UN Shuns Mugabe's "Campaign Of Violence"

Security Council Says Intimidation Directed At Reform Party Makes A Fair Election "Impossible"

(CBS/ AP)  Outraged at the turmoil in Zimbabwe, the U.N. Security Council declared Monday that a fair presidential vote is impossible because of the "campaign of violence" waged by President Robert Mugabe's government.

The 15-nation council unanimously said it "condemns the campaign of violence against the political opposition ahead of the second round of presidential elections," which has resulted in the killing of scores of opposition activists and other Zimbabweans.

The non-binding presidential statement was the council's first formal action on Zimbabwe's political and humanitarian crises. Council members also agreed that the violence and restrictions on opposition activists imposed by the government of President Robert Mugabe "have made it impossible for a free and fair election to take place" on Friday.

"With the U.S. holding the Presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month, an emergency meeting was called to deal with the crisis in Zimbabwe," explained CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.

"The political crisis gets deeper by the day with increased violence and a famine emergency," Falk added, "and the U.N.'s ability to do something is on the line."

The 84-year-old Mugabe and U.N. Zimbabwean Ambassador Boniface Chidyausiku pledged to press ahead with Friday's vote, despite the international criticism and the lack of opposition.

Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, fled to the Dutch Embassy in Harare on Monday after pulling out of the presidential runoff. A police raid took away 60 people from his party's headquarters.

He said the election was rigged and his supporters face too much violence for him to keep running. He won the first round of voting on March 29, but lacked an outright majority against Mugabe.

"There has been too much violence, too much intimidation," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon told a brief news conference, and a runoff "would only deepen divisions within the country and produce a result that cannot be credible."

Ban said he was working with South Africa and the African Union to find a solution.

Falk said South Africa's U.N. Ambassador has "wanted to hold out," as does the country's president, Thabo Mbeki, for negotiations between the Zimbabwean government and the opposition.

Dumisani Kumalo, South Africa's ambassador, told reporters that it should be left up to the Zimbabweans to decide whether to delay Friday's voting or to revert to the earlier result and consider Tsvangirai the interim president.

Most of the council's negotiations were conducted privately. Members met openly for less than a half-hour to get an update on what is happening in Zimbabwe from U.N. Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe.

He said ample evidence shows Mugabe's government is waging a "widespread campaign of retaliation and threat" and spreading "fear, hostility and attacks" against its opponents.

Mugabe's government is no longer capable of holding a legitimate election, Pascoe told the council, and Mugabe's plan to push ahead with a runoff Friday "would only increase divisions and produce discredited results."

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, this month's council president, read aloud the council's statement on Zimbabwe. Though non-binding, it serves as a warning to Mugabe that he runs the risk of incurring a more serious, binding council resolution if he does proceed with the election.

Already, tens of thousands of Zimbabweans have been uprooted from their homes and 85 people have died in election violence, human rights groups say. Tsvangirai has repeatedly been detained by police and contended with warnings of a state-sponsored assassination plot. His top deputy was arrested on treason charges that carry the death penalty.

The U.S., Britain, France and other Western powers tried but failed to include language asserting that Tsvangirai should be considered the legitimate president, until another fair election can be held.

They faced opposition mainly from South Africa and China, Zimbabwe's biggest trading partners, and from Russia, which had previously opposed discussions on Zimbabwe. The all-day discussions on the various drafts extended into the evening.

Khalilzad, speaking for the U.S., also accused the Mugabe's government of "criminally" blocking humanitarian aid, echoing the condemnatory statements of U.S. and British leaders Monday.

"The government cannot be legitimate," Khalilzad told reporters. "The result of the (Mugabe) government policies is the economy is in shambles; millions need help to survive; and now the government is criminally, in my view, is impeding assistance to those who are in need."

[downsteamjim]

dragonwagon5: Which candidate for U.S. President won his first election by getting rid of the opposition rather than having a vote? Clue; It wasn''t McCain.

[krenz4]

tom Gwynn: So you are saying that because African nations (blacks) stand by and watch a brutal regime murder and lay waste to a country, this proves Watson''s theory of the inferior intellect of those blacks? So why does this not apply to Anglo (white) countries that have done the same since time immemorial? What are YOU implying? If you are going to place your faith and base your beliefs about a race of people, gather ALL the facts.

[louiville2]

brianbwb- is that you milesbrown, another typical reverse racist statment. They (Mugabe and his cronies) have had thirty years to get their act together. Germany, Italy and Japan were beaten to a bloody pulp and it took them less then twenty years to get their act together. Mugabe had the keys tossed to him with bearly a struggle and still nothing.

[brianbwb-2009]

Mugabe is no angel, no national leader is, or even can be.

Establishing rule of law requires an authoritarian (some might even say brutal) hand, to control any forges that might take a nation in the opposite direction from the purpose of it''s revolution.

Zimbabwe is a newly independent nation, having just recently thrown out the former colonials, who exploited the riches of the land, while the indigenous people were not allowed to share in the profit. It will take time to re-organize as a country, and they should be allowed to do so without outside interference.

It is well known that Mugabe''s opposition receives assistance from the former colonists and their sympathizers, so it is understandable that Mugabe would not want to see the newly won liberation wasted, as the former colonials regain control through proxies.

At any rate, Zimbabwe''s problems are their own, and we should not interfere, especially to aid "re colonials".

[harpoot]

Not a UN "shun". Mugabe is quaking in his boots. LMAO. UN diplomats really earned their keep today coming up with a "shun".

[dobbershome]

Violence in Africa? No way

[ubrew12]

tom_gwynn said: "I desperately want Dr. Watson to be wrong [about black intelligence], to be able to dismiss his comments as merely ill-informed and racist. "

Dr. Watson was, as any good geneticist, talking about averages. Have you ever MET anyone who was average? Did you just discover a tool to help you deal with the next black you meet on the street?

If you don''t understand this, you just revealed yourself as below average. And, as Comedian George Carlin once observed: ''Think of how stupid the average person is, and [then] realize half of them are stupider than that.''

We can help Zimbabwe by supporting Mugabe''s opposition. Or, we can paint them ALL with possessing Mugabe''s ''ape-brain''. Either way, Tsvangirai probably has twice your brains, and definitely four times your courage.

[tom_gwynn]

James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA, was roundly shamed and criticized for his comments at a lecture, wherein he said that he was:

"Inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours %u2013 whereas all the testing says not really".

I desperately want Dr. Watson to be wrong, to be able to dismiss his comments as merely ill-informed and racist. But every day that Zimbabwe decends into lawlessness and despair while the neighbors who should be supporting it instead enable Mugabe''s criminal regime make Dr. Watson''s comments look less racist and more like a reasoned scientific analysis.

[downsteamjim]

U.N. condems Mugabe. Once again the U.N. acts decisively. The world waits for Mugabe''s response which he will give when as soon as he quits laughing.