Civil society organisations in five SADC countries delivered an IANSA-led petition to their government leaders calling for a moratorium on arms transfers to Zimbabwe. The petition was handed over to SADC leaders during the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence. Meanwhile Human Rights Watch issued a report that explicitly links guns to the increase in violence against opposition supporters in Zimbabwe.

‘Bullets for Each of You’ documents how guns supplied to militia are facilitating abductions, beatings and severe intimidation. It says that the Zimbabwean armed forces have supplied firearms to war veterans and Zanu-PF supporters to intimidate voters ahead of the run-off election on 27 June.

The petition calls for SADC governments to support a moratorium on all military and security equipment transfers until the rule of law is established. Over 100,000 people signed the petition worldwide.

The call for the moratorium follows an attempt by China to deliver 77 tonnes of small arms, including one million rounds of ammunition, to Zimbabwe via South Africa in April. Civil society, human rights lawyers and trade unionists prevented further attempted transfers through Mozambique, Namibia and Angola. It is believed that the ship is en-route back to China, but a serious risk of further arms shipments reaching Zimbabwe remains.

"Guns are now playing a central role in the violence conducted against opposition supporters," said Carolyn Norris, at Human Rights Watch. "They are being used to intimidate and strike fear into people - in one case an entire village community was each presented with a single bullet and told that there was enough to kill all of them if they voted for the opposition in the presidential runoff election."

Click here to read more about the petition handover events in SADC countries.