The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
SOKWANELE
Enough
is Enough
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On August 17 2004, SADC leaders meeting in Mauritius adopted the SADC Protocol – Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections. Zimbabwe, as a member of SADC, also signed the Protocol and committed itself to implementing its standards.
“Mauritius Watch” provides a
regular, objective and non-partisan assessment of Zimbabwe’s compliance with the
Protocol. In the run-up to the 2005
Parliamentary Elections we note any significant failures to adhere to the SADC
standards.
Date |
Incidents/Developments
|
SADC standards breached |
03.12.04 |
POLITICAL
VIOLENCE ON THE RISE According
to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum (ZHRF), tension and political violence
continue rising in Zimbabwe ahead of the crucial general election scheduled for
March next year. The
ZHRF is a coalition of 17 of the biggest human rights and pro-democracy
non-governmental organizations in Zimbabwe.
It regularly monitors human rights violations and politically motivated
violence in the country. In
a report released last week highlighting political violence and human rights
abuses in the month of September, the forum said the victimization of mostly
supporters of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) peaked in the middle of the month during the MDC’s fifth anniversary
celebrations. The
forum also noted the increasing and unlawful use of excessive force by the
police against perceived political opponents of the
government. In
September alone the forum recorded six cases of torture suffered by opposition
supporters, bringing the total number of torture cases recorded since January
2004 to 165. There were also six cases
of politically motivated kidnappings and 141 cases of unlawful arrests of
citizens by the police during the month. Under
the new Non-Government Organizations (NGO) Act, the ZHRF, along with other NGOs
concerned with human rights abuses and electoral issues, faces almost certain
closure. Note: In a report released in July 2004, Redress, a
British-based lobby group, refers to documented examples compiled by local human
rights groups of nearly 9 000 human rights violations committed in Zimbabwe from
2001 to 2003. It covers incidents such
as torture, abduction and murder, and notes that the scale of abuse increases in
the run-up to elections. (Suggest we
add this). (See
the report on Zim Online – www.zimonline.co.za) |
2.1.3 Political tolerance 4.1.2 Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections 7.4 (Government to) safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens, including the freedom of movement, assembly, association, expression and campaigning… |
29.11.04 |
DEAFENING
SILENCE AS MUGABE FLOUTS POLL PROTOCOL (Excerpts
from an opinion piece published in the South African newspaper, Business Day, on
29 November 2004): “A
recently published story about Shadreck Chipanga, a former member of Zimbabwe’s
notorious secret service and current deputy home affairs minister, who was seen
presiding over the disemboweling of an opposition supporter during the country’s
2000 elections, makes disturbing reading. “A
high court judge deemed Chipanga’s actions bad enough to warrant cancellation of
the election result that saw the ZANU PF thug assume a parliamentary seat by a
tiny margin over the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). President Robert Mugabe not only ignored the
ruling but elevated his man to the cabinet.
That this individual was then appointed a senior election observer of the
recent Namibian elections by the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Parliamentary Forum highlights a patent lack of concern for integrity in
election processes, both in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the
region. “With
the Zimbabwean elections just around the corner, it looks like ‘business as
usual’ in that benighted land. … Far
from moving away from biased and manipulative election laws, the ruling party
has rammed through election legislation that is even more one-sided and
unacceptable than that already on the statute books … “There
was much fanfare about the SADC election code for member countries approved in
August at a heads of state summit. Mugabe signed up to it, promised to implement
it, then went home and ignored it. Even
worse, he devised new measures that flagrantly violated it
…” (For
the full transcript see Business Day – www.bday.co.za) |
PRINCIPLES FOR CONDUCTING DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS 2.1.1 Full participation of citizens in the political process 2.1.2 Political tolerance GUIDELINES FOR OBSERVATIONS OF ELECTIONS 4.1.1 Constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of citizens 4.1.2 Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBER STATE HOLDING ELECTIONS 7.4. Safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens … Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging or any other illegal practices throughout the whole electoral process … |
01.12.04 |
MUGABE’S SPIES GET MASSIVE
FUNDING In presenting his 2005 Budget to Parliament last week, the
Acting Minister of Finance revealed that a massive allocation of funds and
resources was to be made to Zimbabwe’s notorious spy agency, the Central
Intelligence Organization (CIO). As the 2005 general elections approach, the CIO
is to have its 2004 budget (Z$62 billion) increased more than six-fold, to
Z$395.8 billion. The CIO’s 2004 budget was overspent by more than 60 per
cent - without recourse to Parliament for approval. A separate equipment procurement account for special
services is also set to increase from Z$10 billion to Z$ 61.3 billion in
2005. The Mugabe regime has refused to
disclose what sort of equipment the CIO is due to receive. The whole budget allocation for the spy
service falls directly under the President’s office and is not subject to
Parliamentary scrutiny. Human rights groups have consistently accused Mugabe of
using the CIO to crush the voices of dissent in a bid to hold onto
power. The much feared spy agency stands accused of systematically
masterminding the harassment and torture of opposition MDC supporters in the run
up to elections. (See the report in Zim Online –
www.zimonline.co.za) |
4.1.2. Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections 7.4. (Government to) safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens including the freedom of movement, assembly, association, expression and campaigning … during the electoral process … (Government to) take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging or any other illegal practices throughout the whole electoral process |
02.12.04 |
SOUTH
AFRICA MUST APPLY PRESSURE FOR FREE AND FAIR POLL –
THINK-TANK African
institutions, and above all South Africa, need to apply pressure to make
Zimbabwe’s forthcoming general elections fair and free. This is the view of the International Crisis
Group (ICG), an influential think-tank.
In its latest report entitled, “Zimbabwe: Another Election Chance”, released simultaneously in Pretoria and
Brussels on 30th November, the ICG says that the election scheduled
for March 2005 is a “small opening for returning to genuine politics as a means
of resolving the country’s deep crisis”. “The
chance that the elections … can be a genuine turning point is small, but it is
there - if African leaders push the ZANU PF regime to live up to its
commitments,” says Suliman Baldo, Director of Crisis Group’s Africa
Programme. “The regime wants a C-minus
election – fairly clean on election day but deeply flawed by months of
non-democratic practices that determine the results in advance. African monitoring teams need to be in the
country by 1 January and then press hard for the creation of a level playing
field,” he says. The
ICG report notes that ZANU PF continues to use repression and to manipulate food
aid unscrupulously for partisan purposes. Further
on, the report says that the steps taken by Mugabe purportedly to achieve
compliance with the SADC electoral standards are “seriously
flawed”. “Repressive
laws need to be repealed, and a genuinely independent electoral commission
operating at least two months before the election day or the elections should be
postponed – they do not need to be held before September – to allow those
essential steps to be taken,” Among
its specific recommendations the ICG calls on ZANU PF to implement the SADC
principles and guidelines on democratic elections “in letter and spirit” by 1
January 2005, including the repeal of repressive legislation, restoring the rule
of law and political freedoms, disbanding the youth militias, ceasing the
manipulating of food aid for political purposes and desisting from the use of
hate speech in public and in the press. The
group calls on the South African government to press the Zimbabwean government
to repeal repressive laws and to adhere to SADC standards. SADC is urged to set specific timelines for
the incorporation of these standards into national law and to send a team by 1
January 2005 to work with ZANU PF and the MDC on implementation of the
protocol’s principles and guidelines, in letter and spirit, and then to monitor
the elections. (See
the ICG Report on - www.intl-crisis-group.org
) |
4.1.2 Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections 7.3 (Government to) establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national electoral bodies … 7.4 (Government to) take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging or any other illegal practices throughout the whole electoral process …. 7.10 (Government to) … issue invitation to SADC 90 days before the voting day in order to allow an adequate preparation for the deployment of the electoral observation mission |
On the basis of these and numerous other daily
breaches of the SADC Protocol on Democratic Elections, it can be seen that the
Mugabe regime has yet to show any serious intent to change its ways or to begin
to prepare for anything resembling fair and free elections. In fact the reforms they are proposing will
result in a situation even worse than that which prevailed during the
Parliamentary Elections of 2000 and Presidential Election of 2002, both of which were heavily criticized by
observer missions from the international community.
And the March 2005 Parliamentary Elections are
now a matter of weeks away …..
Ends