Zimbabwe must ratify Rome Statute to comply with human rights

The MDC-T senior member Job Sikhala has urged Zimbabwean government to ratify the Rome Statute in order to comply with the international human rights detects.

Sikhala's remarks come in 5the work of revelations that most of African leaders who are dictators are bent of protecting each other on being tried for crimes of humanity by the International Criminal Court accusing the Western nations of being behind the move to vilify and oppress the Africans.

"Propaganda galore was poured in Africa and the world at large when one dictator was found to be prosecutable over war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity by the South African courts during the African Summit in Sandton mid this year," said Sikhala.

"Dictators in league and their subordinates took axe fighting over the court's decision that Omar Hassan Al-Bashir's was not supposed to be hold accountable for crimes he committed in the Darfur in Sudan. Finger pointing to the Western country were waived in the air proclaiming that it was their agenda to hold hostage African leaders over allegations of crimes against humanity."

He said African leaders especially the despotic ones bellowed as if they were the ones under charge. In their propaganda and purported regional and continental solidarity they claimed that the ICC was created to fix African leaders alone and the concept of universal jurisdiction over heinous crimes was some nonsense from the west.

"What rubbish and nonsense it is from the practitioners of crimes against humanity. International Tribunals to hold responsible those who commit them is as old and first exercised in Europe and other democracies," Sikhala said. "The idea to punish those committing such crimes started as long as the assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia. After the Second World War, the first international courts to be put in place to punish those who committed atrocities and crimes against humanity where set up in western countries you surrogates of dictatorship."

The firebrand politician said the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals were to deal with gas genocidal elements.

"These were committers of Jewish cleansing operation. Further to follow was the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. This application of remedy against those who had disregard the sanctity of human life was brought to Africa after the Rwanda genocide of 1994. The International Tribunal for Rwanda was constituted in 1994 after mass murder of innocent civilians on the basis of their tribes," he said.

"So to those who are guilty of crimes against our people, they must know that some of us are in full support of the role the ICC play to combat human rights abuses in our domestic political contestation."
 
"Zimbabwe must ratify the Rome Statute to comply with modern developments of human rights and the dignity of its people. Crimes against humanity must be fought with the force of intellectual power and political agitation," he added.