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DemocracyAlerts

From time to time, the World Movement for Democracy issues alerts concerning participants and other colleagues who are, or may be, facing personal danger due to their work on behalf of democracy and for whom a vigorous response from around the world may be critical.

To see previous alerts go to www.wmd.org/democracyalerts/democracyAlerts.html.

Following the March 29 elections, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s inability to produce the election results created an environment of chaos and violence in Zimbabwe.  A number of World Movement participating organizations have made statements throughout the month of April calling attention to the cases of violence, various arrests of civil society organization representatives, and general instability throughout the country.  Despite the recent announcement of election results, those results are still highly contested, especially by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which maintains that its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the election (www.mdc.co.zw/pressbody.asp?pressid=38).

On April 9, at the World Movement’s Fifth Assembly in Kyiv, Ukraine, the African Democracy Forum (ADF), a World Movement network of democracy, human rights, and governance organizations in Africa, issued a statement calling upon the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to immediately release the presidential election results.  The ADF condemned the silence, particularly the "wait and see" attitude taken by both the African Union and the Southern African Development Cooperation institutions.   The ADF also called upon the member states of those institutions to prevail upon Zimbabwean officials to guarantee the timely conclusion of the electoral process.  The ADF joined other local and international actors seeking to hold the Government of Zimbabwe both personally and corporately accountable for any failure to address these issues that threaten peace and stability in the country.

On April 25, the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) released a statement concerning ongoing cases of organized violence and torture and of intimidation of medical personnel.  ZADHR claimed the number of victims of organized violence and torture presented to members of ZADHR reached 62 patients between April 22 and April 24.  They also received reports of widespread violence in remote rural areas where victims have no access to medical care and reports of perpetrators blocking access of victims to medical attention.  ZADHR called on the international community to help end the violence in Zimbabwe.

Recently, the police have alleged that the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) officials were campaigning for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in polling stations, bribing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission officials during the election period to prejudice President Robert Mugabe, charges that ZESN vehemently denies.  On April 25, Zimbabwean police searched and seized documents at ZESN offices and at the home of ZESN National Director, Rindai Chipfunde Vava.  On April 28, ZESN Chairperson, Noel Kututwa handed himself over to police, as did ZESN National Director, Rindai Chipfunde Vava the following day.  Both Kututwa and Chipfunde Vava, participants in the World Movement’s Fifth Assembly in Kyiv last month, have since been released.   On May 6, ZESN issued a statement calling for an end to the ongoing attacks on accredited election observers in Chibara village in Mt Darwin East, where eight huts have been torched.

To read the April 9 ADF statement, go to: www.africandemocracyforum.org

To read the April 25 ZADHR statement, go to: www.wmd.org/Documents/ZADHR052008.pdf

For more information on ZESN Chairperson, Noel Kututwa, go to: www.zesn.org.zw/publications/publication_179.doc

For more information on ZESN National Director, Rindai Chipfunde Vava, go to: www.zesn.org.zw/publications/publication_180.doc