Media Alert
Over 200 African organizations convened to call on the African Union (AU) to end its silence on Zimbabwe. The strongly worded statement issued by Africa's major governance and human rights groups from 21 countries expressed outrage at the AU’s inaction on Zimbabwe and its lack of condemnation about the repression, violence and insecurity since the March 29th election.
"When election fraud occurred in Kenya, the AU acted swiftly and effectively to mediate a settlement. We have the same situation in Zimbabwe. Why is the AU silent?" said Don Deya, Director of the East Africa Law Society. "A brutal crackdown is underway in Zimbabwe to suppress and silence pro-democracy voices. The AU must speak out now!"
Three weeks have elapsed since Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party lost the presidential elections. However, the result of the presidential vote have yet to be declared, yet a recount is under way. The Electoral Commission continues to withhold the results, as the opposition claims victory and the ruling party asserts that it is too close to call. In the meantime, democratic principles and human rights are being fragrantly abused by a government whose legitimacy is now in question.
The meeting in Dar-es-Salaam was organized by the East Africa Law Society, in partnership with the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) and the Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA).
Until now, the African Union has delegated the responsibility to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis to the Southern African Development Community (SADC). However, SADC's intervention has been sadly lacking to date. At the recent SADC Summit, SADC leaders declined to condemn gross human rights violations as well as declaring that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe, this in spite of the current the electoral impasse and sharply declining human development indices.
"We have lost all confidence in South African President Thabo Mbeki, the SADC Facilitator on Zimbabwe. We no longer have any confidence in SADC's ability to play an impartial and effective role in resolving the crisis," according to Itai Zimunya, Zimbabwe Advocacy Officer of OSISA.
Zimbabwe, as a member of the Africa Union, is a signatory to various protocols governing the conduct of democratic elections across the continent. These protocols include the principles and guidelines generally endorsed by the United Nations, African Union, Economic Commission for West Africa (ECOWAS), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and other regional organizations.
"If the AU remains silent, it will reflect poorly on the quality of the continent's leadership and raises questions about the AU's commitment to uphold its own standards on good governance and human rights," says Zimunya.
The statement called on the AU and African governments:
- To revoke SADC’s mandate on Zimbabwe and appoint an independent high level Pan African panel of mediators. President Mbeki and by implication SADC has failed to resolve The Zimbabwean Crisis. A new facilitator/facilitating team with an expanded mandate is urgently required to bring the opposing sides to a meeting that will conclusively resolve the political impasse;
- Strongly condemn the electoral and human rights violations by the Mugabe government and to institute targeted sanctions against high ranking government officials and other key actors obstructing a resolution to the crisis;
- Not to recognize the illegitimate incumbent government in Zimbabwe until a democratic solution to the crisis is found.