Violence related to politics has to stop

Leaders of all parties must speak out against political violence.

We were told that last week Zanu PF thugs were transported into the Glen View area (Harare) at night and that they beat up known MDC members.

Also last week an MDC district meeting held in Mufakose was disrupted by Zanu PF thugs in an unmarked truck.  They beat up the MDC members.

In a different incident, an MDC councillor in Bindura Rural was threatened by Zanu PF supporters. He was told they promised to be back to “do you one more time”. This MDC councilor was beaten by state sponsored thugs during last year’s election campaign so the message was sinister and very clear.

This sort of thing is horribly reminiscent of the past two years particularly. If this isn’t stopped now, and the rule of law restored, then the concept of free and fair transparent elections will be eroded well before elections are due.

We received an email from an activist in Harare yesterday that said:

We are once again seeing new CAM trucks driving around town, with no registration plates. It was these very vehicles that were used by Zanu PF and CIO in the run up to the March 29th 2008 reign of abductions and violence. Is this an indication of what is to come?  Are those with “degrees in violence” being mobilized again

Maybe the trucks mean nothing, but the fact that their presence has sparked these questions only shows that fear and distrust lurks very close to the surface of many minds, despite efforts to show the transitional government is working. There is an expectation that things are going to go horribly wrong at some point, and that expectation grows in the silence.

One political activist we spoke to laments the fact that no Zanu PF perpetrators of violence are being arrested, but MDC people involved in retributive violence are behind bars.

Let’s be clear: violence is violence – and anyone on either side carrying out violent attacks, be they retributive or not, should be stopped. But efforts to stop the violence needs to be non partisan and impartial and objective. The rule of law has to be reinstated.

Clause 18.5 of the GPA says that the parties have agreed:

(a) to promote the values and practices of tolerance, respect, non-violence and dialogue as means of resolving political differences;

(b) to renounce and desist from the promotion and use of violence, under whatever name called, as a means of attaining political ends;

(d) that all political parties, other organisations and their leaders shall commit themselves to do everything to stop and prevent all forms of political violence, including by non-State actors and shall consistently appeal to their members to desist from violence;

We need to hear and see Zanu PF take a public stand against their supporters who carry out these attacks, and we need to see that position carried through in the courts. We also need to send a clear signal that vigilantism is not OK – but its hard to see how you can persuade people of this if the courts don’t seem to give a damn about their experiences.

This entry was posted by Hope on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 2:20 pm. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.