Zimbabwe dominates discussion at Africa Commission meeting

By Tererai Karimakwenda
May 05, 2008

Representatives from Non-Governmental Organisations from across Africa have been meeting in Swaziland, and Zimbabwe has dominated the proceedings. The NGOs met on the sidelines of the 43rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), and expressed serious concern over the current human rights situation in Zimbabwe. Lawyer and human rights activist Gabriel Shumba, whose own torture case comes before the Commission this time around, said Zimbabwe has been upgraded to a conflict level similar to the Sudan where millions have died.

The session kicked off in Ezulwini, Swaziland on Saturday, with Swaziland’s former Prime Minister Obed Dlamini urging participants not to shy away from discussing real problems in Zimbabwe and other African countries such as Kenya, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo

Speaking during the opening ceremony Dlamini said: “The violent campaign by ZANU PF and its supporters in the rural areas of Zimbabwe must be criticised.”

Shumba said the NGOs called for regional and international supervision of elections in the event there is a runoff between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. They recommended that elections go ahead only after observers and monitors are already on the ground in Zimbabwe, making sure there is peace.

The NGO forum was presented with shocking reports of the state-sponsored violence that has caused the deaths of over 20 people in the post election period. There have also been more than 450 arbitrary arrests and detentions, mostly of opposition supporters and officers from the Electoral Commission. Zimbabwe’s attempts to import weapons from China, statistics on the economy and death rates were also highlighted.

The NGOs called for the creation of an African Truth and Justice Commission, that would prosecute perpetrators of human rights abuses on the continent. Shumba said that they agreed the culture of impunity that currently exists needs to be eliminated.

Meanwhile the AFP news agency reports that the chairman of the African Union executive Jean Ping has held "very constructive" talks with Robert Mugabe during a visit to Harare. The report quotes a senior African diplomat who said the talks centred on the electoral crisis.

Speaking from Addis Ababa where the AU is headquartered, the diplomat said Ping travelled to Harare with AU political affairs commissioner Julia Dolly Joiner and peace and security commissioner Ramtane Lamamra. Ping also reportedly met with the chairman of Zimbabwe’s electoral commission and reviewed the entire electoral process from the start.

The delegation was expected to leave Harare on Monday and head to Arusha, in Tanzania, for a meeting of the AU’s executive council. The United States has been calling for increased AU involvement in the Zimbabwe’s crisis.