CIVIL SOCIETY PRESS STATEMENT ON THE JUNE 27 PRESIDENTIAL RUN-OFF.

The acts of brutality that have occurred over the last three months have made any semblance of a free and fair election impossible. We therefore urge the people of Zimbabwe not to vote, unless doing so in order to protect their own lives or wellbeing.

The atrocities have been characterised by the burning of peoples’ homesteads, the forcing of people to attend rallies during the day and night, the targeted killings of opposition and civil society activists, the disruption of church services as well as the complicity of the state security services through their participation in the violence and failure to protect innocent Zimbabweans. Moreover, as civil society organisations we cannot participate in any monitoring or observation processes around this election as we view it as electoral fraud. At the time of the release of this statement, we are aware that over 300 Zimbabweans are gathered at the South African Embassy as a direct result of the political violence and the failure of the Zimbabwe Republic Police to protect life and limb.

In light of the foregoing, we view the only solution to our current national crisis as one that requires the holding of fresh elections under a new, democratic and people driven constitution.  This will entail instituting changes to our political environment which will include:

1. The immediate dismantling of all government sponsored militia bases in the country.
2. The immediate dismantling of the Joint Operations Command that has been running this country on a military basis and is accused of being the primary organising entity of all the political violence being meted out on the people of Zimbabwe.
3. The immediate establishment of a refugee council to address the plight of internally displaced people in the country.
4. The allowing of humanitarian aid agencies to resume their invaluable work of providing food, shelter and health services to the people of Zimbabwe.
5. The bringing to justice of all perpetrators of political violence.
6. The release of all political prisoners from Zimbabwe’s prisons.
7. The establishment of a peacekeeping and monitoring framework that is spearheaded by the SADC.

In this framework, we implore the SADC Heads of State and Government, the African Union and the United Nations to urge the main political parties in Zimbabwe to respect the will of the people of Zimbabwe which because of the ongoing political violence has been compromised. We urge the SADC, AU and UN to work with political parties, civil society, churches and the people of Zimbabwe to facilitate the holding of fresh elections under a new democratic constitution and assist in healing the wounds of politically motivated violence that has affected our country.