ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat has issued a rare rebuke of a member state after expressing concern at reports of the use of “disproportionate force” by Zimbabwe’s security forces in enforcing Covid-19 emergency measures.
Mahamat also called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime to stop a crackdown on journalists, trade union leaders and health workers.
Mnangagwa’s opponents say he has used the Covid-19 pandemic to close the democratic space after declaring a virtual state of emergency, with all movement controlled by the military and police at checkpoints all across the country.
“Cognisant of the existing harsh socio-economic situation in the country, the chairperson urges the Zimbabwe authorities to respond to the pandemic ensuring that the national response is premised on human rights as enshrined in the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” Mahamat’s office said in a statement.
“The chairperson is concerned about reports of disproportionate use of force by security forces in enforcing Covid-19 emergency measures. He implores the authorities to exercise restraint in their response to peaceful protests.”
Mahamat also called on Zimbabwe to “uphold the rule of law allowing for freedom of the media, freedom of assembly, freedom of association and the right to information.”
“Violations of these rights are a breach of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance,” the AU chief said.
He welcomed fresh mediation efforts by African Union chairman Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa who dispatched three envoys to Harare on Monday for meetings with Mnangagwa and his rivals.
Ramaphosa’s envoys met Mnangagwa but surprisingly cancelled planned meetings with his opposition rivals.
Sources told ZimLive Mnangagwa had told the envoys that there was “no crisis in Zimbabwe”, and blocked them from meeting his rivals.
