Zimbabwe has been allowed to operate outside the African Union (AU) and UN human rights framework for far too long. It is time for effective African and international solidarity with the victims of human rights violations in Zimbabwe. The people must not be left alone to suffer this ongoing violence.

The silence by the AU Assembly Chairman, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, with regard to the situation in Zimbabwe, has been deafening—and is contrary to its own principles of human rights and the rule of law.

The AU Chairman should, during the Assembly of the African Union, strongly and openly condemn the human rights violations occurring in Zimbabwe. Anything less is an abdication of its responsibilities.

The AU should, in collaboration with the South African Development Community (SADC), immediately put human rights monitors on the ground in Zimbabwe and set up an international commission of inquiry to investigate the ongoing violence so that those responsible can be brought to justice.

(The Eleventh Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government will take place Monday and Tuesday in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.)

This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 3:23 pm and is filed under Politics .