The failure of African leaders to address Zimbabwe’s spiralling crisis has become a ”blot on the credibility” of regional peace efforts, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its annual report on Wednesday.
The report singled out regional powerhouse South Africa for particular criticism, saying that former president Thabo Mbeki had strayed from the ideals that guided the struggle against apartheid.
”Under [former] president Thabo Mbeki, rather than join a global movement to apply pressure on the Zimbabwean government to stop its repression, Pretoria refused to speak out,” it said.
”As a result, the South African government was seen as backing a repressive leader rather than his suffering victims,” it added.
The report noted that Mbeki had brokered a power-sharing deal between Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, but said the pact quickly deadlocked over disputes on how to form a joint Cabinet.
”Zimbabwe’s political situation remains precarious, and the future looks bleak if the political leadership does not end abuses,” it said.
The African Union and the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) have also failed to take strong action on Zimbabwe, even amid spiralling political violence, worsening food shortages and a deadly cholera epidemic, the report said.
”The role of SADC and the AU remains crucial in ensuring a peaceful return to the rule of law and respect for human rights, but the ongoing situation is a blot of the credibility of their commitment to an effective regional solution,” it added.
Meanwhile, South Africa still believes Zimbabwe’s unity accord can pull the country from crisis, despite a four-month stalemate in implementing the deal, a top Foreign Affairs Ministry official said on Wednesday.
Ayande Ntsaluba, Director General of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, told reporters that a unity government was the only way for Mugabe and Tsvangirai to settle their differences.
”Every possible analysis that we make as the South African government clearly shows us that we cannot see any route that has immediate prospects of success that bypasses the stage of some variant of an inclusive government in Zimbabwe,” Ntsaluba said.
”We continue to hold the view that whatever the levels of discomfort among the various parties, every other conceivable option is an option that would lead Zimbabwe down a more dangerous path,” he said.
”Our continuous focus and our continuous hope is that the leaders of Zimbabwe will find a way around the difficulties they continue to have on that.” — AFP
