Staff Writer
The Election Resource Centre (ERC) and the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) are calling for the immediate release of their staff and volunteers and ensure that they are awarded their full rights as prescribed by the law.
This followed the armed police raid of Data centres and arbitrary arrest and safety of staff members who were gathering electoral information by law enforcement agents on Wednesday.
The ERC and ZESN jointly set up two data centres for observation of the Harmonised Elections, one at Holiday Inn and another one in the Grange in Harare.
“We express concern over the raiding of the ERC and ZESN Data centres and the arbitrary arrest and safety of staff members who were gathering electoral information by law enforcement agents last night.
“Moreover, the safety of the broader ERC and ZESN family, their members, observers, volunteers and partners is compromised. At this point, ERC and ZESN’s ability to promote transparency and accountability of the election has been severely undermined,” the election watchdogs said in a statement.
“Whilst sources reveal that the arrested staff are being held at Harare Central, lawyers have been denied contact with them.”
It is through the data centres that information on polling day processes, updates and critical incidents are recorded. From the information gathered throughout the Electoral cycle, ERC and ZESN will be in a position to appraise the credibility of elections as provided for in Section 40 G of the Electoral Act, SADC Principles and Guidelines on Conducting Democratic Elections, Article 22 of ACDEG as well as international fundamental obligations.
The ERC and ZESN are a signatory of the Declaration of Global Principles for Election Observation and Monitoring by citizen organisations which sets standards for the conduct for observers and underscores the importance of independent, professional and credible election observation.
The rights of citizen election observers are recognised by the UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights defenders who explicitly urge Member States to “take all necessary steps to establish conditions that allow national and international election observers to effectively do their work, and to protect them from any violence, threats, retaliation, adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of their legitimate exercise of their rights and freedoms.”
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