Nam fails to block fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe

MIDRAND – Namibia, together with Zambia and the Central African Republic, voted against the Pan-African Parliament motion to send a special mission to Zimbabwe to probe alleged human rights abuses under President Robert Mugabe.

After two hours of heated debate, a motion was adopted by 149 to 20 with three abstentions at a sitting of the continental body in Midrand near Johannesburg. The mission aims to “investigate allegations of the abuse of human rights and the rule of law relating to the arrest and detention, assault and murder of political activists and members of the media.”It will also look into claims of political and media intimidation, restrictions on freedom of speech and expression, as well as good governance, transparency and the rule of law.The motion was tabled by South African parliamentarian Suzanne Vos, who said President Thabo Mbeki’s appointment by regional peers as mediator between the government and opposition of Zimbabwe should be welcomed and supported.”(But) we cannot use the huge responsibility placed on the shoulders of one man as an excuse to avoid our own obligations and responsibilities to the people of Zimbabwe,” she told MPs.”The parliament cannot sit on the sidelines, nor can it be silent on the range of issues affecting Zimbabwe and the security of its citizens.We must place human rights and respect for the rule of law at the forefront of all that we do.”Mugabe, in power in Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, has come under increasing fire over alleged human rights abuses and leading the once-prosperous regional breadbasket to economic ruin.Mugabe blames the weather and Western-imposed sanctions on himself and members of his inner circle.The PAP, an African Union body created three years ago, has no legislative powers and serves an advisory role.Four of Zimbabwe’s five delegates to the forum opposed Friday’s vote.MP Fortune Charumbira argued: “We should not give the impression that the PAP does not have confidence in Mbeki.”According to his colleague, Gumbo Joran, the issue was one for the Southern African Development Community (SADC).”Discussing it here does not assist the situation in Zimbabwe.It will send a wrong signal to Zimbabwe and the entire world,” he said.But Paurina Mpariwa, a delegate from Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said an urgent reversal was needed in the country’s worrying economic situation, adding, “The quicker the delegation is sent, the better.”It remained to be decided who the members of the mission would be and when it would leave, but the parliamentarians agreed it should report on its findings at the PAP’s next sitting in November.Nampa-AFPThe mission aims to “investigate allegations of the abuse of human rights and the rule of law relating to the arrest and detention, assault and murder of political activists and members of the media.”It will also look into claims of political and media intimidation, restrictions on freedom of speech and expression, as well as good governance, transparency and the rule of law.The motion was tabled by South African parliamentarian Suzanne Vos, who said President Thabo Mbeki’s appointment by regional peers as mediator between the government and opposition of Zimbabwe should be welcomed and supported.”(But) we cannot use the huge responsibility placed on the shoulders of one man as an excuse to avoid our own obligations and responsibilities to the people of Zimbabwe,” she told MPs.”The parliament cannot sit on the sidelines, nor can it be silent on the range of issues affecting Zimbabwe and the security of its citizens.We must place human rights and respect for the rule of law at the forefront of all that we do.”Mugabe, in power in Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, has come under increasing fire over alleged human rights abuses and leading the once-prosperous regional breadbasket to economic ruin.Mugabe blames the weather and Western-imposed sanctions on himself and members of his inner circle.The PAP, an African Union body created three years ago, has no legislative powers and serves an advisory role.Four of Zimbabwe’s five delegates to the forum opposed Friday’s vote.MP Fortune Charumbira argued: “We should not give the impression that the PAP does not have confidence in Mbeki.”According to his colleague, Gumbo Joran, the issue was one for the Southern African Development Community (SADC).”Discussing it here does not assist the situation in Zimbabwe.It will send a wrong signal to Zimbabwe and the entire world,” he said.But Paurina Mpariwa, a delegate from Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said an urgent reversal was needed in the country’s worrying economic situation, adding, “The quicker the delegation is sent, the better.”It remained to be decided who the members of the mission would be and when it would leave, but the parliamentarians agreed it should report on its findings at the PAP’s next sitting in November.Nampa-AFP