Zimbabwe’s National Association of NGOs (NANGO) calls for justice
Zimbabwe’s National Association of NGOs (NANGO) has taken a bold step and called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute government officials responsible for Operation Murambatsvina (‘clear out trash’). IRIN has the full article:
The ICC, unlike the International Court of Justice, can try individuals and investigate crimes, such as drug trafficking and genocide, referred to it by governments as well as the UN Security Council.
[...]
Relations between government and NGOs have deteriorated since the announcement of a new policy last month, which makes it mandatory for all NGOs to apply to their respective provincial governor’s office for permission to operate. NANGO has ordered its members to ignore the policy, seen as an interim measure until the controversial NGO bill of 2004 is approved.
The bill, which will ban the activities of organisations involved in human rights and civic education campaigns, also outlaws foreign funding of NGOs, and would subject NGOs to strict vetting by a committee appointed by the government, with minimal NGO representation.
The bill was passed by parliament late in 2004 but President Robert Mugabe has refused to sign it into law and referred it back to parliament for further discussion.
NANGO has argued that its members were not consulted about the new policy and said it would ignore the directive until the government had canvassed it with the affected organisations.
We congratulate NANGO for the bold move and their brave stance on the NGO bill.
March 7th, 2006 10:02
Reading through some of your articles, one is left to think either that you think all Zimbabweans are so ignorant of who you are and what you stand for, or that you yourselves are so ignorant of who you are dealing with. There is nothing in your articles worth comenting on I am sorry.
March 7th, 2006 14:02
Well, thank you for your comment!
We are very up front about what we stand for.
As published in the side bar on the right: