Commonwealth ministers decide against suspension

Commonwealth foreign ministers meeting in London on Wednesday decided against suspending Zimbabwe and opted instead to call on President Robert Mugabe to end political violence and ensure peaceful and fair elections in March.

In a statement released after the meeting, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) called on the government of Zimbabwe to ensure that there was an "immediate end to violence and intimidation and that the police and army refrain from party political statements and activities".

It urged the government to allow all parties to campaign feely "without intimidation and fear of recrimination".

CMAG asked Mugabe's government to ensure that Zimbabweans were able to make an "unfettered and informed choice" in the elections "inter alia through full access to information from the media".

The BBC on Thursday said that the outcome of the meeting was a "blow" to UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw, who had hoped for Zimbabwe's suspension from the group. Addressing journalists after the meeting Straw was quoted as saying: "The overall result is less than we had hoped for but more than we had expected".

CMAG said it "noted" that Mugabe had "publicly issued an invitation" to the Commonwealth and other international organisations to send observers, and called for the "immediate" deployment of these observers and for the "full cooperation" of the Zimbabwe government "in facilitating the operation of the Commonwealth and other international and domestic observers".

Ministers also condemned the controversial media bill which still has to be approved by the Zimbabwean parliament. In its statement, CMAG said it "condemned" the recently enacted new security legislation, as well as "further direct curbs" on freedom of speech and the press.

The bill, which seeks to curb media freedom and access to information, has highlighted tensions within the ruling ZANU-PF party. Zimbabwe's parliamentary legal committee was quoted as saying on Tuesday that the bill "threatened free speech" and granted the government "frightening powers".

"I can say without equivocation that this bill in the original form was the most calculated and determined assault on our liberties guaranteed by the constitution," Eddison Zvobgo, committee chairperson and former cabinet member, said in a report to parliament.

Zvobgo was quoted as saying that although the government should be "commended" for trying to amend the legislation, his committee still found 20 clauses which violated the constitution.

Three journalists were arrested in Harare on Wednesday following a demonstration outside parliament where parliament was debating the proposed media bill. The three were released after being held in custody for four-and-a-half hours. A police spokesman was quoted as saying they were arrested for holding an illegal gathering under the new security law.

In a statement released on Tuesday, human rights watch dog Amnesty International said the amendments to the election code, passed into law last December, created a government-controlled body that would accredit only those local, regional and international observers who had been invited by the foreign affairs minister or the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC).

"This provision contains the risk that only members of the Zimbabwe civil society, whose political opinion government approves of, will be allowed to observe the election," Amnesty International said.

It added that the law limited voter education materials to those approved by the ESC and threatened six months' imprisonment for anyone not registered by the ESC carrying out voter education.

Chairman of the ESC, Sobusa Gula-Ndebele was quoted in reports on Thursday as saying that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) would be allowed to continue with their voter education campaigns.

"The law does not say the NGOs are banned, as far as I am concerned. All the law says is that the ESC should coordinate voter education. What is important is to read and understand these laws clearly," Gula-Ndebele said.