Zimbabwe judged 'borderline' case for intervention
Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe may require preventive international action
Also In The News
|
An 18-year-old man convicted of the murder of Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones will serve a minimum of 22 years in jail. |  |
Wednesday, 17, Dec 2008 06:36
Zimbabwe is "on the cusp" of justifying international intervention, the head of the International Crisis Group (ICG) has said.
Gareth Evans, a former Australian foreign minister who co-chaired a commission on the concept of a 'responsibility to protect' (R2P) in 2001, cited Zimbabwe as a classic example of a country justifying preventive action in an address to a London thinktank yesterday.
"It's right on the cusp of being described as an R2P case – there is the potential for it to deteriorate into widespread atrocity crimes," he warned.
Mr Evans said a combination of factors makes this the case, including its history of instability and the Gukurahundi persecution of the Matabele tribe.
The situation on the ground is also worrying. Mr Evans said the potential is clear for "tensions to explode" and added the Zimbabwe government's coping mechanisms "are weak and intrinsically unlikely to be able to cope".
He also cited president Robert Mugabe's tradition of unwillingness to accept external pressure as a further cause for concern.
"When you put all those forces together, you've got obvious reasons for concern," he warned.
Mr Evans described to the Institute for Public Policy Research his concept of R2P as embracing legal and constitutional, economic, social, political and diplomatic means in addition to military action.
He said Zimbabwe was one of a number of countries where international intervention along R2P lines was justified. Others included Kenya, Sudan, Somalia and Burma.
The international community committed itself to something akin to the concept of R2P at a world summit in 2005, Mr Evans said, but admitted many countries were now showing signs of regretting this commitment.
"Since 2005 we have seen something of a retreat – an element of buyer's remorse, especially from countries in the global south," he continued, before adding: "I'm reasonably confident the line will hold."
The UN general assembly is expected to hold a major debate on terms of reference for international intervention by March next year.