THE European Union (EU) has ordered government to urgently and unconditionally release all its political prisoners and create a conducive atmosphere for dialogue with its citizens to avoid pushing the country into a state of anarchy.
Source: EU demands release of Zim political prisoners – NewsDay Zimbabwe September 16, 2016
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
In a joint motion for a resolution in the EU Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, presented on Wednesday, the parliamentarians said it was premature to lift restrictive measures imposed on President Robert Mugabe’s regime over its poor human rights record.
“(EU) believes that the lifting of the bulk of restrictive measures was premature and that the council and commission should consider re-imposing certain measures, while making clear that these will be removed and that a package of assistance will be made available once Zimbabwe is clearly on the path towards democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights, and specifying, in particular, that assistance will be provided to support a free and fair electoral process and police reform,” the EU said.
The bloc also condemned Mugabe’s recent attack on the judiciary.
“The people of Zimbabwe have suffered for many years under an authoritarian regime led by President Mugabe that maintains its power through corruption, violence, rigged elections and a brutal security apparatus; whereas the people of Zimbabwe have not experienced true freedom in decades and many under the age of 30 have, therefore, only known lives of poverty and violent repression,” the motion read.
The Parliament raised concern over the brutal suppression of demonstrations by police and called on Mugabe to investigate the allegations and bring the perpetrators to book.
“Hundreds of people have been arrested during demonstrations … on August 26, 2016, bloody clashes took place in the capital, Harare, when the police ignored a court order and bludgeoned thousands of protesters who had gathered under the auspices of the National Election Reform Agenda (Nera) to express their dissatisfaction over outstanding electoral reforms ahead of the country’s eagerly anticipated 2018 national elections… many of those who were detained are still in custody,” the motion reads.
COMMENTS
EU! why don’t you reinstate all the restrictive measures against the brutal regime because we all know they are not going to do it, they are not going to release political prisoners because you have asked them to. Mugabe’s regime does not listen to anybody in this world, it does not care about its people. We have suffered enough and we need international intervention, that is our only hope. Dislodging the brutal regime by ourselves has proven impossible.
What you can expect from the EU is more talk and less action – that is why even hypocritical Britain has become frustrated to the point of leaving the worthless organisation.
Well it is better than 20 years ago when the EU was pretending that such things did not happen in Zimbabwe.
And calling on Mugabe to “investigate the allegations and bring the perpetuators to book” is one of the most naive statements ever made. How ludicrous to think anyone with any sense about what’s going on in Zim could believe that statement has any value. It’s equivalent to asking the murderer to investigate his own crime. Such an “investigation” would quickly declare that no crime was committed and the accused must be rewarded.
Yes, EU restrictions should NEVER have been lifted on a mere promise that things would be made better. Difficult to tell if that decision was driven by misguided optimism or simple stupidity… or who paid whom. The longer ZANU-PF is propped up, the more people will suffer. Little wonder the rest of the world has such little regard for the EU.
They are not political prisoners.they are criminals arrested for destroying property during violent protests instead of peaceful demonstrations as stipulated by the constitution.EU please stop blowing things out of proportion.
Behold – a rigger of facts descends upon us.