HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — African leaders are gathering in Zimbabwe on Saturday for a planned summit of the Southern African Development Community, a 16-nation community that has addressed the growing issue of mpox outbreaks across the continent, but is less likely to alleviate international concerns about the host’s human rights record.
This week, the World Health Organization declared the MPOX outbreaks in Africa a global health emergency. The SADC region includes Congo, where more than 90% of mpox cases occur. Mpox has been present in Central and West Africa for many years, but this year it has been found in more than a dozen African countries, including countries where it had never been reported before.
Scientists have also identified a new form of mpox in Congo that could be more contagious. The WHO raised concerns that it could cross international borders, and Sweden has reported its first case of the new variant.
The Democratic Alliance of South Africa, which is part of the coalition government, has called on South African delegates at the SADC summit to raise the issue of mpox. South Africa and other southern African countries have reported only a few cases, but the Democratic Alliance said the large outbreak in Congo “shows how quickly the situation can change.”
As heads of state and their representatives began arriving for the summit in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, criticism emerged from United Nations human rights figures and other groups over an alleged political repression by the Zimbabwean government, where more than 160 activists and opposition figures have been arrested in recent months.
On Thursday, the UN human rights office released a statement on behalf of several experts calling for the release of dozens of activists and opposition figures who had been detained.
The statement said three activists were taken off a plane and arrested by Zimbabwean security forces Late last month, “they were reportedly victims of enforced disappearance, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including waterboarding.”
According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, more than 160 activists have recently been arrested. Many, including a mother and her 1-year-old baby, have been in pre-trial detention for weeks.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to take over the rotational leadership of SADC, but there has been little diplomatic pressure on him. the 81 year old governance of neighbouring SADC, despite human rights groups claiming he has overseen a crackdown before and since last year’s presidential election, in which he was re-elected for a second term.
Ahead of Saturday’s summit, Zimbabwe has paved damaged, potholed roads, planted palm trees along highways and even promised uninterrupted electricity and water supplies for delegates, even though Zimbabweans are often hit by power outages and water cuts. Analysts doubt that regional leaders will use the summit to warn Zimbabwe about its rights record.
“They avoid the hard issues,” says Antony Reeler, a Zimbabwean researcher and political analyst.
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