AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS TAKE ON ZIMBABWE CRISIS

(Gaborone, August 7, 2024) Today, the participants in the African Civil Society Consultation on Zimbabwe, representing civil society groups from Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and Kenya, issued a statement condemning the human rights crisis in Zimbabwe and calling for urgent action by regional governments and institutions, as well as the international community, to end serious human rights violations in the country.

The Consultation, organized jointly by DITSHWANELO - the Botswana Centre for Human Rights, and the US-based Lawyers Committee for Human Rights took place over two days in Gaborone. Among the participants were representatives of regional human rights organizations, trade unions, church groups, women’s organizations and youth groups.

In addition to demanding that the government of Zimbabwe immediately bring an end to all human rights violations in the country, in their concluding statement, the participants called, among other things, for SADC countries to examine the compliance of the Zimbabwe authorities with the provisions of the Windhoek Declaration and called on the AU Commission to issue a public statement condemning the human rights violations in Zimbabwe.

Moreover, they urged that Zimbabwe’s suspension from the Commonwealth should continue until its government takes concrete steps to restore the rule of law, respect for human rights and holds perpetrators of human rights violations accountable. The participants also demanded that the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights should make its report on the June 2002 fact finding mission to Zimbabwe public at its next session in Banjul in October 2003.

Alice Mogwe, the Director of DITSHWANELO, said “the Consultation was an extremely important occasion for us, the civil society groups, to jointly express our concern about the human rights crisis in Zimbabwe, and call upon our governments and regional bodies to take a stronger position in addressing that crisis. Until now, there has not been a meeting involving so many different civil society groups, from so many countries in the region which has focused on the Zimbabwean situation.”

Outspoken human rights advocate Archbishop Pius Ncube of Zimbabwe said “this meeting with our colleagues from the region has helped immensely to strengthen us in our struggle for respect for basic rights in Zimbabwe.”

Read the Consultation’s Statement
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Participants

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
ZimRights, Zimbabwe
League of Women Voters, Zimbabwe
Transparency International, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
Roman Catholic Church, Archdiocese of Bulawayo
Zimbabwe Youth Democracy Trust
Crisis Coalition, Zimbabwe

Human Rights Institute for South Africa
Amnesty International South Africa
Zimbabwe Advocacy Campaign, South Africa
South African Council of Churches
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa

Civil Liberties Committee, Malawi
Church of Central African Presbyteria, Blantyre Synod, Malawi
Active Youth Initiative for Social Enhancement (AYISE), Malawi
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, Malawi

International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Kenya
National Convention Executive Council, Kenya

NGO Coordinating Committee, Zambia
Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia
Council of Churches, Zambia
Afronet, Zambia

National Society for Human Rights, Namibia
Legal Assistance Centre, Namibia

DITSHWANELO, the Botswana Centre for Human Rights
Women NGO Coalition, Botswana
Women’s Shelter Project, Botswana
Amnesty International, Botswana
Anglican Church, Diocese of Botswana
Quakers, Botswana

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, United States
International Human Rights Law Group, United States
London School of Economics, England
The Accountability Commission, Zimbabwe (England)