Unites States Senators Chris Coons and Cory Booker have
urged Zimbabwean officials to respect the rights of protesters and restore
access to social media, internet and telephone services following a nationwide
protests staged by local people over the country’s economic crisis.
In a statement, Coons (Democrat, Delaware) and Booker
(Democrat, New Jersey) said the current situation in the country is worrying as
state security agents have launched a crackdown on protesters amid reports of
several deaths, arrests and detentions.
The two, who are members of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, said, “We are deeply troubled by reports of deaths, widespread
arrests, beatings, and harassment of protestors by security forces of the
Government of Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean people have the constitutional right to
protest peacefully and express themselves regarding developments in their
country.
“Government officials and security forces must respond with
professionalism and respect for human rights and the rule of law. We also call
on the Government of Zimbabwe to rescind the directive ordering communication
service providers to cut or restrict access to social media, internet, and
telephone services. Such abrogations of constitutional and basic legal rights
are not what the people of Zimbabwe were promised under President Mnangagwa.”
Coons and Booker said Zimbabwean authorities should
urgently address people’s concerns. “… Instead, the government should work to
meet the basic economic and social needs of its people. We strongly urge the
Zimbabwean authorities to resolve the current situation through dialogue and
non-violent, fully legal means, and for protesters to exercise their
constitutional rights peacefully. Under no circumstances should the Zimbabwean
government disregard the constitutional rights of its citizens, engage in the illegal
suppression of expression and assembly, or employ the disproportionate use of
force or extralegal violence to respond to the current situation.”
Coons and Booker are among several other senators who were
in Zimbabwe before the country held its elections last July won by President
Emmerson Mnangagwa and his ruling Zanu PF party.
The poll results were challenged by the Movement for
Democratic Change led by Nelson Chamisa, who lost the case in the
Constitutional Court which cited lack of evidence in nullifying the election
outcome.
The country was facing serious economic problems before the
harmonized elections and worsened soon after Mnangagwa was declared winner by
Priscilla Chigumba’s Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
Mnangagwa recently announced fuel price increases of up to
150% in a nation with an unemployment rate of over 80%. voa
0 comments:
Post a Comment