LATEST ON ZIMBABWE

Dear Friends,

On 12.8.08 Human Rights Watch released a report entitled “They Beat Me like a Dog”- Political Persecution of Opposition Activists and Supporters in Zimbabwe’. Based on eyewitness accounts from newly elected MDC Members of Parliament (MPs), councillors, activists, perceived MDC supporters and others, it demonstrates the serious nature of abuses including killings, beatings, abductions and torture committed by ZANU-PF supporters and government-backed youth militia and “war veterans” in the weeks leading up to the June 27 presidential runoff.

These abuses continue despite the ongoing negotiations between the two parties. Human Rights Watch reports that according to local NGOs, ZANU-PF and its allies have been implicated in the killing of at least 163 people and the beating and torture of more than 5,000 people over the past three months. It notes that the Zimbabwe government has made little effort to dismantle the torture camps and bases that it established in the immediate aftermath of the March 29 elections

The report comes as South Africa prepares to host the annual SADC Summit on August 16 - 17 2008. President Thabo Mbeki is expected to brief SADC leaders on the progress of negotiations between the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on 16.8.08. Human Rights Watch believes that the summit provides SADC leaders with an opportunity to effectively press Zimbabwe’s leadership to address crucial human rights issues prior to any transitional government arising from the current negotiations. It asserts that no durable solution to the political crisis in Zimbabwe can be found unless the human rights violations that are at the root cause of the crisis are addressed. The full report can be accessed on the Human Rights Watch website via the following link: http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/12/zimbab19591.htm

Other relevant items to draw your attention to include:

Ten country signatories from the International donor community and the European Commission have signed up to a joint statement circulated by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA Zimbabwe). The statement voices concern about humanitarian access in Zimbabwe. Dated 8.8.08 notes that the June 4 suspension of humanitarian operations in Zimbabwe is estimated to have affected more than 1.5 million Zimbabweans already. It notes that this year’s poor harvest means that 5 million Zimbabweans will face a severe food crisis if the ban is not lifted. Without the immediate resumption of food aid across the country, widespread hunger and worsening malnutrition are unavoidable.

At its most recent session in July 2008, The Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) adopted three decisions concerning current cases of Zimbabwe MP’s before it.

The Youth Forum issued a statement on Youth International Day, the 12th August 2008. The Youth Forum expresses its concern at the absence of a youth voice in the talks and its desire that youths will also be able to take influential and strategic position in building the nation.