Highly repressive laws and an overwhelming climate of fear make it impossible for Zimbabwe’s forthcoming parliamentary election to be free and fair, according to a report to be issued on Monday by Human Rights Watch.
In the 10 days before the election, the United States-based organisation urges leaders from neighbouring African countries to press President Robert Mugabe to assure voters that their ballots will be secret and that all acts of political violence will be prosecuted.
”Fear, tension and intimidation characterise the environment in which these elections are being held,” said Tiseke Kasambala, the primary author of the report.
”A vicious cycle of oppressive laws and politically motivated police and threats from the ruling party combine to make people afraid to voice opinions freely. In such an environment, it is unlikely they will have the confidence to vote freely.”
Kasambala spoke to The Guardian after returning from Zimbabwe on Sunday. She headed a team that visited the country in December, February and this month.
They travelled across Zimbabwe and interviewed 135 people, including members of Mugabe’s ruling party, Zanu-PF, the opposition, civic organisations, journalists and citizens.
”Much has been made of the decline in the levels of violence, compared to the elections in 2000 and 2002,” said Kasambala.
”But we found an increase in levels of intimidation. People are forced to attend ruling-party rallies. They must carry Zanu-PF cards on pain of assault. Those suspected of supporting the opposition are deprived of food.
”There are constant reminders of past state violence. It seriously inhibits the people’s ability to vote in confidence.”
The report emphasises that intimidation is particularly strong in Zimbabwe’s rural areas, where 65% of voters live.
”People are almost trapped in the rural areas,” Kasambala said. ”They cannot go out without explaining to their chief where and why they are going. They cannot come back without a lengthy explanation.
”People are living in constant fear of being labelled opposition supporters, for instance because an uncle from the city came to visit them.”
The report gives a sober assessment of laws enacted by the Mugabe government that restrict basic freedoms.
The Public Order and Security Act prohibits public meetings of more than three people without police approval. It also makes it a crime to criticise or ridicule the president, the police, or the army. The Act has been used to arrest nearly 400 journalists.
A separate press control law has been used to close down four newspapers and arrest more than 100 journalists.
Two electoral laws enacted last year tried to assure credible elections, such as holding the voting on one day and the use of translucent voting boxes.
But the human rights group criticises the laws for placing army officers in charge of polling and counting booths, and denying the 3,4-million expatriate Zimbabweans the right to vote.
Kasambala said the Zimbabwean laws defy the guidelines for democratic elections of the Southern African Development Community, signed in August by leaders of 13 countries, including Mugabe.
Using first-hand accounts, the report describes discrimination in voter registration, the government’s prohibition of independent voter education and the strict limits to press and observer missions.
Kasambala, who is from Malawi, said the restrictive climate of Zimbabwe’s elections is at odds with its neighbours.
Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa have all held elections that were much freer.
Kasambala said Zimbabwe is not ”measuring up” to the democratic standards of Southern Africa.
”If the heads of state of Southern Africa want to be at the fore of promoting democracy in the region, they should not hide from highlighting the flaws in the Zimbabwean electoral process.” — Guardian Unlimited Â