EU renews its position on Zimbabwe as SADC fails to address human rights crisis at meeting

In the face of the Government of Zimbabwe's total non-compliance with international and domestic human rights legislation and standards as illustrated by the latest abductions of members of civil society and the oppostion movement Zimbabwe Watch welcomes pressure on the Government of Zimbabwe to respect the letter and the spirit ofthe Global Political Agreement, which it signed with the opposition movement parties.

SADC's position at the special summit on Zimbabwe has not increased pressure on ZanuPF to respect the agreement nor its human rights duties. Furthermore SADC did not take up any of the concerns raised by the MDC-Tsvangirai faction prior to the meeting - delegating all issues to after the formation of a government. The spirit of the SADC communique can be read most aptly in their re-appointment of Mbeki as mediator, inspite of one of the parties - MDC-T - dismissing him. While a mediator cannot mediate between parties that do not recognise his impartiality - SADC has not played its role as an impartial judge. Zimbabwe Watch deplores that SADC has factually recognised Robert Mugabe as President of Zimbabwe since late last year. Giving him a legitimacy which contradicts SADC's findings that the June 2008 presidential elections were "not representing the will of the people".

Find attached:

The European Union's Common Position on Zimbabwe

SADC Communique on Zimbabwe

The demands of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human rights as addressed to the SADC summit