Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Southern African leaders will hold talks tomorrow on the political impasse in Zimbabwe, amid calls by human-rights activists to press President Robert Mugabe’s party to end rights abuses.

The so-called security troika of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community will meet in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, Mozambique’s presidency said in an e-mailed statement today. Mugabe, along with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, will attend the talks, it said.

The meeting comes after Tsvangirai last month withdrew his Movement for Democratic Change party from an eight-month-old power-sharing government with Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front. The withdrawal followed disputes over government appointments made by Mugabe and alleged violence directed at MDC officials.

“Recent reports that ZANU-PF continues to arrest and harass human rights and civil society activists should act as a warning to the regional leaders that Zimbabwe may slide back into violence and chaos if they do not take decisive action,” Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in an e-mailed statement today.

On Nov. 2, Mordecai Mahlangu, a human-rights lawyer, was arrested by the authorities in the capital, Harare, for protesting the use of testimony extracted through torture in a trial, Gagnon said. Last month, two civil society leaders were arrested in Victoria Falls for calling for SADC to intervene to ensure a power-sharing agreement signed in February is fully implemented, she said.

Political Instability

Wayne Bvudzijena, Zimbabwe’s police spokesman, didn’t answer calls to his mobile and office phones today when Bloomberg News called him seeking comment.

The SADC brokered the accord that resulted in Mugabe and Tsvangirai forming a unity government. The agreement was aimed at ending a decade of political instability and economic decline that slashed exports and pushed inflation to a record.

“Regional leaders should set concrete benchmarks and consider targeted sanctions if any of Zimbabwe’s parties do not comply with the provisions of the power-sharing agreement,” Gagnon said.

The SADC security troika is made up of Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, Zambian President Rupiah Banda and Swaziland’sKing Mswati III. South African President Jacob Zuma, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila and former South African President Thabo Mbeki are also expected to attend tomorrow’s meeting, the Mozambican presidency said.

Intervention

Zimbabwe is on the agenda tomorrow after Tsvangirai asked Guebuza, who chairs the security troika, to intervene, Tomaz Salomao, the executive secretary of SADC, told reporters today in Maputo.

The regional grouping also reiterated its call for Western sanctions on Zimbabwean political leaders to be lifted. Accusations of human-rights abuses and vote rigging in past elections have led the European Union and U.S. to impose travel bans and asset freezes on Mugabe and his allies.

“Zimbabwe’s economy improved in the past nine months and we appeal for the lifting of sanctions so that the economy of that country will continue to grow,” Salomao said.

The political situations in Lesotho and Madagascar will also be reviewed by the security troika, Salomao added.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Katerere in Maputo via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 05:01 EST