SW Radio Africa (London)
Alex Bell
13 January 2009
International medical rights organisation, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), have labelled Zimbabwe's health crisis a 'crime' that should be the subject of an investigation by the International Criminal Court.
The US based organisation on Tuesday released a report on how the collapse of Zimbabwe's public health system has caused the devastating cholera epidemic, which officially has claimed more than 2000 lives since the outbreak in August last year. The report details what happens when a government presides over the dramatic reversal of its population's access to food, clean water, basic sanitation and health care, and also accuses the Mugabe regime of abolishing the most basic state functions for protecting the health of the population.
The report titled 'Health in Ruins - a man made disaster in Zimbabwe' - details the spread of the cholera epidemic and outlines the implications the collapse of the healthcare system has on victims of human rights violations. The group says the 'shocking' findings in its report should compel the international community to act and uses the report to issue recommendations for accountability, humanitarian response, and restoration of basic health infrastructure in Zimbabwe.
The report's preface, which is signed by South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and Richard Goldstone, a former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, reads: "These findings add to the growing evidence that Robert Mugabe and his regime may well be guilty of crimes against humanity." Archbishop Tutu, who has been a vocal campaigner for an end to atrocities in Zimbabwe, has also appealed to the international community to hold the Mugabe regime accountable for such crimes, in a statement released concurrently with the PHR report on Tuesday.
PHR CEO Frank Donaghue explained on Tuesday that the death toll merely as a result of the collapsed health system "is way beyond what anyone is considering, because the deaths are just not being reported." Donaghue argued that the Zimbabwe crisis poses a regional and international threat and said "now is time for serious and urgent international intervention." The organisation's report recommends, among other things, that an emergency health system be put in place in Zimbabwe under the authority of the United Nations. Donaghue explained that the UN was the "appropriate authority for receivership" and "when there was a threat to survival which could affect the entire region, they could step in."
"So we would hold that the United Nations now has the power to step in and set up some type of system to take over the health system of Zimbabwe," Donaghue said.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Tutu has been appealing to South Africans to join him in fasting in solidarity for Zimbabwe. The Nobel laureate has already been fasting once a week and is set to be joined by other influential clerics and human rights leaders. Bishop Paul Verryn, who runs a refugee operation at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg has announced he will also fast in the coming days. The two South African clergymen have been joined by Pastor Raymond Motsi of the Bulawayo Baptist Church in Zimbabwe, who has pledged to fast along with South African activist Kumi Naidoo. The fasting is intended to continue fostering awareness of Zimbabwe's plight under the Mugabe regime and forms part of a wider campaign of civil action that is intended to focus on South Africa's role in support of Mugabe.
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And the accused shall be Bill Clinton, Jesse Helms and Joe Biden, the architects of the misery of the people of Zimbabawe.
From the archives of methodologically founded historical research.
Sad to think people like Jabba can take satisfaction from the fact that non violent ,non government humanitarian groups are frustrated by the inaction of western and african leaders to reign in the criminals .
If the International medical rights organization - Physicians for Human Rights, have labeled and deemed Zimbabwe's health crisis a crime, have they endorsed some docket to be presented to the International Criminal court? If not, then just labeling the crisis as crime and then forgetting all about it once again allows Mugabe to get away with murder.
This is an interesting article that touches on responsibilities of the current government, however, the article silence on the impact the sanctions have had on the Zimbabwe econmoy in general puts doubt to the neutrality of the recommendations. The sanctions have not had the intended effects but have added to the general collapse of the economy as well, this is not to exenorate the government responsibility.