Amnesty International: Petition on the crisis in Zimbabwe to the Governments of Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa
Amnesty International (Canada) have launched an appeal calling on Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa to take action on the crisis in Zimbabwe. The text of the petition in below and you can sign it at this link here. Please use the feature on their website to invite everyone you know to sign it as well. (Thanks for the link Susanne).
Your Excellencies,
We the undersigned are gravely concerned about the current crisis situation in Zimbabwe leading up to the June 27th presidential run-off election. Amnesty International has documented unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings, as well as harassment and intimidation aimed primarily at Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters and human rights defenders.
In light of this crisis, we urge your Governments to:
1. Send human rights specialists with any election observer team your Government sends for the June 27th elections. These specialists should be deployed immediately to monitor the human rights situation, as well as investigate human rights violations and abuses and make their findings public.
2. Increase diplomatic engagement with the Government of Zimbabwe, particularly raising concerns on human rights violations and abuses, in any bilateral and multilateral meetings.
3. Monitor the human rights situation in Zimbabwe through your diplomatic mission in Harare before and after the election, and publicly and privately call on the Government of Zimbabwe to end the violence immediately.
The crisis in Zimbabwe cries out for an African-based solution. The Zimbabwean people desperately need support now!
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June 21st, 2008 19:35
HOW MANY PEOPLE IN THE WORRLD KNOW -
That there is recent evidence that at least seven people, who first suffered severe beatings by Zanu-PF militia, have had their open wounds sprayed with dipping chemical Tactik cattle spray and the herbicide Paraquat. A nine year-old girl had Paraquat applied to slashes on her buttocks. The process rapidly increases pain and usually leads to an agonising death.