The global effort to prevent weapons from reaching Zimbabwe during the current crisis is led by Southern African trade unions, NGOs, and church organisations, with support from global civil society. Together, these organisations have produced the sign-on letter (see below) to the leaders of the Southern African Development Community. If your organisation would like to sign the letter please email campaigns[at]avaaz.org. For individuals looking to sign our petition, please click here.
To the leaders of the Southern African Development Community,
We call on you to condemn the shipment of arms to Zimbabwe and to agree an immediate moratorium on arms transfers to Zimbabwe to stop any weapons reaching that country.
Weapons and munitions must not be allowed to reach Zimbabwe, be it via air, sea, rail or road, as long as there is a clear risk that they will be used for state sponsored violence. SADC countries should monitor their airspace closely to prevent attempts to fly in weapons. Only this will guarantee that arms will not reach Zimbabwe and be used to exacerbate the current violence.
The SADC Firearms Protocol, adopted in 2004, explicitly recognises the harmful effects of poorly regulated arms transfers and the dangers they pose to the well being of people in the Region, their social and economic development and their rights to live in peace. The Protocol commits the community to promote and facilitate regional cooperation to prevent the excessive and destabilising possession and use of firearms and ammunition, including the development of robust legislation to control the transfer and transit of these weapons through SADAC territory. The risks that arms transfers pose to the human rights of the people of Zimbabwe also highlight the urgent need for a strong, global Arms Trade Treaty, based on human rights and international law, to effectively control the international trade in weapons.
Following action led by South African trade unions, the Chinese vessel "An Yue Jiang", carrying a deadly load of 77 tonnes of arms, including three million rounds of ammunition, 1500 rocket-propelled grenades and 3000 mortars bombs was forced to leave Durban on Thursday 10 April, when dockworkers refused to unload it, and a coalition of civil society groups and lawyers succeeded in blocking the cargo from being taken overland to Zimbabwe. It has been unable to dock elsewhere after governments refused to allow it to use their ports. It should be noted that the ship left Durban in violation of a court order issued by Judge Pillay at the High Court of Durban on Friday 18 April.
The campaign to stop this ship reaching Zimbabwe has been lead by African trade unionists and citizens. Regional leaders have supported them. Now all governments must act immediately to protect human rights.
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