July 22, 2005
UN Secretary General calls forimmediate halt to evictions in Zimbabwe
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in a statement which sent shock-waves to the Zimbabwe government, has calles for the immediate stoß of evictions and demolitions in Zimbabwe. The statement which has been discusses at a special meeting of the UN Security Council on the deteriorating situation in the country, reas as follows:
I have received the report of my Special Envoy on Human Settlement
Issues in Zimbabwe, Mrs. Anna K. Tibaijuka, based on her recent visit
to the country. I wish to congratulate her on this exhaustive
report, and also to thank the Government of Zimbabwe for the full
cooperation she received.
It is a profoundly distressing report, which confirms that "Operation
Murambatsvina" has done a catastrophic injustice to as many as
700,000 of Zimbabwe's poorest citizens, through indiscriminate
actions, carried out with disquieting indifference to human
suffering. I call on the Government to stop these forced evictions
and demolitions immediately, and to ensure that those who
orchestrated this ill-advised policy are held fully accountable for
their actions.
Criticism, while fully justified, is not enough. We have a duty to
help those in need.In keeping with the recommendations of my envoy,
the United Nations will urgently seek agreement with the Government
of Zimbabwe to mobilize immediate humanitarian assistance on the
scale that is required to avert further suffering.
I urge the
international community to respond generously to this call. For its
part, the Government must recognize the virtual state of emergency
that now exists, allow unhindered access for humanitarian operations,
and create conditions for sustainable relief and reconstruction.
Once the most acute human needs are addressed, the United Nations
will play its part, and give whatever help it can, in implementing
the report's other recommendations. Among these is the call for
dialogue between the Government of Zimbabwe, domestic constituencies
and the international community with a view to working together to
address Zimbabwe's serious social, economic and political problems. (UNIS Vienna)
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