Pressure for free election

As the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) discussed possible action against the Zimbabwean government on Thursday, and South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) held talks with their ZANU-PF counterparts in Harare, human rights group ZimRights called for greater pressure on President Robert Mugabe to ensure a free and fair election next March. ZimRights Director Bidi Munyaradzi told IRIN ZimRights would submit a petition to the Commonwealth and to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in about two weeks, calling on them to ensure a free and fair presidential poll. "Although ZimRights does not actually support general sanctions, the Commonwealth and SADC should put pressure on the Zimbabwean government to ensure the immediate restoration of the rule of law. Observers should be here now, instead of later," he said. Munyaradzi said it was important for election observers to arrive in the country immediately because the election could be rigged if people were intimidated during the campaign period. He said the petition would also call for transparent ballot boxes to be used. "We have already dismissed all domestic channels of appeal. As civil society we can only revert to international and regional bodies for support," he told IRIN. Referring to the controversial Public Order and Security Bill, which is awaiting parliamentary approval, Munyaradzi said: "This kind of dare by the ruling party is only meant to ensure that there are no voices which can be raised higher than the government's interests. It means that the kind of activities we do in promoting transparency, human rights and accountability of the part of government will get zero tolerance, because under this Bill anything that might cause despondency and alarm will not be tolerated. "Going by the history of this country, we are afraid we will see this Bill being passed with very little consultation with the opposition and civil society," he said. On Tuesday the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) condemned the Bill, saying it would curtail citizens' basic rights. The organisation was quoted in the Daily News as saying that the government had imposed an unofficial state of emergency in the country through the introduction of draconian legislation. It cited the Public Order and Security Bill, the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, the Labour Relations Bill and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill as examples. MISA-Zimbabwe chairperson Reyhana Masters-Smith was quoted as saying at a briefing: "As we come closer to the beginning of a new year, many of us look back on the 12 months that have just passed and take stock. What was right, what went wrong and how can I do something about it? To be honest, it is sad because as a journalist who practised in this country for the last 15 years, my heart is heavy that my Christmas present is a (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy) Bill that will not allow me to do the work I love." The Bill looks set for approval by Parliament before it adjourns for the festive season. According to the report, the Bill bans the media from writing on "information whose disclosure will be harmful to the law enforcement process and national security, inter-governmental relations or negotiations, financial or economic interests of a public body, the government or country or information relating to personal privacy". Journalists working in Zimbabwe will have to be accredited by the Media and Information Commission, which will be established by the Bill. Also, the minister of information prescribes the form and manner in which the journalists will be accredited, according to the report, and a code of conduct for the journalists will be developed by the commission. An accreditation certificate will be valid for one year and may be renewable thereafter. Tawanda Hondora, a human rights lawyer, was quoted as saying that the Bill gave too much power to the minister. In terms of the Bill, a journalist will be deemed to have abused his privilege and committed an offence if he or she writes a story that has already been published by another media house without its permission, conceals, falsifies or fabricates information, spreads rumours, falsehoods or causes alarm and despondency under the guise of authentic reports and collects and disseminate information on behalf of another person who is not part of the mass media service. Munyaradzi said the the law would also severely restrict the work of civic and human rights groups. Penalties in the Bill range from Zim $100,000 (official exchange rate equivalent US $1,875) or imprisonment not exceeding two years. Meanwhile, in another effort aimed at pressuring the government for a free election, the Crisis Coordinating Committee of Zimbabwe (CCCZ) resolved this week to engage in mass action to force the government to let an independent electoral commission to conduct next year's presidential poll. According to the Financial Gazette, the CCCZ - comprising of a diverse range of organisations - decided at a meeting in Harare on Tuesday to immediately prepare a strategy and programme for the rolling action. The powerful Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the National Constitutional Assembly, the Zimbabwe National Students Union and the Zimbabwe Liberators Platform sit on CCCZ's mass action sub-committee, which aims to come up with an action plan by 7 January. On Thursday Britain urged the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to consider putting Zimbabwe on the agenda for the next Commonwealth summit in Australia in March. This could lead to Zimbabwe being expelled from the Commonwealth. The action comes amid American sanctions aimed at Zimbabwe's leaders deemed to be responsible for violence, pressure from the European Union and increasing calls for sanctions against Harare. "It is clear that it is going to be very violent between now and the election itself," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in an interview with BBC radio. In a separate development, the government on Wednesday extended voter registration until Sunday after pressure from the opposition, to ensure that as many people as possible are able to cast their vote in March. The opposition has argued that the registration process disenfranchises thousands of primarily urban voters. Zimbabwe's worst economic crisis since independence in 1980 has been deepened by the often violent occupation of at least 1,700 white-owned farms by ruling party militants. The takeovers have disrupted the production of maize, the staple food, and tobacco, the biggest foreign currency earner. Inflation currently runs at more than 103 percent. In a statement on Wednesday, Amnesty International said: "The situation in Zimbabwe is getting worse day by day as the Presidential elections draw nearer. The government of Robert Mugabe is determined to remain in power by any means, including harassment, arbitrary arrests, assaults and killings of anyone who stand in their way. This is not about land reform but about rampant torture by the state and its proxies to bludgeon dissent." The organisation called for greater regional and international pressure to be brought to bear on the Harare regime. However, Munyaradzi told IRIN he thought it would be difficult for the ANC and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) states to "come up with any serious position Zimbabweans will respect". He said the recent SADC ministerial group which visited Harare had not met many civic groups and that even though SADC had good election guidelines, it was quiet about the manner in which these principles were being flouted in Zimbabwe.