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Fresh elections in Zimbabwe necessary, says Tutu
2002-171-1
7/9/2002
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[Episcopal News Service]
A potential political crisis in Zimbabwe could be averted by a rerun of the country's controversial March presidential election, said Desmond Tutu, the former Anglican archbishop from South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The election, which extended President Robert Mugabe's rule for a sixth term, was characterized by international observers as 'fundamentally flawed' and fraught with violence and intimidation.
'Evidence shows that the presidential elections in March were not free and fair and thus the current government cannot regain its legitimacy,' Tutu said in a foreword to a report by a coalition of non-governmental organizations. 'A new vote with guarantees of fairness and free expression will undoubtedly be necessary.'
The country's main opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has lodged a court challenge to the vote and is planning a mass protest to force a reelection.
The Zimbabwe Report was issued to the news media on June 27 by the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, a group of 250 organizations. It describes a deteriorating social, economic and political situation in Zimbabwe. The coalition was launched last year to help civil society 'deal with socio-economic and political crises' and to promote 'freedom and democratic values' in the country.
'The hard facts on the ground in Zimbabwe, so well-compiled in this report, suggest an alarming array of policies and practices that may be leading the country to a catastrophic future,' said Tutu, who in late March criticized the South African government for having endorsed Mugabe's controversial win.
'It is now clear that the resolution to the Zimbabwe crisis can only be found in recapturing the legitimacy of the government and returning the country to a fair and just rule of law.'
The release of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition report came as a delegation from the African Commission on Human and People's Rights was winding up a six-day probe of alleged human rights violations against supporters of opposition parties, the privately owned press, white commercial farmers and the general population of Zimbabwe by the state and militants of the ruling Zanu PF party.
The commission was created by a charter signed by African heads of state and government. It is expected to issue a report on Zimbabwe at its next meeting, scheduled for October in Gambia.
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