How has the political crisis contributed to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe? How should the African Union (AU) and the international community respond to these crises? This report from Human Rights Watch examines the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe. It argues that this crisis is a direct consequence of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front’s (ZANU-PF) abusive rule. The AU should acknowledge the scale of the crisis, put human rights at the top of the agenda and hold human rights abusers to account.
Zimbabwe is experiencing an all-encompassing humanitarian crisis that has seen an almost total collapse in the delivery of basic government sanitation, health and welfare services. As of mid-January 2009 a cholera epidemic has left over 39,000 people infected and at least 2,000 dead, with the diseases spreading to neighbouring countries. This marks both the collapse of Zimbabwe’s healthcare system and the ruling party’s calculated disregard for the welfare of Zimbabweans. The country is experiencing a dramatic rise in infant and maternal mortality, while over five million Zimbabweans face severe food shortages and depend on international aid. To make matters worse, ZANU-PF’s repeated political interference in the work of humanitarian aid agencies has hampered international efforts to tackle these crises.
At the heart of the humanitarian crisis lies ZANU-PF’s longstanding assault on political freedoms and civil rights:
- The September 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) between ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change has not stopped ZANU-PF’s attacks on it opponents and critics.
- Since November 2008, ZANU-PF has used the police and justice system to arbitrarily arrest and ‘disappear’ more than 40 MDC members and human rights activists.
- The ZANU-PF authorities have not lifted restrictions on freedom of association, assembly and expression, as required under the GPA. Police units continue to violently break up peaceful protests.
- The AU has failed to address Zimbabwe’s human rights violations, endorsing instead the South African Development Community’s (SADC) ineffectual mediation efforts.
Only concerted pressure on Robert Mugabe’s government can end Zimbabwe’s humanitarian emergency and the regional crisis it has created. The SADC should request the involvement of the AU in Zimbabwe’s mediation process and maintain tight controls on humanitarian aid. International donors should withhold non-humanitarian development aid to Zimbabwe, maintain targeted sanctions against ZANU-PF and channel humanitarian aid through the UN and NGOs. UN agencies should protest obstruction of humanitarian programmes, ensure that aid is targeted and strictly accounted for and impress upon the government its humanitarian obligations. The AU should:
- publicly condemn ongoing abuses by the ZANU-PF authorities;
- ensure that mediation on Zimbabwe is led and staffed by a new team of independent facilitators appointed by the AU;
- suspend the Zimbabwean government from the AU if it does not implement or meet specific human rights and good governance benchmarks within a specific timeframe;
- urge full accountability for the perpetrators of human rights abuses, as well as appropriate remedies for victims;
- call on the Zimbabwean authorities to guarantee and facilitate unfettered access for humanitarian organisations and UN agencies to provide humanitarian assistance to all vulnerable persons; and
- call on the Zimbabwean authorities to take steps to improve access to food and make serious efforts to end corruption in food distribution.
