Mugabe decided to boycott the SADC summit (see today’s news brief), which his government claims is “unnecessary,” and is sending three cabinet ministers instead. Mugabe also issued a ban on all political rallies in the country. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is seeking temporary refuge in Botswana, citing fears for his safety. Zimbabwean police arrested his attorney, reportedly on charges that he “insulted” the police during the seizure of Mr. Tsvangirai’s helicopter. Amnesty International was able to verify some claims of targeted retribution by security forces against MDC supporters, but the full scale of the violence, which the MDC claims is “massive,” has yet to be confirmed.
The longer the situation goes on, the more pessimistic I get. The international community—and especially South Africa and other SADC members—have allowed Mugabe to continue his violent and corrupt approach to governance for far too long. Thabo Mbeki needs to get over his reluctance to criticize Mugabe—sure, he was a strong ally in the anti-apartheid movement, but Mbeki and others in the ANC do a disservice to their own legacy by ignoring his human rights abuses out of a sense of loyalty.
Furthermore, the international community has the opportunity to nip this in the bud BEFORE it explodes into mass violence. We seem to only respond to crises after they’ve reached genocidal or otherwise massive proportions: Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, CAR, DRC, Burma, Tibet, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia—the list goes on and on. Mugabe needs to be pushed out of power with a heavy hand, and the SADC, UN, AU, EU, US, etc etc should unite around a comprehensive policy to do just that. The Zimbabwe crisis, and its consequent mass exodus (South African Home Affairs deports an estimated 17,000 Zimbabweans back to their home country each month), have the potential to destabilize the entire region of Southern Africa. Multiple players in the international community have a vested interest in the peaceful resolution of the elections dispute, not to mention a duty to uphold peace and human rights.
The time to act is now.
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