No Pretense Zimbabwe Vote Will Be Free and Fair, Rice Says

Secretary calls for “broader, stronger international action” in New York

By Stephen Kaufman, Staff Writer

Condemnation of the violence and intimidation orchestrated to keep President Robert Mugabe in power is increasing.

Washington -- With only a short time left before Zimbabwe’s June 27 presidential runoff election between incumbent President Robert Mugabe and opposition challenger Morgan Tsvangirai, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the ongoing campaign of violence and intimidation by Mugabe supporters against their political opposition shows that Zimbabwe’s government does not intend the vote to be free and fair.

“By its actions, the Mugabe regime has given up any pretense that the June 27 elections will be allowed to proceed in a free and fair manner,” Rice said June 19 at a round table meeting at the United Nations in New York, adding, "We have reached the point where broader, stronger international action is needed."

The Mugabe government and supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party have engaged in an "orchestrated campaign of violence and harassment," she said.

Mugabe has denied being responsible for the violence that has swept the country since the March 29 presidential and parliamentary elections, but on June 13 he threatened civil war in Zimbabwe if he does not win the runoff vote.

The round table meeting, chaired by Secretary Rice and Burkina Faso’s foreign minister, Djibrill Bassole, was called to send a "very strong message that what is going on in Zimbabwe is unacceptable," Rice told reporters afterward. She noted the U.N. Security Council will hold a formal meeting on Zimbabwe during the week of June 23.

Zimbabwe’s African neighbors in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) also have stepped up their criticism of Mugabe and his ZANU-PF supporters. Tanzania’s Foreign Minister Bernard Membe said June 18, “There is every sign that these elections will never be free nor fair."

Tanzania, Swaziland and Angola are leading a 380-member SADC election observer mission, and Membe reported some of the 211 observers already in the country had seen two people shot dead in front of them.

"Of course, it scared most of these observers to the extent that they had to pose the question of why are we here then, and what are we doing?" Membe told the BBC, adding that MDC leader Tsvangirai’s efforts to campaign ahead of the June 27 vote is being stymied by the government.

"There is a derailment of Mr. Tsvangirai. Wherever he wants to go to campaign, he's detained at police stations," Membe said.

The United States is providing several million dollars to assist monitoring efforts in order to encourage more observers and provide them with the resources to do their job. Rice urged SADC and the African Union to “send as many observers as possible, as early as possible, and insist they be given full freedom to operate." (See “Food Aid Suspension Could Hurt 4 Million Zimbabweans.”)

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980, has "squandered the promise of the very nation that was once held as the jewel of Africa and that he led to independence" and is turning it into a “failed state that threatens not only the lives of Zimbabweans but also the security and stability of all southern Africa," Rice said.

She added that, in the event of a democratic transition, the United States would “fully support” the country’s efforts to “rebuild its economy, reduce inflation, govern by the rule of law" and make other reforms.

The State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) released a fact sheet June 18 detailing the wave of political violence unleashed by President Mugabe’s supporters against the opposition, including the killing, torture and intimidation of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters and the detentions of its leaders.

As of June 18, DRL reported 3,000 political attacks by ZANU-PF supporters, resulting in 54 Zimbabweans killed, 200 missing, more than 30,000 displaced and 3,000 who have required medical treatment. (See “Hope Fades for Free Election in Zimbabwe.”)

A court in Harare charged MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti with treason June 19. Biti, who was arrested after arriving in Zimbabwe from South Africa, could face the death penalty. The White House said June 13 that his arrest is “unwarranted” and urged U.N. Security Council action. (See “Statement on the Arrest of Tendai Biti in Zimbabwe.”)

Issued 19 June 2008