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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
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Zimbabwe: Statements on Crisis
AFRICA ACTION
Africa Policy E-Journal
June 10, 2003 (030610)
Zimbabwe: Statements on Crisis
(Reposted from sources cited below)
This posting contains an open letter to President Robert Mugabe
from progressive African American leaders released by Africa Action
and TransAfrica Forum on June 3, and a pastoral appeal from the All
Africa Conference of Churches released on June 6. Another Ejournal
posting sent out today contains a press release and brief
excerpts from the most recent Human Rights Watch report on the
escalating crisis and deteriorating human rights situation in
Zimbabwe.
On June 6, Bill Fletcher, Jr., President of TransAfrica Forum,
issued another statement "Why We Spoke Out on Zimbabwe," available
at:
http://www.transafricaforum.org/newsletter/
why_we_spoke_zim060603.shtml [type URL on one line]
For a statement earlier this year from civil society groups in
Zimbabwe, see http://www.africafocus.org/docs03ej/zim0304.php>
For a 2002 statement on Zimbabwe from Africa Action, see
http://www.africaaction.org/desk/zim0203.htm
AllAfrica.com interview with mayor of Harare, June 4, 2003
"Africa Leaders Must 'Rescue' Zimbabwe"
http://allafrica.com/stories/200306040027.html
For current news see http://www.zwnews.com
and http://allafrica.com/zimbabwe
+++++++++++++++++end summary/introduction+++++++++++++++++++++++
Open Letter to Robert Mugabe
Press Release
June 3, 2003
Contact: Salih Booker (202) 546-7961 at Africa Action
Bill Fletcher, Jr. (202) 223-1960 at TransAfrica Forum
African American Letter to Robert Mugabe Condemns Political
Repression in Zimbabwe
Black Trade Union Officials, Africa Advocacy Groups and Church
organizations call for African diplomatic intervention and an
unconditional dialogue among Zimbabweans to create a transition to
democratic rights for all.
Tuesday, June 3, 2003 (Washington, DC) - Progressive leaders among
leading African American organizations, trade unions, church and
advocacy groups today released an open letter to Zimbabwean
President, Robert Mugabe, to oppose the political repression
underway in that country.
Highlighting long historical ties to the independence movements of
Zimbabwe, the signators described the current crackdown on
political opposition as, "in complete contradiction of the values
and principles that were both the foundation of your liberation
struggle and of our solidarity with that struggle."
The letter to Mugabe follows a process over the past several months
where progressive African Americans have held a series of meetings
with representatives of the Zimbabwean government and of Zimbabwean
civil society both here in the U.S. and in Zimbabwe. The group
concluded that it is time that African American progressives make
a public statement on the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe that
so negatively affects the people of that proud country with whom
the signatories have stood in solidarity for many decades.
Africa Action executive director, Salih Booker, said today that "We
have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe to
state clearly where we stand. And we stand for human rights and
against the repression of the Mugabe regime directed against
Zimbabwe's African majority."
The full text of the letter is below.
Open Letter to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
3 June, 2003
Dear President Mugabe,
We are writing today to implore you to seek a peaceful and just
solution to your country's escalating national crisis. Those signed
below are Americans of Africa descent - many of them representing
major organizations of civil society in the United States - who
have worked for decades to support the liberation movements of
Africa and the governments that followed independence which
promoted and protected the interests of all of their nation's
people. We form part of an honorable tradition of progressive
solidarity with the struggles for decolonization, and against
apartheid and imperialism in Africa.
We have strong historical ties to the liberation movements in
Zimbabwe, which included material and political support, as well as
opposition to U.S. government policies that supported white
minority rule. In independent Zimbabwe we have sought to maintain
progressive ties with the political party and government that arose
from the freedom struggle. At the same time our progressive ties
have grown with institutions of civil society, especially the labor
movement, women's organizations, faith communities, human rights
organizations, students, the independent media and progressive
intellectuals. In Zimbabwe today, all of our relations and our deep
empathy and understanding of events there require that we stand in
solidarity with those feeling the pain and suffering caused by the
abuse of their rights, violence and intolerance, economic
deprivation and hunger, and landlessness and discrimination.
We do not need to recount here the details of the increasing
intolerant, repressive and violent policies of your government over
the past 3 years, nor the devastating consequences of those
policies. The use of repressive legislation does not, in our
respectful view, render such actions justifiable or moral, because
of their presumed "legality". We represent a long tradition of
opposition to unjust laws. We have previously expressed to your
representative in Washington, DC, our humanitarian concerns about
the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zimbabwe as well as that of
the famine triggered by the recent southern African drought and
exacerbated by the economic policies and food distribution
practices of your government. We have shared our concerns that land
redistribution in Zimbabwe be used to fight the poverty of the
majority and not to promote the narrow interests of another
minority. But most of all, we have communicated clearly that we
view the political repression underway in Zimbabwe as intolerable
and in complete contradiction of the values and principles that
were both the foundation of your liberation struggle and of our
solidarity with that struggle.
Today, Mr. President we call upon yourself and those among the
ruling party who truly value democracy, and wish to protect the
future of all of Zimbabwe's citizens to take extraordinary steps to
end your country's political crisis and place it upon a path toward
peace. We ask that you initiate an unconditional dialogue with the
political opposition in Zimbabwe and representatives of civil
society aimed at ending this impasse. We call upon you to seek the
diplomatic intervention of appropriately concerned African states
and institutions, particularly South Africa and Nigeria, and SADC
and the African Union, to assist in the mediation of Zimbabwe's
civil conflict.
Mr. President, the non-violent civil disobedience that is growing
in your country - such as that which took place on Mother's day in
Bulawayo - is increasingly met with police brutality and excessive
force. Such trends in the abuse of human rights are not only
unacceptable, they are threats to your country's stability and they
are undermining the economic and political development your people
desire and deserve. We believe that a peaceful solution is possible
for Zimbabwe if you find a way to work with others in and outside
of your government to create an effective process for a transition
to a more broadly supported government upholding the democratic
rights of all.
Sincerely yours in struggle,
William Lucy, President, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
Willie Baker, Executive Vice President, Coalition of Black Trade
Unionists
Salih Booker, Executive Director, Africa Action
Bill Fletcher, Jr., President, TransAfrica Forum
Horace G. Dawson Jr., Director Ralph J. Bunche International
Affairs Center, Howard University
Patricia Ann Ford, Executive Vice President, Service Employees
International Union (SEIU)
Julianne Malveaux, TransAfrica Forum Board Member
Rev Justus Y. Reeves, Executive Director Missions Ministry,
Progressive National Baptist Convention
Coordinating Committee, Black Radical Congress
END-
All Africa Conference of Churches
June 6, 2003
[distributed by http://www.africafiles.org. For additional
information please contact Melaku Kifle of the All Africa
Conference of Churches ([email protected]).
Messages of solidarity may be sent to AACC: "Melaku
Kifle"<[email protected] Catholic Bishops: "Archbishop Pius
Ncube" <[email protected]>, Zimbabwe Council of Churches:"Denson
Mafinyane" <[email protected]> the Evangelical Fellowhip c/o ZCC.]
To: AACC Member Churches
PASTORAL APPEAL FOR ZIMBABWE
Dear friends,
The All Africa Conference of Churches has prayerfully been
monitoring the political, social and economic developments in
Zimbabwe as it often does with other African countries in crisis
situations. It is with heartfelt concerns for the people and
churches in Zimbabwe that we are sending this appeal to you.
Zimbabweans are experiencing a rapidly crashing economy marked by
hyper inflation at 270% which is likely to reach 500% by end of
year. With Zimbabwe bank notes in short supply, there is less money
in circulation to keep the informal sector going. A critical fuel
and electricity shortages have together forced the closing down of
businesses, resulting in loss of jobs. Fuel prices have risen by
600% since February. Foreign export earnings are crippled and fuel
supplied by Libya and China is being paid for with hundreds of
thousands of hectares of land in barter trade. Drought-related
famine that has hit the region has hastened the dwindling of the
national food stocks.
The immediate impact of land reforms on commercial and food crop
production has been the devastation of the agricultural sector. Out
of a national population of 12 million people, 7 million are
surviving on international food aid. Health service delivery is
limping towards a halt while the high rate of HIV/AIDS has
heightened the miseries of this situation. There is a huge
migration of skilled and semi-skilled workers from the country,
both a result of economic hardships and erosion of public
confidence.
Human rights abuses are wide-spread; law and order have become
greatly weakened in a very short space of time while corruption has
become endemic. People are deeply frustrated and angered by what
they see as poor governance. Support for political opposition front
has been growing and has been met with a heavy show of force by the
government.
The call for a national stay-away from work this week supported by
peaceful street demonstrations was met with a threat from
government to crush any street demonstration. There has been a huge
show of armed military and police presence throughout all the
cities since the weekend and along the roads ensuring a severe
clampdown on any gatherings of more than two or three people in
urban public areas since Monday. Government declared that
stay-aways and demonstrations are illegal but the opposition
contended that the people have a right to express themselves
peacefully.
Meanwhile Zimbabwean church leaders have over the past month been
trying to convince the major political protagonists that mediated
talks are essential in order to find a way forward. The three
national church bodies - Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Zimbabwe
Catholic Bishops Conference, and the Evangelical Fellowship of
Zimbabwe - on Sunday June 1 issued a call for restrained action on
the part of both protestors and government forces so that violence
does not overtake peaceful options.
Churches within Zimbabwe are working from two approaches . The
first has been to insist that those in positions of authority have
the responsibility to listen to the genuine grievances of the
people, in the spirit of service-leadership . Human rights abuses
must be stopped and impunity must not be tolerated. The
militarisation of youth must be stopped. The rule of law and order
must be restored to the legitimate constitutional arms of the
state. Legislation that oppresses freedom of expression must be
repealed. Control of food, medical aid and other basic necessities
of life must be depoliticised. A serious effort must be made to
fight corruption and those who are found guilty must be brought to
book. Violence as a means of curbing opposition or as a means of
opposing government, must be stopped.
Secondly, is the urgent need for dialogue, and to offer
non-partisan assistance for dialogue. This dialogue is needed at
all levels in society. Divisions in society have been cultivated
between ethnic and language groups, races, urban and rural
dwellers, youth and adults, and adherents of different political
parties, even between past and present. All of these divisions will
need to be healed at personal, structural and systemic levels. It
will require a healing of memories as well as a new definition of
the Zimbabwean identity. Hence dialogue is a nation-wide task and
requires everyone's input.
We appeal to our member churches to lobby their governments to
support mediated dialogue between the government and
representatives of the main opposition party. Although all problems
cannot be solved by political parties, a political solution is an
essential starting point.
Trusting in the promise contained in 2nd Chronicles 7:14, we ask
your prayers for the present situation:
(i) for God's protection so that more lives will not be lost, that
lives and property will not be destroyed, and that actions taken by
both sides will not create an atmosphere in which dialogue becomes
even more difficult.
(ii) for God's blessing upon the efforts of all peace-loving people
within Zimbabwe and within the circle of support around Zimbabwe
including those in churches, civil society and government who are
trying to find ways to bring the troubles to an end and reunite the
nation.
(iii) for the long-term development of Zimbabwe: that the people
will find common identity, will seek reconciliation, and will build
a peaceful nation that honours the sovereignty of God.
We wish all of you abundant blessings
Melaku Kifle
AACC Interim General Secretary
Cc Zimbabwe Council of Churches
Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference
Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Date distributed (ymd): 030610
Region: Southern Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +economy/development+
+security/peace+
The Africa Action E-Journal is a free information service
provided by Africa Action, including both original
commentary and reposted documents. Africa Action provides this
information and analysis in order to promote U.S. and
international policies toward Africa that advance economic,
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