Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Harare (Agenzia Fides) - The Bishops of South Africa, Botswana, and Swaziland who form part of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) are launching an appeal for international and regional pressure in order “to end the systematic intimidation, violence and torture in Zimbabwe,” as they have confirmed in a statement sent to Agenzia Fides, signed by Archbishop Buti Tlhagale OMI, Archbishop of Johannesburg and President of the SACBC.
According to the Bishops, due to the violence and intimidation, “the current environment is not conducive to free and fair run-off elections.” In Zimbabwe, on a date yet unknown, presidential elections are scheduled to take place (see Fides 12/5/2008). “Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, Archbishop of Durban, and I visited Zimbabwe recently and were told first-hand accounts of systematic intimidation, violence and torture. The victims identified the perpetrators as agents of the Zimbabwe Armed Forces, the Police, the Central Intelligence Organization (C.I.O), War Veterans, Youth Militia and plain thugs,” the statement reads. “These human rights abuses are visited not only on those who are thought to have voted for the opposition, but also on those who assisted the Election Process, such as Polling Officers.”
The Bishops denounce the “reign of terror” that has caused “many deaths, savage beatings and flight from family, homes and communities.”
“Human dignity is intrinsic to every human being, regardless of political affiliation and must be respected. I call on all political parties to reign in their supporters and end this horror,” writes Archbishop Tlhagale, asking that International Election Observers be deployed immediately in order to guarantee a just process in the voting.
“I call on all Zimbabweans to remember the hope with which they entered the March elections so well expressed in the call by civil society in the document ‘The Zimbabwe we want’ (see Fides 29/3/2007) and to do all in their power to restore Zimbabwe to its rightful place in the family of Nations,” Archbishop Tlhagale concludes. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 13/5/2008; righe 27, parole 320)
