Mr. Mugabe steals another term by intimidation and violence
(From The Japan Times July 4 issue)

脅迫と暴行で再選、ムガベ大統領

Mr. Robert Mugabe has stolen another term as president of Zimbabwe. He "won" a runoff ballot at the end of June after his goons ran off opposition leader Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai. Unopposed, Mr. Mugabe won a sixth term and was sworn in as president.

This farce must not be recognized. The election shoud be denounced for the fraud that it is. Zimbabwe's neighbors must end their business-as-usual approach and halt the tragedy.

The first-round election results apparently led Mr. Tsvangirai and his supporters to believe that the runoff might be fair. Mr. Mugabe dashed those hopes when he unleashed his security forces to intimidate and kill the opposition. Human rights groups estimate that more than 80 people were killed and 200,000 forced from their homes during the campaign. Key figures in the opposition have been harassed and arrested. Days before the runoff, Mr. Tsvangirai was forced to take refuge in the Dutch Embassy.

The result was a farce. According to the election commission, Mr. Mugabe won 85.51 percent of the vote, ostensibly a doubling of his tally in March. Electoral observers from the West and — more significantly — other African nations condemned the exercise. The Southern Africa Development Community, a group of Zimbabwe's neighbors, sent an observer mission that concluded that "the elections did not represent the will of the people of Zimbabwe."

Change will come only from sustained pressure — not only from the West, which has condemned Mr. Mugabe for the tyrant that he is, but more importantly from Zimbabwe's neighbors. Those countries are beginning to feel the weight of Mr. Mugabe's failures, as they take in refugees and see their stature diminished by their reluctance to acknowledge the horrors of Mr. Mugabe's rule. If they cut him and his associates off, then the president's party might desert him.

But news from the African Union summit held June 30 was not promising. While some leaders were prepared to condemn him at home, Mr. Mugabe heard no public criticism from the group. The summit declaration only "encouraged" Mr. Mugabe to have dialogue with Mr. Tsvangirai for the creation of a national-unity government. It failed to condemn the election or its winner.

The reluctance to stand up for its principles — even after AU observers conceded that the vote did not meet the group's standards — discredits the AU. Mr. Mugabe might have been a hero at one time, but he is now just another dictator. African nations should acknowledge as much and demand better. Mr. Mugabe must go.

ロバート･ムガベ氏がジンバブエ大統領に再選した。彼の取り巻きが野党モーガン・ツァンギライ候補を妨害した末、6月末の決選投票で「勝利」、6期目として就任した。こんな茶番は許されない。アフリカ諸国は旧態依然の対応をやめ、悲劇を食い止めるべきだ。

ツァンギライ候補の第1回投票勝利で高まった公正な決選投票への期待は、ムガベ氏が放った治安部隊による野党支持者脅迫・殺害で打ち砕かれた。人権団体によると死者80人、避難民は20万人を超えた。

ジンバブエの改革には海外からの継続的圧力しかない。欧米はムガベ氏を独裁者と非難したが、より重要なのはジンバブエ近隣国の対応だ。

アフリカ連合（AU）首脳会議の決議では選挙の正当性への是非やムガベ氏への直接非難は避けられ、与野党の対話が呼びかけられた。AUはその基準に及ばない選挙を非難しないことで信用を失う。英雄だったムガベ氏が今は独裁者だ。彼は辞めるべきだ。