Rights groups, trade unions mark Zimbabwe 2008 election run off anniversary
As Zimbabwe heads to the polls later this year, rights and civic groups in London unite in a campaign for nonviolent, free and fair elections.
President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe (Photo credit: Wikipedia).
Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Zimbabwe Vigil mark the 2008 presidential election run off anniversary with a protest against political violence on Thursday, 27 June 2013. The event takes place from 1pm till 2 pm outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London.
The presidential election of 2008 was characterised by unprecedented violence that led to torture, killings and disappearances of those accused of supporting the opposition.
Following the indecisive election in March 2008, ZANU (PF) carried out a brutal campaign of violence against innocent people prior to the June run-off for the presidency. Hundreds of people got raped, beaten or tortured while many more became refugees in their own country. Members of civic groups such as Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and Sokwanele came under attacks through intimidation and harassment.
The 2008 elections were the bloodiest since Independence in 1980.
Today political tension heightens as security forces linked to Mr Mugabe’s ZANU-PF are unleashing terror on supporters of Mr Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC. According to media reports Zanu PF has deployed militia groups countrywide in order to thwart the MDC formations’ attempts to woo rural voters.
The Thursday protest by ACTSA, TUC and Zimbabwe Vigil carries the message, ‘Never Again!’ to brutal violence in the run up to elections. Organisers support the calls for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
The protest demands for:
- Zimbabweans to have the right to vote freely for whom they wish without fear or favour
- An accurate and up to date voter roll
- Fair access to and coverage by state controlled media
- Impartiality by institutions of the state
- Domestic election observers and truly independent external election observer missions in place well before the elections.
Zimbabweans over the years experienced brutal violence and intimidation in the run-up to elections. The worst political violence happened after the 2008 presidential elections. Members of President Mugabe’s ZANU (PF); the police, the army and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) agents commit acts of terror on innocent people with impunity.
Tony Dykes, Director of Action for Southern Africa, said: “Five years after the terrible violence of 2008 we have seen very little of the essential reforms that are needed for free and fair elections.
“We are calling for Zimbabweans to have the right to choose their leaders without external interference and without internal repression, without the fear of violence, harassment or a rigged electoral system that favours one party over another;” he added.
The TUC demands for an election where Zimbabweans vote freely without fear as their democratic right.
In a statement the TUC said: “It is the duty of the Government of Zimbabwe to make sure there are free and fair elections in a peaceful environment without violence and intimidation and in strict compliance with international standards.”
The TUC hopes that ‘the elections will usher in a new era of peace, prosperity and justice’ for all Zimbabweans.
Ephraim Tapa, Zimbabwe Vigil spokesperson, observed: “As things stand free and fair elections are very unlikely because of intimidation and vote-rigging. We fear the election results will be cooked by ZANU ( PF).”
Tapa believes the European Union’s business interests should not be at the expense of Zimbabweans who struggle against all odds to make ends meet.
Organisers of the Thursday protest plan to carry a ‘Tree of hope’ to Southwark Cathedral. The tree bears messages of hope for free and fair elections. Southwark Cathedral and Zimbabwe have strong links that date back to 1991. The Diocese of Southwark has ties with three Anglican dioceses in Zimbabwe.
Related articles
- US doubtful on free, fair polls (zimbabweelection.com)
- Mawarire’s democracy questioned (thezimbabwean.co)
- Zanu (PF) must respect SADC (thezimbabwean.co)
- Mugabe calls elections – and Tsvangirai rejects them as illegal – The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
- Zimbabwean elections: So much to do, so little time (dailymaverick.co.za)
JOURNALISTS STILL BEING HARASSED AS ELECTIONS LOOM
President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe listens as Prof. Alpha Oumar Konare, chairman of the Commission of the African Union, addresses attendees at the opening ceremony of the 10th Ordinary Session of the Assembly during the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
From Reporters Without Borders 2013 Report
25 May 2013
The new Zimbabwean constitution that President Robert Mugabe promulgated three days ago guarantees more democracy and freedom of expression, on paper at least, and Reporters Without Borders hopes that it will reduce the negative effect of the draconian laws currently in effect.
As a result of Zimbabwe’s repressive legislation, criminal charges are often brought against journalists just for doing their job. This has been seen yet again in recent cases of arrests and harassment.
The new constitution also opens the way for elections that have been awaited for years. President Mugabe wants them held as soon as possible and his party, Zanu-PF, thinks they could be held on 29 June. But the power-sharing government’s prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition MDC, wants several essential reforms adopted first, including media freedom reform.
“Aside from highlighting the disagreements and obstacles that have existed at the highest level ever since the power-sharing government’s formation four years ago, the conditions posed by Tsvangirai draw attention to the urgent need for news providers to be guaranteed the right to work freely and safely,” Reporters Without Borders said.
“The new constitution is a step forward but no satisfactory, transparent election is possible if journalists are prevented from working properly. In both Harare and in the provinces, Zimbabwean journalists, especially those who work for the privately-owned media, are the victims of harassment campaigns while journalists with the state-owned media are controlled by the government.”
On World Press Freedom Day, on 3 May, Reporters Without Borders pointed out that Mugabe is still on its list of 39 “Predators of Freedom of Expression” and drew up an indictment accusing him of suppressing freedom of expression, exercising strict control over the state media, constantly harassing the print media and being the architect of an extremely repressive media legislation.Read the indictment.
Arrests and harassment
In one of the latest examples of abusive arrests, Dumisani Muleya, the editor of the Zimbabwe Independent weekly, Owen Gagare, one of his reporters, and the newspaper’s secretary were arrested on 7 May for publishing “lies” in a front-page story by Gagare in the 26 April issue.
All three were held for seven hours in a Harare police station before being released. The two journalists were interrogated about their sources for the story, which said Tsvangirai had met secretly with senior military officers ahead of the coming elections.
The police were meanwhile threatening another Zimbabwe Independent reporter, Dingilizwe Ntuli, with a jail sentence for an article criticizing Harare’s police chief.
The privately-owned newspaper NewsDay has also been the target of police harassment.Ropafadzo Mapimhidze, a NewsDay reporter based in Masvingo, 300 km south of Harare, was summoned and questioned by the local police in February about one of her articles.
Daily News editor Stanley Gama was summoned to Masvingo the following month and asked to reveal his sources for an article about a resumption of terrorist activities in the area. Gama is currently accused of libelling a Zanu-PF representative in a report about the alleged rape of an 11-year-old girl.
Often threatened and interrogated and sometimes prosecuted, independent media personnel are hounded by the national police, the security forces and the Central Intelligence Organization, which follow orders from Mugabe and his aides.
Judicial dangers and repressive legislation
The two Zimbabwe Independent journalists have been formally charged by the police with “publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state,” which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and the possibility of a heavy fine.
The criminal defamation legislation allows individuals to bring complaints against media and journalists before the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), which monitors the media. Under the 2002 Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the ZMC can close media that act “imprudently.” This provision is above all used when journalists cover cases of alleged corruption.
Information minister Webster Shamu reiterated the government’s position on media freedom and the protection of journalists at a news conference at Zanu-PF headquarters on 10 May: “I want to repeat that this country came about through the barrel of a gun. It cannot be taken by a pen, never.”
Related articles
- Teachers ‘being targeted by ZANU-PF activists’ (zimbabweelection.com)
- Mugabe calls elections – and Tsvangirai rejects them as illegal – The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
- Zimbabwe’s President Promises Hell For Gays If He Wins (joshijoshiblog.com)
Human Rights Watch Report on Zimbabwe
“…The power-sharing government of Zimbabwe has failed to amend repressive laws such as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. These laws deny basic rights through vague defamation clauses and draconian penalties. The failure to amend or repeal these laws, and to develop mechanisms to address the partisan conduct of the police, limits the rights to freedom of association and assembly ahead of and during the coming elections.
Provisions in AIPPA and POSA that provide criminal penalties for defamation, undermining the authority of, or insulting the president, have routinely been used against journalists and human rights defenders. ZANU-PF has repeatedly blocked attempts by the MDC to amend POSA and bring it in line with commitments in the GPA. Police often deliberately interpret provisions of POSA to ban lawful public meetings and gatherings. Prosecutors have often used section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act against opposition and civil society activists to overturn judicial rulings granting bail and extend detention by seven days…” Excerpted from Human Rights Watch World Report 2013.
© 2013 by Human Rights Watch.
Related articles
- Mugabe Humiliated (zimnowmedia.wordpress.com)
- MDC-T boast triggered presidential decree (zimbabweelection.com)
- Police arrest Ncube, Misihairambwi-Mushonga (thezimbabwean.co)
- MDC Officials Arrested for ‘Illegal Gathering’ (myzimnews.wordpress.com)
- They went to SADC and… came back with two stories! (zimbabweelection.com)
- Mugabe ‘happy’ with summit outcome – New Zimbabwe.com (newzimbabwe.com)
Crimson Tazvinzwa
spottedISSUES Blog 
Recent Comments