Scathing report on post-election Zimbabwe

Amnesty International launches scathing report on post-election Zimbabwe

Voting for the wrong political party in the upcoming New Zealand election will not land you in jail or a torture camp. Nor would you expect to be beaten, or arbitrarily arrested by the police. However this is the grim reality documented in Amnesty International's report just released, along with new video footage, which graphically demonstrates the ongoing suffering of the Zimbabwean people.

"While the political parties struggle to form a new inclusive government, the most vulnerable Zimbabweans are at further risk of extreme hunger. Many Zimbabweans are now only surviving by eating wild fruit," says Simeon Mawanza, Amnesty International's Zimbabwe expert.

The report, Zimbabwe: Time for Accountability, examines the impact of the post-election violence on victims and makes recommendations to all parties participating in the current political talks on how to provide justice for the thousands that have suffered for decades.

"Amnesty condemns the state-sponsored violence that has taken place since the March elections and insists that the government stops ignoring evidence of human rights violations," says Amnesty New Zealand's spokesperson Rebecca Emery.

While the New Zealand Government has joined worldwide condemnation of political violence in Zimbabwe, including urging the Black Caps to boycott a Zimbabwean cricket tour, Amnesty believes the international community must continue to speak out strongly and demand that Zimbabwe ends impunity for human rights violators.

"The international community must not stand by and watch the Zimbabwean people slip deeper into poverty and despair while their political leaders squabble," says Mawanza.

To download a copy of the report, Zimbabwe: Time for Accountability, visit www.amnesty.org.nz

Video footage available:
- One is made by the Solidarity Peace Trust and can be viewed at the following link - www.sokwanele.com/article/sokwanele/democracymissingpresumeddead_290508.html
- The other is a film about activist organisation Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Ig_XDdlrg

ENDS

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