ABC ONLINE
Wednesday, February 19, 2003. Posted: 13:40:18 (AEDT)
New
Zealand imposes visa entry for Zimbabwe nationals
Zimbabwe nationals who want
to visit New Zealand will need a visa, NZ
Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel
has said in a statement.
The visitors' visa waiver for Zimbabwe nationals
would be suspended for a
year from February 21.
She said the move
brought New Zealand into line with Canada, the United
States, Britain and
Ireland, which no longer provided visa-free entry for
Zimbabweans.
The
Minister also said that all Zimbabweans in New Zealand on temporary
permits
would from Friday be able to apply for a 12-month open work permit,
whether
or not they had a specific job offer.
Guardian Uk
Press & publishing
Telegraph journalist bowled out of
Zimbabwe
Ciar Byrne
Wednesday February 19, 2003
Robert Mugabe: introduced draconian media laws last year
A Daily
Telegraph cricket writer has been barred from entering Zimbabwe in
what
appears to be a retaliation against the English cricket team's decision
not
to play its World Cup match in Harare.
Simon Briggs, who was due to cover
today's match between Zimbabwe and India,
was stopped upon arrival at Harare
airport and told to return to
Johannesburg.
"I realised there was no
way I would enter Zimbabwe when an airport official
turned to me and said:
'If you do not get back on that plane, you will be
forced to get on it',"
Briggs writes in today's Telegraph.
His official accreditation pulled no
weight with Zimbabwean officials, who
had the backing of the country's
ministry of information.
Several senior officials at the International
Cricket Council, including the
chief executive, Malcolm Speed, were on the
same flight and passed through
immigration with no problems.
However,
neither they nor an official from the Zimbabwe Cricket Union were
able to
change the mind of immigration officers.
"After a short and thoroughly
unpleasant stay, I left Harare on the same
plane on which I had arrived,"
Briggs said.
The ICC's head of corporate affairs, Brendan McClements,
said: "This should
not have happened. We will be taking this up with the
Zimbabwean authorities
tonight.
"Under the agreement we have with the
government, journalists who are
properly accredited for the match must be
allowed into the country to cover
it."
The managing director of the
ZCU, Vince Hogg, said there must have been
something wrong with Briggs's
accreditation as other journalists accredited
to cover the match were allowed
into Zimbabwe.
The ban on Briggs follows an incident last week when a gun
was pulled on
another Telegraph sports journalist, Martin Johnson, as he was
on his way to
the ministry of information to extend his temporary
visa.
Johnson was told that if the English cricket team decided not to
play its
match against Zimbabwe scheduled for last Thursday British
journalists would
be refused entry to the country.
Robert Mugabe's
government introduced sweeping new press laws in Zimbabwe
last
year.
These ncluding a requirement for foreign journalists applying for a
visa to
fill out a lengthy application form and to pay a fee of £375,
although this
was supposed to be waived for ICC accredited
journalists.
The Guardian's Zimbabwe correspondent, Andrew Meldrum, was
arrested by the
Mugabe regime last year and threatened with expulsion, while
the Telegraph's
former correspondent, David Blair, was expelled in 2001 for
his coverage of
the regime.
Peta Thornycroft, the Daily Telegraph's
Zimbabwe correspondent, was one of
the first journalists to be charged under
the new legislation.
The regime found her and other journalist's
reporting "unacceptable".
The BBC has been banned from Zimbabwe since
2001 and now reports on
developments in the country almost exclusively from
neighbouring South
Africa.
Guardian UK
UK draining Zimbabwe of social workers
David
Batty
Wednesday February 19, 2003
Almost half of Zimbabwe's social
workers now work in the UK following a
dramatic rise in overseas recruitment
over the past decade, which threatens
to cripple the African country's
welfare system.
About 1,500 social workers have come to the UK from Zimbabwe
as a result of
the country's economic slump and poor working conditions,
according to
professional bodies.
Chistopher Chitireka, president of
Zimbabwe's National Association of Social
Workers (NASW), said: "Nearly half
of the total workforce - 1,500 out of
3,000 - now work in the UK."
Dr
Edwin Kaseke, president of the country's only school of social work,
in
Harare, said that the Department of Social Welfare had been worst hit by
the
exodus of staff.
"The department is the biggest single employer of
social workers in the
country. It should have 400 staff but now has fewer
than 50," he said.
"We found that 35% of the 260 Zimbabwean social
workers who graduated
between 1996 and 2001 now work in
Britain."
Overseas recruits accounted for nearly one-quarter of new
social workers in
Britain in 2001-02, according to the General Social Care
Council (GSCC), the
regulatory body for social care professionals.
The
GSCC's annual report on overseas recruitment shows that over the past
11
years the number of overseas social workers verified as eligible to
practice
in the UK has quadrupled, from 227 in 1990-91 to 1,175 in
2001-02.
The number of staff coming to the UK from Zimbabwe has shot up
from just one
in 1990-91 to 135 in 2001-02. Birmingham city council employs
47 Zimbabwean
social workers, while Suffolk county council and the London
borough of
Bexley each employ nine.
A NASW official, who wished to
remain anonymous, warned that staff shortages
had left Zimbabwe's welfare
system in "a desperate situation".
He said: "The remaining staff have
huge workloads and are unable to cope.
Only the most urgent cases are being
dealt with."
The source blamed the exodus of staff on Zimbabwe's economic
slump and poor
working conditions.
A spokesman for the Department of
Health said that the Commonwealth
secretariat would soon start developing a
code of conduct on overseas
recruitment of health and social services staff
for member states.
At least 30 councils in the south-east of England are
relying on overseas
social workers to staff their over-stretched child
protection teams,
according to a Guardian survey.
Shortages are most
acute in London where 25 boroughs reported employing
social workers from the
USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Albania, the
Czech Republic, Denmark,
Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Nearly 80% of the councils surveyed
said they planned to increase overseas
recruitment in the wake of the report
into the death of Victoria Climbié,
which noted how child protection was
undermined by staff shortages.
Suffolk county council has recruited 26
overseas social workers, who make up
10% of the total workforce. Around 80%
of these recruits work in children's
services.
The London borough of
Newham currently employs seven overseas social workers
with another 11 on the
way; Havering has recruited 15; Waltham Forest has
13; Barking and Dagenham
has 10, as does Greenwich; and Kent county council
has nine.
One in 10
social work posts in England are unfilled, with staff shortages
particularly
acute in London. Only 48% of posts in Islington social services
are filled by
permanent staff, according to Unison.
Mail & Guardian
Zimbabwe judge says he was warned to
comply
Harare
19 February 2003 09:37
A High
Court judge seen as having angered the government by ruling against
it was
released on Tuesday after 24 hours in police custody.
Judge Benjamin
Paradza, the first sitting judge to be arrested in Zimbabwe,
was ordered
released by a Harare magistrate but told to reappear on March 21
on charges
of attempting to pervert the course of justice and corruption,
his lawyer
said.
Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe freed Paradza on bail of 30 000
Zimbabwe
dollars ($545) and ordered him to surrender his passport. State
prosecutors
said the judge attempted to defeat the course of justice by
telephoning
fellow judges in Bulawayo, asking them to release the passport of
a business
partner accused of murder.
Paradza has denied the
allegations, his lawyer, Jonathan Samkange said.
Paradza, a former fighter in
President Robert Mugabe's guerrilla army, said
before his arrest he was
warned not to embarrass the government with his
court rulings, Samkange
said.
Paradza said he was told: "You have been appointed to look after
the
government's interests, but you have embarrassed the government and now
we
are going to embarrass you."
State television on Monday denied the
judge's arrest was linked to a ruling
last month, ordering police to release
Mayor Elias Mudzuri, who heads the
opposition-controlled Harare municipal
council. Mudzuri was arrested on
January 11 on allegations he held an illegal
political meeting in western
Harare. Paradza granted a release order saying
the mayor was holding a
legitimate meeting with city tax payers to hear their
grievances on the
council's services.
Police ignored that order and
kept the mayor in custody for two days under
the country's security
laws.
Lawyers for Human Rights, an independent lawyers' group, condemned
Paradza's
arrest. The group said the office of a judge must be respected and
arrest
must only be used as a last resort. "We are disappointed and
extremely
concerned at the continued pressure on the judiciary," it said,
adding that
the hasty arrest of the judge put the liberty and safety of every
Zimbabwean
at risk. Zimbabwe has been wracked by political and economic
turmoil since
the government began a program to seize white-owned farms in
2000.
The government has moved to crack down on independent-minded
judges, human
rights groups and the media and has been accused of packing the
courts with
sympathetic judges.
In September, retired Judge Feargus
Blackie was arrested and detained on
charges he changed a ruling in favor of
a woman the state alleged he had an
illicit affair with. Blackie had earlier
sentenced Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa to three months in jail for
contempt of court for failing to
answer a court summons.
Police and
judicial authorities ignored Blackie's contempt ruling. In
August, Paradza
struck down government eviction notices affecting 54 white
farm owners on
grounds they were not served correctly under land
nationalization laws. He
also ordered the government to issue a passport to
a veteran human rights
activist after she was stripped of her Zimbabwean
citizenship. - Sapa-AP
CNN
Storm as Mugabe flies to Paris
Wednesday, February 19, 2003 Posted:
5:25 AM EST (1025 GMT)
The Mugabe visit to France has been
fiercely condemned by human
rights
campaigners.
PARIS,
France -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has arrived in Paris for
a
Franco-African summit that has put new pressure on strained relations
between
Britain and France.
Mugabe is banned from travelling to the EU under
sanctions renewed this week
but France was given an exemption after arguing
that the two day meeting
February 20-21 will be a good platform to engage the
Zimbabwean leader on
human rights concerns and the country's political
crisis.
In return for allowing the Paris visit, France agreed on Tuesday
to a
renewal of EU economic and travel sanctions against Mugabe and others in
the
Zimbabwean elite.
France has come under sharp criticism from
Britain, Germany and Sweden by
obtaining the exemption. The French government
argued that other African
nations threatened to boycott the meeting unless
Mugabe was allowed to take
part.
Britain and France have increasingly
clashed in recent weeks over a possible
war with Iraq, with French President
Jacques Chirac making plain his
opposition to U.S. plans to use force against
Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein.
CNN's Gaven Morris said that Britain
was "very, very angry" at the Mugabe
visit and officials were hinting that
Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony
Blair almost did not talk about the
subject any more, they were so bitterly
divided.
But, Morris said,
France saw itself as a "father figure" in Africa and
believed it had a great
responsibility in the region. It believed getting
the 52 African leaders
attending round a table was the best way to move
things forward in the
continent.
Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change has
condemned the
French invitation, saying it was "like inviting Saddam Hussein
to the G8
summit" of top industrialised nations.
But on Wednesday
Namibian President Sam Nujoma urged reconciliation between
Zimbabwe and its
main critic, Britain, and said he knew of no human rights
abuses under
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
"A new initiative on peace in
Zimbabwe should be taken up by all of us,"
including southern African,
Commonwealth and other countries, Nujoma told
the BBC.
Mugabe has been
flaunting his invitation as a blow to a campaign for his
isolation, Reuters
reported.
A celebratory piece in Harare's official Sunday Mail newspaper
last Sunday
said 2003 looked like the year Mugabe will "arise and shine" to
the whole
world.
Brian Kagoro, co-coordinator of human rights group
Crisis Zimbabwe, said the
invitation to Paris gave the beleaguered Zimbabwean
leader an ill-deserved
chance to pose as a statesman.
"Mugabe must see
this as a God-given opportunity, a gift to interact with
the rest of the
world as if there is nothing wrong with his politics," he
told
Reuters.
Mugabe's ties with Washington and London deteriorated after he
began
allowing white farms to be seized and given to landless blacks --
sparking
an economic crisis blamed for putting half the country's 14 million
people
at risk of starvation.
Mugabe says he is only trying to fix a
historical injustice that put 70
percent of the best agricultural land in the
hands of whites who make up
less than one percent of the
population.
Copyright
2003 CNN.
Guardian UK
Straw pressed to back Mugabe arrest
Staff and
agencies
Wednesday February 19, 2003
The shadow foreign secretary,
Michael Ancram, has formed an unlikely
alliance with human rights campaigner
Peter Tatchell to have the Zimbabwean
president, Robert Mugabe, arrested on
his visit to Paris.
Mr Tatchell is demanding that the French authorities
detain Mr Mugabe under
the country's anti-torture legislation as soon as he
arrives to attend a
Franco-Africa summit.
European governments
reluctantly agreed last week that the visit should go
ahead, despite an EU
travel ban on Mr Mugabe, his wife and dozens of members
of his political
circle in protest at human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
Now the
Conservatives are asking the UK government to help by putting
pressure on the
French to act on the arrest request.
In a letter to the foreign
secretary, Jack Straw, Mr Ancram said: "You will
be aware that there may be
certain legal challenges by Mr Peter Tatchell and
others, who are once again
seeking to arrest Robert Mugabe on charges of
human rights
violations.
"There are already genuine concerns that the French
government will ride
roughshod over its international legal responsibilities.
I urge you not only
to monitor, but to lend support to any attempt to arrest
Robert Mugabe."
Mr Tatchell has tried before to carry out a citizen's
arrest on Mr Mugabe.
He ended up in the gutter, knocked unconscious by
presidential bodyguards.
This time official channels will be used, backed
up by a protest march as Mr
Tatchell files his application and presents his
legal case for Mr Mugabe's
arrest and trial under French law.
But any
moves against Mr Mugabe by the French judiciary would be deeply
embarrassing
for the French president, Jacques Chirac, who fought hard for
the temporary
"opt-out" from the travel ban to ensure the success of his
Africa summit,
which will discuss human rights and economic ties.
The French fear was
that if Mr Mugabe did not attend, many other African
leaders would boycott
the event.
And Mr Chirac insists that more can be achieved by engaging
with Mr Mugabe
than by freezing him out.
France sees itself as
Africa's closest ally on the international stage, but
in many EU capitals Mr
Chirac's readiness to play host to the head of the
political regime in
Zimbabwe is seen as making a mockery of EU sanctions.
For the French,
much of the dispute is seen as a post-colonial clash between
London and
Harare over attacks on white farmers.
The issue is yet another sensitive
foreign policy battleground with plenty
of potential fall-out for
Anglo-French relations.
The Namibian president, Sam Nujoma, today said
the French were right to
invite Mr Mugabe to the summit.
Last autumn,
Mr Nujoma joined Mr Mugabe in criticising Tony Blair's approach
to Zimbabwe
during the Johannesburg earth summit.
Mr Nujoma, who at Johannesburg told
Mr Blair that most of Zimbabwe's
problems were created by Britain, told BBC
Radio 4's Today programme that he
had seen no evidence of the human rights
abuses alleged against Mr Mugabe.
The Namibian leader, who is also in
Paris for the summit, said: "I believe
France took a right decision to invite
President Mugabe. This is a
France-Africa summit in which all African heads
of state should participate
to promote dialogue and to strengthen economic
partnership.
"Misunderstanding or disagreement between Zimbabwe and
Britain does not
benefit either country. I therefore believe that it is high
time that the
differences between the two countries are amicably
resolved."
Mr Nujoma said he believed Mr Mugabe's regime did have
democratic
legitimacy, despite allegations of vote rigging at the last
elections.
"What I believe is this, that the elections were free and fair
... democracy
definitely exists."
BBC news
Mugabe to face court challenge
President Mugabe
branded homosexuals 'worse than pigs'
British human rights activist Peter
Tatchell is to attempt to have Robert
Mugabe arrested during the Zimbabwe
President's visit to Paris.
Mr Tatchell is demanding the French
authorities detain President Mugabe
under the country's anti-torture
legislation as soon as he arrives to attend
a Franco-Africa summit on
Wednesday.
European governments reluctantly agreed to allow the visit,
despite an EU
travel ban in protest at human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe.
Mr Tatchell's stance is supported by the Conservatives, who
have urged the
UK Government to support the arrest of President
Mugabe.
Mr Tatchell said: "Even if I do not succeed in getting a warrant,
making
this application will help highlight the use of torture by the
Mugabe
regime.
"it will also build international pressure for legal
reforms to end immunity
for heads of state and other serving government
officials.
Beaten
"My endeavours are, I hope, the beginning of a
global campaign to enforce
international human rights laws and to put on
trial all tyrants and
torturers," said Mr Tatchell, a gay rights campaigner
who has criticised Mr
Mugabe's record of homophobic
statements.
Several years ago Mr Mugabe branded homosexuals "worse than
pigs or dogs".
Mr Tatchell previously tried to carry out a citizen's
arrest on him in
Brussels.
He ended up in the gutter, beaten by
presidential bodyguards.
Peter Tatchell has had numerous
run-ins with the authorities
This time he will ask for a warrant by
filing his case at a Paris
magistrates court.
Mr Tatchell is also
leading demonstrations outside the French summit, which
will include
Zimbabwean exiles.
But any moves against President Mugabe by the French
judiciary would be
deeply embarrassing for French President Jacques Chirac,
who fought hard for
the temporary "opt-out" from the travel ban to ensure the
success of his
Africa summit, which is discussing human rights.
The
fear was that if President Mugabe did not attend, many other African
leaders
would boycott the event.
In a letter to the UK Government, shadow foreign
secretary Michael Ancram
said there were "genuine concerns" the French
Government would ride
roughshod over its international legal
responsibilities.
Writing to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, he added: "I
urge you not only to
monitor, but to lend support to any attempt to arrest
Robert Mugabe."
Evening Standard, London
StanChart staying in Zimbabwe
Steve
Hawkes, Evening Standard
19 February 2003
STANDARD Chartered has been
forced to take a $50m(£31.3m) hit to reflect the
'extremely difficult'
economic situation in Zimbabwe. On the day Robert
Mugabe makes a high-profile
visit to Paris for a Franco-African summit, the
London-listed emerging
markets bank revealed it was suffering from the
runaway inflation in the
country.
Figures out last week showed inflation in Zimbabwe topped
200% in the year
to January. Standard said its $50m charge covered
'hyper-inflation
adjustment and translation losses' in the
country.
Standard has closed five branches in Zimbabwe in recent
months but chief
executive Mervyn Davies said there was no question of the
bank pulling out
after more than 100 years. He said: 'We now have 30 branches
there and don't
plan to sell any more. We are absolutely committed to
Zimbabwe, although
it's a tiny piece of our big African
business.'
Pre-tax profits across the group, whose core operations
are in the Middle
East and Asia, rose 16% to $1.26bn in 2002. Net revenue
climbed 3% to
$4.54bn.
Despite mounting personal bankruptcies in
Hong Kong and the economic crisis
in Argentina, the bad debt charge for last
year fell by $19m to $712m. Costs
eased by 1%.
Chairman Sir
Patrick Gillam said: 'We have delivered a good increase in
trading profit,
despite turbulent economic conditions.'
From The Mail & Guardian (SA),
18 February
Key tape in Tsvangirai trial is
'inaudible'
Harare - An audio tape intended as evidence that could help
incriminate opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in an alleged plot to kill
President Robert Mugabe was mostly inaudible, a Harare court was told on
Tuesday. Ari Ben Menashe, a Montreal-based political consultant and the main
witness in the state's case of treason against Tsvangirai, said recording
equipment secretly used at a meeting he had with the opposition leader in London
failed to pick up most of the conversation. Ben Menashe said that at the meeting
Tsvangirai repeatedly spoke of a plan to assassinate Mugabe and seize power in a
coup. Previously Ben Menashe testified Tsvangirai asked him for help to
"eliminate" Mugabe. Tsvangirai was charged with treason two weeks before he ran
against Mugabe in presidential elections last March. The charges are based on a
grainy four-and-a-half hour video tape recorded in Ben Menashe's offices on
December 4, 2001, and handed to the government a day later. If found guilty,
Tsvangirai could face the death penalty.
George Bizos, Tsvangirai's defence attorney, however, described
a transcript of the London tape written out by Tara Thomas, Ben Menashe's
assistant, as "probably the most important document in the trial." "It negates
completely, evidence by this witness on what happened" at the London meeting,
Bizos said. Nowhere in the transcript supplied to state prosecutors by Ben
Menashe was reference found to the killing of Mugabe. Ben Menashe said his
assistant complained to him that much of the tape was inaudible. "(The
assistant) gave up marking points where it was inaudible and picked up words
here and there and put sentences together," he said adding that "nothing on the
tape could be relied upon." Ben Menashe has denied he colluded with the Zimbabwe
government to entrap Tsvangirai and two senior opposition colleagues. He has
acknowledged, however, a $1-million consulting contract he agreed to with the
government shortly after the video taped meeting with Tsvangirai was secretly
recorded. The opposition politicians deny the treason charges and say Ben
Menashe framed them. Earlier, Bizos, the lead defence attorney, said a London
arbitration court had ruled against Ben Menashe in a dispute over $7-million
worth of corn he sold to Zambia but did not deliver.
The transcript showed him trying to dissuade the Zimbabwe
opposition from having any dealings with Zambia, indicating he was afraid of
being exposed over the grain deal, Bizos said. He said Ben Menashe had a long
history of fraud and international meddling, including spurious involvement in
the US presidential election in 1980 and Australia's 1986 elections. Australian
lawmakers and a US congressional committee concluded he lied on both occasions
to discredit election candidates, Bizos said. Ben Menashe was acquitted by a US
federal jury in 1990 of charges he illegally arranged a $36-million deal to sell
US-made military cargo planes to Iran in exchange for the release of four
American hostages in the Middle East.
From News24 (SA), 18
February
Witness: 'Bizos a
racist'
Harare - The main state witness in the high treason trial of
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Tuesday accused the defence
lawyer of being racist and anti-feminist. George Bizos, who is Tsvangirai's
defence counsel in the case, has represented most leading anti-apartheid
activists in South Africa, including Nelson Mandela and his former wife Winnie
as well as President Thabo Mbeki's father. "Mr Bizos, your reputation is well
known in the United States, as a racist, as an anti-feminist," shouted Ari Ben
Menashe as he came in for a ninth day of cross-examination in the trial,
focussed around tapes he made where Tsvangirai and top aides allegedly plotted
to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai and two other senior members
of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) face the death penalty if convicted
in the trial, which went into its 12th day on Tuesday. It has almost become
tradition for Menashe to heckle Bizos and on several occasions the judge,
Justice Paddington Garwe, has asked the witness to watch his language when
answering questions.
In an interview after the court session, Bizos rejected to
journalists the claim that he was racist. "The people of South Africa know my
reputation as a non-racist and as a human rights lawyer," said the 74-year-old
attorney, who has been practising in South Africa for 49 years. The Greek-South
African attorney is probably best-known for his role in the Rivonia trial of
1963, which saw Mandela imprisoned in apartheid South Africa for 27 years, but
saved him from the death penalty. Among the other well-known anti-apartheid
activists he has represented during are Albertina Sisulu, wife of Walter Sisulu.
He has also defended the family of rights activist Steve Biko. "I have done
hundreds of cases in South Africa," he told journalists. He has been voted the
top trial lawyer of the year 2001 by the US-based International Association of
Trial Lawyers. He has also lectured in human rights law at the University of
Columbia in New York. On Tuesday the court went through a transcript of an audio
tape of a meeting held in London between Menashe and Tsvangirai and their
respective officials at which the alleged plot to assassinate Mugabe was
discussed. The court had to rely on the transcript prepared by Tara Tomas - an
officer from Ben Menashe's consultancy firm, who attended the meeting and
recorded its proceedings - because the tape itself is inaudible.
From The Guardian (UK), 19
February
Living in fear of Mugabe's green
bombers
Andrew Meldrum in Kuwadzana
Human rights activists called on the Commonwealth yesterday to
investigate the abuses perpetrated by a growing number of state-sponsored youth
gangs in Zimbabwe. Investigations by the Guardian reveal that President Robert
Mugabe's youth militia are increasingly well-trained in torture techniques that
are then used on civilians. Police take virtually no action against the forces,
widely known as "green bombers" for the colour of their military-style uniforms
and for their reputation for violence. The trauma is evident on the face of
Jameson Gadzirai, 23, three weeks after he and three others were abducted by the
Zanu PF youth militia. He had gone to Kuwadzana township in Harare as part of a
residents' association team. "They were 'green bombers'. I could tell from the
uniforms," Mr Gadzirai said. "They started beating us. They suspended us in the
air and whipped our backs and our backsides. They beat the soles of our feet.
They were organised, very systematic. And they kept asking us questions. Who did
we work for? Who was paying us? Who were we spying for?" Mr Gadzirai added:
"They seized our cell phones and when they found the numbers of lawyers and
[Harare's] Mayor Elias Mudzuri, they said that proved we were spies."
When they were released after a few hours they could hardly
walk because of their swollen feet, and they could not sit down. Medical tests
confirmed that the injuries were consistent with Mr Gadzirai's account. When
they reported the incident to the police, they were arrested. No action has been
taken against their attackers. Thirty similar reports in Kuwadzana were
documented by the Human Rights Forum in January. "The systematic use of violence
by the green bombers is a gross human rights abuse," said John Makumbe, a member
of Zimbabwe in Crisis Coalition, who was recently beaten by police. "Anyone who
doesn't believe that there is torture in Zimbabwe need only look at my face. The
situation is getting worse by the day. We appeal to the Commonwealth to send a
fact-finding mission to investigate. It is urgent." The recent rise in violence
has been blamed on a local byelection planned for March 29 and 30. Scores of
youth militia were brought into Kuwadzana and quickly established an unofficial
curfew to stop residents congregating at night. "They beat up anybody found out
on the streets or in beer halls after 6pm," said Tendai, a Harare worker too
fearful to give his full name. "Because of transport problems many people get
home late and they get beaten."
Fanuel Tsvangirai, the chairman for the opposition MDC party in
Kuwadzana, was abducted on January 21. "Eight guys took me from my home. They
took me to their camp and they handcuffed me to a pole. They stripped me and
stuffed my pants in my mouth. There were about 100 youths there and they sang
Zanu-PF songs as I was beaten. They wanted me to disclose the MDC's strategy for
the upcoming byelection. "They wanted me to give them the names and addresses of
other MDC members." Mr Tsvangirai says he was beaten for four hours before being
turned over to police, who he claims subjected him to more beatings, electric
shocks and cigarette burns. Gaping wounds on his feet, hands, shins and thighs
are testimony to his story. He was eventually released without charge on January
27. The youth militia are trained in six-week sessions at four camps established
by the government. Ostensibly they are doing their "national service" and
learning skills to help the community, but witnesses tell a different story.
"They teach political orientation and history of the liberation struggle," a
young man who went to one camp said. "They do teach some skills, like carpentry,
but we did lots of military training and physical exercise. We learned songs. In
military training we learned methods to interrogate and beat people."
Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject line.
JAG OPEN LETTER
FORUM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1: Jean Simon
Dear Tobacco Farmers
Yesterday I watched the process
for a corporate raid on the Zimbabwe
Tobacco Association being formalised at
the Extra-ordinary General Meeting
held at Art Farm.
Two fundamental
matters took place which make me believe that this process
is about to
start:
1 The number of large scale tobacco councillors was reduced from
15 to 10
and the democratic process for electing the councillors was taken
away.
2 8 smallholder commercial production members (growing less than
8ha each)
have been appointed to a Smallholder Commercial Production
Committee. Four
of these committee members go up to Council. The process of
electing these
SCP committee members has not been formalised on a democratic
basis.
Although I was assured that voting on any matter of fundamental
importance
could be done on the basis of a vote in terms of our voting
powers
enshrined in clause 10 of the Constitution (votes based on our
tobacco
sales from the previous year), this has not been used by Council in
the
past. They have made decisions based on a show of hands from
Council.
My concern is that on an issue of fundamental importance, the
two
committees will be asked to sit in a joint session and by show of
hands
make executive decisions on behalf of our ZTA members.
The
balance of power changes. Our checks and balances put in place to
protect our
farmers financial interest in ZTA ( and their wealth is
substantial) have
been diluted fundamentally. We run a very real risk of
losing all the
investment saved over the years to finance Blackfordby,
Tobacco Research
Board and our other research facilities to a group of
corporate raiders, many
of whom have already successfully raided other
organisations and who have a
wealth of experience at doing this.
I ask that each and every tobacco
farmer (both black and white) who still
has, or had an interest in ZTA in the
past, become familiar with the
changes in the Constitution which took place
at Art Farm yesterday and, if
you are comfortable that the Council has put
the right checks and balances
in place, take comfort from that.
I do
not believe that we can take comfort in any checks and balances and I
believe
I watched the start to the collapse of ZTA take place yesterday.
Yours
sincerely
Jean
Simon
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2: Peter Rosenfels
Mr Cloete
I have just heard a whisper, and prefer
to believe that it is NOT true.
Nonetheless, I thought I would ask you in
this open forum to either confirm
or deny that you will be accompanying
President Mugabe in his forthcoming
trip to France.
If you are going,
could you possibly tell us what you intend to say or do,
that will be in the
interests of the farmers you should be representing? I
eagerly await your
denial (best option) or details.
Thank you
Peter
Rosenfels
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
3: J.L. Robinson
The Chairman,
NADF.
My dear
Stoff,
Thank you for your most informative update on the Dairy Industry,
together
with the invitation to the Dairy Farmer of the Year presentation,
received
today. You certainly have covered the many facets of dairying in
Zimbabwe
today where you have openly indicated that there is a problem with
the Rule
of Law.
I do have a few questions arising from your report,
and ask you to discuss
them with your Dairy Council, in due
course.
The main query is about making silage. NADF have now put out an
official
procedure for farmers, should a work stoppage occur during silage
making. I
like the idea of an official policy, and perhaps you could take
this idea
higher up into the CFU Council.
The worrying aspect about
the official policy on stoppages is that we have
now come to accept them as a
normal problem, like no fuel, no bread, power
failures, no law - hence the
fact that NADF have put out an official
procedure accepting this state of
affairs. Some years ago there would have
been OUTRAGE and INDIGNATION at the
fact some trespasser should have the
audacity to even think of stopping any
farmer from making his silage.
I applaud your commitment to solving the
problem of the stoppage, and your
concern at the Milk Industry becoming an
Informal Market, and so forth. I
feel that this problem is the result of all
of us walking around the main
problem for too long. The moral question about
having to pay a tithe to the
War Vets for the privilege of farming your own
farm is one thing. The
practical side to paying a `tithe', (in this case to
the devil?) is that
the they get a taste for this easy cash, and it appears
that they have an
innate ability to want just a little bit more, and then a
little bit more,
and then a bit more again. This was well documented by
Peron, referring to
hosts and parasites.
I caution the NADF to urge
its members to "please keep going" if the NADF
any way implies `at any cost'
because I really do believe that for as long
as you encourage your members to
supply milk under sub economic
circumstances, Mr. Mandiwanza will take it
with open tanks, convert into an
exportable product, and say "Stoff my boy,
you are doing a wonderful job,
keep it up." Historically, we the farmers have
sucked the hind tit, believe
you me. Why should any farmer have any form of
responsibility or loyalty
to DZL?
We the farmers, (including myself
until May 2002) are partly responsible
for the disastrous agricultural
programme inflicted on the population of
Zimbabwe, by giving it our implied
support - by not standing up against it.
Until such time as we the farmers
can accept that there is some
accountability on our own part, we cannot even
hope to tackle the problem.
I do not believe that the silage making stoppage
is the real problem, the
fact that a farmer was stopped from making silage is
the main problem - and
the EU, the Commonwealth, the UN and of late Kenya all
know this. Can we as
farmers, firstly acknowledge this fact, and secondly
have we the guts to
stand up and admit it?
As things stand there can
be no change in the rule of law in Zimbabwe
because we are not ready to say
that it is wrong for a farmer to be stopped
from farming. We are only ready
to say that
1. If you are stopped telephone NADF or DZL, or your
processor and inform
them.
2. Go to your local ZRP officer in charge
and request assistance.(Martin
Olds, though not a dairy farmer, tried
this)
3. If you fail, get back to NADF. (is this is open admission that
the ZRP
may not be in control?)
The net effect of three years of this
behaviour sees another load of dairy
cows made into sausages today, (and an
increased milk shortage) when I go
to the Bulawayo Sale Pens.
Stoff, I
ask you to please discuss the above with your National
Committee.
Yours faithfully,
J.L.
Robinson.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
Email: justice@telco.co.zw
Internet: www.justiceforagriculture.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Justice
for Agriculture mailing list
To subscribe/unsubscribe: Please write to jag-list-admin@mango.zw
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE PR COMMUNIQUÉ - February 19,
2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please
refer to the previous JAG communiqué by D. Connolly sent on the 4th
of
February 2003.
POLICY: TRUTH AND OPENNESS OR SOMETHING ELSE?
It is
very disappointing that the CFU has refused an open invitation to
debate
policy and the way forward for agriculture with JAG. At a time when
disunity
is the order of the day, the time has surely come for all those
affected by
the nightmare that we are now all living through, to sit down
in a civilised
manner and chart our own way forward. If a Union means unity
then surely its
membership needs to unify around a solid policy and
strategy that will
benefit all Zimbabweans. The reason for this disunity is
because the CFU's
policy is nebulous and ineffective.
What is the CFU's policy? One might
well ask in the conspicuous absence of
anything tangible that might protect
national food security, farmers and
their interests.
To answer this we
need to ask two other questions: What is the party
policy? And more
importantly, Why is it the party's policy?
THE PARTY LAND POLICY:
The
facts speak for themselves. The Party intends to continue as it has
done over
the last three years, destroying commercial agriculture and thus
politically
annihilating farm workers and white commercial farmers, and
thereby
facilitating a political genocide scenario. While President
Obasanjo was
being assured that the land acquisition program was brought to
an end on the
31st of August 2002, more acquisition lists were being
compiled and
published, more Section 8's were being delivered, more farms
were being
pegged and more farmers and farm workers were being illegally
evicted from
their homes.
Commercial farmland owned by white farmers will continue to
be expropriated
for as long as the Party remains threatened "by the people".
Why? The
answer is again quite simple: as white people, we are deemed to
bear
witness and are seen to be the main focus of "all this fuss" by
the
international community. Get the whites out of the way and the
political
issues will be resolved. Starve the opposition, beat, torture or
kill
dissenters as they did in Gukuruhundi, and before too long power
is
absolute. Zimbabweans cannot allow this to continue in their
country.
THE CFU LAND POLICY:
It appears that the CFU does not have a
land policy. Farmers were told by
the CFU to "go the LA3 route if you want to
continue farming", "to
negotiate with your DA, PA or Land's Committee". Now
Minister Made (and
CFU!) say the LA3 is not legal. Farmers are told to remain
"politically
correct" and that the CFU is committed to working with the
(illegitimate)
government of the day. Dialogue and negotiations were
understandable at the
very outset in early 2000, but to consider that they
are acting on behalf
of the large scale commercial farmers at this stage is
ludicrous and
dishonest. CFU was mandated by its members to refute the racial
propaganda
and to insist on the return to the rule of law. It didn't want to
rock the
boat. Hence the formation of Justice for Agriculture.
JAG'S
LAND POLICY:
JAG recently sent out an email regarding the Vision for
Agriculture for the
future. Their policies enunciated in this document are:
the rule of law and
accountability; the respect and extension of title; the
need for supply and
demand market economics; organisation of grants and
concessionary finance
to rebuild commercial agriculture; and the necessity
for a responsible and
democratic government. JAG believes in openly and
transparently promoting
these policies and challenging anyone who is
promoting otherwise. This is
why CFU should come to an open debate with JAG
to discuss these issues. The
truth is quite clear, evil Party politics are
causing one of the worst
economic, social and humanitarian disasters that
Africa has ever seen. We,
as Zimbabweans of all ethnic backgrounds need to
stand for the truth, or we
become complicit in the destruction of our
nation.
"Christians are called to speak out against evil to speak out
against
things that are wrong and that are wicked - Everyone must realise
they have
to make a stand for what is right" (Quote from Henry Olonga). It is
time we
wore our hearts on our sleeves openly.
In the light of this we
once again invite CFU "to attend an open debate
with JAG to dialogue these
issues. Constructive policy will never come out
of fear and secrecy. Now,
more than ever before Zimbabwe needs leaders who
will uphold moral values and
principles and the basic human rights
enshrined in our
constitution.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Justice
for Agriculture mailing list
To subscribe/unsubscribe: Please write to jag-list-admin@mango.zw
ZIMBABWE: Rule of law ''in tatters'', says UN Special
Rapporteur
JOHANNESBURG, 19 February (IRIN) - As Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe arrived in Paris on Wednesday to attend a Franco-African summit,
in spite of a European Union travel ban on him and cabinet ministers, concern
was mounting back home over the arrest of High Court Judge Benjamin
Paradza.
Paradza was arrested on Monday on charges of attempting to
defeat the course of justice and was released on bail. He faced an alternative
charge of allegedly trying to persuade judges to breach a section of the
Prevention of Corruption Act. According to the state-controlled Herald
newspaper, he allegedly asked three judges to release the passport of a business
associate facing a murder charge to enable him to travel to Spain.
Dato'
Param Cumaraswamy, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and
lawyers, expressed his "grave concern" over Paradza's arrest, and noted that
Paradza had previously handed down decisions that were "unpalatable" to the
Zimbabwean government. Paradza had recently released Harare Mayor Elias Mudzuri,
who had been accused of illegally holding a political meeting, and in August he
struck down eviction notices affecting 54 farm owners on grounds that they were
not correctly served under the government's land nationalisation laws.
Cumaraswamy compared his arrest with that of retired Judge Fergus
Blackie last year for allegedly obstructing the course of justice by delivering
a judgment quashing an appeal of a jail term imposed on a woman without
concurring with the other judge who sat on the appeal with him.
"What is
common and very conspicuous about the alleged charges against Justice Paradza
and retired Judge Blackie is that the principle witnesses to prove the alleged
charges would be fellow judges. This is pitting judge against judge and setting
the members of the judiciary on a collision course between what will be seen as
the independents and the compliants.
"While judges are not above the
law, subjecting them to arrest and detention in such humiliating circumstances
is tantamount to intimidation of the gravest kind. This leaves a chilling effect
on the independence of the judiciary," Cumaraswamy said.
"This latest
development is but one in a series of institutional and personal attacks on the
judiciary and its independent judges over the past two years, which have
resulted in the resignations of several senior judges and which have left
Zimbabwe's rule of law in tatters.
"When judges can be set against one
another, then intimidated with arrest, detention and criminal prosecution there
is no hope for the rule of law which is the cornerstone of democracy. It paves
the way for governmental lawlessness," he concluded.
The Law Society of
Zimbabwe, whose president Sternford Moyo and the society's secretary Wilfred
Mapombere were arrested last year for allegedly conspiring to organise mass
demonstrations to force a rerun of the disputed presidential election, joined
the condemnation of Paradza's arrest.
In a statement Moyo said that
except for very serious criminal conduct, where there was a danger of the judge
absconding or interfering with investigations, allegations of misconduct
levelled against judges should be dealt with in terms of the constitution. This
requires an inquiry to establish whether or not the allegations of misconduct
are well founded.
"The Law Society urges all concerned to show respect
for the judiciary and the judicial office so that confidence in it may not be
unduly determined. Undermining confidence in the judiciary has a negative impact
on the quality of the administration of justice," Moyo said.
Meanwhile,
the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CIZC) has demanded "an end to the harassment
of civil society leaders" following last week's arrest at a public meeting of
John Makumbe, chairman of Transparency International Zimbabwe, Bishop Trevor
Manhanga, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, Brian Kagoro
co-ordinator of CIZC and Ian Makore, a member of the public.
"The ink is
not yet dry on [Nigerian President Olusegun] Obasanjo's letter to [Australian
Prime Minister] John Howard claiming that all is normal in Zimbabwe," said
Kagoro in a statement. "And yet the clampdown on democratic voices is worsening.
Is this naked aggression against civil liberties and freedom what Obasanjo and
[South African President Thabo] Mbeki condone?"
Last week Obasanjo and
Mbeki, part of a Commonwealth troika on Zimbabwe along with Howard, indicated
that they favoured lifting Zimbabwe's suspension from the group of nations as
Obasanjo felt the political situation in the country had
improved.
Besides Paradza's arrest, and arrests made at the CIZC meeting,
a communiqué from Women of Zimbabwe Arise said that 73 people participating in a
Valentine's Day peace march had been arrested in Bulawayo, Harare and the
tourist town of Victoria Falls.
A recent European Union agreement made an
exception to Mugabe's renewed travel ban to allow him to attend the summit in
France on the grounds that the country's human rights record would be discussed.
However, a spokeswoman for the South African delegation said there was no direct
reference to Zimbabwe on the agenda.
[ENDS]
IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11
880-4633
Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za
[This Item is
Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian
information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United
Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your
keywords, contact e-mail: IRIN@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print,
copy, archive or re-post
this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.
Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]
Mugabe protesters clash with police
By Angela Doland in Paris February 20,
2003
HUMAN rights protests against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
have overshadowed the start of a Franco-African summit, with demonstrators
chanting, "Mugabe, murderer!" and seeking his arrest.
In one protest, a dozen
gay rights activists from the group ACT UP blasted horns and pelted red paint at
Zimbabwe's Paris Embassy. After a scuffle, police carried away one protester.
Outside the leader's hotel in a quiet boutique district, other demonstrators
shouted: "Arrest Mugabe!"
The protesters were angry that France had
invited the African leader despite a European Union ban on his travel. Mugabe's
regime has been accused of systematic torture and crackdowns on opponents and
journalists. He has outraged gays by describing them as "lower than dogs and
pigs" and outlawing homosexual acts. Peter Tatchell, an Australian-born gay
rights activist who has long tried to bring Mugabe to trial, has lodged a
complaint with a French prosecutor to try to have him arrested for torture.
Tatchell said he had affidavits from two people who claimed to have been beaten.
"Torture is a crime under French law, wherever it is committed in the world, by
whomever," he said.
The complaint was based on France's signature of a
1984 United Nations convention on torture. No sitting head of state has ever
been prosecuted in France, so the move is likely symbolic.
Tom Spicer, an
18-year-old activist with Zimbabwe's political opposition group, the Movement
for Democratic Change, told reporters he had been harassed for three years by
Mugabe's agents and the police. If judicial officials did not act, "it will be a
sad day for France," said Spicer, one of the alleged torture victims named in
the complaint. "They'll be passing up the opportunity to arrest a man who
violates international law on nearly a daily basis."
Representatives and
leaders from 52 countries are attending the summit, together with UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The theme is "Africa and France together in a new
partnership", with talks focused on development and unrest in the former French
colony of Ivory Coast. France's invitation to Mugabe angered several of its
neighbours, especially Britain, the former colonial power in Zimbabwe. The
European Union imposed travel restrictions one year ago to punish Mugabe's
government for violating human rights and pursuing policies that sent the
country into economic and political chaos.
The EU also banned the sale of
arms to Zimbabwe, cut off development aid and froze the country's assets in
Europe. Last week, EU nations decided to renew the sanctions for another year
but allow Mugabe to attend the three-day summit. France had threatened to block
the extension of sanctions against Mugabe if it did not get an
exemption.
Zimbabwe has been destabilised by political and economic
turmoil since March 2000, when ruling party militants began a state-orchestrated
campaign to seize thousands of white-owned commercial farms. Serious food
shortages have left nearly seven million people, more than half the population,
facing famine. © The Australian
The French should arrest Mr Mugabe, not fete him 20 February 2003
Whatever
improvements in international understanding that may flow from the
Franco-African summit being hosted by the French government in Paris, it may be
confidently predicted that the one thing this event will not change is the mind
of President Mugabe of Zimbabwe. If there were the slightest possibility that Mr
Mugabe would cease to pursue his racist and tyrannical ways as a result of
listening to other African leaders and French diplomats, then his visit to Paris
would have been justified.
That, however, is not about to happen, and the
French government's decision to invite Mr Mugabe makes the EU's policy of
sanctions on the movement of Zimbabwean officials look ridiculously feeble. War
in Iraq is one thing; but if Europe cannot even act in concert against such a
dictator as Mugabe then the outlook for a viable common foreign policy is bleak
indeed.
What should have been done with Mr Mugabe is clear and may one
day come to pass. He, and as many of his henchmen as could be caught, should
have been arrested by the French authorities and packed off to an international
criminal tribunal. There he could have been made to answer for abuses of power
ranging from the massacres in Matabeleland in the 1980s through to the current
reign of terror against white farmers and political opponents of every kind. At
The Hague, some way might also have been found of making Mr Mugabe accountable
for his policy of using food, or, more accurately, hunger, as a political
weapon.
Such a tantalising prospect was in the hands of the French
government, although it has to be admitted that such a denouement might be
regarded as diplomatic bad manners. But then something of the same befell
General Pinochet during a trip to London. The human rights campaigner Peter
Tatchell has even done much of the preparatory work on an indictment for the
French, with a formal action filed under France's strong anti-torture
legislation. Instead, Mr Mugabe will be treated in the same way as the King of
Thailand, the President of Finland or any other visiting head of state. It is a
deeply regrettable message to be sending to the old dictator. © 2002 Independent
Digital (UK) Ltd
Cricket: Journalist's expulsion raises more doubts over Zimbabwe
20.02.2003 By
RICHARD BOOCK
Zimbabwe's suitability as a World Cup venue was again being
called into question yesterday after the deportation of an accredited reporter
whose only apparent offence was being British.
London Daily Telegraph
journalist Simon Briggs was refused entry at Harare Airport after arriving from
Johannesburg to cover last night's pool A match between Zimbabwe and India at
the Sports Club ground.
Briggs, who had been in southern Africa covering
the tournament since the opening game, was bundled onto the next flight back to
Johannesburg, in what was evidently a tit-for-tat reprisal over England's
refusal to play in Zimbabwe.
Just a day after England umpires Peter
Willey and Neil Mallender followed the move by Nasser Hussain's side and decided
against officiating in the troubled nation, Briggs was singled out from a long
line of media and International Cricket Council officials - including chief
executive Malcolm Speed, head of corporate affairs Brendon McClements, and
Patrick Ronan, the head of the World Cup security directorate.
It was the
latest in a series of incidents that have marred the tournament, including the
Shane Warne drug fiasco, boycotts of Kenya and Zimbabwe, racist allegations made
against Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif, and the drunken antics of United
Cricket Board of South Africa president Percy Sonn.
It also follows a
controversial incident in Harare last week, when Briggs' Telegraph colleague
Martin Johnson had a gun pulled on him by a Zimbabwean official, and was told
that British journalists would be ejected from the country if England boycotted
their cup match.
Briggs was the only one of several British members of
the media to be turned away by immigration officials, who had reportedly
threatened to take a hard line after the perceived snub from the England
team.
The British High Commission was alerted after Briggs failed to
emerge from immigration, and eventually managed to make contact with him back at
Johannesburg International Airport - more than six hours after he arrived in
Harare.
Briggs said last night that he had to struggle with immigration
officials who were attempting to confiscate his hand luggage, and that he was
told that if he didn't get on the plane back to Johannesburg he would be forced
to get on it.
McClements - who was fast-tracked through immigration and
customs with all other ICC personnel - told the Telegraph last night that the
incident should never have happened.
Zimbabwe Cricket Union managing
director Vince Hogg was also baffled by the incident, although there is a strong
suggestion that the ZCU's provocative rhetoric after Mallender and Willey
withdrew may have escalated the situation. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
ABC Online Thu, Feb 20 2003 9:13 AM AEDT Players continue protest
Zimbabwean cricketers Andy Flower and Henry Olonga have defied the
International Cricket Council (ICC) by continuing their protest against
President Robert Mugabe.
The players wore black wristbands during their
World Cup match against India in the Zimbabwean capital Harare
overnight.
The pair had earlier escaped ICC action after wearing black
armbands during Zimbabwe's first match of the tournament.
On Wednesday
the pair repeated their earlier statement that they were making the protest in
mourning at the death of democracy in Zimbabwe.
Dozens of spectators also
wore armbands, with some leaving the ground through the rear exit amid fears of
retaliation from ruling party supporters.
Zimbabwe security forces are
now on alert for next week's encounter between Zimbabwe and Australia as
opposition activists threaten to disrupt the match in the southern city of
Bulawayo.
Meanwhile the pressure has eased on India as under-fire captain
Sourav Ganguly grabbed three wickets to lead his side to victory in
Harare.
Zimbabwe was bowled out for 172 in 44.4 overs after Sachin
Tendulkar's 81 had steered the Indians to 7 for 255 in a must-win match for
Ganguly's men. "I think the reaction back home after losing one game to
Australia was a bit too much," Ganguly said.
Wednesday, 19 February, 2003, 19:32 GMT Zimbabwe adjusts exchange rate
BBC.co.uk
Zimbabwe has adjusted the exchange rate for its currency, moving it
closer to rates paid on the blOn Wednesday, the government set the rate for
exporters at 800 Zimbabwe dollars to the US dollar.
Since August 2000,
the Zimbabwe dollar had been artificially fixed at 55 units to the US dollar
while on the black market the US dollar was worth up to 1,500 Zimbabwe
dollars.
Zimbabwe's business community has long wanted to change the
country's chaotic foreign exchange policies.
Companies are forced to pay
black market rates for foreign currency needed to buy supplies but are forced to
change export earnings at the official rate.
Zimbabwe Finance Minister
Herbert Murerwa admitted on Wednesday that the economy was in dire
straits.
"The country is facing severe socio-economic challenges, amid a
hostile external and domestic environment," he said.
"This has resulted
in a sharp decline in foreign exchange supplies and rising inflationary
pressures."
The minister also announced measures to boost agriculture and
manufacturing and to fight corruption.
By doing this, the government
hopes to improve production and "guarantee the availability and affordability"
of goods and services.
He also said Harare would soon announce new fuel
prices since the last review in June 2001.
Zimbabwe's fuel is now the
cheapest in the region but international oil prices have shot up and supplies
are scarce and erratic.
Zimbabwe is on the verge of collapse as the
country faces its worst economic crisis since the end of white rule 22 years
ago.
The economic turmoil is threatening about half of the country's 14
million people with starvation.
Unemployment is close to 70%, while
inflation last month topped 200%.
But the real inflation rate is probably
much higher due to the black market, which is outside the government's price
controls.
Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai asks for order against witness
By Stella
Mapenzauswa
HARARE, Feb. 19 < Lawyers for Zimbabwe opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai, on trial for treason, applied on Wednesday for a court order
to force the state's star witness to release his financial accounts.
They
said Canadian-based political consultant Ari Ben-Menashe had been ''very cagey
and very uncooperative'' during nearly three weeks of
cross-examination.
Tsvangirai
and two colleagues in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are accused of
plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe and could be sentenced to death if
convicted. All three deny the charges.
The state's case hinges on a videotape
of a meeting between Ben-Menashe and Tsvangirai at which they allegedly
discussed Mugabe's ''elimination.''
Earlier on Wednesday, Ben-Menashe told
the High Court his business partner had told him his firm had destroyed invoices
detailing $615,000 worth of consultancy work it did for Mugabe's government. He
did not make clear why they were destroyed.
Lead defence attorney George
Bizos said the destruction of the invoices could prove Ben-Menashe made the
videotape expressly to frame Tsvangirai.
''The disappearance of the vouchers
must have been engineered for the purpose (of concealing) that the $615,000 you
received was for the work that you did for the government of Zimbabwe in making
the tape,'' Bizos said.
Bizos said state lawyers had told him that Zimbabwe's
government would also not produce copies of the invoices.
Ben-Menashe said
the invoices related to general consultancy work carried out by his firm,
Dickens and Madson.
Bizos applied for the court to order Ben-Menashe to
provide financial statements for his firm, a list of his staff and what work
they had done for the Zimbabwe government and bank statements relating to money
he collected from the MDC.
''This evidence is crucial to ensuring a fair
trial for our clients. And we need a court order because he has been coy, very
cagey and very uncooperative,'' he said.
Judge Paddington Garwe said he would
rule on the application during the week.
Tsvangirai's trial comes at a time
of heightened tension in Zimbabwe, where Mugabe is facing demands for political
reform and his worst economic crisis in more than two decades in
power.
Ben-Menashe has previously hinted that former colonial power Britain
and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency were involved in the alleged
assassination bid, which he has described as part of a plan to stage a coup in
the troubled African country. Tsvangirai and his co-accused say the alleged
plot was staged by the government to discredit the MDC ahead of March 2002
presidential elections which Mugabe won amid charges of electoral irregularities
from several Western countries. (Additional reporting by Cris Chinaka)
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited