Civil rights watchdog AfriForum is taking positive steps by instructing the international criminal law expert Prof Hennie Strydom to write an opinion on steps they can take to charge Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s President, with crime against humanity in the International Criminal Court.
This follows Mugabe’s announcement that Zimbabweans who had killed white farmers during the country’s land reform process would remain free from prosecution.
Ernst Roets, Deputy CEO of AfriForum, says his movement is of the opinion that Pres. Mugabe’s actions constitute a crime against humanity. “The organisation is currently considering various options – among others to charge Pres. Mugabe in the International Criminal Court, the United Nations’ Security Council as well as the African Union.”
Meanwhile moves are also afoot to get Mugabe’s wife, Grace (pictured), arrested for assault. The South African Police Service say they knew the whereabouts of Zimbabwe’s first lady Grace Mugabe, who faces accusations of assault, but declined to say if she had fled the country.
AfriForum has appealed to the SAP to issue a warrant for her arrest. Earlier reports suggested Mugabe handed herself over to police but when she was supposed to appear in court she did not show up.
According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, Mugabe should not be allowed to undermine the South African justice system in the same manner she and her husband, Robert Mugabe, does the Zimbabwean justice system.
The 52-year-old wife of President Robert Mugabe is accused of beating model Gabriella Engels, 20, on Sunday evening at the Johannesburg hotel where her two sons were staying.
Engels said she suffered deep cuts to her forehead and the back of her head, and on Monday she registered a case with the police alleging assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
The alleged attack threatened to spark a diplomatic tiff between the two neighbouring countries. Grace Mugabe allegedly arrived at the Capital 20 West Hotel with bodyguards and accused Engels of partying with her sons Robert and Chatunga, who are both in their 20s and live in Johannesburg.
Pictures on social media show Engels bleeding from her head after the alleged assault.
