African civil organisations call for AU investigation into Zimbabwe

By Alex Bell
30 June 2008

African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) at the African Union Summit in Egypt on Monday called on African leaders to publicly condemn the human rights violations and abuses taking place in Zimbabwe.

The Centre for Citizen’s Participation in the African Union (CCP-AU), which is comprised of 63 CSOs from across Africa, said in a statement released Monday that it was “deeply disturbed that the government had ordered the suspension of the work of civil society organisations, despite four million Zimbabweans requiring humanitarian assistance”.

Levels of violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe that ultimately forced MDC leader Morgan Tsvangerai to drop out of the run off poll, have been globally condemned and left no doubt that conditions were not viable for a free and fair election situation. Despite this however, the situation steadily deteriorated in the weeks leading up to last Friday’s sham poll, that saw Robert Mugabe, the run off’s single candidate, sworn in for a sixth term as president.

Director of the CCP-AU, Yemisrach Kebede said: “African civil society is concerned about the rampant and escalating politically motivated and organised violence that has taken place since the March 29th Election in Zimbabwe. The general population has been massively disenfranchised by displacement and intimidation.”

CSOs, in a communiqué set to be presented to African leaders at the AU summit, have recommended that the AU call for an independent and impartial investigation into human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

Speaking to Newsreel on Monday, Kebede said basic political and civil rights in Zimbabwe must be restored before a recognised election can take place. She said the AU must now “broker a multi stakeholder dialogue to create a political process which will allow for internationally observed elections to be held as soon as possible”.

Meanwhile the Crisis in Zimbabwe coalition on Monday called Mugabe’s government illegitimate and said the “twin crises of governance and legitimacy” are set to worsen following last Friday’s one-man election. In a statement, the group said: “The 27 June presidential charade that President Robert Mugabe of Zanu PF claims to have won has put the final nail on the illegitimacy of the Harare administration.”

The group stated that it is within the democratic rights of Zimbabweans “to disobey an illegitimate, self serving, corrupt and authoritarian government”. It also listed a set of demands as part of restoring governmental legitimacy and people’s confidence in public national affairs, including the rejection of the election results by SADC, the AU and the international community, the “repeal of repressive legislation” and the “establishment of an electoral and legal framework that ensures free and fair electoral processes”.