XI. Response of International Actors SADC and the AU The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) remain crucial to resolving the political crisis in Zimbabwe and ending the violence. While some regional leaders, namely President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia, have been forthright in condemning the violence and criticizing the political situation in Zimbabwe, others such as President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa have refused to acknowledge the serious nature of the situation. For example, on a visit to Harare on May 9, Mbeki failed to condemn or call for an end to the violence even after he received a preliminary report on the violence from a group of South African former army generals he had appointed to investigate the situation.132 These markedly different positions have prevented the regional bodies from taking concerted and decisive action to intervene in the crisis. A regional summit organized by SADC leaders to address the situation in Zimbabwe on April 12 led to little concrete action.133 While SADC leaders rightly expressed concern about the delay in the release of presidential election results, they did little to address the government’s widespread violations of international human rights.134 The inaction of the regional bodies has emboldened the government of Zimbabwe to turn the institutions of state even more aggressively against Zimbabweans seeking democratic change. Decisive political action is needed by the AU and SADC with the help of the UN to press the government to end the violence and prevent a very bad situation from getting even worse. This means going beyond current regional diplomatic initiatives such as the SADC mediation process. Tererai Karimakwenda, “Mbeki’s Generals Investigating Violence,” SWRadio Africa, May 13, 2008, http://allafrica.com/stories/200805130957.html (accessed May, 28, 2008); “Mbeki sends generals to Zim,” News 24, May 12, 2008, http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_2321153,00.html (accessed May 28, 2008). 132 133 “Zimbabwe last chance for SADC to tackle crisis,” Human Rights Watch news release, April 10, 2008, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/10/zimbab18502.htm. 134 Earlier, the SADC electoral observer team released a statement expressing satisfaction with the election conditions on March 29 despite significant flaws in the electoral process which violated both the AU charter and SADC guidelines on the conduct of elections. AU observers released a similarly disappointing statement after the elections. “Bullets for Each of You” 60