RIGHTS: 'UN MUST RESPOND TO ZIMBABWE CRACKDOWN'
David Cronin
BRUSSELS (IPS) - Zimbabwe's crackdown on political dissent may need to be discussed by the United Nations Security Council, a prominent southern African human rights activist declared Mar. 11.
Opponents of President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party have reported large-scale harassment and intimidation in the tense period leading to elections due later this month. With little prospect of the poll being conducted in a free and fair manner, political activists are calling on international bodies to explore new ways of applying pressure on Mugabe, the octogenarian who has led Zimbabwe ever since winning independence from Britain in 1980.
John Stewart, vice-chairman of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, urged the European Union to consider invoking a clause relating to democratic principles in the Cotonou agreement, which underpins the bloc's relations with Africa. The Cotonou Agreement is a treaty between the European Union and the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP countries). It was signed in June 2000 in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin in West Africa, by 79 ACP countries and the then 15 member states of the European Union.
In 2002, the EU decided to impose sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle -- such as freezing their assets and banning them from travelling to Europe -- after initiating a 'political dialogue' under Article 8 of that accord.
But Stewart argues that the Union should also study the possibility of invoking Article 9 of Cotonou. This states that democracy should be built "on the basis of universally recognised principles" and that signatories, including Zimbabwe, should ensure respect for human rights and the rule of law.
According to Stewart, the level of state-approved violence in Zimbabwe is now so serious that the EU's military officials should be addressing it.
"I am not advocating sending a Belgian platoon to Mozambique's border with Zimbabwe," he told IPS. "But this is an issue of peace and security. It needs to be talked about."
Stewart, who was visiting Brussels, added that an analysis of the EU on Zimbabwe may lead to the country's situation being discussed by the UN Security Council.
A day earlier the EU's foreign ministers issued a statement expressing concern that Zimbabwe's presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled Mar. 29 are at risk of being unfair. The EU has received no invitation to monitor the poll's conduct, the ministers observed.
Although Stewart said he was "glad" that Zimbabwe remained on the EU's agenda, he argued that the ministers' statement "misses the point." It is futile, he suggested, for the EU to call for free and fair elections "when there is no question this is going to happen."
Those wishing to observe the election have been told they need special permits from the government. Wilbert Mandine, a former magistrate now working for the Zimbabwean branch of the Media Institute for Southern Africa, noted that only one organisation has so far been permitted to monitor the poll. Unless more permits are granted, nearly all of the 11,000 polling stations in the country are not likely to face any scrutiny, he added.
And although Zimbabwe has a law stating that the media should cover election campaigns fairly and impartially, Mandine alleged that television coverage is "tilted in favour of the ruling party."
At the end of February, the launch of ZANU-PF's manifesto could be seen live on the Zimbabwean Broadcasting Corporation. Yet the opposition Movement for Democratic Change did not receive the same treatment when it formally began its campaign a day later.
Takavafina Zhou, president of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, was arrested and tortured when he took part in a 'Save our Education' protest in Harare last month.
Labelling Mugabe a "crocodile liberator" and a "grasping kleptocrat", he said: "We were promised paradise in< (END)
