Opposition seeks UN help to end 'crisis' in Zimbabwe

ANKARA (AA) – A top opposition official in Zimbabwe has called for UN intervention to end what he described as a “worsening political, economic, and humanitarian crisis” in the country, local media reported on Thursday.

Job Sikhala, deputy chief of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC), warned that the current conditions are a threat to the stability of Zimbabwe and the region, The Zimbabwe Mail reported.

“The UN must be able to exercise its powers … and pass a resolution that the crisis in Zimbabwe cannot be allowed to escalate … because it is a threat to stability in our country that can spill over into the SADC [Southern African Development Community] region,” he said at a news conference in the capital Harare.

Sikhala’s remarks came after Zimbabwean authorities rearrested journalist Hopewell Chin’ono on charges that include contempt of court and obstructing the course of justice, according to the report.

Citizens, activists, and diplomats have raised concerns that the journalist is being targeted for bringing to light a multimillion corruption case involving President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s family.

“We call upon the UN in terms of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, specifically Article 43, that allows the UN Security Council to pass a resolution concerning those states with a humanitarian crisis,” Sikhala said.

“Ours is a humanitarian crisis. It involves international crimes such as abductions, torture, [and] crimes against humanity,” he said.

Earlier in August, Zimbabwe’s opposition called on the SADC to take action over the “governance and legitimacy crisis” in the country.

In a statement at the time, the MDC Alliance accused the government of using the COVID-19 pandemic as a cover to intensify a “crackdown on human rights defenders, including journalists, lawyers, labor unions, civil society, the church, and the opposition.”

It said Zimbabwean authorities were targeting people “for exercising their constitutional rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.”