SOAWR Statement on Zimbabwe

SOLIDARITY FOR AFRICAN WOMEN’S RIGHTS (SOAWR) COALITION STATEMENT ON ZIMBABWE

STOP THE VIOLENCE IN ZIMBABWE NOW!

An Open Letter to:
H.E. Jakaya Kikwete, President of the Republic of Tanzanian and Chairman of the African Union
H.E. Commissioner Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations
Members of the United Nations Security Council
Members of the African Union Peace and Security Council
H.E. Sir Katumile Masire, President of the Republic of Botswana and Chairman of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)
The Executive Secretary of the SADC Secretariat

PREAMBLE

On 29th March 2008, Zimbabwe went to the polls to elect its next government. Results of the Presidential elections were announced a month later and people in Zimbabwe maintained peace. Reports from Zimbabwean civil society organizations (CSO) [names are with held for security reasons] indicate that from 2 April 2008, the government organised a retribution campaign to target those who allegedly voted for the opposition and “since then there has been terror in mostly rural Zimbabwe with youth militia under the command of the army and police confirmed to have gone on to unleash terror in a campaign to teach the rural people how to correctly vote as the country gears up for a presidential run-off on the 27th June 2008.”

No election observers are yet in the country, despite the urgent calls, appeals and pleas of the Zimbabweans to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations.

The world is watching as a silent genocide of the poor and the powerless goes on as a result of politically induced murders, criminal actions, and the collapse of basic services. Most of the affected are women and children.

According to reports received from concerned CSO from Zimbabwe:

The post election murders, burnings, lootings and intimidation have mostly affected women and girls since 80% of women live in rural areas which is the epicenter of the violence.

Over 800 homes have been burnt down, making it traumatic for mothers who have to feed the children and care for the sick

Over 10 000 people have fled their homes, are displaced or are squatters with relatives. Displaced children are not in schools

Over 50 people have been murdered in cold blood, and mostly from the opposition.

An estimated 7000 teachers have fled their schools as a number have been beaten in the eyes of parents and pupils.

Doctors for Human Rights report that over 2000 serious cases of physical torture and beatings have passed through their hands and a lot of those they treated have suffered serious fractures to an extent that most are permanently handicapped.

The oldest victim of the post election violence is an old woman with 12 grandchildren all of them orphaned and whose son is alleged to have campaigned for the opposition.

The youngest female victim is a 15-year-old girl who was stripped naked and together with her pregnant mother, forced to lie down and beaten on the breasts and buttocks. Just as many women have been so battered.

Several girls and women are feared raped. The youngest child seriously assaulted is only 3 years.

More than 3,000 Zimbabweans die every week due to AIDS, and life expectancy is 34 years for women.

Unemployment is 80% and inflation is 165 000 %, the highest in the world.

Over 200 000 women were made homeless and jobless by the government 2005 Operation Murambatsviina.

Over 3 million Zimbabweans are immigrants in South Africa where they are facing xenophobic attacks.

The Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) Coalition joins the Zimbabwean women and women of Africa in calling for your urgent attention to and action on the following:

COGNISANT of the obligations of the Zimbabwean government to protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of its people under international and regional Human Rights frameworks such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action, the Millennium Declaration, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Optional Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the African Union Constitutive Act and the AU Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality.

RE-ITERATE the long-standing position of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that the failure by government and law enforcement, such as police and army to respect the rights of all citizens is the greatest threat to peace, democracy and development in Zimbabwe.

CONCERNED by the real danger of civil strife catalyzed by the growing humanitarian crisis. We are witnessing increasing levels of tension and political polarization among the population, which turned out to vote peacefully and in large numbers on 29th March 2008. The media reports on the party political position adopted by the law enforcement, which should ordinarily maintain neutrality, and the recent purchase of military weapons adds to this fear.

DEMAND cessation of organized and targeted intimidation against the citizens, particularly the use of women and girls as weapons of ‘war’, evidenced by the physical torture and sexual abuse.

DEMAND the immediate disbanding of the militias, comprised of youths, security agents and one terror group code named Chipangano, which have caused terror and havoc in the rural and urban areas exacerbating the humanitarian situation by creating internal refugees. We demand the disbanding of torture bases where gross abuses of women are taking place including forced labor and sexual abuse.

REQUEST the Leadership of the African Union, SADC and the United Nations to demand that the ZANU PF government stop using violence against its people and TAKE TANGIBLE actions to foster a violence-free election.

Request all the officials and organs addressed in this open letter to:

Establish a programme of engagement with Zimbabwe for the protection of human rights especially for women, girls and children. The AU must deploy human rights monitors and observers during the run-up to the Presidential Elections and whose presence must be maintained until the announcement of the next President to ensure that there is no repeat of the pattern of violence witnessed so far. There should be gender parity within the observers including women’s rights activists as provided for in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, and the AU Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality.

Mandate and support the AU Special Rapportuer on Violence Against Women to conduct a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe to support the efforts of community, grassroots and other organisations living in a culture of fear, survivors of violence and abuse.

Engage with the Zimbabwe government and authorities to stop the violence and intimidation which has far reaching consequences to restricting the future participation and representation of women in decision making, which is essential in a democratic society and is part of the international and regional human rights frameworks.

Encourage and support humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe, especially in support of food, health and education for rural communities and the displaced. Health services should include reproductive health services of women and girls.

Urge the State to immediately reinstate the operations of non-governmental organizations to continue with their important services to the needy people of Zimbabwe.

Issued on 6 June 2008