Wüstenschiff

Die EU hat ihre Sanktionen gegen Simbabwe gelockert. Präsident Mugabe darf aber weiterhin nicht in die EU einreisen. Er und seine Partei fordern eine völlige Aufhebung der Sanktionen ohne Bedingungen. Voraussetzung dafür sollen aber ein Verfassungsreferendum und freie Wahlen sein.

IRIN hat geschrieben:
Zimbabwe police ban radios, crack down on NGOs
26.02.2013 - IRIN

HARARE - Police in Zimbabwe have announced a ban on the possession of shortwave radio receivers, saying they are being used to communicate hate speech ahead of next month's constitutional referendum and elections set to be held in July.

Wind-up, solar-powered radios sets have been distributed by some NGOs to rural communities, where villagers have established listening clubs to tune in to popular independent radio stations like Radio Voice of The People, Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa. The broadcasts are produced by exiled Zimbabwean journalists based in Europe and the US.

Zimbabwe has four state-controlled radio stations with a history of supporting President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. Two recently established independent radio stations are also perceived to be pro-ZANU-PF. There is demand among listeners, especially those supportive of the rival Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), for other viewpoints.

Ban criticized

In the last elections, in 2008, many rural constituencies with access to independent radio broadcasts voted for the MDC formations led by Professor Welshman Ncube and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) - a group comprising the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum, the Federation of African Media Women of Zimbabwe and other groups advocating for freedom of expression - has condemned the ban on radio receivers.

In a statement, MAZ noted that "owning and distributing radio receivers is not illegal and that confiscating them is a gross violation of citizens' rights to receive and impart ideas and information without interference, as enshrined in Section 20 of the Constitution."

Urging the police to reverse the ban, MAZ pointed out that it would deprive people of an important source of information ahead of two critical national events.

Crackdown on NGOs

In recent weeks, police have also been conducting a crackdown on NGOs and human rights groups, raiding offices, confiscating files and arresting employees.

Targeted organizations include Zimbabwe Human Rights, whose executive director was arrested, along with two other employees, on charges of "forging and manufacturing" counterfeit certificates of voter registration. They were later released on bail. Police also raided the offices of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, where they confiscated cell phones and hard drives.

Following the last elections, head of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, Jestina Mukoko, was kidnapped and tortured after it emerged that her organization had damning evidence on the use of rape and torture by security forces to intimidate Tsvangirai supporters.

The offices of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, an NGO that campaigns for democratic elections, were also searched by police.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, responsible for the police, is headed by two co-ministers, one from ZANU-PF and the other from the MDC.

In a statement, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights criticized the three-party inclusive government, for failing to prevent "a sustained and escalating assault on NGOs involved in civic education, human rights monitoring, public outreach and service provision - all of which are lawful endeavours."

Violence continues

Although President Robert Mugabe has called for peaceful conduct during and after the referendum and national elections, violence continues to be reported across the country.

Over the weekend, a 12-year-old boy died after the shelter he was sleeping in was set on fire during skirmishes between ZANU-PF and MDC supporters in Manicaland, 200km east of the capital.

The house was petrol-bombed by people believing that the boy's father, a candidate for Tsvangirai's party in the up-coming elections, was sleeping inside.

Seit 2005 der letzte Henker Simbabwes in den Ruhestand ging, wurden keine Todeskandidaten mehr hingerichtet. Nun wurde der Posten neu besetzt, mit einem Ausländer. Dies sorgt für hitzige Debatten. Vor der Abstimmung über die neue Verfassung fordern viele die Abschaffung der Todesstrafe.

In fünf Tagen findet die Volksabstimmung zur Verfassung in Simbabwe statt – allerdings übt die Zivilgesellschaft scharfe Kritik: Man habe nicht genügend Zeit gehabt, den Entwurf in der Öffentlichkeit zu diskutieren. Als vor vier Wochen der 16. März als Termin für das Referendum bekannt gegeben wurde, hatte der Bürgerrechtler Phillan Zamchiya in einer ersten Reaktion erklärt, dass „zu wenig Zeit für die Information/Bildung der Bevölkerung zum Verfassungsentwurf“ bleibe [...] Präsident Robert Mugabe unterstützt den Entwurf ebenso wie sein Widersacher, Ministerpräsident Morgan Tsvangirai. Dabei ist die Abstimmung das Vorspiel im Kampf um die Macht: Präsidentschafts- und Parlamentswahlen sind für Mitte 2013 geplant.

Mit großer Mehrheit haben die Wähler in Simbabwe dem Entwurf der Regierung für eine neue Verfassung zugestimmt. Mehr als drei Millionen Wähler votierten nach Angaben der Wahlkommission in Harare für die neue Verfassung, lediglich etwa 180.000 Bürger stimmten demnach mit "Nein". An dem Referendum am Samstag beteiligten sich nach Angaben der Wahlkommission rund 3,2 Millionen Menschen. Simbabwe hat rund 13 Millionen Einwohner, von denen aber die Hälfte unter 18 Jahre und damit nicht wahlberechtigt ist. Damit lag die Wahlbeteiligung bei knapp 50 Prozent.