Og flere frygtes at gå samme vej
HARARE, 17 February 2012 (IRIN): Twenty-nine NGOs providing services ranging from alleviating (lindre) food insecurity to assisting the disabled in Zimbabwe’s Masvingo Province have been banned.
The bannings have sparked fears that this could be the start of a new wave of restrictions like the blanket (generelle) ban placed on the activities of civil society organizations during the violent and disputed parliamentary and presidential elections in 2008.
Titus Maluleke, Governor of Masvingo Province and member of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, announced the immediate banning of the NGOs on 14 February, claiming that they had failed to register with his office.
– What has happened in Masvingo can easily spread to other provinces, with undesirable consequences, Abel Chikomo, director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, said at a hastily convened briefing in the capital, Harare, on 16 February.
A joint statement on behalf of various civil society organizations said Maluleke’s actions were “blatantly illegal…and are a nullity (ophæver / annullerer) at law.”
The organizations include the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), the Crisis In Zimbabwe Coalition, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, the National Association of Non Governmental Organizations (NANGO), the Zimbabwe Election Support Network and and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
“The law in this country clearly shows that he has no regulatory authority; nor does he have the power to register or de-register NGOs. Even the Provincial Council that he heads in terms of the Provincial Councils and Administration Act does not have regulatory powers over NGOs. The council exists solely to foster developmental projects initiated and carried out by central government and local government,” the joint statement said, adding:
‘‘The governor’s rash and ill-advised utterances merely seek to confuse matters and are regrettably likely to worsen the humanitarian crisis in Masvingo Province. This is because the list of organizations he seeks to ban includes NGOs that are currently providing food, medication, water and other social and economic support [services] to the community.’’
Maluleke’s banning order – made in the presence of senior army and police officials – was accompanied by what has become a repeated claim by ZANU-PF that civil society is collaborating with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, which in turn is “a front for Western governments”.
Operating in fear
Læs videre på http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94890
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http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/nyhed/17-02-12/s-vndal-og-friis-bach-positive-tegn-fra-zimbabwe-g
