| The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
SOKWANELE
Enough
is Enough
We have a fundamental
right to freedom of expression!
On August 17th 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 |
|
01.11.04 |
ZANU PF ATTEMPTS TO BRIBE VOTERS |
4.1.2 Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections 7.5 Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging or other illegal practices throughout the whole electoral process … |
|
07.11.04 |
Challenge on Voters’ RollThe
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is crying foul over the voters’
registration exercise which is currently under way. Lack of transparency and the apparently
uneven treatment of urban and rural constituencies by the Registrar-General’s
office are cited by the MDC as evidence of poll rigging ahead of the 2005
Parliamentary Elections. In a letter of complaint to the Chairman of the (ZANU
PF-appointed) Delimitation Commission the MDC General Secretary, Professor
Welshman Ncube, refers to certain discriminatory practices in the mobile
registration exercise conducted in May 2004 – practices which tend to favour
rural voters over urban voters.
Traditionally the MDC draws most of its support from the urban middle
classes while ZANU PF exerts maximum control of the electorate in rural
areas. In
his letter to the Chairman of the Delimitation Committee Professor Ncube says
“In our view, the voters’ roll information submitted to your commission (by the
RG’s office) is incomplete and disenfranchises thousands of persons who should
be entitled to vote” (For further details see The
Standard - http://www.thestandard.co.zw) |
2.1.6. Equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for 4.1.3 Non-discrimination in the voters’ registration
|
|
08.11.04 |
Confusion on Voters’ Roll Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede, whose support for ZANU PF, the ruling party, is an open secret,
told Parliament that he is still compiling the voters’ roll for next year’s
general election, contradicting earlier claims that the critical register was
ready. In August Mudede told state
television that he had finished compiling the roll for the March 2005 Poll. Yet in briefing Parliament last week on the
preparations for the poll he admitted this was not so. He back-tracked on the claim when MDC
legislators quizzed him on how he had finished preparing the roll when the
Delimitation Commission that decides on constituency boundaries had not finished
its work. The boundaries must be
established first before the process of registering voters within constituencies
can begin Hundreds of thousands of voters are known to be
registered under wrong constituencies or addresses and might not be able to cast
their ballot next year. A preliminary
voters’ roll produced by Mudede and shown to ZimOnlline still contains close on
2.5 million names of Zimbabweans who have either died or left the
country. (For further details refer to
the ZimOnline Report - www.zimonline.co.zw) |
4.1.4 Non-discrimination in the voters’ registration 4.1.5 Existence of updated and accessible voters’ roll 7.2. Establish, where none exist, appropriate institutions where issues such as codes of conduct … and compilation of voters’ registers, would be established 7.5 Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging or any other illegal practices throughout the whole electoral process … |
|
20.10.04 |
Bad PrecedentMorgan Tsvangirai, President of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has issued a detailed statement in which he refers to the very serious shortcomings in Zimbabwe’s electoral process in relation to both the 2000 Parliamentary Elections and the 2002 Presidential Election. He refers to the 39 election petitions challenging the outcome of the Parliamentary Poll, of which 7 were successful in the High Court, but were then appealed against by ZANU PF, and the appeals are still to be determined. In another 11 cases the MDC candidates were unsuccessful in their election petitions to the High Court. In 8 of those cases the MDC candidates appealed but again their appeals have yet to be determined. And in 5 instances election petitions filed by MDC candidates have still to be determined by the High Court. “The effect of this”, says Tsvangirai, “is that despite the lapse of 4 years and 4
months since the Parliamentary Elections in June 2000 were held the composition
of Parliament remains unaltered … The
will of the people, which was so clearly manifested at the time of the
elections, has been thwarted” (A
full copy of Morgan Tsvangirai’s statement may be seen -
http://www.fingaz.co.zw/) |
2.1.7. Independence of the Judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institutions 2.1.10 Challenge of the election results as provided in the law of the land 7.3 Establish … competent legal entities including effective constitutional courts to arbitrate in the event of disputes arising from the conduct of elections |
|
08.11.04 |
Supreme Court undermining press freedomThe international media watchdog, Article 19, has accused Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court of making flawed judgments that have undermined the freedom of expression enshrined in the country’s constitution. In a report on media laws in Zimbabwe released this week Article 19 said the country’s highest court had in a series of cases failed to balance the interests of state and the need to uphold freedom of expression. Article 19 cited the Supreme Court ruling that the Daily News was operating outside the law as paving the way for the state to close down the country’s biggest and only independent daily newspaper, thereby further diminishing the freedom of expression and the Press. The report states: “The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe appears to have largely reneged on its obligations to uphold the Constitution, producing rulings that clearly flout established understandings of the scope of the right to freedom of expression and that have led to very serious breaches of this right in practice”. Article 19 calls on the regime to repeal the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) which has effectively muzzled the independent media, the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Broadcasting Services Act. (For the full story see ZimOnline - www.zimonline.co.zw) |
2.1.1. Full participation of the citizens in the political process 2.1.7. Independence of the Judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institutions 4.1.2. Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections |
|
05.11.04 |
Votes for foodThe United Nations reported this week that the food situation in Zimbabwe remained critical despite claims by the regime that it had enough food to see it through to the next harvest. The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) remains highly skeptical about the regime’s claims. WFP regional director for Southern Africa, Mike Sackett, noted that food prices were already rising sharply in the southern parts of the country, a possible indicator of tough times ahead, especially for the poor. Sackett said the WFP was ready to provide 100,000 tonnes of food aid to Zimbabwe over the coming three years, but only if the Mugabe regime makes the request. It is widely believed the regime has inflated its own harvest projections because it wants to be in charge of the distribution of the maize it is secretly importing to cover any shortfalls, to buy votes ahead of the 2005 poll. (For further details refer to
ZimOnline - www.zimonline.co.zw) |
4.1.2. Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections 7.4 Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging or any other illegal practices throughout the whole electoral process … |
|
05.11.04 |
Amnesty International highlights manipulation of foodThe UK-based human rights’ group, Amnesty International (AI) reports that Robert Mugabe has tightened control over food supplies in the country, starving opponents and manipulating relief aid to soften the resistance to his rule ahead of the 2005 parliamentary elections. The AI report entitled “Zimbabwe, Power and Hunger, Violations of the Right to Food” is based on extensive interviews in Zimbabwe over the course of the last three months. The report reveals how the regime has manipulated the monopoly control it now exercises over the purchase, storage and distribution of the staple food, mealie meal, through the Grain Marketing Board, to its own political advantage, causing untold suffering to its political opponents in the process. (For further details refer to
the AI report “Zimbabwe, Power and Hunger, Violations of the Right to Food” -
http://www.amnesty.org/) |
4.1.2. Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections 7.5 Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging or other illegal practices throughout the whole electoral process |
|
04.11.04 |
Bar Human Rights’ Committee condemns treatment of Zimbabwean Member of ParliamentIn a strongly worded press statement the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales has condemned the imprisonment and degrading treatment of the Zimbabwean Member of Parliament, Roy Bennett. While in no way condoning Bennett’s offence (in shoving Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa during a parliamentary debate in May, albeit under severe provocation) the Committee states that his one year sentence with hard labour for such an offence is “unprecedented and fundamentally unsafe”. “To any non-partisan observer”, the statement continues, “the process by which the sentence was imposed violates the right of any person to be tried by an impartial tribunal. So too does the denial of right of appeal to any court”. The Committee further deplores the flagrant and degrading mistreatment of Bennett as a prisoner. It notes that “after the sentence was imposed Mr Bennett’s location within the Zimbabwean prison was kept from his legal representatives. When they did locate him they found that Mr Bennett, a family man, had been stripped and clothed in a soiled prison garment that exposed his genitals and buttocks”. The statement concludes with an appeal to the Zimbabwean Parliament “to condemn any mistreatment of its Member Mr Bennett and to afford him immediate recourse to an impartial court of law”. (A copy of the full statement
may be seen on -www.barhumanrights.org.uk
) |
2.1.3 Political tolerance 4.1.1. Constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of the citizens 7.3. Safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens … |
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. And the Parliamentary Elections are now only 4 months away ….