Crisis in Zim Coalition pens letter to UN

By Trevor Makonyonga

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition has penned a letter to the United Nations (UN) concerning Zimbabwe’s shame vote against a stop to genocide.

This comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s voted against UN’s resolution to protect vulnerable nations against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

Opposition leaders and civic organizations have castigated government’s stance which disregards human rights.

Below is the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition letter addressed to the UN:

“We kindly write to express our views on the above referenced vote, Item 35-A/75/L82 on the protection of vulnerable populations against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

We also note that the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe voted NO in that crucial exercise.

Your Excellency, kindly accept the people of Zimbabwe’s expression of variance on that matter.

The people’s position is a big YES to the right to protection.

Whilst our expression might be of no consequence to your statistics, we place it on record for posterity, and representing more than 22,000 people, mainly ethnic Ndebele, civil society and opposition political leaders who were killed by the Government of Zimbabwe since 1980.

We encourage the Government of Zimbabwe to accept the inevitability of the right to protect, and, domestically implement the various recommendations to heal past injustices and bring the perpetrators to account.

We also kindly ask the United Nations to assist, through the SADC, the Government of Zimbabwe to implement its own constitution adopted in 2013 as well the 2019 Motlanthe Commission recommendations following military disturbances in Zimbabwe.

The Motlanthe Commission of 2019 recommended, among other things, compensation for victim of the atrocities by the army and that the government of Zimbabwe should bring members of the security forces who killed civilians to account.

In light of the above submissions, we, as the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, an umbrella body of civic society organisations operating in Zimbabwe, humbly submit that the move by the Zimbabwean government to vote against the protection of vulnerable populations against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity is an expression of fear since it is the same Government that stands accused of killing, raping and dispossessing many citizens since Independence in 1980.

Whilst we know that submitting this letter to you has potential consequences, we choose to face those consequences and save Zimbabwe and Africa from tyranny.

For the avoidance of doubt, the people of Zimbabwe are in favour of international statutes to stop genocides and crimes against humanity.

Please, Your Excellency, kindly accept this position from the peace-loving people of Zimbabwe.”