Zimbabwe - Election Rights

The Office of the Prime Minister, No 10 Downing Street, London, UNITED KINGDOM. In recent times, world leaders have been heard to suggest that Africa’s problems need to be solved by African people. As Zimbabweans we understand that it is our responsibility to confront the issues that corrupt and bleed our nation of its Livelihood. Furthermore we accept that it is Zimbabwean people that will provide a final solution to the crime and corruption that cripples our nation. However, we petition the world to realise that alone we cannot overcome a powerful dictator and remove the rot from within without the support of the world at large.Each voice signed below is a Zimbabwean who understands that they have a role to play in changing the face of Zimbabwean Politics. However each voice is prevented from being an effective voice for democracy in Zimbabwe by the violation of their individual human rights. Everyone of us is eager, willing and desperate to stand and be counted as Zimbabweans, and we demand that our voice be heard.The Universal Declaration of Human Rights lays out the following concepts of Human Rights in its articles. While there have been many breeches of the Articles laid out in the Declaration of Human Rights, and the Zimbabwean people have suffered significantly as a result of Human Rights abuses since 1980, in this instance the following two Articles are of critical importance to the freedom of Zimbabwe.Article 15• Everyone has the right to a nationality.• No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.Article 21• Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.• Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.• The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.As Zimbabwean Citizens living abroad we are denied these freedoms. 1) As a Zimbabwean Citizen living outside of Zimbabwe’s borders some 4.5 Million Zimbabweans are denied the right to vote in any election taking place in Zimbabwe.Therefore by word of this petition we demand the reinstatement of our constitutional Human Right as Zimbabwean Citizens to vote in any election undertaken for Zimbabwean Leadership at any time, regardless of our location in the world.The last general election in Zimbabwe was undertaken in suspicious circumstances with the results being ignored and the population intimidated and bullied into voting for the ruling party.2) Counting was delayed for weeks leading to speculation in vote rigging.3) The result of a clear win by an opposition party was ignored.4) Force and Intimidation, ghost voters, and vote rigging were widely used in a runoff election that was not legal or accepted by the people of Zimbabwe.Therefore as is clear from the results of the last general election campaign and its subsequent runoff election, we demand International Observers to be present at every election undertaken in Zimbabwe. This demand extends to free and independent monitors at every polling station, adjudicators at every counting station, and international observers present throughout the country in the run up to any election.We as free Zimbabweans speak in one voice. We demand the right to take part in free and fair elections that give us the power to bring change to our nation. Regardless of our colour, creed, tribe, sex, language, creed, religion, location, wealth or age we demand the freedom to choose who we want to rule our nation, to see prosperity and normality restored to our nation. We seek law and order and the right to live, work and be happy in the land of our birth. No man, organisation or institution has the right to withhold these fundamental rights of every human being from us, and we implore the International Community to stand by us, and support our call for freedom and our drive for change.Our future stability and prosperity is to your advantage. We are a peaceful people seeking a peaceful resolution to the greed, crime and corruption that has reduced the Nation of Zimbabwe into a land of paupers reliant on food aid, monetary assistance and international health aid. Zimbabwe was once the bread basket of Africa, and with your help, guidance and support we can once again make Zimbabwe the Nation it was. As Zimbabweans we will take action and fix our nation, but to do this we need your support and for this reason, this petition demands we all take action to reinstate the basic Human Rights of every individual Zimbabwean throughout the world, so we have every opportunity to fulfil our responsibilities to our country. Signed and dated

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