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July 21, 2008

Southern African churches want economic sanctions on Zimbabwe

by Ecumenical News International

JOHANNESBURG — Delegates from churches in Zimbabwe, South Africa and other southern African countries meeting in Johannesburg have expressed “overwhelming support” for targeted economic sanctions against Zimbabwe.

A statement from the South African Council of Churches, which was co-hosting the July 13-17 meeting, described targeted economic sanctions “as a practical strategy to loosen former President Robert Mugabe’s ‘illegitimate’ grip on power and to promote a negotiated political settlement.”

Many countries and international organizations have said the presidential election that Mugabe said he won on June 27 was not valid.

The statement said the Johannesburg meeting was an “ecumenical summit” to consider ways in which the Church can express solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, “and promote justice and peace in that crisis-wracked nation.”

The meeting was hosted by the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, in cooperation with the Council for World Mission and the SACC.

Earlier in July, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, issued a warning concerning the possible consequences of economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. He issued his statement shortly before the U.N. Security Council was to debate the imposition of an arms embargo and sanctions on Zimbabwean political leaders, but the WCC leader’s statement made no reference to them.

“Children and women are among the first to suffer if world governments choose to impose economic sanctions,” Kobia said in his statement. The WCC leader called for the protection of the population “against increased and continued violence,” an “intensified international monitoring of the situation” and the provision of humanitarian aid.

Professor John Makumbe of the University of Zimbabwe told the Johannesburg meeting that nearly 4,300 people in Zimbabwe had been victims of politically-motivated violence between March 1 and June 15. More than 100 opposition activists have been murdered, while roughly 5,000 party and election workers are missing, he said.

In Harare, Zimbabwean church leaders said this week the southern African country has witnessed “the most brutal forums of violence” since its independence from Britain, before and after the presidential runoff election of June 27 in which Mugabe became the sole candidate.

“People were subjected to the most traumatic forms of violence that included torture, murder, abductions, displacement and psychological trauma,” said the leaders of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe (Roman) Catholic Bishops' Conference in a statement made public on July 15.