What's next for Zimbabwe?
On June 27, 2008, Robert Mugabe ran for his sixth term as president of Zimbabwe, a position he’s held since the country’s 1980 independence. However, Mugabe competed in the runoff election against himself: Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who led after the first round of voting and is widely believed to have actually won outright, pulled out of the vote days before balloting, citing increasing violence and intimidation against Zimbabweans in the run-up to elections. This included the deaths of dozens of MDC members. On Election Day, militias loyal to Mugabe forced citizens to the polls.
- Assessment of what went on before the vote: Human Rights Watch, in calling for the global community to reject the results of the election, monitored violence and intimidation before the vote. From HRW’s report: “Zimbabweans told Human Rights Watch that at several polling stations in Harare they were forced to pass through unofficial stations set up by ZANU-PF outside polling booths, and submit their names and details to ZANU-PF officials. They were given cards and ordered to write down the serial numbers of their ballot papers so that ZANU-PF officials could trace those who had voted for Mugabe and those who had not.
“In the days before the vote, ZANU-PF supporters rounded up and beat scores of people in the suburbs of Epworth and Chitungwiza on the outskirts of Harare. Many people sustained serious injuries, including multiple fractures, and were hospitalized at Parirenyatwa hospital in Harare. In one incident, three people told Human Rights Watch that ZANU-PF supporters forced them to attend a rally in Epworth at which former Minister of Mines Amos Midzi spoke. He told people that they would be beaten because they supported the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC); then ZANU-PF supporters beat them with batons and sticks.
After the beatings ZANU-PF supporters informed people that if they valued their lives they would go and vote for Mugabe. The ZANU-PF supporters also told the people that they would go door to door after the vote checking peoplesÂ’ fingers for the ink.”
Amnesty International has been documenting human-rights abuses connected to the elections, as well.
- International condemnation: Besides Archbishop Desmond Tutu calling Mugabe “Frankenstein,” most Western nations and African countries such as Rwanda and Kenya have condemned the strong-arm tactics employed by Mugabe to gain another term. The European Union condemned the runoff and was weighing action against Mugabe’s regime, though a travel and arms embargo was already in place. The G-8 also called the vote “illegitimate.”
- African Union discusses shunning Mugabe: But this is unlikely to happen. Going into the Sharm el-Sheikh summit following Mugabe’s swearing in, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe said, “It will be none of this summit’s business to choose the titles for leaders, it is the business of this summit to see what we are going to do for the suffering people and masses in Africa.” Others pooh-poohed the idea of sanctions.
However, most Zimbabweans are hoping that the AU will get tough and intervene in the crisis. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga called for the AU to deploy troops in Zimbabwe, saying, “President Mugabe went ahead with the fake elections in which he competed against himself. That was a fake victory and we do not recognize it.”
- At the Security Council: The U.N. body, which had urged a runoff delay after Tsvangirai dropped out, hadn’t come to agreement on the legitimacy of Mugabe’s election because of opposition from ally South Africa. The U.S. then declared it would pursue sanctions against Zimbabwe at the council, but China and Russia — which both hold veto power — have balked about the idea.
- Sanctions: On June 29, 2008, the day Mugabe was sworn in for his sixth term, Canada imposed travel restrictions on key members of the ruling party in Zimbabwe and closed its airspace to planes registered in Zimbabwe. “Canada does not consider the result of the June 27 election to be, by any reasonable standard of democracy, a credible outcome,” said Foreign Minister David Emerson. “This ‘election’ is illegitimate and will not be accepted by the government of Canada.” The U.S. government called for an international arms embargo and further sanctions, yet said it will still provide food and assistance to fight AIDS.
- Consideration of force: Tsvangirai called for the possibility of an internationl peacekeeping force to be considered for Zimbabwe. After Mugabe’s one-man runoff, Archbishop Tutu also said he would support an international force. But those encouraging action to help the people of Zimbabwe are in general agreement that the African Union must play a strong role in this, and the AU is reluctant to take action against Mugabe.
- Negotiations: Running a peaceful campaign of democratic resistance, Tsvangirai has said he is open to talks pushing for new elections and even a new constitution. He has also floated the possibility of a unity government that would include members of the ZANU-PF party but exclude its leader, Mugabe. However, Tsvangirai had already survived four assassination attempts going into elections, and after the first round of voting was kept out of the country because of another assassination plot linked to Mugabe’s forces. The violence casts a pall over the possibility for meaningful talks.
- More violence: The Independent newspaper in the U.K. reports that those voting lists mentioned by Human Rights Watch have been handed over to Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party in order to enact a bloody “final solution”: eradicating remaining members of the MDC.
admin @ July 8, 2008