women of Africa in calling for your urgent attention to
and action on the following:
Cognisant
of the obligations of the Zimbabwean government to protect, promote
and fulfill the human rights of its people under international and
regional Human Rights frameworks such as the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention for the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Beijing
Platform for Action, the Millennium Declaration, the African Charter
on Human and Peoples' Rights, and the Optional Protocol to
the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights
of Women in Africa, the African Union Constitutive Act and the AU
Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality.
Re-iterate
the long-standing position of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
that the failure by government and law enforcement, such as police
and army to respect the rights of all citizens is the greatest threat
to peace, democracy and development in Zimbabwe.
Concerned
about the real danger of civil strife catalyzed by the growing humanitarian
crisis. We are witnessing increasing levels of tension and political
polarization among the population, which turned out to vote peacefully
and in large numbers on 29th March 2008. The media reports on the
party political position adopted by the law enforcement, which should
ordinarily maintain neutrality, and the recent purchase of military
weapons adds to this fear.
Demand
cessation of organized and targeted intimidation against the citizens,
particularly the use of women and girls as weapons of 'war',
evidenced by the physical torture and sexual abuse.
Demand
the immediate disbanding of the militias, comprised of youths, security
agents and one terror group code named Chipangano, which have caused
terror and havoc in the rural and urban areas exacerbating the humanitarian
situation by creating internal refugees. We demand the disbanding
of torture bases where gross abuses of women are taking place including
forced labor and sexual abuse.
Request
the Leadership of the African Union, SADC and the United Nations
to demand that the ZANU PF government stop using violence against
its people and TAKE TANGIBLE actions to foster a violence-free election.
Request all
the officials and organs addressed in this open letter to:
- Establish
a programme of engagement with Zimbabwe for the protection of
human rights especially for women, girls and children. The AU
must deploy human rights monitors and observers during the run-up
to the Presidential Elections and whose presence must be maintained
until the announcement of the next President to ensure that there
is no repeat of the pattern of violence witnessed so far. There
should be gender parity within the observers including women's
rights activists as provided for in the United Nations Security
Council Resolution 1325, and the AU Solemn Declaration on Gender
Equality.
- Mandate and
support the AU Special Rapportuer on Violence Against Women to
conduct a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe to support the efforts
of community, grassroots and other organisations living in a culture
of fear, survivors of violence and abuse.
- Engage with
the Zimbabwe government and authorities to stop the violence and
intimidation which has far reaching consequences to restricting
the future participation and representation of women in decision
making, which is essential in a democratic society and is part
of the international and regional human rights frameworks.
- Encourage
and support humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe, especially in
support of food, health and education for rural communities and
the displaced. Health services should include reproductive health
services of women and girls.
- Urge the
State to immediately reinstate the operations of non-governmental
organizations to continue with their important services to the
needy people of Zimbabwe.
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