Zimbabweans Stage Demonstration at UN Headquarters, Present 11-Point Memorandum of Demands
Zimbabweans based in the United States staged a peaceful demonstration at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Saturday , 26 September, on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly and presented an 11-point memorandum of demands.
The memorandum, addressed to the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the African Union, SADC and the Government of Zimbabwe, calls on the UN and the international community to take seriously what the group described as the deteriorating state of constitutional democracy, political freedoms, human rights, property rights and accountability in Zimbabwe.
The demonstrators were joined by other groups from other countries who sympathized with their cause.
The organizers expressed appreciation that despite rain the crowd was sizable.
The demonstrators demanded full constitutional and judicial scrutiny of Constitutional Amendment No. 3 (CAA3) and insisted that any constitutional amendment requiring a referendum must be submitted to the people of Zimbabwe.
They also demanded restoration of multiparty democracy and an immediate end to what they termed the shrinking of political space for opposition parties, saying political parties, activists and citizens must be free to organise, assemble, campaign and participate in public affairs without intimidation or politically motivated prosecution.
The group further demanded protection of political and civic freedoms including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, movement and political participation, and an end to practices that suppress peaceful dissent.
In the memorandum, the demonstrators said they reject any attempt to transform Zimbabwe’s constitutional republic into a system of personal or hereditary rule, stating that Zimbabwe belongs to its people and not to an individual, a family or a political party, and demanded constitutional guarantees that prevent the elimination of genuine political competition through Parliament, electoral institutions or security agencies.
They also demanded an immediate end to demolitions and evictions carried out without lawful notice, hearings, judicial oversight, compensation or alternative accommodation, and called for transparency and independent investigations into mineral wealth management, citing the Al Jazeera Gold Mafia investigation which documented extensive allegations concerning gold smuggling and money laundering networks involving individuals connected to senior Zimbabwean officials.
Other demands included an end to torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and politically motivated prosecutions, with reference to Human Rights Watch reporting on the acquittal of opposition activist Godfrey Karembera after more than seven months in detention, as well as demands for independent investigations into human rights violations, access to justice for victims and accountability regardless of political affiliation.
The group further demanded the right to vote for millions of Zimbabweans in the diaspora, saying many left the country due to persecution and economic hardship, and called on the United Nations, African Union and SADC to intensify monitoring of Zimbabwe’s constitutional, political and human rights situation and to engage the government on restoring democratic institutions and compliance with constitutional and international obligations.
The memorandum concluded: “We demand a Zimbabwe where no president is above the Constitution, no political party is above the law, no citizen is above another, and no citizen is imprisoned, tortured or silenced for exercising fundamental rights.”