Crisis Group Condemns Comments by ZANU-PF Spokesman

An article in the government-owned Herald newspaper in Harare quoted Nathan Shamuyarira, Secretary for Information and Publicity for the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), accusing Crisis Group of supporting a military coup in Zimbabwe and of having “sponsored violence” in the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). These allegations are unfounded.

“My old foreign ministerial colleague Nathan Shamuyarira seems to have lost the plot”, said Gareth Evans, President of Crisis Group. “As bad as this government is, we have never called for its violent overthrow, and our reports and briefings on Zimbabwe make that perfectly clear”.

All Crisis Group publications are freely available online, including the most recent report on Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe's Continuing Self-Destruction, published on 6 June 2006.

Crisis Group is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation, with around 115 full-time staff members on five continents, working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict. Crisis Group’s approach is grounded in field research. Teams of political analysts are located within or close by countries at risk of outbreak, escalation or recurrence of violent conflict. Based on information and assessments from the field, Crisis Group produces regular analytical reports containing practical recommendations targeted at key international decision-takers.