The image on the right is of Tapiwa Mubwanda, the first MDC party official to be murdered by Zanu PF thugs.
We encourage all Zimbabweans to start speaking out and lobbying people around the world in your individual capacities. Sokwanele has set up an 'Action Contact Database' [1] where we are collecting a range of contact names, useful for Zimbabwe email action initiatives, that Zimbabweans can easily find and use towards promoting non violent change in Zimbabwe. Please use it to find contact details so that you can speak out and tell people around the world what is happening in our country.
It is more than a month since the elections were held on March 29th 2008, and we are still waiting for the Presidential results.
Meanwhile, Zanu PF has embarked on a campaign of terror and intimidation in the rural areas against opposition supporters. There have been at least ten murders so far.
A report released on the 25 April 2005 by the 'Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR)' details violence and torture against 62 people they have treated, over a period of the three days between April 22 to April 24. They state that even this number "under-reports the true total as full documentation (e.g. confirmation of suspected fractures by x-ray) of a number of cases has not yet been completed".
In these three days, ZADHR says:
Sixty two cases were assessed and treated, including 9 women, one of whom is 84 years old and sustained serious facial injuries when she was struck in the face with stones on opening her door to unknown assailants. The youngest patient seen was a one year old baby boy who suffered gastroenteritis with dehydration following sleeping in the ‘bush’ with his mother after their home had been burnt down. 23 cases were from Karoi; otherwise there was still a concentration in Mudzi, Mutoko and Murewa with 12.
It is against this backdrop of gross human rights violations that riot police invaded Harvest House, the MDC Headquarters, and arrested scores of people on Friday, 25 April 2008.
Many of those arrested are injured civilians who had fled the rural areas to seek safety and refuge in the only place they could turn to; namely, the opposition headquarters. Many of them were injured days ago and were only able to get medical treatment when they arrived in town.
The state-controlled press have deliberately gone on to misreport the arrests.
The government's motive, through the state-controlled press, is to try and persuade the people in our country - who have little access to independent news - that the victims of these horrendous attacks are actually criminals. By arresting the injured, the state hopes to hide the evidence of their violence and silence the voices that shame them. On Saturday, The Herald wrote:
Police yesterday arrested 215 people after raiding MDC-T’s Harvest House headquarters in central Harare on allegations of committing acts of political violence countrywide and going into hiding.
[...]
Chief police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said the information they had indicated that most of those who had participated in post-election violence had sought refuge at the MDC provincial and national headquarters.
"Police rounded up 215 people at Harvest House this afternoon and these will be screened against participation in politically motivated criminal activities around the country," he said.
The Herald would like us to believe that these people are criminals; however, the full extent of their lie is exposed when we learn that among the injured people arrested are twenty-four babies and 40 children under the age of six:
“This is ruthlessness of the worst kind. How can you incarcerate children whose mothers have fled their homes hoping to give their children refuge?” asked an emotional [Nelson] Chamisa yesterday. “In Mugabe’s Zimbabwe even children are not spared the terror that befalls their parents.” [Nelson Chamisam is the MDC MT spokesperson]
The Herald might print lies, but the pictures the world has seen tell the truth. These are not pictures of criminals: they are the images of people who have been brutalised, tortured, murdered and had their human rights violated. They have been subjected to retributive persecution by a regime that fails to accept the simple truth that it has lost the elections.
It does not matter how many people the regime tries to arrest to cover up the reality that it is brutalising its own people; the world now knows the truth.
In a press release on Sunday the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe (IDAZIM) announced that they had initiated, with full support from civil society, labour and legal organizations, a Truth and Justice Coalition on Zimbabwe. They have stated that:
Its objectives are to identify perpetrators and seek legal redress for the victims of crimes against humanity and other serious crimes in Zimbabwe [...] the coalition had now assembled over 200 names of ZANU (PF) military, militia, members of parliament and war veterans who in their personal and/or professional capacity have unleashed terror and tyranny against civilians in recent months. More importantly, their complicity with a cabal of high-ranking Zimbabwean politicians and military personnel with links to other countries is now documented for public release.
We need to Take Action!
On Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council will be briefed on the situation in Zimbabwe by the MDC Secretary General, Hon Tendai Biti. A statement issued today says:
The MDC will make its plea to the United Nations that the ZANU PF regime has unleashed brutal and fascist violence on the membership of the MDC and the generality of the people of Zimbabwe. The regime has declared war with the people, whose only 'crime' is voting for change, and change they can trust. We call on the United Nations to send an envoy, who will work with SADC to find a lasting solution to the crisis. This crisis can only end if Mr Mugabe accepts that he lost the election and allow a smooth transfer of power, leading to the formation of a government of national healing led by President Tsvangirai.
Under the Charter the functions and powers of the Security Council are:
- to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations;
- to investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction;
- to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement;
- to formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments;
- to determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken;
- to call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression;
- to take military action against an aggressor;
- to recommend the admission of new Members;
- to exercise the trusteeship functions of the United Nations in "strategic areas";
- to recommend to the General Assembly the appointment of the Secretary-General and, together with the Assembly, to elect the Judges of the International Court of Justice.
What can we do?
It is very important to reinforce the message of non violence at every opportunity. Please do what you can to help our country maintain its committment to non violence through these difficult and distressing days. We have come so far, let us not be seduced into violence in the way that Zanu PF hopes we will be.
You can also:
- Send emails to Permanent Representatives to the United Nations of the United Nations Security Council and tell them, in your words, the truth about what is happening in Zimbabwe
- They are Jean-Maurice Ripert (France); Sir John Sawers (UK); Vitaly Churkin (Russian Federation); Johan C. Verbeke (Belgium); Marty Natalegawa (Indonesia); Dumisani S. Kumalo (South Africa); Marcello Spatafora (Italy); Le Luong Minh (Vietman); Jorge Urbina (Costa Rica); Giadalla A.Ettalhi; Ricardo Alberto Arias (Panama); Zhenmin Liu (China) and Wang Guangya (China)
- These are their email addresses (you can copy and paste them into your email software): france@franceonu.org; UK@UN.int; rusun@un.int; newyorkUN@diplobel.be;
ptri@indonesiamission-ny.org;
sacg@southafrica-newyork.net;
info.italyun@esteri.it;
info@vietnam-un.org;
costarica@un.int;
misioncostaricaun@yahoo.com;
emb@panama-un.org;
chinamission_un@fmprc.gov.cn;
- Because of the violence in our country, ask the UN Security Council to place a UN arms embargo on all trade in arms and ammunition with Zimbabwe until such time that a political resolution has been reached and there is peace and no more violence in our country.
- Ask them to call for an immediate end to the violence against the people of Zimbabwe, and to support the opposition's request for special envoy to work with SADC to find a lasting solution to the crisis
- Ask them to call for an immediate release of the Presidential results. Remind them that it is now one month after we voted and the results have still not been officially released
- Send copies of your emails to SADC regional leaders. We recommend you focus your letters towards President Levy Mwanawasa who is the Current SADC Chairperson; President Thabo Mbeki, SADC's appointed mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis; and President Jakaya Kikwete, the President of Tanzania who is also the current Chairperson of the AU. Their full details are provided below.
- Forward this email to friends, family and colleagues and ask that they Take Action too!
- Boycott the State controlled media! Don't pay hard earned money to read lies.
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Country: Zambia
Name: Mwanawasa, Levy
Job title: President of Zambia; Chairperson of SADC
Email: differmu@nkwazi.gov.zm [2]
Telephone: +260 1 266147
Fax Number: +260 1 266092
Website address: http://www.statehouse.gov.zm/ [3]
Physical Address: Independence Avenue Woodlands Lusaka Zambia 10101 P.O Box 30135
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Country: Botswana
Name: Mothae, Tanki
Job title: Director of Politics, Defence and Security Affairs, SADC
Email: tmothae@sadc.int [4]
Telephone: +267 361 1001 or +267 397 2848
Organisation: Southern African Development Community (SADC)
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Country: South Africa
Name: Mbeki, Thabo
Job title: President of South Africa
Email: president@po.gov.za [5]
Telephone 1: +27 (0)12 300 5200
Telephone 2: +27 (0)21 464 2100
Fax Number: +27 (0)12 323 8246 and +27 (0)12 461 2838
Physical Address: Private Bag X1000, Pretoria, 0001 Union Buildings, Government Avenue Pretoria; Private Bag X1000, Cape Town, 8000 Tuynhuys Building, Parliament Street, Cape Town
Website address: http://www.gov.za/ [6]
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Country: Tanzania
Name: Kikwete, Jakaya
Job title: President of Tanzania and Chair to the African Union
Email: info@ikulu.go.tz [7]
Telephone: 00 255 22 2 116 898 or 00 255 22 2 116 899
Fax Number: 00 255 22 2 113 425
Physical Address: State House Luthuli Road, Box 9120, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
All the contact information provided in this Action Mailing is stored on our Action Contact Database [1]. There are many more contacts saved there and we will be continuously adding names and email addresses to the database to meet Zimbabwean requirements as circumstances change and evolve.
The database has been compiled with the help of the public who have searched for details on our behalf and sent them to us via our blog, and with the incredible support of a small dedicated team of volunteers who are working very hard to ensure that Zimbabeans have the necessary tools they need to speak out for themselves.
We are very grateful for everyone's help, and for the way people have given up time to stand in solidarity with Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwean people.
To find the information you need, please click the button appearing in the sidebar of both our website and our blog. We hope that this tool will make it easy for you find the details you need without having to spend too much time hunting around the Internet for them. Please alert us to information you think should be included, and we'll do our best to make sure we add that too.
Let's bring about our bright and positive future together.