EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 259/101

Zimbabwe

P6_TA(2008)0184

European Parliament resolution of 24 April 2008 on Zimbabwe

(2009/C 259 E/18)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its resolutions on Zimbabwe of 16 December 2004 (1), 7 July 2005 (2), 7 September 2006 (3) and 26 April 2007 (4),

— having regard to Council Common Position 2008/135/CFSP of 18 February 2008 (5) renewing until 20 February 2009 the restrictive measures against Zimbabwe imposed under Common Position 2004/161/CFSP,

— having regard to the emergency Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit held on 12 April 2008 in Lusaka,

— having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas elections to the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe, the Senate of Zimbabwe, the Presidency, and the organs of local government took place on 29 March 2008,

B. whereas the results of the presidential elections have yet to be declared, and the results of the elections to the Parliament of Zimbabwe have yet to be fully declared,

C. whereas on 14 April 2008 Zimbabwe's High Court rejected an urgent application by the opposition group Movement for Democratic Change for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to declare the results of the presidential elections,

D. whereas on 12 April 2008 the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission announced that it would hold a recount in 23 presidential election constituencies where the result had been challenged by the ruling party, Zanu-PF,

E. whereas, on the occasion of the abovementioned SADC Summit in Lusaka, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the presidential election results to be released as soon as possible, warning that the very concept of democracy in Africa was at risk,

F. whereas the SADC has demanded the expeditious verification and release of the results of the elections, in accordance with due process of law,

G. whereas the regime has again reacted with violence against the opposition,

1. Insists that the democratic wishes of the Zimbabwean people be respected; urges all those who wish to participate in the future of Zimbabwe to cooperate with the forces of democratic change;

2. Calls on the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission immediately to release all the original election results, as the delays are now causing anxiety and speculation that is detrimental to peace, political stability and Zimbabwe's democratic prospects;

3. Commends the tremendous work done by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a non-governmental organisation, in deploying thousands of observers across the country and publishing their poll projections;

4. Strongly encourages the Zimbabwean Government to honour its own commitments to democratic principles, human rights and the rule of law as a signatory to the SADC Treaty and the Protocols thereto, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the New Partnership for Africa's Development;

5. Commends the SADC for convening its emergency summit on 12 April 2008 and welcomes the communiqué issued by the summit leaders, in which they call for the expeditious release of the results of the presidential elections;

6. Welcomes the recent acknowledgement by South Africa's ruling African National Congress party that Zimbabwe has now entered a ‘state of crisis’ and trusts that this will lead to positive action;

7. Urgently calls on the African Union to use its good offices to help bring about a rapid and positive solution to the Zimbabwe crisis;

8. Strongly condemns the post-electoral political violence and human rights violations targeting supporters of opposition parties;

9. Deplores the arrest of almost a dozen foreign journalists in recent weeks and calls for the immediate lifting of all restrictions on freedom of the press and assembly, and for unfettered access to Zimbabwe for foreign news agencies; calls in addition for the immediate release of the 36 citizens arrested in the course of a peaceful protest against the delayed publication of the results;

10. Commends the South African dockworkers for refusing to unload arms from the Chinese cargo ship An Yue Jiang which were bound for Zimbabwe's security forces; calls on all SADC countries to refuse unloading of the An Yue Jiang's cargo at any of their ports;

11. Calls on the Chinese Government to cease arms exports to Zimbabwe and to order the immediate return of the An Yue Jiang to Chinese waters;

12. Calls on the Council to ensure that all Member States rigorously apply existing restrictive measures;

13. Calls on the Council and the Commission to accelerate preparation of the package of measures, including urgent economic assistance, that will be put in place as soon as the democratic transformation in Zimbabwe has taken place, and to coordinate such measures with the wider international community;

14. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the governments of the G8 countries, the governments and parliaments of Zimbabwe and South Africa, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Chairmen of the Commission and Executive Council of the African Union, the Pan-African Parliament, and the Secretary-General and governments of the Southern African Development Community.

(1) OJ C 226 E, 15.9.2005, p. 358.

(2) OJ C 157 E, 6.7.2006, p. 491.

(3) OJ C 305 E, 14.12.2006, p. 263.

(4) OJ C 74 E, 20.3.2008, p. 791.

(5) OJ L 43, 19.2.2008, p. 39.