An open letter to the president (19-09-07)

n Union (ACP-EU) Summit

We have learned with profound regret of your intentions to invite
Robert
Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, to attend the ACP-EU
summit being held in Lisbon, Portugal in November, 2007.

As Zimbabweans we humbly prevail upon you to reconsider and rescind
this invitation as a protest against the flagrant human rights violations
and unrestrained vile abuses blatantly committed by Mugabe and his
associates upon Zimbabwe’s civil society.

Zimbabwe is now an oligarchy with the highest inflation in the world
due to mismanagement, racist agrarian reform policies, corruption, looting of
state coffers and the gross incompetence of its government. This has
precipitated the collapse of industry, commerce, health delivery system, education
and all essential services. State sanctioned violence through torture,
arbitrary arrests and detention, coupled with extra judicial killings are now
the preferred governance tools of the Mugabe dictatorship.

Purveyor of tyranny, Robert Mugabe has no place on the high table of
world democracies. It is psychological torture for ordinary Zimbabweans,
victims of his brutal repression, to watch him wine and dine with respected
democratic leaders at such an esteemed meeting while we wallow in
abject poverty and perpetual misery. Robert Mugabe no longer has the trust,
mandate, or authority over the people of Zimbabwe except for his
militias and sycophantic party functionaries.

Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Cotonou Agreement which is unambiguous
in its principles and ethics on fundamental issues of good governance, human
rights and corruption.
Part 3.1 of the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement reads:
Essential Elements.
Respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of
law are essential elements of the partnership. A new procedure has been drawn
up to deal with violations. It puts more emphasis on the responsibility of
the State concerned and allows for greater flexibility in the consultation
process. In cases of special urgency – serious violations of one of
the essential elements – measures will be taken immediately and the other
party notified.

Good governance Commitment to good governance as a fundamental and positive
element of the partnership, a subject for regular dialogue and an area for active
Community support. The EC and the ACP have also agreed on a new specific
procedure to be launched in serious cases of corruption. This is a real innovation,
both in the EC-ACP context and in international relations. It is not
confined to EC activities. It will be applied in cases of corruption involving EDF
money and more widely, in any country where the EC is financially involved
and where corruption constitutes an obstacle to development. This is a
very important aspect, as public finance constitutes a whole, regardless of
the source of finance; corruption involving other sources of financing
therefore indirectly affects EDF funding. The EC and the ACP States are together
sending a clear and positive signal to European taxpayers and
investors, and legitimate beneficiaries of aid.
Robert Mugabe is a divisive dictator who has egotistically become the
torchbearer for kleptocracy and his invitation to the ACP-Summit is
converse to democratic principles and international humanitarian law.

We anticipate and collectively hope and pray that your timely, humble,
steadfast posture shall be consistent with European Union charters,
values and norms, thus rendering a mortal blow to tyranny and usher a new era
for peace, democracy, freedom and justice to Zimbabwe in particular and
Africa in general.

Zimbabweans eagerly await your intrepid actions and anxiously look
forward to your historic rejoinder.

Kind regards
Phil Matibe.