HARARE Human Rights Watch says President Jacob Zuma has lost the plot on Zimbabwe, accusing the South African leader of misplacing his mediation focus by allowing himself to be sucked into Zanu (PF)s anti-sanctions crusade. Zuma, who is the Southern African Development Community (SADC)-appointed mediator in the long-running political dispute between Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has lately taken keen personal interest in seeking the removal of Western visa restrictions and a freeze on assets and bank accounts held by Mugabe and other senior members of his Zanu (PF) party.
He failed to convince British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last month to ease the targeted sanctions but his eagerness to parrot Mugabes anti-sanctions song has dented the South African leaders credibility as an honest and impartial political broker. To effectively mediate in the Zimbabwe crisis, HRW said Zuma needs to focus on critical issues that include cessation of human rights abuses, institutional reform targeting constitutional and electoral processes as well as security sector reform.
Focus misplaced
At present, Zumas focus appears misplaced. He has called for the lifting of targeted sanctions against President Mugabe and his inner circle, arguing that these were a major obstacle to the progress of the power-sharing government, the rights group said in a report titled Sleight of Hand: Repression of the Media and the Illusion of Reform in Zimbabwe.
The South African leader says it is important that the punitive measures against Mugabe and his inner circle be removed to aid implementation of a global political agreement (GPA) signed by Mugabe and his long time MDC-T rival Tsvangirai leading to the formation of the unity government in February last year.
Zuma says the continued existence of the targeted measures is dividing the unity government and hurting efforts to solve the political problems in Zimbabwe. The EU and other Western nations imposed sanctions against Mugabe in 2002 as punishment for failure to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law. But the veteran leader says the sanctions are meant to remove him from power as punishment for seizing white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
The US-based rights group noted that by adopting the right approach Zuma and his facilitation team have great potential to push Zimbabwes feuding parties to deliver genuine reforms and produce a lasting solution to the countrys crisis.
Necessary pressure
It said the targeted sanctions on Mugabes inner circle were a necessary form of pressure on Zanu (PF) and should only be lifted when there is evidence of irreversible human rights reforms in Harare. Human Rights Watch urges President Zuma to focus concertedly on the full implementation of the GPA, particularly those reforms that lead to the creation of relevant institutions to enable Zimbabwe to hold a free, fair, and credible election as envisaged under the GPA, said HRW.
A good start would be full respect for the right to freedom of expression in Zimbabwe as a solid foundation for broader human rights improvements, the group said. It criticised Zuma for his apparent failure to push for implementation of GPA issues already agreed such as the appointment of provincial governors.
More than one year after Mugabe and Zanu (PF) agreed with the MDC formations on a formula to appoint provincial governors in which six Zanu (PF) provincial governors would be dismissed to make way for MDC governors. To date, this promise like so many others remains unfulfilled. Like his predecessor, former South African president Thabo Mbeki, Zuma seems to be powerless when it comes to getting Mugabe to implement issues agreed by negotiators of the three parties that are signatories to the GPA.
The people of Zimbabwe, the African Union, and the wider international community look to South Africa to guide the transitional government toward a system of accountable (and) democratic governance. If South Africa fails, then so, too, might its northern neighbour, said HRW.
Despite assurances last month by Zuma that the Zimbabwean parties had agreed on a package of measures to resolve their dispute, Tsvangirais MDC-T has declared a deadlock and is demanding the convening of an emergency summit of the 15-nation SADC bloc to force Mugabe to implement the reforms. The Zimbabwean strongman has refused to budge to the MDCs demand for the removal of Attorney General Johannes Tomana and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono as well as the swearing in of Tsvangirais ally Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture minister.
Post published in: News