AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
27 June 2008
Zimbabwe: State-sponsored violence and coercion create fundamentally flawed election
Amnesty International today said that it is deeply disturbed by the continuing campaign of state violence and intimidation as part of a deliberate strategy by the Zimbabwean government to ensure that Robert Mugabe wins today’s presidential election. The decision to hold the vote today comes despite calls by the international community to postpone the election until the security situation in Zimbabwe has improved.
“Today’s election is being held against a backdrop of widespread killings, torture and assault of perceived opposition supporters” said Amnesty International.
“Zimbabwe has been allowed to operate outside the African Union (AU) and UN human rights framework for far too long. It is time for effective African and international solidarity with the victims of human rights violations in Zimbabwe. The people must not be left alone to suffer this ongoing violence.”
Amnesty International urges the AU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to apply all necessary pressure on President Mugabe and his government to end the violence, and calls for a special session of the AU’s Peace and Security Council to consider the situation in Zimbabwe.
“The silence by the AU Assembly Chairman, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, with regard to the situation in Zimbabwe has been deafening – and is contrary to its own principles of respect for human rights and the rule of law,” said Amnesty International.
“The AU Chairman should, during the upcoming Assembly of the African Union next week, strongly and openly condemn the human rights violations occurring in Zimbabwe. Anything less is an abdication of its responsibilities”.
“The AU should, in collaboration with SADC, immediately put human rights monitors on the ground in Zimbabwe and set up an international commission of inquiry to investigate the ongoing violence so that those responsible can be brought to justice”.
Amnesty International said that while the election takes place, hundreds of political and human rights activists remain detained in Zimbabwean prisons -- arbitrarily denied bail -- simply for exercising their political rights, including the right to freedom of association. Amnesty International considers all detainees arrested simply because of their perceived political affiliation or exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly to be Prisoners of Conscience and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
“Human rights activists like Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu from WOZA [Women of Zimbabwe Arise] are languishing in prison, solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful protest,” said Amnesty International.
“Meanwhile, murderers, torturers, and other perpetrators of human rights violations are left at large and given free rein to commit further human rights violations with impunity.”
Note to editors:
Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu are leaders of the activist organisation Woman of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), who were arrested and detained on 28 May 2008 after participating in a peaceful protest against post election violence. They were arbitrarily denied bail by the High Court and are set to appear in court on 3 July. They are being held at Chikurubi Maximum Prison in Harare. They were arrested for exercising their constitutionally and internationally guaranteed right to peaceful protest. Amnesty International considers them to be Prisoners of Conscience.
The Eleventh Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government will take place from 30 June to 1 July 2008, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
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Electoral Charade - FOR SITE
Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe-Statement
Presidential Run-Off an Electoral Charade
The presidential run-off held today in Zimbabwe is an electoral charade and falls short at every level of the process to be passed as democratic, free or fair.The Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ) deployed undercover informants who unearthed fraudulent activities carried out by the surrogates of the ZANU PF candidate President Robert Mugabe.
In most parts of the country, voters were frog-marched to the polling stations by the youth militia to vote for ZANU PF.In Harare's surbubs of Glenview, Mabvuku, Tafara, Dzivarasekwa, Mufakose, Highfield , Kuwadzana and Budiriro scores of voters were threatened and asked to go and vote for President Mugabe if they still wanted to live.The voters were asked to record the serial numbers of the ballot papers issued to them by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) so that they take these to ZANU PF after casting their vote.The exercise was done so that ZANU PF would know who the voters had voted for.
CCDZ also received reports of voter intimidation in Murewa, Mutoko, Marondera, Mudzi, Goromonzi, Norton, Wedza, Chinhoyi, Rusape, Mutasa, Macheke, Chiweshe, Mazowe, Zvishavane, Bindura, Mutare, Masvingo and Shamva.In these areas voters were asked to surrender their national registration documents and only collect them after casting their vote for President Mugabe.CCDZ also received information that the youths and war veterans beat up all the people who did not have the red ink accusing them of heeding the call by Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai to stay away from the sham election.
In Glenview 1 surburb in Harare, scores of voters were forced to vote for President Mugabe and record the serial numbers of the ballot papers and take these to a ZANU PF woman residing in the surburb.
Voter Apathy
In the low density surbubs of Harare, the people heeded opposition and civil society calls to boycott the run-off election.Polling stations visited by the CCDZ recorded low voter turnouts.Some polling centres visited by CCDZ in Mt Pleasant, Borrowdale, Avondale, Belvedere, Milton Park, Alexandra Park, Highlands, Chisipite and Greystone Park did not have any queues in sharp contrast to the record turnout during the 29 March harmonized elections.
The voter apathy in high-income surbuban areas could have been replicated in the countryside if voters were not frog-marched to the polling stations by ZANU PF militia.
Way Forward
We join forces with other pro-democracy groups in calling for an immediate end to State-sponsored violence.The Centre for Community Development In Zimbabwe condemns the ongoing violence and threats by ZANU PF militia to intensify retributive action regardless of the outcome of today's "poll".We call upon the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) to reign in on the regime of President Mugabe and urge him to stop the violence being instigated by his surrogates against unarmed civilians.We specifically call upon the AU to censure the Harare regime at an AU Heads of State and Government Summit in Cairo next week.The AU and UN must send to Zimbabwe a joint Peacekkeeping force without delay inorder to save limb and life.We also applaud the proposal by Italy that all European Union (EU) diplomats be recalled back until such time the government of Zimbabwe halts the ongoing abuses.
Issued on 27/06/2008
Advocacy and Community Organizing
Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe