Elders shocked by attacks on Chigumba

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is part of 'The Elders' said they were "shocked" on the attacks, vilification & threats directed at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chair, Justice Priscilla Chigumba.

The Elders is an independent group of global leaders that work together for peace and human rights.

"Yes you can criticise the commission, she says, but is it unacceptable to vilify people," said Robinson.

#Zimbabwe former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, says attacks on Priscilla Chigumba, head of electoral officials are "not acceptable". @TheElders #ZimbabweDecides2018
Video credit @cyrusnhara_4787 pic.twitter.com/V4TR2uHWzp

— harumutasa/aljazeera (@harumutasa) July 21, 2018

In a press statement held in the capital, Mr Annan - who is also former United Nations secretary-general and a Nobel Peace Laureate - said making unreasonable demands, including inciting the population, had the potential to complicate the electoral process and yielding unforeseen outcomes.
"Politics is a tricky business, there are demands and there are demands. What is important is that we all play by the rules and we make reasonable demands; if we make demands which are unreasonable and which cannot be fulfilled, we are complicating the process," said Mr Annan.

"But we should be careful of what we say and what we demand because the main thing is not to incite. If you incite the population you never know what happens and this is the last thing that the nation and the people of Zimbabwe need. No incitement and I think they should stay within the code of conduct but reasonable demands they should be able to make," he said.