This article was received from Project Syndicate, an international not-for-profit association of newspapers dedicated to hosting a global debate on the key issues shaping our world.
By Tawanda Mutasah Tawanda Mutasah is the Executive Director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.
As the world rooted for former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in his recent efforts to end the violence in Kenya, many also found themselves wondering whether a weary Annan, or some other global leader, will be battling another fire by the end of this month: this time in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s upcoming elections, scheduled for March 29, offer both fear and hope to the millions trapped in or trying to escape the country’s hellish conditions. Even official data now put the inflation rate at more than 100,000%, and the plight of ordinary Zimbabweans grows more desperate by the day. The elections could bring Zimbabweans a chance to end the long dictatorship of President Robert Mugabe. But, without supervision, they will be held in an environment that could dash Zimbabweans’ hopes.
Zimbabweans are denied their basic freedoms and subjected to violence. Torture is widespread. Civil society groups report the arrests of opposition electoral candidates, the manipulation of food supplies for political purposes, and violent incidents of voter intimidation.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network has also expressed concern about the country’s state of readiness for this complex election, which will combine presidential, parliamentary, senatorial, and local government contests. And this is to say nothing of the structural faults that continue to impede political progress – a defective constitution, censored media, and a partisan security and military establishment.
It didn’t have to be this way. This past year has seen one missed opportunity after another. South African president Thabo Mbeki convened negotiations with Zimbabwe’s political groups; but they have been so unfruitful that opposition leaders recently all but accused Mbeki of lying to the world about the progress of the talks. Some African leaders – notably Ghana’s president, John Kufuor, and outgoing African Union head Alpha Konare – have tried to cajole Mugabe towards reform, to no avail.
Perhaps more significantly, the international community’s failure to address Zimbabwe seriously shows, once again, that it lacks the political will to prevent foreseeable crises. Last year, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour condemned the regime’s use of torture and its mistreatment of pro-democracy forces. Regrettably, the UN failed to follow up with institutional action.
The UN would say it must be invited into a country before it can take certain forms of action, such as sending official election observers. But it is also true that with adequate political will, the UN Security Council could live up to its responsibility to Zimbabweans by responding to the crisis more aggressively.
The UN should have put Mugabe on the defensive with a forceful public offer to help Zimbabwe prepare for internationally supervised elections. Instead, the UN continues to defer to Mugabe, who hides behind claims of sovereignty while jailing a defenseless populace.
With so many lives at stake, what can be done to avert an intensification of the Zimbabwe crisis?
People of goodwill throughout the world, including those affiliated with multilateral organizations like the UN, should descend on Zimbabwe to observe this month’s elections. Accredited or not, they should stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe at this crucial moment, act as witnesses to the deteriorating pre-election environment, and serve as a bulwark against any escalation of state brutality during and after the vote.
Mugabe would prefer to limit the presence of international observers to those sent by neighbouring states – the same allies that somehow managed to deem the violent and fraudulent elections of the past seven years “legitimate.” Zimbabwe’s neighbors also face a choice: they can use their proximity to halt Mugabe’s abuses, or to shield him from international scrutiny and rebuke. Their choice may depend on what the world demands of them.
The people of Zimbabwe will play their part on March 29. As for the regional and world community, their actions today and in the coming weeks could make the difference between a reprise of the violence in Kenya and the first step towards a more stable and democratic future.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2008. www.project-syndicate.org
