Farmers apply for SADC contempt order against Zimbabwe govt
APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) A group of Zimbabwean commercial farmers has applied to the Namibia-based SADC Tribunal for a declaration that Zimbabwe was in contempt of court for ignoring the tribunal’s ruling in a legal challenge against Harare mounted by the country’s white farmers unceremoniously evicted from their farms to make way for landless blacks, APA learnt here Wednesday.
The farmers are also seeking an order directing the annual summit of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) to take action on Zimbabwe’s failure to uphold the tribunal’s orders.
The SADC court ruled in favour of 78 white Zimbabwean farmers who had challenged the seizure of their farms under Harare’s land reform programme which started in 2000.
The court concurred with the farmers’ assertion that the land reforms violated the treaty that led to the formation of SADC which commits members States to enact laws that do not discriminate citizens on the basis of race,
colour, gender or religion.
The Harare regime has, however, refused to abide by the tribunal’s ruling, insisting that the regional court was not yet fully constituted since the protocol formalising its establishment has not been ratified by two-thirds
of SADC member States.
The farmers and the tribunal, however, insisted that Zimbabwe was bound by the court’s ruling since the country was a signatory to the SADC Treaty which binds all member States to decisions of the organisation’s institutions.
Under the SADC Treaty, the tribunal cannot enforce its orders against a member State. Only the summit of heads of state and government can enforce the regional court’s orders in the event of non-compliance.
The tribunal found Zimbabwe in contempt of court in July 2008 and referred its findings to the 2009 SADC summit “for appropriate action” but the issue was never discussed at last year’s meeting in South Africa.
The 2010 SADC summit will be held in the Democratic Republic of Congo in August or September.
JN/nm/APA
2010-04-07