The African Union must put concerted political pressure on Mugabe to end Zimbabwe's longstanding political crisis, which has led to an ever-deepening humanitarian emergency and a regional crisis, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 33-page report, Crisis without Limits: Human Rights and Humanitarian Consequences of Political Repression in Zimbabwe, details the Zimbabwean government's responsibility for the country's humanitarian crisis. A cholera epidemic has left over 2,000 Zimbabweans dead and another 39,000 ill. Over 5 million Zimbabweans face severe food shortages and are dependent on international aid. Repeated political interference by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) in the work of humanitarian agencies has severely hampered international efforts to tackle the country's multiple crises.
Crisis without Limits is based on research conducted by Human Rights Watch in six of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces from November 16 to 30, 2008. In-depth interviews were conducted with victims of human rights violations as well as representatives of local and international nongovernmental organisations and humanitarian agencies, United Nations officials, MDC members, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Grain and Marketing Board, lawyers, health experts, economists, and diplomats.
Human Rights Watch research identifies the causes of the food shortage, the cholera outbreak, and the collapse in Zimbabwe's health system. Repressive government and extensive corruption have led directly to an interlinked economic collapse, a humanitarian crisis, and growing public desperation.
Human Rights Watch research found that the Zimbabwean government bears primary responsibility for the severe food shortages in the country. State-sanctioned political violence led to the destruction of food granaries serving thousands of Zimbabweans who were forcibly displaced by ZANU-PF supporters, “war veterans,” and soldiers and left them dependent on food aid. Official interference in the operations of humanitarian agencies that distribute food aid worsened the crisis.
Endemic corruption within state-run agricultural institutions such as the Grain and Marketing Board and by ZANU-PF's political elite has also led to severe shortages of seed and other farming supplies such as fertilizer. Many of the government's agricultural policies have benefited the pro-ZANU-PF political elite. The Zimbabwean authorities have diverted state-subsidised maize, seed, fuel, and cheap tractors meant for local farmers to local ZANU-PF officials and governors, who have then sold them on the black market at high prices unaffordable for most Zimbabweans. And the government has done little to address the corrupt practices that have affected the food supply.
The Zimbabwean authorities have been aware of the potential for a major cholera outbreak for nearly a year. In December 2007, 459 cases of cholera were reported in two high-density suburbs of the capital, Harare, and 11 people died from cholera and more than 300 were hospitalised in Bulawayo. Despite repeated calls to address the epidemic and to ensure that municipal water sources were properly treated, the government did not respond adequately.
While the capacity to respond to the cholera outbreak may have been undermined by a lack of medical and financial resources, health officials informed Human Rights Watch that the Zimbabwean government initially refused to acknowledge the extent of the cholera crisis and the urgent need to respond. Despite an alarming increase in cholera deaths and infections, the government did not immediately appeal for international help and initially refused to declare the outbreak an emergency.
Zimbabwe's failing health system, in which ordinary Zimbabweans are no longer able to get basic health care, has aggravated the cholera epidemic. Many district hospitals and municipal clinics in Zimbabwe are either closed or operating at minimum capacity. Dilapidated infrastructure, equipment failures, shortages of drugs, and a “brain drain” of medical professionals have all contributed to the collapse of the health system.
“The Zimbabwean government is responsible for the humanitarian crisis and the failure to protect Zimbabweans from its consequences,” said Gagnon, “The government has violated the basic rights of Zimbabweans to food, health, and clean water.”
Regional leaders have repeatedly ignored the violations of human rights inflicted on Zimbabweans by Mugabe's government and have not taken serious steps to help their suffering, Human Rights Watch said. SADC leaders have also failed to take any measures that would promote genuine democratic transition. At the same time, the combination of political instability, the cholera outbreak, and severe food problems have driven thousands of Zimbabweans into neighbouring countries. The influx has also taken cholera across Zimbabwe's border to neighbouring countries, including Botswana, Mozambique, and Zambia.
