Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 3 December 2009 — Page 18
Page 18 • The Muncie Times • December 3, 2009
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Gabriel, Sarandon, Lauper urge Zimbabwe to respect human rights
NEW YORK CITY-Peter Gabriel, Susan Sarandon, Cyndi Lauper and Citizen Cope have signed a petition calling on Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to help end politically motivated violence against women. Their actions were inspired by remarks made by Kuda Chitsike, program manager at the Research and Advocacy Unit in Zimbabwe and keynote speaker at the WITNESS Focus for Change Benefit Dinner and Concert in New York last week. In 2007,. Chitsike and her organization partnered with WITNESS, the international human rights organization, to produce visual evidence of violence against women in the region.
In 2008, political violence erupted throughout Zimbabwe as a result of highly contested national elections. Between May and July, local organizations estimate that state-sanc-tioned groups abducted, raped, tortured, and beat over 2,000 women and girls due to their political affiliations. Human rights groups believe these numbers to be much greater, as currently there are no formal mechanisms to report these types of attacks. Local police ignore these women's pleas for protection and accountability and national leaders have been equally unresponsive. As the country prepares for another election year, women's groups are bracing again for an
increase in attacks for real or perceived affiliations with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), a party headed by former opposition leader Tsvangirai. Last year Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe, leader of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, formed a fragile unity government. Mugabe remains president. Mugabe, his army, regular and secret police and thugs from his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) have been accused by human rights groups and civic organizations of systematically carrying out a campaign of murder, violence and rape against those who oppose Mugabe and his ZANU-PF. As a result,
Western countries, including the United States, Canada and the European Union, have imposed travel and other sanctions against Mugabe and his top lieutenants. Signatories implore the prime minister to ensure that the government of Zimbabwe investigates and prosecutes all cases of politically motivated violence against women and bring the perpetrators to justice, as stipulated in the Global Political Agreement through national justice institutions, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development, or SADC tribunal. The petition advocates assistance, including medical and psycho-social sup-
port, to women who have experienced violence, as reiterated by the Zimbabwean Global Political Agreement and the South African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development. WITNESS (witness.org) uses the power of video to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses. By partnering with local organizations around the globe, WITNESS empowers human rights defenders to use video as a tool to shine a light on those most affected by human rights violations, and to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools of justice. http://www.pmewswire.com
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