The Campaign News

Pan-African Campaign of Solidarity for Zimbabwe

Launch: Saturday 12 July 2008

On Saturday 12 July 2008, following a call by CIVICUS: World Alliance For Citizen Participation, Amnesty International and the Global Call for Action Against Poverty (GCAP), citizens of Africa will unite to express their solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe who are suffering persistent violations of their rights. Saturday represents the launch of a Pan-African Campaign of Solidarity for Zimbabwe, and will be followed by events continent-wide.

The widespread killings, torture and intimidation of the political opposition that characterised the presidential election run-off on June 27 cannot be condoned under any circumstances. “By flagrantly and consistently violating the values upon which present day Africa is premised, Mr Mugabe has done great disservice to the people of Zimbabwe and the continent. We believe it is the responsibility of all Africans to urgently put a stop to Mr Mugabe’s anti-democratic activities” said Kumi Naidoo Honorary President of CIVICUS.

“The widespread killings, torture and assault of perceived opposition supporters must come to an end in Zimbabwe. Concrete action is long overdue and African leaders must end their silent acquiescence,” said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International. In this hour of crisis, the people of Africa stand together with the people of Zimbabwe. “We urge African leaders to call for space to be opened up so that civil society can play a role in tackling Zimbabwe’s current crisis – we are needed now more than ever as millions of people face hunger through growing food insecurity brought on by mis-governance.” said Adelaide Sosseh, GCAP Co-chair based in The Gambia.

Saturday’s Pan-African events will express the concern of people continent-wide for the situation in Zimbabwe, and demonstrate the unity with which Africans stand against the violations committed against Zimbabwe’s people. It represents the beginning of an Africa- wide campaign at the grassroots level, allowing African voices to speak out about injustice in Zimbabwe.

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There are a growing number of African voices speaking out against the suffering in Zimbabwe and demanding action from the African Union, the Southern African Development Community and individual African governments. The types of action that they are calling for include:

• Appointment of an independent commission of inquiry to look into the recent human rights violations and abuses
• Posting of human rights monitors to report on the current situation
Urge a solution to the present political crisis and deep divisions amongst the people of Zimbabwe in the spirit of reconciliation and dialogue
• Restoration of the independence of the judiciary and accountability of security forces and law enforcement agencies

There will be a range of activities taking place across the African continent on Saturday 12 July 2008, organised by local civil society organisations and concerned citizens. The expressions of solidarity that they will be making include:

• Organising vigils outside the Zimbabwean embassies
• Assembling outside government buildings or Houses of Parliament urging national governments to play a more active role on Zimbabwe
• Meetings with heads of state, parliamentarians or local governments to urge action on Zimbabwe
• Publishing articles or letters in the national or local press on violations of human and people’s rights in Zimbabwe
• Organising press conferences with civil society representatives, government representatives and other experts on Zimbabwe
• Issuing a press releases urging action on Zimbabwe
• Directing people to sign a petition or take an e-action
• Presenting memorandums or submissions to the African Union, Southern African Development Community and national governments

CIVICUS statement on Zimbabwe:
www.civicus.org/new/media/CIVICUS-Zimbabwe-Statement.pdf

Amnesty International statement on Zimbabwe:
http://www.amnesty.org

GCAP statement on Zimbabwe:
www.whiteband.org/media/press-info/au-summit-egypt-the-chance-for-african-leaders-to-tackle-zimbabwe-crisis

Download this Press Release as a PDF

Usama Mostafa Hassan Nasr, better known as Abu Omar, an Egyptian national with refugee status and Italian residency, was walking down a street in Milan on 17 February 2003. An Italian-speaking man approached him, identified himself as a policeman, and demanded to see his papers. The next thing Abu Omar knew he was being bundled into a white van.

US agents took Abu Omar to the NATO airbase at Aviano, northern Italy. At Aviano he was reportedly put on a Learjet LJ-35 (SPAR-92) and flown to Ramstein NATO airbase in Germany. In Ramstein, he was transferred to a CIA-chartered Gulfstream IV jet (N85VM) and flown to Cairo in Egypt, where he was detained in secret for the next 14 months.

Abu Omar says that on arrival in Cairo, he was taken by Egyptian security officers to a building he later discovered was the national intelligence headquarters. He said that he was tortured up to 12 hours a day for seven months. He described being “crucified” on a metal door and on a wooden apparatus which they called el-arousa (the bride), during which he was given electric shocks, kicked and beaten...

Learn more about Amnesty International's report 'Europe: State of denial: Europe’s role in rendition and secret detention'

Q&A: Righting Human Wrongs
Interview with Mary Robinson, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights

GLASGOW, Jun 22 (IPS) - Mary Robinson spoke to Nastasya Tay of TerraViva/IPS about human rights today and the new campaign Every Human Has Rights, on the sidelines of the eighth CIVICUS World Assembly (Jun. 18-21).

One of the world’s most successful politicians, Mary Robinson -- the first female President of Ireland -- describes the campaign as a "synergy of energy", a way for civil society to act together to effect genuine change under one banner. Human rights issues are an agenda for all of those who are marginalised and imprisoned, she says, but it is also an agenda of responsibility for every individual.

Mary Robinson: There is a lot more progress to be made. But the Universal Declaration is very relevant, because it is truly universal and is not a "Western document", if you read it carefully. And sixty years on, the world is in a somewhat similar place to 1948. After two World Wars, after a Holocaust, after the dropping of bombs on Japan, the opening of a Cold War, people were fearful then. People are also fearful now and we are using the wrong approach to make them feel secure. We are using 42-day detention, Guantanamo Bay, torture, and not observing the Geneva Conventions. We need to have people say, "These human rights belong to us". We want governments, or major corporations, or anyone with power, to respect them. We know of our entitlement and we are stronger because those rights are there for us -- the rights of the poor, rights of the marginalised, rights of women, rights of children.

IPS: You say we are in a similar place to where we were in 1948. How will new challenges, such as climate change and the food crisis affect conceptions of human rights?

Climate change itself is an increasingly important justice issue, and approaches to climate change are dependent on how you define it. If you approach it as an environmentally technical issue, you will build sea walls and develop seeds that don’t need water. On the other hand, if you view it as affecting people now, of having an unjust effect on some people because of the activity of other people in other parts of the world -- in Europe and the United States and the parts of Asia that are rapidly developing it is impacting upon the poorest villages, destroying island habitats -- then it’s a big issue of justice, which is relevant to how we approach adaptation. I believe that we need adaptation to help poor communities to cope, to provide insurance for them and their livelihoods.

IPS: And do you think we’re doing enough to tackle those kinds of challenges? How can we do more?

MR: I think we need to do a lot more. I’m glad that now there is a discussion about it -- in fact, next week, I’ll be discussing the humanitarian dimensions of climate change in the Global Humanitarian Forum with Kofi Annan in Geneva. We may be looking at between 100 and 200 million climate refugees in 40 years time, and we have to be really aware of the reality of the situation. On a deeper level, we need to change how people think about human rights. We need to broaden that thinking, so that everybody who feels marginalised, excluded or fearful feels that they have human rights on their side. We haven’t quite gotten there yet. The Every Human Has Rights campaign is a people-power way of re-centring. I will be going to the World Social Forum in the Amazon in January, and I want everyone there to understand that they are all part of a campaign to re-centre human rights as the banner under which we tackle all the inequalities that we deal with.

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