In Addition to the joint statement below ECOTERRA Intl. likes to draw
your attention to the way the Government of Zimbabwe has delayed the
publication of the report by the African Commission, as well as on
the facts, that President Mbeki of South-Africa continuously shields
the dictatorship and its atrocities against people and all creatures
in Zimbabwe and does not condemn the acts against humanity committed
by Robert Mugabe making the poor of the country to suffer and die.
Bodies with international mandate like the International Red Cross
are doing nothing and the international community is  just watching.
This has to change NOW!

In Solidarity with the CALL FOR UNITED FRONT RESISTANCE IN ZIMBABWE

Shinga Murombo Shinga! Lets get free or die trying! Povo yaramba


ZIMBABWE AND THE PROTECTION OF THE PEOPLE AS WELL AS ALL LIVE MUST BE
ON THE AGENDA OF THE G8 AS TOP PRIORITY !

-*-

Joint Statement on Forced Evictions in Zimbabwe

23 June 2005



Amnesty International, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
(COHRE), Habitat International Coalition, ECOTERRA Intl.
ZimRights (Zimbabwe Human Rights Association) and Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights


Noting with grave concern the deepening humanitarian and human rights
crisis in Zimbabwe, more than 200 African and international human
rights and civic groups have come together to call on the African
Union and the United Nations to take action.

Over the past four weeks the Government of Zimbabwe has orchestrated
the widespread forced eviction of tens of thousands of informal
traders and families living in informal settlements. During these
forced evictions homes have been burnt and property destroyed. Many
individuals have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, fined, abducted
and/or beaten. Such actions continue unabated, and with impunity.

Tens of thousands of people are now living in the open-during
winter-without access to adequate shelter, food or clean water. No
care has been shown for these people, many of whom are vulnerable.
Thousands of children, the elderly and the ill face the prospect of
disease and in some cases death from hunger, exposure and drinking
unsafe water. Some of the most vulnerable are dying already.

The complete and wholesale destruction of people's homes and
livelihoods-conservatively estimated to have affected at least
300,000 people so far-constitutes a grave violation of international
human rights law, and a disturbing affront to human dignity. There
can be no justification for the Government of Zimbabwe's action which
has been carried out without prior notice, due process of the law or
assurance of adequate alternative accommodation. We condemn it in the
strongest terms.

  The African Union (AU) and the relevant bodies of the United Nations
(UN), including the Security Council and the Secretary-General,
cannot fail to act in the face of such gross and widespread human
rights violations and appalling human misery. We urge the Chair of
the AU and all member states to address the situation in Zimbabwe as
an urgent matter at the forthcoming AU Assembly in Libya from 4 to 5
July.

Similarly, the UN must act on the serious concerns raised by the UN
Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing in respect of the ongoing and
massive violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. In this respect, we
welcome the UN Secretary-General's appointment of Anna Kajumulo
Tibaijuka, the Executive Director of UN Habitat, as the Special Envoy
for Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, We strongly urge the UN to
ensure there is no delay in either her visit to Zimbabwe or the
publication of her findings. Furthermore, in light of the scale of
the humanitarian crisis and the fact that forced evictions continue,
the UN must call for an end to these violations and for humanitarian
assistance to be provided to all those affected.

We urge all member states of the AU and UN to ensure that the
relevant bodies of the two organizations:

Take immediate and effective action-consistent with their mandates-to
ensure an end to the mass forced evictions and destruction of
livelihoods in Zimbabwe, including by publicly condemning these
violations.

Call for the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure that all those who are
currently homeless as a result of the mass forced evictions have
immediate access to emergency relief.

Call for the Government of Zimbabwe to respect the right to an
effective remedy for all victims including access to justice, and
appropriate reparations which can involve restitution,
rehabilitation, compensation, satisfaction and guarantees of
nonrepetition.