Senegal Embassy Petition Text
Essential Principles
"Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. . . . The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures."
Article 21, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
INSERT AMBASSADOR NAME HERE, Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal,
Since Senegal’s President Macky SALL, is the current Chair of the African Union (AU), we are respectfully writing to you to seek your valued influence within the AU.
We are appealing to His Excellency the President, to cast his attention towards Zimbabwe’s worsening democratic performance.
There are currently 14 members of the opposition in prison or detention awaiting charges – including 3 sitting opposition MP’s. This is simply intimidation. Some commentators have stated the following:
“The unthinkable for a democracy is for members of the official Opposition to be arrested and detained on fabricated charges by the Ruling party Zanu PF. The Rule of Law as internationally recognised has been completely corrupted by The Zanu PF in Zimbabwe. We ask the international Arena to act.”
Chief Inkhosi Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni
Zimbabwe Divine Destiny bishop Ancelimo Magaya said government had gone into overdrive to shrink the democratic space.
“President (Emmerson) Mnangagwa’s government has gotten into overdrive of blatant violations ranging from shamelessly appointing Zanu PF members and relatives as Zec [Zimbabwe Electoral Commission] commissioners, sponsoring violence through Zanu PF structures, disrupting prayer meetings, arbitrary and persecution of journalists,” he said.
National Transitional Justice Working Group NTGWG co-ordinator Fortune Kuhudzehwe also raised concern over alleged politicisation of court processes.
“Over the years, the Forum has observed the worrying trend in which politically-charged cases are given different treatments with any other cases even when they share a common charge. The resultant feeling is that bail is manipulated and used as a political weapon to punish politically undesirable people,” Kuhudzehwe said.
https://www.newsday.co.zw/2022/07/csos-red-flag-weaponisation-of-law/
South Africa’s eNCAnews reports, Chamisa (opposition President)is now under attack in a lawless country where the regime is the perpetrator of many crimes against citizens including murder of opposition supporters and now the ruling party officials are targeting the opposition leader! https://www.facebook.com/hopewelljournalist/videos/1216513012481343
Having collapsed as a functional country and economy; practically a failed state, Zimbabwe is now an example of leadership, governance and policy failures around the world. https://twitter.com/NewsHawksLive/status/1549114331199115265?s=20&t=m9iYyFz8d49Bc_QKWGrajA
Be it on political violence, economic mismanagement, corruption or election rigging, it's now the example. “This country is not owned by Zanu PF and Mr Mnangagwa (President Emmerson Mnangagwa) must know that,” Siziba said. (14th July 2022)
“The demand for dialogue is what we are pushing for and the envelope of conversation. We are pushing the envelope of peace and stability because if there is no conversation of what must happen, it has a bearing on the future stability of this country. It’s not about them being politically interested, it’s about the people of Zimbabwe. This is what the people of Zimbabwe want.
“People of Zimbabwe want a genuine and authentic leadership that must take this country forward. We believe that for the purposes of stability in this country there must be conversation. That is why we are obviously engaging with our partners in this region and, of course, other progressive Africans so that they help us with this particular process.”
https://www.facebook.com/MikeCampbellFoundation/posts/pfbid02M6UM6dvQg2zrFtvQJksyMcRDss8hEpr6hBrwrGpRZm1GDQ4yT1dZWE7nap4MqWDtl
This vicious campaign shows the tendency to violence in the nature of the Zanu PF leadership Indeed, https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/southern-africa/zimbabwe/report-zimbabwe/ end of year report on Politics in Zimbabwe states:
""The human rights situation continued to deteriorate, with the government demonstrating hostility to human rights defenders, protesters, political activists and journalists. They were harassed, arrested, prosecuted and subjected to prolonged pretrial detention; one activist was killed allegedly by supporters of ZANU-PF, the ruling party. The state weaponized Covid-19 lockdowns to restrict political activity. Security forces carried out unlawful killings. The Supreme Court quashed a 20-year prison sentence against two opposition supporters. Thousands were forcibly evicted from their land. Public hospitals remained underfunded and poor healthcare infrastructure put women’s and girls’ health at risk. Many people were at risk of becoming stateless.""
As you are aware AU’s ethos in this respect is to uphold human rights, free and fair elections within all member States.
To this end we are seeking permission to hand over a written petition to your Consulate on the afternoon of the 20th July 2022. A purely ceremonial affair without any obligation upon yourself to meet with our delegation.
We seek your esteemed influence in the above matter and if possible, to forward this message to your President’s Office as Chair of AU.
We remain respectfully yours,
- My Right 2 Vote: Chief Inkhosi Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni
- Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe (ROHR): Mr P A Karimanzira; Spokesperson
- ·Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation: M J C Burke; Founder