Resolution on the situation in Zimbabwe
We, the Participants to the Forum on the participation of NGOs in the 46th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s rights,
Observing the many outstanding issues from the Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed by the representatives of the three main political parties in Zimbabwe on the 15th September 2008 and the SADC Summit Communiqué of 29 January 2009;
Concerned that the human rights situation in Zimbabwe remains fragile despite the formation of the Inclusive Government;
Alarmed by a fresh wave of attacks on civil society representatives and MDC-T political officials and the general citizenry in the form of arbitrary arrests and detention and malicious prosecutions, unjustified persecution, physical attacks and harassment;
Recalling the commitment of the parties to the inclusive government to stop all human rights violations and to further “attend to all outstanding issues arising from the implementation of the GPA and the SADC Summit Communiqué of January 2009,” as reaffirmed in the Troika delegation’s statement released on 31 October 2009;
Taken aback by the recent deportation of the UN Special Rapportteur on Torture, and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, Professor Manfred Nowak, by the Zimbabwean authorities on 28 October 2009;
Concerned by the parties’ failure to fully and effectively implement the Inter – party Political Agreement to its letter and spirit;
Hereby Call upon the African Commission to:
1. Re-affirm the primacy and pre-eminence of principles of good governance and free and fair elections as the hallmark to democracy;
2. Call upon the Inclusive government to re-affirm its commitment to uphold and respect human rights as envisaged by the African Charter;
3. Urge the government to re-affirm its commitment to respect international and regional human rights institutions and or mechanisms established by treaty bodies to which it is a party;
4. Urge the inclusive government to immediately implement measures to ensure the security of persons, in particular Human rights Defenders;
5. Urge the Inclusive Government to ensure that the Constitutional Reform Process is carried through without further delays as it is the gateway towards restoration of democracy and good governance;
6. Call upon SADC and the AU as the guarantors of the GPA to increase visibility by closely monitoring the situation in Zimbabwe.
Done at Banjul, November 9th, 2009
