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Zimbabwe Report

African civil society groups take on Zimbabwe crisis

August 11, 2003

A civil society meeting on Zimbabwe in Gaborone on Thursday condemned human rights violations in Zimbabwe and called for intervention there by other African governments and institutions.

The African Civil Society Consultation on Zimbabwe called on the African Union Commission to issue a public statement condemning the human rights abuses.

It also demanded Southern African Development Community countries examine the compliance of the Zimbabwean authorities with the provisions of the 1991 Windhoek Declaration on the Freedom of the Press.

The declaration was a United Nations initiative.

The Botswana meeting also demanded that Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth should continue until its government took concrete steps to restore the rule of law, respect for human rights, and held perpetrators of human rights violations accountable.

Civil society groups from Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, and Kenya were represented at the two-day meeting that ended on Thursday.

The event was organised by the U.S.-based Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and by Ditshwanelo--the Botswana Centre for Human Rights.

Among the participants were representatives of regional human rights organisations, trade unions, church groups, women's organisations, and youth groups.

Ditshwanelo director, Alice Mogwe, described the event as "an extremely important occasion" for civil society groups to express their concern about the human rights crisis in Zimbabwe.

"Until now, there has not been a meeting involving so many different civil society groups, from so many countries in the region, which has focused on the Zimbabwean situation," Mogwe said.

Outspoken human rights advocate, Archbishop Pius Ncube of Zimbabwe, said the meeting had helped "strengthen us in our struggle for respect for basic rights in Zimbabwe."

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