| ABOUT 350 women activists from a
pro-democracy group, several of them with babies on their backs, were in custody
yesterday after being arrested by Zimbabwean riot police for holding an
“unlawful” meeting.
Most of them were arrested on Thursday in a Young Women’s Christian
Association hall in the Harare township of Kambuzuma as they gathered to plan
for nationwide demonstrations today to demand a new democratic constitution.
Police have banned the planned demonstration by the National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA), an alliance of church, civic and labour organisations, under the
terms of draconian security laws passed in January.
Also arrested were a smaller number of NCA workers who were distributing
leaflets in the city centre yesterday, Lovemore Madhuku, the NCA chairman, said.
Three NCA officials were also detained when they went to visit the arrested
women, who are being held in nine police stations in Harare townships.
“This is a police state,” Mr Madhuku said. “There are pregnant women in the
cells, women who brought children with them and women who left their children at
home.”
A police spokesman denied that there were any children with the women.
However, the Independent Daily News published a photograph of two
toddlers in a police yard.
Lawyers are seeking a court ruling to secure the release of the women. “What
police intend to do is to keep them until after the demonstration,” Mr Madhuku
said.
The latest police action is seen as evidence of the Government’s rapid
decline into dictatorship in less than a month since President Mugabe was
declared the winner of presidential elections that most of the world has
declared illegitimate.
“They think we will continue to be soft. That’s gone, that’s finished,” Mr
Mugabe said at the weekend.
The women were arrested under the Public Order and Security Act which the
Government used as a near- blanket ban on the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change’s political meetings during the election campaign.
Police have also used the law to ban today’s scheduled demonstration. “I
think there will be trouble,” Mr Madhuku said. “But we will not obey unlawful
orders, including unlawful orders by the President.” |
Zimbabwe militia accused of abuse
April 5, 2002 Posted: 11:45 AM EST (1645 GMT)
LONDON, England (Reuters) - State-sponsored militia in Zimbabwe are
assaulting and raping supporters of the country's opposition in reprisal attacks
following last month's disputed presidential ballot, Amnesty International said
on Friday.
The human rights group said it was concerned about mounting reports of rape
and sexual torture by the militias, continuing a pattern seen in the run-up to
elections won by President Robert Mugabe but rejected as rigged by Western
governments.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe human rights group said on Thursday as many as 50,000
people, mostly supporters of the defeated Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
had fled their homes fearing revenge attacks.
Amnesty said militia had used a published list of names and addresses of MDC
polling agents to attack and destroy the homes of opposition officials.
"The Zimbabwe government has an absolute obligation...to protect all its
citizens from human rights violations," Amnesty said in a statement.
"Instead, the government's condoning of militia violence serves a political
purpose: destroying an opposition party and taking revenge on Zimbabweans who
may still support the MDC."
Amnesty said dozens of people were being held in some 50 illegal detention
centres around the country and cited a report that around 1,000 women were being
held in camps.
Youth militia stationed outside food distribution centres were assaulting
those thought to be MDC supporters and preventing them from buying food, despite
a rising risk of famine in the country, Amnesty said.
Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
MSNBC
Zimbabwean militias attack opposition -
Amnesty
LONDON, April 5 — State-sponsored militia in Zimbabwe are
assaulting and
raping supporters of the country's opposition in reprisal
attacks following
last month's disputed presidential ballot, Amnesty
International said on
Friday.
The human rights group said it
was concerned about mounting reports
of rape and sexual torture by the
militias, continuing a pattern seen in the
run-up to elections won by
President Robert Mugabe but rejected as rigged by
Western
governments.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe human rights group said on
Thursday as many as
50,000 people, mostly supporters of the defeated Movement
for Democratic
Change (MDC), had fled their homes fearing revenge
attacks.
Amnesty said militia had used a published list of names and
addresses
of MDC polling agents to attack and destroy the homes of
opposition
officials.
''The Zimbabwe government has an absolute
obligation...to protect all
its citizens from human rights violations,''
Amnesty said in a statement.
''Instead, the government's condoning of
militia violence serves a
political purpose: destroying an opposition party
and taking revenge on
Zimbabweans who may still support the MDC.''
Amnesty said dozens of people were being held in some 50 illegal
detention
centres around the country and cited a report that around 1,000
women were
being held in camps.
Youth militia stationed outside food distribution
centres were
assaulting those thought to be MDC supporters and preventing
them from
buying food, despite a rising risk of famine in the country,
Amnesty said.
Business Day
Mugabe's cronies upset by travel
ban
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Duncan Guy
Smart sanctions by the United States on select Zimbabweans have
started a
wave of whinging in reports published in the country's only
independent and
privately owned Sunday newspaper, the Zimbabwe
Standard.
While the United States Embassy in Harare will not divulge
names of people
on its list, the paper has in the last month reported that a
Member of
Parliament and the wife of the army commander who has game
hunting
investments have found themselves to be targeted.
Also written
about - though through hearsay - is an unnamed businessman
linked to arms
sales.
Jocelyn Chiwenga, wife of Zimbabwe National Army
commander
Lieutenant-General Constantine Chiwenga, was to have travelled to
Las Vegas
to attend an international hunting show.
"She said she
planned to use the show to promote trophy hunting on her
Kazungula hunting
concession where she has a lodge," the paper reported.
"The Standard is
informed that the trophy hunts are being co-ordinated by
the Department of
National Parks which intends to recruit war veterans as
professional hunters
to assist prospective international hunters."
It said Chiwenga refused to
discuss her failed visa application but
confirmed she had bought air tickets
to travel to the US to attend the
Safari International Convention in Las
Vegas.
The unnamed businessman the Standard wrote about reportedly called
Assistant
Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner and was
"said to
have been taken aback when Kansteiner is said to have stopped short
of
calling him an unashamed liar".
"Kansteiner one-by-one went through
a number of deals that the businessman
was involved in with or on behalf of
Zanu PF and the government, including
arms sales.
"Said one top
source: "He (named businessman) was really taken apart. He was
shocked
because he never expected Kansteiner to have that information about
him. He
was trying to lobby to get himself off the list, but he did not
realise how
serious and thorough the Americans have been about this whole
thing. I have
not myself seen the list of individuals to be targeted, but I
understand it
is quite frightening." "
The Member of Parliament, Philip Chiyangwa, from
Chinyoyi which has been a
hot spot of farm invasions and election violence,
was quoted as saying: "Why
are they interested in Chiyangwa? I do not need
anybody to tell me which
country I should or should not visit. Is America our
God? To hell with them.
All Zanu PF members will take appropriate action
against this move as we
have not committed any crime. We will respond very
soon. We are going to
take steps to match their actions, steps against the
American, British and
Swiss nationals working here. We are busy consulting
others so we can chart
the way forward," he told The Standard.
"My
journeys are confined to countries in Africa. I have banned myself from
other
countries in the past five years. They will never see me landing on
their
soil."
The Times
Mediators see Harare politicians
From Jan Raath in
Harare
THE first moves toward a possible settlement of Zimbabwe’s
political crisis
began yesterday when Nigerian and South African mediators
held preliminary,
separate consultations with the ruling Zanu (PF) party and
the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
State radio said
Adebayo Adedeji, a Nigerian diplomat, and Kgalema
Motlanthe,
secretary-general of South Africa’s ruling African National
Congress,
discussed a venue and agenda for substantive talks.
It said that a full
meeting with both parties present could begin only when
Patrick Chinamasa,
the Justice Minister, returned from a business trip
to
Switzerland.
The bulletin gave no more details, other than naming
the suprisingly junior
ruling party delegation that met the mediators. It
said that it was led by
the Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, who holds
the post of deputy
secretary in President Mugabe’s politburo. He was
accompanied by two former
Cabinet ministers, one dismissed for corruption in
1989 and the other
dropped for being ineffective.
The MDC was led by
Welshman Ncube, its secretary-general. He is also a
leading advocate and
Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of
Zimbabwe.
Daily News
Berserk soldiers beat up Gweru residents again
4/5/02
8:53:40 AM (GMT +2)
From Our Correspondent in Gweru
SCORES of
Gweru residents were injured on Tuesday night after they
were
indiscriminately beaten up at several nightclubs and council-owned
beerhalls
by soldiers in the city.
The residents said the
latest raids were meant to cow them into boycotting
the countrywide mass
demonstrations organised by the National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA),
tomorrow.
The NCA, a coalition of several civic groups, tomorrow plans to
launch its
series of mass demonstrations to pressure the government to
urgently review
the constitution, which it has described as grossly
defective.
Several revellers at the council-owned beerhalls in Mkoba and
Senga suburbs,
fled when the soldiers moved into the high-density
suburbs.
The soldiers patrolled the city and high-density suburbs using
two armoured
vehicles. Timothy Mukahlera, the owner of one of the nightclubs,
described
the raid as “barbaric” and called on the government to stop the
continued
harassment of urban dwellers.
During the run-up to last
month’s presidential poll, the soldiers conducted
similar raids at nightclubs
owned by members of the MDC.
Angry revellers at Chitukuko Hotel, owned by
prominent Gweru businessman,
Patrick Kombayi retaliated, overpowered and
disarmed one of the soldiers.
The firearm, an AK 47 assault rifle and its
fully-loaded magazine, were
later handed over to the police, but the soldier
in question has not been
formally charged.
Daily News
Chinamasa recalled from Geneva to lead negotiations with
MDC
4/5/02 8:49:09 AM (GMT +2)
Chief Reporter
PATRICK
Chinamasa, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
and Zanu
PF’s secretary for legal affairs, has been recalled from a
government
business trip in Geneva, Switzerland, to lead his party’s
negotiations with
the opposition MDC.
Contacted from Geneva yesterday, Chinamasa
said he would be home tomorrow to
head the Zanu PF delegation comprising
among others, Professor Jonathan
Moyo, the Minister of State for Information
and Publicity in the President’s
Office, Witness Mangwende, a former Minister
of State responsible for War
Veterans’ Affairs, and Frederick Shava, a Zanu
PF administrator.
Chinamasa said: “I have been recalled home to lead the
delegation in the
talks. I have been attending to government
business here
in Switzerland and that has been terminated. I will get the
full details when
I arrive home.”
Learnmore Jongwe, the MDC’s spokesperson, yesterday said: “I
understand that
there have been some consultations between the facilitators
on both sides,
but the official talks have not yet begun. We are waiting to
hear from the
facilitators as to when the talks will begin
officially.”
Jongwe said the MDC team is led by Professor Welshman Ncube,
the party’s
secretary-general. Other members of the MDC team include Gift
Chimanikire,
the party’s deputy secretary-general, Yvonne Mahlunge, a member
of the MDC
national executive, and Professor Elphas Mukonoweshuro, adviser to
Morgan
Tsvangirai, the MDC president.
Mukonoweshuro is a lecturer in
the Department of Politics and Administrative
Studies at the University of
Zimbabwe.
Ankomah's Solidarity Based On Falsehood And Violence
Zimbabwe Independent
(Harare)
OPINION
April 5, 2002
Posted to the web April 5,
2002
Mthokozisi Mathuthu,
THE coming of Baffour Ankomah to
Harare last week and the subsequent
discussions he held really help to
contextualise the Zimbabwean problem.
Like the Sadc leaders and many
other so-called Pan-Africanists who endorsed
President Mugabe's re-election
as "legitimate", " free and fair" Ankomah
demonstrated a lack of
understanding of what is happening through his
misplaced solidarity messages
and denunciations of fellow journalists.
He said the people's
condemnation of Mugabe's re-election was much ado about
nothing because
elections were rigged in South Africa in 1994, the US,
Nigeria and elsewhere.
He also said he didn't see anything wrong with the
media laws in Zimbabwe
because there are worse laws in Britain.
Moreover he said Zimbabweans
need not cry loud because more people died in
South Africa during the 1994
pre-election period.
Needless to say, this logic was bought by none other
than the
Ankomah-think-alikes who include Tafataona Mahoso, Vimbai Chivaura,
Ibbo
Mandaza, and Rino Zhuwarara who are conspicuous beneficiaries of
Mugabe's
patronage politics.
It is not news to hear these people
hailing Mugabe's fraud because they are
part of the minority which is scared
of a new dispensation under which
competence, qualifications, credibility and
business ethics will be upheld.
Like Ankomah, their reasoning seems to be
that if thousands of people died
in South Africa then we shouldn't mourn the
less than 200 killed by Mugabe's
shock troops in the farmlands and elsewhere
because it was a revolution.
This logic is essentially built on falsehood
and bears within it elements of
its own decay. It ignores the fact that in
Zimbabwe we have a
supposedly-democratic leader, an anti-apartheid zealot who
deliberately let
loose his dogs of war to secure his
re-election.
While in South Africa violence was often spontaneous
involving various
people, in Zimbabwe it is systematic occurring according to
state plans and
in such a way that election observers would not see
it.
If the situation in Zimbabwe is normal why did Mugabe like Ian Smith
and
John Vorster introduce restrictive laws to block change? Why did he have
to
remove judges like Anthony Gubbay and reintroduce laws previously
rejected
by parliament?
How does Mugabe's fear of a future under which
he will be in exile in Libya
or on trial for killing people since 1982 become
a revolution?
People like Ankomah and his local mandarin friends seem to
be forcing us to
believe that the killing of farmers, headmen and others is
not murder per se
because it is part of a revolution.
According to
them, Mugabe has a licence to allow his thugs to do anything
because all
these will be classified as revolutionary acts. We are supposed
to support
Mugabe's revision of the language of land redistribution.
The idea is to
force us to only condemn Smith's barbarities while
white-washing Mugabe's own
murderous projects.
This is a clear abuse of African memory. Ankomah,
Mahoso, Chavaura,
Zhuwarara and Mandaza are helping Mugabe to personalise our
collective
memory and the African crisis by legitimising self- renewal and
bloody
projects such as the so-called Third Chimurenga.
The crisis in
Zimbabwe is not about land. It is simply about misrule,
gullibility,
patronage and thuggery.
That we find ourselves today held to ransom by an
old man who stole an
election explains how we have allowed a certain culture
of fear, deception,
gullibility and patronage to develop in the country since
1980.
The trouble with certain "scholars" in this country is that they
see Mugabe
as a hero or master first and president last. These are the
scholars whom
Mugabe will grant space on national television and papers to
confuse
national values with his survival and personal projects.
How
does one explain that these scholars found in the Media Ethics
Committee,
Constitutional Commision and National Ethos programme have never
bothered to
show us how bad Mugabe is?
Is it a coincidence that they bless everything
which Mugabe champions?
Ankomah and his friends think that local journalists
are not as patriotic as
their British counterparts. What makes them think
that criticising Mugabe is
being unpatriotic or is "bashing" and
"demonisation"?
It is difficult for Zimbabwean journalists not to
criticise Mugabe every day
because he is an authoritarian who has put himself
at the centre of every
facet of life in Zimbabwe surrounding himself with
imbeciles and
criminals-in-waiting who cannot disagree with him.
He is
a national problem at the centre of the crisis. This is what Ankomah
should
have been told. He needs to be taken seriously and not hated by all
of us
here.
|
