The New York-based Human Rights Watch also called on the AU to suspend Zimbabwe after Mugabe ignored calls by African leaders, Western governments and the United
‘The African Union should uphold its African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, by declaring the run-off unconstitutional as an illegal means of maintaining power and suspending Zimbabwe from the African Union,’ Human Rights Watch Africa director Georgette Gagnon said.
An AU summit kicked off in Egypt on Monday as the continental body’s election observers denounced Mugabe’s re-election saying it did not meet standards.
Diplomats said AU leaders were pushing Mugabe to open negotiations with the opposition and end Zimbabwe from sliding deeper into economic and political meltdown.
South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma told AU ministers that neither Mugabe’s ruling Zanu (PF) party nor Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party could, on its own, pull Zimbabwe back from the brink.
‘A negotiated settlement between the two protagonists is the best way forward,’ Zuma said.
‘There should be some sort of negotiations between the parties,’ Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, said. – zimonline
Post published in: News