A peaceful transfer of power is still the best hope for Zimbabwe’s rehabilitation, said The Boston Globe in an editorial yesterday. Excerpts:
Life expectancy in Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe fell from 62 years in 1990 to 36 in 2006. And, as described in a recent report by Physicians for Human Rights, this man-made catastrophe has only gotten worse in the last two years. To end their agony, Zimbabweans need new leadership.
Although the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai lamented a deadlock Monday in power-sharing talks with Mugabe, a peaceful transfer of power is still the best hope for Zimbabwe’s rehabilitation. But even if Mugabe cedes power after 28 years, the international community will still confront a haunting question: How can Mugabe and his henchmen be held accountable for the catastrophe they created?
This question is broached in a preface to the report signed by Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s retired archbishop; Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Richard Goldstone, former UN chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. They cite “growing evidence that Robert Mugabe and his regime may well be guilty of crimes against humanity.” And they call for urgent intervention by neighbors and all UN member states to prevent more deaths. Physicians for Human Rights sent a delegation to Zimbabwe last month. The team found that the Mugabe regime destroyed the country’s healthcare system and pursued policies that ruined what had been a vibrant agriculture, depriving all but a tiny elite of proper nutrition, water, and a sustainable livelihood. One result has been a cholera epidemic and the spread of other diseases. The rights group is calling for the UN to pass a resolution instructing the International Criminal Court to investigate Mugabe and his cronies.
