The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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Could Zimbabwe be the next Rwanda?

Christina Lamb

Monday 24th February 2003 © New Statesman 1913 - 2002

Christina Lamb hears warnings of genocide as Mugabe's ministers talk openly of reducing the population and as starving children hunt for sparrows
On my first day in Zimbabwe, a cryptic message was whispered to me: "Tell Mike, Kathy's got a lot of butter." At first I thought it was some kind of code to foil President Robert Mugabe's all-pervasive intelligence apparatus. But it turned out that this is a typical conversation these days in Harare, where everyone seems to have a sideline, and butter is now a scarce commodity. So are bread, meat, milk, flour and sugar.

Petrol must be the cheapest in the world at the equivalent of just 4p a litre, but you won't find it at any petrol station. Instead, the main purveyors are the rose sellers who used to wander restaurants pressing stems on couples enjoying a romantic dinner, but now keep funnels in their flower baskets. Nor is it easy to find banknotes to pay for the fuel, as the country has run out of foreign exchange to buy the paper. But there's always the woman upstairs at Zimbank who has a drawerful of Zimdollars that she will swap for pounds on the "parallel" - around 30 times the official rate. As for "female sanitary products", at a brunch for white Harareans this month, more than half an hour was devoted to the difficulty of obtaining such items.

These are the lucky people. Travelling to the southern lowveld on rose-scented fuel, I saw children hunting for a frog or a sparrow to roast on fires. Mothers led me into their one-roomed huts to show me sacks almost empty of the staple maize meal. A Nigerian once told me that a land without road signs is a land without hope, and nowhere is that truer than today's Zimbabwe. The signs have all been stolen and melted down to make coffin-handles for the 2,500 people who die of hunger and Aids each week.

Welcome to the mad, mad world of Mugabe, whose land reform programme has left seven million of the country's 12 million people facing starvation, and whose thugs roam the countryside beating, torturing and raping the womenfolk of anyone who dares oppose him. No one is exempt - the other day, a senior judge was arrested for allowing an opposition member to go free.

Yet on lazy summer afternoons at Harare Sports Club, amid the clink of teacups, you might think that all is well. While the world focuses on one evil dictator who kills his own people, another co-hosts the Cricket World Cup. While Saddam allows in foreign journalists, Mugabe bans them, forcing them to sneak in as tourists. It is just round the corner from the sports club, under the slow-moving ceiling fans of Court A of the Harare high court, that the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two of his colleagues face charges of plotting to assassinate Mugabe. The evidence is an inaudible videotape of a meeting with a Canadian PR man called Ari Ben Menashe, who has been paid by Mugabe; the penalty is the death sentence.

In Zimbabwe, where the government has withheld food aid from areas sympathetic to the opposition as well as committing numerous human rights abuses (including administering severe electrical shocks to genitals and assaults with axes and barbed wire), ministers have spoken openly about reducing the population. According to a report from a group of religious and human rights organisations, the ruling Zanu-PF's use of torture is so widespread that the country is "primed for genocide" similar to that which tore apart Rwanda in 1994.

Drive away from the lush green lawns and frangipani-lined avenues of Harare, through Christmas Pass, to rural areas such as Manicaland in the east, and you can already see a population living in terror. I first went there last September to interview girls who had been raped because their fathers were opposition activists. One 15-year-old recounted being raped by five Zanu-PF thugs while her mother and sister were forced to watch and sing songs praising Mugabe.

Since then the government has introduced an even more sinister programme of thought control. School leavers must all do national youth service in camps where they are fed government propaganda and instructed to spy on their communities. There have even been reports of them being drugged with a kind of political Prozac. "The training scheme produces mindless thugs who will not hesitate to resort to any degree of violence in compliance with orders," said a spokesman for the Bulawayo-based Christians Together for Justice and Peace. "It is all part of the grand design of the ruling party to secure the blind and unquestioning allegiance of all sectors of society."

When the school year restarted last month, Mugabe had come up with yet another innovation. Not only had European history been replaced on the syllabus by "current history", a kind of glorification of the Mugabe years, but hundreds of teachers found themselves whisked off to three-week camps for "reorientation" - basically brainwashing. Woken at 3am every morning to go on 15-mile runs, they were then subjected to hours of classes in patriotism which started with chants of "Forward with Mugabe" and "Down with Tsvangirai" and "Down with Tony Blair".

One teacher, Myheart Muusha, who fled and now lives in hiding, told me about lessons which taught that Colonel Gaddafi, Comrade Mugabe and Comrade Fidel Castro were heroes and that Blair was responsible for most of the evils in the world. "You've got to be a real idiot if you think you can steal someone's mind," says Roy Bennett, a white opposition MP whose constituency, Chimanimani, is one of the areas from where teachers have been taken. "Such an anger and hatred is developing that when it breaks people will go berserk."

Yet Mugabe keeps getting away with it. It is exactly three years since the first farm invasion and those of us who covered that assumed it was some temporary madness. But since then all but 500 of the country's 4,300 commercial farmers have been ejected from their land. Far from being turned into communes for the landless, most of the farms lie derelict. Settlers have been given no seed or fertiliser and in many cases have been thrown off for fat cats such as the war veteran Stalin Mao Mao, senior military officials or ministers in Mugabe's cabinet.

Meanwhile, the country that used to export food can no longer feed itself. The farmers' organisation Justice for Agriculture estimates a maize crop this year of just 75,000 tonnes, compared to the 1.8 million tonnes needed. Many of the expelled white farmers have given up hope and moved to Australia or South Africa. Others rent houses in Harare, talk about setting up farming schemes in Angola or the Congo, and recall the days when Zimbabwe had the world's highest yield for cotton and wheat. One young farmer, Marcus Hale, now uses his farm trucks to transport food aid.

And what is the international response? The suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth and an EU travel ban on leading members of the regime so that Mugabe's young wife, Grace, and his ministers can no longer go on shopping trips to Harrods. The French, who have gone all moral over Iraq, managed to get an exemption to the ban so that Mugabe could be the guest of Jacques Chirac at this month's Franco-African Summit. "What more," asks Ian Foulds, a former rose farmer, "can Mugabe do to show he's a bad man? We just feel that maybe this suits the international community. American farmers need somewhere to dump their surplus."

Zimbabweans hope for an internal coup by members of Mugabe's own party fed up with all the shortages. There has been no denial of a recent leak that Mugabe's protege Emmerson Mnangagwa and the army chief, Lieutenant-General Vitalis Zvinavashe, were trying to broker a deal that would see Comrade Bob exiled to Malaysia, one of the few countries where he is still welcome. But the former agriculture minister Denis Norman told the Cape Town Press Club the other day that he had personally encouraged Mugabe to retire gracefully "many times". The president had replied that politicians do not retire. "He is a loner," said Norman. "Power is his meat and drink."http://www.newstatesman.com/site.php3

Christina Lamb is a Sunday Times foreign correspondent This article first appeared in the New Statesman. For the latest in current and cultural affairs subscribe to the New Statesman print edition.
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Sydney Morning Herald
 
Protesters assail Mugabe at French summit

By Barry James in Paris
February 21 2003


Protesters march in Paris against Mr Mugabe. An activist said France "must stop laying out the red carpet for criminals". Photo: Reuters/Xavier Lhospice

France welcomed African leaders to a summit overshadowed by the conflict in Ivory Coast and by the attendance of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who has been banned by the rest of the European Union for human-rights abuses.

Notably absent was Laurent Gbagbo, President of Ivory Coast, where France has sent about 3000 troops to enforce a fragile ceasefire under which the Government is to share power with rebels until elections in 2005.

It would have been risky for Mr Gbagbo to have been out of his country now, diplomats said. The rebels are threatening to reignite the civil war unless he puts power-sharing into effect.

The British strongly opposed a decision by President Jacques Chirac to invite Mr Mugabe to the meeting of leaders and representatives from 50 countries due to start yesterday.

At issue is the dispossession of white farmers and the seizure of their land by Mr Mugabe's supporters in what the Government calls a land reform policy aimed at rectifying imbalances left as a legacy of Britain's colonial rule.

Threatening to block the extension of sanctions against Zimbabwe, France obtained a dispensation for Mr Mugabe to visit Paris for the meeting when the EU reimposed the ban on visits by Zimbabwean leaders last week.

The French have argued that it is better to discuss differences face to face. But diplomats said another factor was that had Mr Mugabe not come, many other African leaders would have stayed away in sympathy.

Mr Chirac, on a diplomatic roll, plainly hopes the conference will cement his reputation as a key player across Africa and not just in France's former, mainly west African, colonies.

But critics say France should stop playing host to leaders who in some cases are under investigation by international courts for crimes including torture and genocide.

"I suppose the lunches and dinners will give these leaders an opportunity to drink to the health of populations that are being massacred," said the president of the Federation of Human Rights Leagues, Patrick Baudoin. Another activist, Dobian Assingar, said France "must stop laying out the red carpet for criminals".

Nigeria and South Africa are pushing to have Zimbabwe readmitted to the Commonwealth after a punitive suspension.

Mr Mugabe was met in Paris by protests and an attempt by a British human-rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, to have him arrested over torture and human rights violations.

Protesters waved banners saying "Arrest Mugabe for torture" and "Mugabe, murderer" as he ducked into the five-star hotel where he is staying.

Police moved quickly to break up the demonstrations by force, in some cases dragging protesters away by their ankles.

Tom Spicer, of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, called Mr Mugabe's presence in Paris a disgrace.

"Mugabe should be ostracised from the international community. He disregards international pressure, and I don't believe that dialogue at the moment is an effective way to bring about the end to the regime in Zimbabwe."

The New York Times, The Guardian

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Fury over "grubby" Mugabe-Chirac handshake
By Andrew Cawthorne


LONDON (Reuters) - The Tories are leading a chorus of protests against
Robert Mugabe, condemning the "grubbiest handshake of the year" between the
Zimbabwean leader and French President Jacques Chirac in Paris.


The government, human rights groups and the media have also expressed their
disquiet at Mugabe's presence at a Paris summit despite EU travel sanctions
over Zimbabwe's human rights record.


Chirac greeted Mugabe at the Franco-African summit on Thursday but, unlike
many guests who received a Gallic kiss on the cheeks, the Zimbabwean only
received a nod and handshake in a minimal exchange of courtesies.


"This will be marked out as the grubbiest handshake of the year. Jacques
Chirac should think how much blood is on the hand he just shook,"
Conservative Party foreign affairs' spokesman Alan Duncan said in a
statement minutes later.


"The thought of Mugabe gorging himself on French food tonight while his
people starve is morally repugnant. By rolling out the red carpet for
Mugabe, Jacques Chirac has placed himself firmly on the moral low ground."


Prime Minister Tony Blair's government was also angry.


It had reluctantly agreed to Mugabe's Paris trip in a diplomatic deal
allowing him to accept Chirac's invitation in return for France's support
for an extension of EU sanctions.


"We don't think and most of the rest of the world don't think that talking
to Robert Mugabe right now or entertaining him in the way we expect him to
be entertained in Paris is going to deliver better things," a government
official said.


MUGABE BLAMES "NEO-COLONIAL BRITAIN"


Mugabe is under fire from the West over the alleged rigging of an election
last year and persecution of political foes, the seizure of white-owned
farms for landless blacks, and allegations that he is denying food aid to
his opponents amid a shortage threatening some seven million Zimbabweans.


London-based rights group Amnesty International urged the French and African
leaders to publicly challenge Mugabe.


"The cycle of harassment, arrest and torture of those who peacefully express
their opinion, and those in opposition to the government views, must end,"
it added in a statement.


Human rights activist Peter Tatchell, who has led a concerted campaign
against Mugabe, was arrested by police in Paris en route to the summit venue
where he planned a protest.


"We were prepared to do anything peaceful that we could to shame and
embarrass him... It feels a police state here. The right to protest has
effectively been suspended for the duration of this summit," Tatchell told
Sky Television News.


Mugabe is subject to EU travel and economic sanctions but was allowed to
visit Paris as an exception at Chirac's request.


He accuses Britain and others of perpetuating "neo-colonial" attitudes
towards Zimbabwe and says land reforms are an attempt to correct a colonial
injustice that left 70 percent of the best agricultural land in hands of
whites who make up less than one percent of the population.


France has argued that dialogue is the best way to exert pressure for change
and that Zimbabwe's presence was essential for the success of the
Franco-African summit.


The media were unanimous in condemnation of Mugabe.


"Le Worm Meets The Monster," The Sun said in an article condemning both the
"slimy Chirac" and "tyrant Mugabe". "Mugabe's visit shames us all," added
the right-wing Daily Telegraph.
FinGaz

      President flaunts Paris invitation


      2/20/03 3:37:52 AM (GMT +2)

      PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is flaunting his invitation to a
Franco-African summit in Paris this week as a blow to a campaign for his
isolation.


      But while the trip is a valuable diplomatic gift for a man shunned by
most Western powers, political analysts say the Zimbabwean leader is far
from beating the sanctions crippling the economy of his southern African
country.
      Mugabe remains under fire from Western countries who have imposed
travel and economic sanctions on his government since his controversial
re-election a year ago, they said.
      French President Jacques Chirac asked the European Union to let him
invite Mugabe to the February 20-21 summit, which Paris says will be a good
platform to engage Mugabe on human rights concerns and Zimbabwe's deepening
political crisis.
      Britain, which has led international criticism of Mugabe's political
and economic record, objected to the French invitation but Paris eventually
got its way and Mugabe got his ticket.
      "The invitation to Paris is important for Mugabe because it is a
pointer that there are some differences of opinion among the big powers on
how to relate to Zimbabwe," said Professor Heneri Dzinotyiwei, an analyst at
the University of Zimbabwe.
      "But even with these sort of opportunities, there is no arguing that
the Zimbabwe government is facing quite a big challenge in convincing some
of its Western critics they must relate to it differently," he added.
      Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change has
condemned the French move, saying it was "like inviting Saddam Hussein to
the G8 summit" of top industrialised nations.
      Brian Kagoro, coordinator of human rights group Crisis Zimbabwe, said
the invitation 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 said.
      Mugabe's ties with Washington and London deteriorated after he
launched a policy of seizing white farms to give 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.
      - Reuter
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The Scotsman
 

Thu 20 Feb 2003
Peter Tatchell and other campaigners call for charges to be laid.
Outrage greets Mugabe's French leave

SUSAN BELL IN PARIS AND JASON BEATTIE

CHRISTIAN Ligneul, the deputy state prosecutor, had never seen anything like it.

Outside his elegant office in the Palais de Justice in Paris had assembled a group of French gay militants called Les Pantheres Roses; Peter Tatchell, the former Labour candidate for Bermondsey and Australia’s best known gay-rights campaigner; a handful of Africans and a posse of British journalists.

The bizarre group had gathered in protest at the presence of the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, at the 22nd Franco-African summit.

France had insisted on inviting him to the meeting after other African countries had threatened to boycott the summit unless Mr Mugabe was there. In return, Paris gave its backing to the renewal of EU sanctions against Mr Mugabe, his wife and other government officials.

Mr Mugabe has been flaunting his invitation to Paris, which allows him to be received on an equal diplomatic footing with other African leaders and leaves his wife Grace free to go on a shopping spree in the French capital’s most expensive boutiques.

Observers and political analysts, particularly in Britain, criticised French diplomacy as a cynical trade-off at a time when France is trying to increase its sphere of influence in Africa.

But France yesterday defended its position, saying the summit provides an opportunity to engage in dialogue on human rights with the Zimbabwean president over the situation in his country.

"When you have things to say, you should say them to each other face to face. That’s the reason why we wanted Mr Mugabe to be invited," the French co-operation minister, Pierre-Andre Wiltzer, who deals with overseas aid, told France’s i-Television. France did not think that "a policy of silence, boycott and embargo was the most effective", he added.

Mr Tatchell’s protest came with the endorsement of the Conservative Party - an organisation not normally associated with flamboyant street demonstrations by homosexual activists.

Just before midday yesterday, Mr Tatchell, aided by the Pink Panthers, walked into Monsieur Ligneul’s office and demanded that the Zimbabwean leader be indicted for torture.

The formal complaint is unlikely to succeed - the wheels of French justice can grind awfully slowly when guests of the French president are concerned - but it was another PR victory for Outrage!

Instead of Mr Mugabe being able to use the occasion as a propaganda exercise, the media coverage was successfully hijacked by Mr Tatchell.

A face-to-face confrontation with the dictator looked unlikely: heavy security surrounded the luxury hotel just off the Champs Elysées where the Zimbabwe delegation to the talks is staying.

Brandishing banners proclaiming "Mugabe, murderer", and "Mugabe, torturer, criminal, homophobe" about 20 protesters gathered in front of the Opera in central Paris.

A member of the gay and lesbian rights group Act Up was later arrested by French police after throwing a plastic sachet containing fake blood against the wall of the Zimbabwean embassy to denounce Mr Mugabe’s homophobia. The Zimbabwe president has openly expressed his hatred for homosexuals whom he describes as "worse than pigs".

In London, Alan Duncan, the Conservative foreign affairs spokesman, described the invitation to Mr Mugabe as a "complete moral outrage" and praised Mr Tatchell’s efforts to draw attention to the case.

"The French are putting their own selfish interests ahead of human rights. We have had a travel ban on Mugabe for ages, but France seems happy to ditch the sanctions and roll out the red carpet," he said. "While he is starving his own people, he’s going to stuff himself rotten at sumptuous banquets in Paris. And if his wife turns up too there will no doubt be a roaring trade for Gucci and Chanel."

Mr Duncan’s support for Mr Tatchell represents a remarkable shifting of views for a party which introduced Section 28 outlawing the promotion of homosexuality in schools. Indeed, the Conservatives’ intolerance riled Mr Tatchell so much he once held a banner outsider Tory Central Office inviting the inhabitants to "Sample a free trial offer of homosexuality."

Yesterday, his supporters carried placards proclaiming "Arrest Mugabe for Torture" to the Palais de Justice before handing an 80-page dossier on Mugabe’s alleged human rights abuses to Mr Ligneul.

The document included affidavits from Tom Spicer, a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and journalist Ray Choto, both of whom were tortured allegedly on Mugabe’s direct orders.

"Tom Spicer and I had a 30-minute meeting with Mr Ligneul in which I summarised the legal basis for Mugabe’s arrest and presented the arguments to counter the claim that he has immunity from prosecution as a head of state," said Mr Tatchell.

Despite the protest, Mr Tatchell said that he feared the French would try to use their influence and power to ensure Mugabe was not prosecuted. "That will make a mockery of French law against torture. What’s the point of having a human rights law if it’s not enforced?"

President Mugabe will take part in a government-hosted lunch in Paris today followed by another, less formal, dinner with President Chirac tonight .

Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, now on trial in Harare on charges of treason, said: "It amounts to a recognition and support of Mugabe’s gruesome record at home.

"Any international meetings at which Mugabe is treated as a statesman and an equal is an affront to the feelings of the people of Zimbabwe."

There was no sign of the UK government taking up a Conservative plea to support Mr Tatchell’s lone legal challenge in Paris. In a letter to the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, his Tory counterpart Michael Ancram warned: "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."
Sky News

      POLICE RELEASE TATCHELL

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was detained by police as he planned
to ambush Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe on the streets of Paris.

British and French journalists covering the demonstration were also held
captive.

Mr Tatchell said was planning to confront Mr Mugabe's motorcade as he
travelled to the Foreign Affairs Ministry in the French capital.

Mr Tatchell is protesting at alleged systematic human rights abuses by Mr
Mugabe's regime.

'Police state'

Following his release after two hours, Mr Tatchell said: "It feels like a
police state here."

Sky's Dominic Waghorn was also held by police. He said: "They have given us
absolutely no indication why we were effectively held against our will."

Earlier, French President Jacques Chirac greeted Mugabe with a handshake at
the start of a Franco-African summit in Paris.

      Tory foreign affairs' spokesman Alan Duncan condemned the meeting and
said: "This will be marked out as the grubbiest handshake of the year.
Jacques Chirac should think how much blood is on the hand he just shook.

      'Gorging'

      "The thought of Mugabe gorging himself on French food tonight while
his people starve is morally repugnant.

      "By rolling out the red carpet for Mugabe, Jacques Chirac has placed
himself firmly on the moral low ground."

      The African dictator's controversial trip to Paris has been hit by
protests and demands for his arrest under international torture laws.

      Three thousand police officers were drafted in to the city for the
opening of the controversial Franco-African summit.

      The EU has banned Mugabe from visiting member states but France was
allowed to make an exception in return for backing the renewal of EU
sanctions against him.
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MSNBC

EU slams Zimbabwe as Chirac hosts Mugabe

BRUSSELS, Feb. 20 - The European Union issued a withering condemnation of
Zimbabwe's human rights record on Thursday, just as French President Jacques
Chirac was playing host to President Robert Mugabe at a Franco-African
summit.
       A statement issued by the EU's Greek presidency expressed concern
with what it called increasing incidents of arbitrary arrest, inhuman
treatment and torture of members of the opposition and civil society
organisations in Zimbabwe.
       ''The EU calls on the government of Zimbabwe, which has an obligation
to ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, to end all
harassment, intimidation and violence against the opposition and civil
society,'' it said.
       The EU last week renewed targeted sanctions against the former
British colony's president and his close associates for one year, but only
after France had won an exception for him to attend the Paris summit.
       The measures include a visa ban, an arms embargo and a freeze on the
assets of senior officials of the Harare government.
       The EU statement said there had been seven arrests of opposition
Movement for Democratic Change members of parliament since the start of this
year and several other MDC supporters and officials had been detained.
       ''There are credible and substantiated reports of the inhuman
treatment and torture of one MDC MP, Mr Job Sikhala, a human rights lawyer,
Mr Gabriel Shyumba, and three members of the Harare combined residents
association and others arrested with them,'' it said.
       It said The 15-nation EU was following closely the trial of MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai on treason charges for allegedly plotting to kill
Mugabe, a charge he denies.
       The EU also urged the MDC to show restraint and called on the
government and opposition to open a serious dialogue.
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Dear Sir,
I am mightily intrigued.  Jacques Chirac, the French President, is holding the European Union (EU) to ransom by trading the EU's acceptance of his invitation to our "President" Mugabe to attend the Franco  - African Summit in Paris in mid February against his almost simultaneous support for renewal of sanctions organised by the EU against Mugabe and his top men.  Doubtless he believes that without Mugabe present at his summit the remaining African leaders will boycott this event.
 
Within the next 2 months a similar event is to be held in Portugal could see a repeat of this clash, this time between Portugal and the EU.
 
Last year a conference to be held in Brussels had to have its venue changed to Africa because the African, Caribbean and Pacific group refused to attend unless two Zimbabwean ministers on the banned EU list were present, and almost a year ago the Commonwealth conference suspended Zimbabwe from its Councils and warned that unless the political situation in this country improved markedly within six months, with a further review after 12 months, Zimbabwe would be fully suspended from membership of the Commonwealth.
 
The Prime Ministers of Australia, Nigeria and South Africa were chosen as the examining group to assess the improvement after six months; with in fact no improvement the Australian Prime Ministers, voted for full suspension after six months, the other two voting for no action until the 12 month review took place.
 
When this question is raised at the next Commonwealth conference I will be the most surprised man in the world if the part-suspension of Zimbabwe does not fall away.
 
The sanctions imposed by the USA, EU and Commonwealth, to my mind have almost no effect on Zimbabwe for its "President" and his hangers-on except in a limited number of cases to stop "le shopping" - which can, of course, still continue on occasion in France.
 
As I see it, ACP leaders, coloured Commonwealth leaders, African leaders, seem to be flexing their muscles against control by what I see as "white" countries - America, the EU, the "white" Commonwealth; an interesting development.   And I sense that Robert Mugabe seems to be developing into, if I may use the expression, the Black Messiah to be followed, supported; idolised?
 
The black leader who stood firm against the White Western World.
 
18 months ago when Britain, New Zealand, Canada and Australia were aligned against the Coloured Commonwealth representatives, I began to wonder how long the Commonwealth would survive.   The present series of clashes is an interesting, and to me disturbing development in world affairs.   And the most disturbing feature of the African leaders' involvement is their evident support of Robert Mugabe "President" of a pariah country, whose handling of his people and their economy is utterly shameful in the eyes of the western world.
 
For me, there is another interesting spin-off.   Where will all the African leaders be when it is begging bowl time, introduction of NEPAD time and how will the donor countries view the situation then?
 
Yours sincerely,
 
P.N.R. Silversides
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FinGaz - letter

      Optimism now a scarce commodity


      2/20/03 2:17:14 AM (GMT +2)

      EDITOR - Trying to be an optimist, I picked up some newspapers and
meticulously looked for any piece of good news in Zimbabwe.

      I was trying to be resilient and forward looking. It did not last
long.
      The headlines were funny to start with but they made me cry in the
end. One by one they appeared and one by one they were bad:
     * Police beat up peace marchers
     * European Union shelves idea of summit
     * Anglo-American bails Zimbabwe
     * Zim elephant kills Motswana "poacher"
     * Inflation reaches 208 percent, no solution in sight
     * Major cement company closes
     * Crop attacked by armyworm
     * Unstable environment worries tourism sector
      lNational Constitutional Assembly members arrested
     * Flower and Olonga mourn the death of democracy
     * Chinotimba's swindles workers at Colgate Palmolive Zimbabwe
     * Political crime on rise in Zimbabwe
     * First National Building Society closes indefinitely
     * Olonga to face disciplinary committee
     * RTG turnover increases by 130 percent
      lThe muddled thinking of a freedom fighter
     * President Robert Mugabe urged to revisit disastrous land reform
     * Zimbabweans want Malawian passports
     * Human Rights NGO condemns torture
     * Zimbabwe human rights lawyer hiding in RSA
     * Mugabe picks on NRZ boss
      lObasanjo now part of the problem
     * US calls for maintenance of smart sanctions
      What made me really sad was that Zimbabweans were now willing to
commit a crime in order to get a Malawian passport. This is a nation that
has sunk to the bottom, then sunk lower.
      "Anglo-American bails government out". In any other country, the
statement would read: "Government bails Anglo-American out"
      What about two people out of 12 million mourning the death of
democracy? Where was everyone else? Only two people have started mourning.
      I spent the rest of the day worrying about humanity and my future.
Optimism is fast becoming a difficult commodity to have. Still, I have the
option not to look for it but I have to look for food, which is much more
scarce.
      I told my hungry self: "The end is nigh my son. Under this
administration, Zimbabwe is losing the will to function."

      Cockroach,
      Harare.
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FinGaz

      No wonder Africa is a basket case


      2/20/03 2:40:11 AM (GMT +2)

      THE letter in which Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo outlines the
situation in Zimbabwe to fellow Commonwealth troika member, Australian Prime
Minister John Howard, has outraged Zimbabweans who have been hit by the
policies of the ruling ZANU PF.

      Having gone through the letter myself, I can only conclude that it is
an insult to the people who are suffering at the hands of the regime
Obasanjo seems so keen to defend.
      The contents of the letter and the reality of the situation in
Zimbabwe are like day and night and have quite frankly left me breathless.
      I am a proud African who wants to see a new culture of leadership
emerging in this so-called "Dark Continent".
      But leaders such as Obasanjo and President Thabo Mbeki of South
Africa, if their approach to the Zimbabwe crisis is anything to go by, are
unlikely to be the statesmen who will spearhead the emergence of this new
political culture.
      If Obasanjo's letter is used as the basis for decisions that could
affect the resolution of the Zimbabwe crisis, then God help us.
      That Mbeki, the leader of the region's economic giant, is reportedly
supportive of the contents of the missive speaks volume about the leadership
in Africa, especially this side of the continent.
      No wonder Africa is a basket case.
      If we can't deal with the relatively simple issues in Zimbabwe, how
can the continent expect to tackle the more complex realities of Burundi,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Uganda and the
Sudan?
      We will continue to be sidelined by investors and donors because we
are unable to say enough is enough, we will no longer tolerate anarchy and
take the necessary steps to deal with the situation.
      The continent will remain a basket case as long the likes of Mbeki and
Obasanjo are regarded as the torchbearers of the so-called "African
Renaissance."
      I have always argued that Mbeki as a leader is over-rated and that
Zimbabweans expect too much from him. It seems I have been proved right.
      President Robert Mugabe and his cronies maintain that the
international community, especially the European Union, takes its decisions
on Zimbabwe based on misinformation and are not aware of the situation on
the ground.
      But that Mbeki, who is one of our closest neighbours, should misread
the situation in this country speaks volumes about the kind of help we can
expect from that quarter.
      If I may ask, where are these changes to the media laws that he keeps
harping about?
      What political freedoms have been granted to the oppressed people of
Zimbabwe?
      The Zimbabwean government has been conspicuously silent about the
promises it is reported to have made to its allies.
      At no time in the past few weeks have the responsible ministries
informed the nation that they are considering amending draconian laws to
ease repression of the media and the general public.
      It seems neither Mbeki nor Obasanjo is seeking solutions to the
Zimbabwean crisis. Their main aim seems to be ensuring Mugabe's continued
stay in power.
      They have unfortunately become part of the problem, one of the
obstacles to the resolution of the economic and political crisis Zimbabwe is
battling with.
      They seem anxious to maintain their blind solidarity and African
brotherhood with Mugabe, unfortunately at the expense of the suffering
people of Zimbabwe.
      The sooner Zimbabweans accept that they should solve their own
problems the better. Clearly none of our neighbours is able or willing to be
of assistance in this matter.
      I welcome Mbeki's statement that Zimbabweans should solve their own
problems internally and not look to outsiders.
      Indeed, waiting for him to take decisive steps that will help to
resolve the crisis is like waiting for Halley's Comet to return in our
lifetime, a scientific impossibility.
      The sooner we realise and admit that we are on our own, the happier
and more effective we will be.
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FinGaz

      Less talk, more action needed


      2/20/03 2:34:56 AM (GMT +2)

      THE government, anxious to show the nation that it is acting to stem
the haemorrhaging of the country's rail utility, has sacked the board of the
National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) in a move that has surprised very few,
characteristics as it is of the state's style of crisis management.

      The government's standard strategy in dealing with its parastatals has
been to largely ignore their inefficiency until such a time as the rot has
sunk so deep that their bungling can no longer be swept under the carpet.
      Indeed, the Ministry of Transport is only acting on the NRZ because a
train disaster that early this month left 50 people dead has publicly
exposed Zimbabwe's railway network for the death trap it is.
      Hence the hurry to heap blame on the NRZ management as other managers
of state entities have been blamed in the past, before they were
unceremoniously fired and replaced with new teams mandated to work miracles
by turning operations around.
      Yet experience has shown that the shuffling of ranks at the Grain
Marketing Board (GMB), the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), Air
Zimbabwe, the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) and indeed the NRZ
itself has failed to resolve the endemic problems that have plagued these
parastatals for years.
      Thus the appointment of new management teams at the GMB has not left
the parastatal in a better position to manage Zimbabwe's grain resources. A
cash-strapped GMB, now the sole trader in wheat and maize, is failing to
stimulate grain production or efficiently distribute farming inputs at a
time more than seven million Zimbabweans are in desperate need of emergency
food aid.
      Air Zimbabwe has a debt that is expected to shoot up from US$10
million to US$21 million before the end of the year and is forecast to post
heavy losses because its salary bill has risen by 300 percent.
      ZESA is facing serious financial constraints because of severe foreign
currency shortages and the government's refusal to allow it to charge
economic power tariffs. Elsewhere in this newspaper today we report that an
Indian bank has offered the power utility a US$350 million loan crucial for
its operations, but only on condition that the government allows ZESA to
increase its charges.
      There is no getting away from the fact that the real tragedy of
Zimbabwe's parastatals is that utilities providing crucial services to the
nation continue to be under the thumb of a government that has spectacularly
mismanaged its own affairs and simply refuses to recognise economic sense.
      Anxious to retain control as its popularity wanes and 22 years of
economic mismanagement catch up with it, the Zimbabwean leadership has
maintained a stranglehold on state companies even though it does not have
the resources to adequately fund them.
      Keen to curry favour with already financially stressed Zimbabweans,
the ruling ZANU PF has eschewed all economic sense for policies that have
brought many state firms to the verge of collapse.
      Sub-economic rates, supposedly aimed at protecting consumers, have
adversely affected not only ZESA but also NOCZIM, which is grappling with a
devastating liquid fuel crisis.
      As eager as the government might be to retain control of state
entities in the "national interest", it must be clear even to ZANU PF that
it cannot continue to merely tinker with serious problems that have
far-reaching consequences for Zimbabwe.
      With Zimbabwe's economic crisis forecast to worsen markedly in 2003,
it is inevitable that the government will this year be confronted with
horrendous problems at the NRZ, ZESA, the GMB, NOCZIM, Air Zimbabwe and
other parastatals.
      Instead of waiting until it is faced with full-blown crises, ZANU PF
should even now be mulling a strategy that will see parastatals being
managed efficiently and along commercial lines, and which allows for the
state's gradual relinquishing of control.
      This is without doubt what is in the nation's best interests.
      Stubbornly holding on to state entities will continue to cost the
fiscus heavily, with serious implications for the budget deficit and
inflation. The GMB alone this year needs $60 billion to cover trading losses
and the remaining parastatals require more than $62 billion.
      The implications for local companies and ultimately ordinary
Zimbabweans also do not bear thinking about.
      Cement maker UNICEM has already warned that unless by the end of next
month Zimbabwe resolves its fuel crisis and coal shortages - partly the
result of problems at the NRZ - it will be unable to restart the production
facility it shut down last week.
      If Zimbabwe's state companies are ever to provide the smooth and
efficient service required by industry and other consumers, the government
must commit itself to real, sustainable and bold solutions instead of its
usual empty words and quick-fix resolutions.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 02/20/03

Zimbabwe's dictator indefensible

It's hard to understand why Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo and South
Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, among the African continent's most respected
leaders, are propping up one of Africa's worst tyrants: Zimbabwe's Robert
Mugabe.

Because of Mugabe's many human rights abuses, including his sabotage of the
opposition in last year's elections, Zimbabwe was suspended last March from
membership in the Commonwealth organization of former British colonies for a
year. But now Mbeki and Obasanjo are campaigning against a plan to extend
the suspension.

While they claim that Mugabe has cleaned up his act, that seems doubtful.
Since last year's election, which he won only through intimidation and
corruption, he has subjected several of his political opponents to sham
trials on dubious charges. Judges, journalists and opposition activists
languish in Zimbabwean jails.

Oddly, Mbeki recently said on South African television that the solution to
the crisis in Zimbabwe lay in the hands of its own people, not outsiders. He
seems to have a serious case of amnesia about the international community's
huge role in ending apartheid rule by the all-white minority in South
Africa.

The president of Zimbabwe is a blight on the African landscape. By circling
the wagons and defending the dictator, Obasanjo and Mbeki (joined, wouldn't
you know it, by the French) have undermined the opposition movement within
Zimbabwe, international efforts toward democracy and their own reputations.

Instead of continuing their support of Mugabe, Obasanjo and Mbeki ought to
be urging the Commonwealth to continue giving Mugabe the cold shoulder.
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Daily News

Feature

      Villagers relate tales of horror

      2/20/2003 12:12:34 AM (GMT +2)


      From Oscar Nkala in Bulawayo

      "VANKOMO, a ndibaba here? Aiwa baba, tamirira one party State.
      Nejongwe, jongwe, Tamirira one party State baba!"


      WHEN Moffat Tshabangu, 80, sang this song to The Daily News at his
home in the Matobo District it was not out of love for the ditty, or for the
political party that uses the cockerel (jongwe) as its symbol. As it does in
most people of his village who sang the song at gunpoint on January 29,
1984, the Zanu PF song invokes the worst memories of Tshabangu's eight
decades of his life. He says: "It was extremely sad but we had to sing. What
can one do when surrounded by gunmen whose penchant for killing has been
shown beyond doubt? Even those of their victims who lie in mass graves would
testify to that if we had a way of making them rise from the dead."

      Tshabangu was relating how in the early 1980s six villagers were
selected for a demonstration on how Zanu PF dealt with people they perceived
to be traitors and supporters of dissidents. The six were publicly executed
by the 5 Brigade, generally called Gukurahundi, as President Mugabe
christened the force that murdered more unarmed and defenceless civilians
than the armed rebels they claimed to be fighting in the early 80s."The
soldiers arrived in four Puma trucks in the afternoon, and within minutes,
all the villagers had been gathered on top of a rocky outcrop. The six were
ordered to lie down and make sure that their heads were lined up, three
people in front of each wheel while the rest of the villagers sang songs
denouncing Joshua Nkomo and PF Zapu. "Everyone was waiting for the trucks to
drive over the sobbing people and crush their skulls." But the villagers
were spared the agony of watching that grisly scene when one of the
soldiers, whom Tshabangu only remembers as having blood-shot eyes, turned
out to be more innovative.
      "
      The soldier, whom I believe was still too young to be involved in that
kind of activity, suggested that all the six should be lined up behind a
nearby marula tree from where he would shoot them because they were wives
and brothers of dissidents. He did precisely that," Tshabangu said as he
gazed into the distant horizon, in deep thought.Although the mass grave has
over the years been covered by a thick undergrowth of creepers, the
villagers still go there once a year to pay their respects.
      The deceased have not been given a decent re-burial. "I witnessed the
horrors of the liberation war, and I do not mind much about them because
that war was necessary. But 20 years after the incident of the mass grave, I
'm yet to find anyone who can tell me why my son died. Or someone to explain
why he is still buried in an unmarked grave at the foot of that mountain,
like a thieving dog. "Mugabe, whose praises we were made to sing while these
people were being murdered, is not saying anything. "The people whom we
regarded as our leaders in PF Zapu, are now living in glass houses, and our
children remain where the killers decided they should remain. Is that the
type of country we fought for?"Tshabangu's problem, though a special case in
the human rights context, is not unique, nor was it an isolated incident in
the Matobo District of Zimbabwe It occurred regionally and affected all the
corners of Matabeleland and many parts of the Midlands in various ways. and
seriously traumatised many people in the entire area.

      Matobo District has still to accept Bhalagwe, a serene hill below
which Mugabe's government established a detention, torture and death centre
in early 1983 when the 5 Brigade, under the command of Perence Shiri,
descended on the district to search for suspected dissidents, their
sympathisers and the rank and file membership of PF Zapu.Many unmarked mass
graves are strewn across the open veld and herdboys occasionally stumble
upon human remains. "The events of those years will forever remain etched in
our minds. It is a story I will tell my grandchildren and
great-grandchildren so that they can fully understand the history of this
country. "All the things they read about in the country's history books are
pure, refined nonsense meant to placate the egos of Zanu PF chefs who sit in
plush offices while we grieve for our beloved sons and daughters who were
killed for being Ndebele." Tshabangu introduced this reporter to two other
elderly men, both of whom narrated the torture they went through at the
hands of the Police Support Unit and the Police Intelligence Service, those
of the army, 5 Brigade, the CIO and the Zanu PF youth brigade.The two men,
Job Sibanda and Kennias Ngwenya, said they lived at the Madwaleni village
near Matopo Mission. They related their tales of horrors, varying in
intensity and brutality, but all having the common inordinate, traumatic
effect.

      After a long account of killings, torture, rapes by both dissidents
and the security forces, Sibanda said: "The stories of those days are better
left to rest, my son. But the only way to make them rest is to placate the
souls of the dead by removing them from the mass graves and re-burying them,
each according to their respective customs. "Every tribe, clan and family
have their own way of burying their dead, and they do not pile them in mass
graves. But as we have already said, who cares to do that?" Ngwenya
expresses another view: "The government or whoever ordered that extreme
brutality on us should apologise if they are still alive. As for those who
participated in the murders, may God make the memories of our dead linger
forever in their minds. " An estimated 20 000 people were killed during the
conflict, which Mugabe still maintains was a legitimate war to crush
insurgents comprising disgruntled Zipra fighters. Mugabe, who insisted that
the conflict was a war situation, backed down from that stance, at the
funeral of former PF-Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo: he declared the killings were
committed during "a moment of madness which shall never be repeated".Senior
government ministers and Zanu PF officials, including Mugabe himself, have
been quoted by the Press as having made statements fanning the flames of
inter-party conflict. In a 1999 report compiled by the Catholic Commission
for Justice and Peace and the Legal Resources Foundation, similar assertions
are made. "Even Prime Minister Mugabe himself stated in April 1983 that they
did not differentiate dissidents from ordinary civilians because they could
not tell who was a dissident and who was not."

      Emmerson Mnangagwa is quoted as telling a Victoria Falls rally in
March 1983 that the government could choose to burn down "all the villages
infested with dissidents . . . the campaign against dissidents cannot
succeed if the infrastructure that nurtures them is not destroyed".The
violence that followed such statements still affects the more than 400 000
people who witnessed the horrors.But as Ngwenya puts it, the horrors of
Gukurahundi will never be forgotten. "How can one forget those extremes of
cruelty, human beings being bayonetted and disembowelled, cases of people
digging their own graves before being battered to death, of babies being
crushed into a bloody, messy pulp with pestles? "Even the apology, which I
believe will do nothing to reduce the trauma, is already late. But
compensation and rehabilitation for the survivors would be good. "A
State-sponsored re-burial of the victims would be more acceptable. What we
do not understand is why the government has chosen to do nothing about us,"
said Ngwenya.
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Independent (UK)

Mugabe hides from protesters in Paris
By Alex Duval Smith in Paris
20 February 2003


Protests in Paris marked Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's first official
visit to Europe for more than a year.

Mr Mugabe flew into the French capital by private plane and checked into the
five-star Plaza Athénée hotel on the day EU travel sanctions were renewed
for a year against him, his wife and about 70 members of the Zimbabwean
leadership.

President Mugabe is among 37 heads of state attending the annual
France-Africa summit. His invitation angered Tony Blair, because it violated
a travel ban imposed at the instigation of Britain.

In what developed into a chase, human rights protesters became the unlikely
co-conspirators of tabloid photographers desperate to get a picture of the
president's wife, Grace, shopping in the capital.

The French government, which reportedly faced a boycott threat from several
African leaders if it did not invite Mr Mugabe, is desperate to play down
the controversy surrounding his attendance.

Pierre-André Wiltzer, the French minister for co-operation, said: "When
there are things to be said, one should say them face to face. And that's
the reason why we were keen for Mr Mugabe to come.''

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the South African Foreign Minister, said: "The
situation in Zimbabwe should have been left to the southern African people
to deal with. But there was colonial baggage attached to it and other
countries felt they had a right to pronounce on what was going on.''

France bargained hard with Britain and the Nordic EU partners last December
to win permission to invite Mr Mugabe.

It agreed to vote in favour of renewing EU travel sanctions only if
President Mugabe was allowed to come to the two-day France-Africa summit
which formally opens this morning.

As a consequence of the sanctions being renewed, the Lisbon EU-Africa
summit, planned for 5 April, has been indefinitely postponed.

French public opinion is indifferent to Mr Mugabe's presence. The targets of
French human rights protesters include President Omar Bongo of Gabon, Denis
Sassou Nguesso of Congo and Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo.

President Eyadema has been in office for 38 years and President Bongo has
long had a prominent role in dubious French business dealings in Africa.
President Sassou-Nguesso has been accused of serious human rights abuses.

Mrs Mugabe, meanwhile, is expected to go shopping. The Zimbabwean leader's
wife, who was a keen shopper at Harrods, is believed to favour the Galeries
Lafayette among Parisian department stores. The security office at the store
said yesterday it did not know whether she had shopped there. There is also
speculation that Mr Mugabe will see doctors in Paris. According to reports,
he receives treatment for his eyes from French doctors. Yesterday, he was
not seen at any of the meetings held by President Jacques Chirac at the
Elysée Palace.

President Chirac says he wants to put Africa at the top of France's
international agenda. His stated interest has been noted by prominent
African governments on the international stage, such as South Africa. France
will chair the next G8 meeting and South Africa hopes it will promote Nepad,
the New Partnership for African Development.

But France's renewed interest in Africa has got off to a faltering start. A
plan for peace in Ivory Coast, signed last month in Paris, has been
unsuccessful amid increasing signs that President Laurent Gbagbo is
unwilling to implement it fully. Mr Gbagbofailed to attend the summit.

M. Chirac hopes for two diplomatic triumphs to emerge out of the summit:
improved relations with Rwanda, which have been chilly since France's
ill-fated Operation Turquoise compounded the country's genocide in 1994; and
a handshake between Morocco's King Mohammed VI, and Abdelaziz Bouteflika,
the Algerian President. Algeria backs guerrillas fighting for independence
from Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.
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Reuters

Chirac's Africa Summit Hit by Anti-Mugabe Protests
Feb. 19
- By Silvia Aloisi

PARIS (Reuters) - A Franco-African summit opens in Paris on Thursday
overshadowed by protests against the presence of Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe and Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo's decision to stay away.

French President Jacques Chirac, keen to cement his reputation as a key
player in diplomacy across Africa, told African leaders on the eve of the
summit he was willing to step up military training and equipment to help
regional peacekeeping operations, officials said.

The summit is being attended by heads of state and representatives from 52
African states -- only Somalia, which has no recognized government, was not
invited.

But Chirac's efforts to win influence across the continent, and not just in
France's former African empire, carried the price of protests by rights
campaigners against Mugabe.

The Zimbabwean leader's invitation to the summit also sparked a diplomatic
row between Britain and France over European Union sanctions against
Zimbabwe.

Mugabe, who made no comment as he arrived at his Paris hotel on Wednesday,
is under fire from Western countries who have imposed travel and economic
sanctions since his re-election a year ago in what they say was a flawed
poll.

He accuses Britain and others of "neo-colonialism" in southern Africa when
they criticize, among other issues, the forced transfer of land from white
farmers to landless blacks.

France asked the EU to allow Mugabe to travel to the two-day summit and got
its way despite objections from Britain, the former colonial power which has
led international criticism of Mugabe's human rights record.


ANTI-MUGABE PROTESTS

British rights activist Peter Tatchell staged an anti-Mugabe protest in
front of the French Justice Ministry, where demonstrators waved banners
saying: "Arrest Mugabe for Torture."

"It's a disgrace," said Tom Spicer of Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC), who said he was tortured by Zimbabwean police
last year.

"Mugabe should be ostracized from the international community," Spicer said.

Ten activists from French gay rights group Act Up were arrested in a
separate protest in front of Mugabe's hotel, a police spokesman said. Mugabe
has likened homosexuals to dogs. Four journalists were briefly detained.

French Cooperation Minister Pierre-Andre Wiltzer, who deals with overseas
aid, justified inviting Mugabe to the summit, saying it would be a platform
to engage him on human rights concerns.

"When you have things to say, you should say them to each other face to
face," Wiltzer said.

Hopes that the summit would tackle a five-month-old uprising in Ivory Coast
dimmed after Gbagbo declined to come in a clear snub to the former colonial
master.

Gbagbo's adviser in Paris, Toussaint Alain, said Ivorians were "shocked and
outraged" at what he described as France's lack of clear commitment to
Gbagbo and a soft stance in dealing with rebels who hold at least half of
the cocoa-producing state.

France has dispatched 3,000 troops to Ivory Coast.

Some 3,000 police have been drafted in to provide tight security at the
summit.

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Daily Telegraph

      Mugabe's visit shames us all
      (Filed: 20/02/2003)


      Seeking to justify their invitation to Robert Mugabe, the French have
spoken of the value of dialogue and the need to contain unrest in the Congo.
Yet the presence of the president at the Franco-African summit which opens
in Paris today has more to do with amour-propre than with reforming Mugabe
or of bringing peace to the vast country at the heart of the continent.

      A refusal to invite the Zimbabwean leader would have led other heads
of state to stay away and thus spoiled an opportunity for France to
demonstrate its ongoing relevance in Africa. That relevance is under
question following the abortive French attempt, involving the deployment of
2,500 troops, to impose a peace agreement between President Laurent Gbagbo
and the rebels in Ivory Coast.

      The Paris summit provides a forum through which Jacques Chirac can
recoup some of the lost prestige which that failure has entailed, not least
by extending French influence into the Commonwealth preserve of southern
Africa.

      Neither of the ostensible reasons for Mugabe's participation is
convincing. His reception in Paris will strengthen his belief that he can
continue to wreck his country with impunity. The French will be conducting a
dialogue with a tyrant deaf to appeals for political liberalisation. Fêting
Mugabe will serve only to strengthen his messianic sense of rectitude. As
for the Congo, Zimbabwean troops have now been withdrawn and Harare's say is
negligible.

      Yet France is not the only country to come out badly from this sordid
episode. Britain, the former metropolitan power, has gone along with a deal
whereby the French have been granted a waiver for their summit in return for
their agreement to a renewal of sanctions on Mugabe and his close
associates.

      The Government should simply have vetoed the proposed exemption and
dared M Chirac to defy his partners. Instead, they have weakly accepted a
trade-off which besmirches the entire union. Over both Iraq and Zimbabwe,
the French have voted for sanctions, then cynically undermined them.

      We do not approve of Peter Tatchell's attempt yesterday to have Mugabe
arrested in Paris: bringing him to justice is a matter for the Zimbabweans.
But, in the face of silence from the British Government, he did at least
draw attention to the shaming presence of a tyrant in Europe.
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE


AI Index: AFR 46/003/2003 (Public)
News Service No: 035
20 February 2003

Embargo Date: 20 February 2003 00:01 GMT

Zimbabwe: While African Heads of State meet in Paris, human rights
violations against members of civil society continue with impunity
As President Mugabe visits Paris to participate in the Franco-African
Summit, Amnesty International is urging French and African heads of state to
seize the opportunity to publicly state that they will not tolerate human
rights violations in Zimbabwe.

Over the last three years, Zimbabwean government security forces and
state-sponsored militia have been responsible for numerous human rights
violations, entrenching a pattern of impunity over the past two decades. The
ultimate responsibility for the deliberate state-sponsored campaign of
harassment and acts of violence, including torture, lies with the Zimbabwean
authorities.

"The cycle of harassment, arrest and torture of those who peacefully express
their opinion, and those in opposition to the government views, must end.
Those responsible for human rights violations and abuse must be brought to
justice," the organization said.

Since the beginning of 2003, state repression of human rights defenders and
opposition MPs has again escalated, with the sole aim to silence dissent.

On 22 January the Amani Trust, a human rights organization which works with
victims of torture, received threats to fire-bomb its offices. The
organization had already suspended most of its activities in Zimbabwe
because of fears for the safety of its employees.

On 15 January Job Sikhala, Movement for Democratic Change Member of
Parliament for St Mary's, also in Harare, Gabriel Shumba, a lawyer with the
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Charles Mutama, Bishop Shumba and Taurai
Magaya were arrested by the police on charges of trying to 'subvert a
constitutional government'. Medical evidence presented in court on 17
January indicated that the five men had been beaten on the soles of their
feet and that Job Sikhala and Gabriel Shumba had been tortured with
electricity.

With President Mugabe's presence in Paris, the French government has an
opportunity to show its commitment to the Guidelines to EU policy towards
third countries on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
and punishment, which state that "the EU's objective is to influence third
countries to take effective measures against torture and ill-treatment and
to ensure that the prohibition against torture and ill-treatment is upheld."

At the level of African regional human rights instruments, Amnesty
International underlines that Article 5 of the African Charter to which
Zimbabwe is party, prohibits torture, inhumane or degrading punishment or
treatment. In addition, the African Commission Guidelines and Measures for
the Prohibition of Torture, Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment in Africa state that there should be no immunity from prosecution
for nationals suspected of torture and that those responsible for acts of
torture or ill-treatment be subject to legal process.

Amnesty International calls on the African Heads of State and the French
government to take all necessary steps to ensure that they and the
Zimbabwean authorities live up to their responsibilities under
theseguidelines.

"African leaders must take a more public stand against state sponsored
repression and violence in Zimbabwe. A stronger stand is vital to ending
impunity in Zimbabwe and to protecting the human rights of all Zimbabwean
citizens," Amnesty International said.
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FinGaz

      Waiting for divine intervention

      By Farai Mutsaka Senior Reporter
      2/20/03 3:33:29 AM (GMT +2)

      CLUTCHING a bag of maize meal and a packet of kapenta (dried fish) he
has just received from a local non-governmental organisation, the only thing
that keeps former farm labourer Vinyu Banda going is the hope that one day,
his former employer will call him back to work.


      The 30-year-old Banda, whose family is originally from Malawi, was
born on Rainham farm on the outskirts of Harare and has known no other home.
      Until his removal from the property by war veterans who began
occupying white-owned farms in February 2000, he fully expected to live out
the rest of his days at Rainham and has had problems adjusting to life
outside the farm compound.
      Banda, who now lives in an abandoned squatter camp in Harare's
high-density suburb of Dzivarasekwa, told the Financial Gazette: "I grew up
at the farm and the only job I have known is that of being a farm worker.
      "I am hoping that the farmer will return to the farm one day so that
we will work again. My livelihood is at the farm so I should go back one
day."
      But agricultural experts say that the chances of Banda and others like
him returning to their homes in the near future are very thin as the
government forges ahead with its fast-track land resettlement programme.
      The agrarian reforms have led to the take over of at least 90 percent
of white-owned land for the resettlement of black small holder and aspiring
commercial farmers.
      About 350 000 people were estimated to work on commercial farms before
war veterans and other ruling ZANU PF supporters began occupying land and
before the government embarked on its agrarian reforms.
      Officials in unions representing farm workers say only 10 percent of
these former employees have benefited from the land reform programme,
leaving the rest out in the cold.
      "The situation is very bad out there," said Gertrude Hambira,
secretary of the General Plantation and Allied Workers' Union of Zimbabwe
(GAPWUZ).
      "Some workers are still on the farms while others have been chased
away by settlers. Our membership has also gone down considerably from about
150 000 in 2000 to the current 50 000," she added.
      She said the worsening plight of former farm workers had forced GAPWUZ
to approach district administrators to plead for the resettlement of the
displaced labourers and their families.
      According to the latest report of the United States-based Famine Early
Warning Systems Network, the number of farm workers and their dependents
affected by the fast-track resettlement programme has risen sharply from 488
000 in August last year to one million in December.
      Very few of the workers have received compensation from their former
employers, many of who have left Zimbabwe to farm in neighbouring countries.
      Others have ventured into gold panning to make a living and the rest
have joined the thousands of Zimbabweans internally displaced by political
violence in the past three years.
      Joseph Magaramo-mbe, director of the Farm Community Trust of Zimbabwe
(FCTZ), a non-governmental orga-nisation assisting displaced farm labourers,
said: "From a visit we undertook with parliamentarians recently, we noted
that over 70 percent of them (farm workers) are still living in areas
surrounding the former commercial farming settlements. But they are
redundant and neglected.
      "Demand for labour has become very low and short-term and this has had
serious effects. Children are no longer going to school and they are
malnourished. The situation is bleak."
      But attempts by some farm workers to appeal to the government to be
included in the resettlement programme have been unsuccessful.
      Simon Mapfumo, a 60-year old former farm worker from Marondera told
the Financial Gazette he was part of a delegation that had approached
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made last April and was rebuked.
      Mapfumo, who now lives in a Ruwa camp run by the Zimbabwe Community
Development Trust (ZCDT), said: "I went to see Made with three other workers
as part of a delegation in April last year. He told us that we would have to
find somewhere to stay as government would not entertain farm workers who
didn't join the land invasions.
      "I am now appealing to good Samaritans to help me with money and some
training so that I can embark on projects to feed my family."
      There was no comment from the Ministry of Agriculture on the matter
this week.
      However, non-governmental organisations have stepped in to provide
emergency relief to former workers, many of who have flocked to urban areas
in search of employment and assistance.
      The FCTZ, for instance, is feeding about 160 000 children whose
families have been affected by the land reform programme, while the ZCDT
provides food and shelter for former farm workers and their families.
      But without a concerted national response to the developing
humanitarian crisis, NGOs are unable to adequately cater for the displaced
families.
      It is difficult for the former farm workers to secure work because of
Zimbabwe's economic crisis, which has led to several company closures and
increased unemployment.
      Food shortages resulting from drought and the government's agrarian
reforms, as well as the escalating cost of basic foodstuffs, are also
hampering NGO efforts to feed displaced people.
      Because most farmers resettled under the agrarian reforms do not have
the resources to grow enough to feed their families or Zimbabwe as a whole,
the food insecurity situation is expected to worsen this year.
      Weather experts have also warned that southern Africa could be hit by
another drought for the second successive year.
      Tim Neill, the head of the ZDCT, said: "This thing (land reform) has
brought misery on a massive scale. We have got vast tracts of land that are
not being farmed yet people could still have been employed there."
      Eighteen year-old Pongolani, who is of Mozambican origin and who once
dreamed of becoming foreman at the Mashonaland West farm he was forced to
abandon, added: "I don't have an ID so I can't even look for employment in
the industries.
      "For the past year, I have been struggling with life and it doesn't
seem to be getting better. At least when I was working I would get my own
money. Right now I don't even have a cent in my pocket. I rely on well
wishers for survival but they can't give me everything I want. At the
moment, I can't even afford a pair of slippers."
      The barefoot Pongolani told the Financial Gazette: "I keep hoping
everyday, but I don't know what tomorrow holds."
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FinGaz

      Spotlight falls on govt control of parastatals

      By MacDonald Dzirutwe Business News Editor
      2/20/03 3:35:37 AM (GMT +2)

      AS the government prepares to restructure the National Railways of
Zimbabwe (NRZ), analysts this week warned that the country could no longer
afford half measures in the management of its parastatals, which will this
year cost the fiscus more than $122 billion.


      The Ministry of Transport announced at the weekend that it had
dissolved the board of the NRZ and was taking over the running of the rail
utility "so that it could be restructured and repositioned to address the
challenges facing the rail sector".
      The sacking of the board follows the head-on collision this month of
two NRZ trains, which caused the death of 50 people and is blamed on
dilapidated rail infrastructure.
      Local analysts warned that unless the government made an attempt to
come to grips with the deep-seated problems that had contributed to the Dete
train disaster, installing a new board at the NRZ would merely buy a little
time for a company on the verge of collapse.
      The analysts said a thorough analysis by the Ministry of Transport
would indicate the need for the government to commercialise and possibly
eventually privatise the rail utility, an exercise that should have been
undertaken several years ago.
      "I am afraid there is no middle of the road approach for these
parastatals," University of Zimbabwe business studies lecturer Anthony
Hawkins told the Financial Gazette.
      "You either privatise or suffer the consequences of not privatising,
because the more you keep them, the more they (parastatals) will bleed the
economy."
      Some of the state entities that have continued to drain the economy
through their losses include the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), NRZ, Air
Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO), Wankie Colliery
Company Limited, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) and the
National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM).
      The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation last made a profit in 1980,
while the Cold Storage Company, public transporter Zimbabwe United Passenger
Company, the Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency and Agribank have continued
to drain resources from Treasury.
      In his 2003 national budget speech last November, Finance Minister
Herbert Murerwa indicated that the total contingent liabilities of Zimbabwe'
s parastatals, excluding the GMB, were in excess of $62 billion.
      The GMB alone had trading and accounting losses amounting to more than
$60 billion, he said.
      The parastatals also owe more than US$755 million to international
creditors and are unable to repay these loans because they are loss making
and because of Zimbabwe's severe foreign currency shortages.
      Economists said the parastatals' inability to operate efficiently and
profitably could mostly be attributed to their continued control by the
government, which is unable to adequately capitalise them and has given them
little autonomy.
      They said not only did the state entities suffer from
under-capitalisation and serious hard cash shortages, they had also been
hard hit by political interference.
      They pointed out that some management teams running state companies
were appointed because of their allegiance to the ruling ZANU PF instead of
their ability and had no power to make independent decisions for the good of
the parastatals.
      For instance, investigations undertaken at ZISCO by a parliamentary
portfolio committee recently found that the management of the company did
not seem to have any idea how to run the steel producer.
      The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed Wankie Colliery Company board was
recently also prevented by the government from appointing a managing
director of its choice.
      Several state entities, including ZESA and NOCZIM, cannot increase
their rates without Cabinet approval, resulting in them charging prices that
do not reflect their escalating operating costs.
      Analysts said as a result of all these factors, most of the
parastatals were inefficient and their infrastructure was run down, but
could not be repaired or replaced because of lack of resources.
      Zimbabwe's economic crisis has compounded the huge problems faced by
the parastatals, which are unable to secure local or foreign investment.
      Hawkins pointed out: "Nobody in their right sense will lend to these
guys when they are making such huge losses."
      Kingdom Financial Holdings analyst Witness Chinyama added: "There is
no one who is willing to give these companies foreign currency because they
will be unable to pay."
      The analysts said the government, which in 2001 forked out $23 billion
in subsidies to parastatals, could not afford to continue subsiding the
state companies because it did not have the resources and such a strategy
would hamper efforts to attract investment.
      "Subsidising is beyond the reach of the government and in the process,
we are actually damaging the chances of the parastatals' privatisation,"
consultant economist John Robertson told the Financial Gazette.
      "When the government finally decides on privatisation, there would not
be any takers," he added.
      Commentators said the government had to adopt a phased strategy that
would first result in state entities being allowed to run autonomously and
commercially to improve their efficiency and financial performance.
      They said this would entail the companies being allowed to make
decisions that would be in their own best interests and also to charge
economic rates reflecting rising inflation and operating costs, despite the
impact this would have on consumers.
      If the parastatals were given a chance to improve their performance,
they would have a better chance of attracting investment when they
eventually privatised, the analysts said, adding that the failure to
privatise the state firms would be disastrous to the economy.
      Already, the failure to speedily resolve problems at Wankie Colliery
has led to massive coal shortages that have forced the country's major
cement producers to suspend production.
      Wankie, which provides coal for the cement, sugar, tobacco and steel
industries among others, is operating at 50 percent of capacity because it
has no forex to import spares for its dilapidated machinery.
      Zimbabwe's coal shortages are also partly the result of capacity
problems at the NRZ, which is unable to provide sufficient wagons to ferry
whatever coal is available to industry.
      Bulawayo-based cement maker UNICEM indicated last week that unless the
coal, foreign exchange and fuel shortages - partly the result of failure by
NOCZIM to secure forex - are resolved, it would be unable to reopen its
production plant, resulting in the loss of several jobs.
      ZESA meanwhile has also warned that it could be forced to resume load
shedding if its financial situation worsens, which would adversely affect
already struggling local companies.
      Economists said the government could no longer argue that it was
reluctant to privatise its parastatals because it was in the country's best
interests to keep them under its control.
      They pointed out that the virtual collapse of some state companies
meant that they were no longer effectively serving the nation, only
political interests.
      The analysts gave the example of the GMB, saying the fact that the
parastatal had no strategic food reserves to feed the nation in times of
drought was a clear indication of its failure to play the role of a
strategic state entity.
      "We should not mistake national and strategic interests with political
interests," an economic commentator with a Harare commercial bank said.
      "Quite frankly, we have not seen how strategic these parastatals are.
All they do is continuously chew up public funds."
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FinGaz

      Limpopo Transfrontier Park: a model for Africa?


      2/20/03 3:32:39 AM (GMT +2)

      WASHINGTON - The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, spanning the
borders of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, is the largest and most
ambitious effort in Africa to combine conservation, environmental
protection, tourism and economic development.



      If successful, the Great Limpopo Park will be the world's largest game
park, a huge 3.5 million hectare area incorporating what is today South
Africa's Kruger National Park, Mozambique's Limpopo National Park and the
Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe.
      But the challenges are immense. The presidents of the three countries
signed the treaty formally establishing this new super park in December 2002
and several kilometres of fencing between the Mozambican and South African
side have been symbolically cut down. But the park itself will probably not
expand to its full boundaries for at least five years.
      Nonetheless, the new park is already being offered as a model for
future development projects in Africa.
      "The park will open to the world the biggest ever animal kingdom,
increasing foreign investment into the region and creating much-needed jobs
for our people, further acting as a symbol of peace and unity for the
African people," says Mohammed Valli Moosa, the South African Environment
Minister. South Africa is actively promoting the establishment of several
"peace parks" across frontiers in southern Africa.
      The potential benefits of the new transfrontier park for the wildlife
population, for the people who live in the area and for the region as a
whole are tremendous, agrees Eddie Koch, a director of Mafisa Research and
Planning, a South African agency specialising in ecotourism.
      But in an interview with allAfrica, Koch points out that before the
Great Limpopo Park can become a model, the governments involved will have to
overcome a series of serious obstacles: There is still no plan for how to
deal with the 20 000 Mozambicans living within the existing borders of the
park, the plans for economic development projects to benefit local
communities have not been developed and the political turmoil in Zimbabwe is
actively destroying the wildlife population that was to be preserved by this
park.
      When the three presidents signed the treaty formally establishing this
park in December 2002, there was a lot of talk about the potential for
economic development and the other great social benefits of the park. But
from an ecological point of view is this huge park a good idea?
      The theory is a good one from a number of ecological points of view.
It massively expands the protected areas in southern Africa and converts
small, fenced-in protected areas into large eco-systems. So that is, in
theory, a good objective.
      In particular, it makes a huge difference for the Kruger National Park
in terms of elephant management. The Kruger Park is facing a massive dilemma
currently: how to deal with a very quickly growing elephant population. Its
elephant herd has grown from 7 000 to 11 000 over the last couple of years
because Sanpark, the South African government conservation agency, about
three years ago took a decision to stop culling.
      They used to shoot a few hundred elephants a year in order to keep the
population. It was a very, very controversial exercise. It involved an
undoubted amount of cruelty to elephants, and the herds from which they were
shot, and it was never scientifically proven that the figure of 7 000 was
the correct population for Kruger. So there was a huge outcry and Sanpark
decided to stop culling.
      One reason for the Transfrontier Park was to expand the amount of
range land for elephants. So that the elephants could in fact roam freely
rather than reach a population size that would force the park authorities to
take this very controversial practice to keep the population down.
      But it sounds as if all that will achieve is to buy time. Won't the
herd keep growing and eventually become too large even for this larger park?
      This buys a couple of decades. In the meantime there are a whole set
of other programmes underway to deal with elephant population. It is a big
problem for African protected areas, southern African protected areas in
particular.
      So there are definite advantages in ecological terms.
      There are undoubted advantages in ecological terms. But remember that
in fact this Transfrontier Park is not a reality. All that has happened is
that a couple of kilometres of fencing have been taken down.
      It is a symbolic gesture that the governments have taken, and a treaty
has been signed. Even on the ecological side, there are massive sets of
issues that need to be dealt with properly before the park can become a
reality.
      For example, there is a big and undecided issue about where to place
the fence. If the fence between Kruger and Mozambique is going to come down,
is there going to be another fence on the Mozambican side of the big park
running down the Limpopo river? The western boundary of the new super park,
the Transfrontier Park, is the Limpopo River in Mozambique, which is
unfenced.
      On the ecological front there are huge problems with fencing because
the animals, when the park is repopulated, will require access to that
river. As of yet there is no answer about whether or not the park will be
fenced, or left in an open system.
      It is important to remember that while the objective is noble, the
effort required to make that a reality is huge.
      Do you think they can have the first part of the park in place by the
end of 2003?
      I don't think so. In fact there was an attempt to translocate some
elephants around the middle of last year. That has been put on hold because
the planners of the initiative, the three governments and the Transfrontier
Park foundation, neglected to consult with the people living in the park who
justifiably complained bitterly that, all of a sudden, elephants were likely
to be in their backyards and they had to deal with them. They complained and
the ministers, the South African minister in particular, put a hold on the
elephant transfer.
      What they have done is built a big enclosure, about 30 000 hectares
and are slowly moving smaller species - planes game, zebras, warthogs - to
that large enclosure on the Mozambique side. But that enclosure should not
be confused with the big park. The Kruger is 2 million hectares. But it is
symbolically important, because it is the beginning of a relocation of game
back into Mozambique where these species have been decimated.
      So the framework conditions have been set, the treaty and the set of
cooperative management practices have been put in place. But any notion that
we would have the biggest game park in the next five years is fanciful.
      What kinds of other issues must they deal with?
      These are huge issues, just on the ecological side. And so far we're
excluding Zimbabwe. We are just talking about South Africa and Mozambique.
Zimbabwe presents a massive set of biological, ecological, political and
social problems.
      The reality on the ground in Zimbabwe is that land invasions are
causing the opposite of what the Park was intended for. There is a massive,
massive wave of poaching and destruction of wildlife in the very area that
should link the Gonarezhou Park to the Kruger Park. And that is directly
related to the Zimbabwe government's policy of condoning land invasions.
      There is a huge paradox at play: while the Zimbabwe government has
signed a treaty to initiate the Transfrontier Park, it is promoting a land
redistribution policy on the ground which is undermining the underlying
themes behind the park being created.
      Some estimates are that up to half of the Zimbabwe wildlife population
has been killed since the land invasions began. That is an estimate put
forward by the Zimbabwean Commercial Farmers' Union, which does represent
white farmers who are losing their land, so it may or may not be an
objective analysis. But it is undoubtedly the case that the wildlife
population is being affected.
      That is happening in the very area where this so-called peace park is
being planned. For me and a number of commentators, this calls into question
the South African government's policy toward Zimbabwe. Where, on the one
hand, it is very keen to see the establishment of the Transfrontier Park, on
the other hand it has this policy of appeasement toward the Zimbabwean
government.
      South Africa's policy toward the Zimbabwean government and Robert
Mugabe is undoubtedly at odds with its policy toward the Transfrontier Park.
It is a contradiction.
      What are the major steps that need to be taken in the next five years
in order to make this park a reality?
      On the ecological side there are a number of other problems which one
cannot go into. But one of them is that there is the tuberculosis epidemic
in Kruger amongst the buffalo population as well as other species. There is
a huge question about whether opening up the boundary doesn't result in that
epidemic spreading. That is a huge, intractable ecological issue.
      And then there are things like how the prevention of foot-and-mouth
disease is going to happen. These species - buffalo and others - carry
foot-and-mouth. But those things can be solved with appropriate fencing.
      I don't want to lose track of a very important issue that you have
written about in the past: do these super-parks offer a model not only of
conservation management or ecological development, but also for sustainable
development?
      The social side is really a critical one. Let me say that I think on
the South African and Zimbabwean side, it is accepted by the rural
communities that the park has massive potential in terms of local economic
development. Tourism is a hugely growing industry. It has taken a knock in
Zimbabwe because of the political crisis, but if that resolves itself it is
highly likely that Zimbabwe will come into its own.
      Certainly, the Sengwe people who live on the Zimbabwe side of the
border are very supportive of the Transfrontier Park if it is done the right
way. So are many of the people living on the South African side, on the
borders of Kruger Park.
      In fact, there is a group of people called the Makulekes. This group
of people, you can call them a tribe because they are a cohesive group under
a chief, were given land back in the Kruger Park which is right in the heart
of the Transfrontier park. And they are running a huge number of very, very
innovative programmes around tourism conservation and local development
which are an example of what can be done if people are dealt with properly.
      On the Mozambican side there have been a lot of problems due the very
real lack of planning and consultation with different sectors of the
population. And those problems are quite well summarised in the Park for the
People report. There is now a major effort to solve that problem and to
bring those people more into the planning process. I think there is now both
the will and signs of the capacity being developed to consult the
Mozambicans as well.
      So could this park be a model for combining conservation efforts and
efforts to promote sustainable development?
      The park has huge potential in terms of sustainable development in
what are very remote parts of southern Africa which are very arid savannah
regions without any other real alternatives. Agriculture is marginal and
there is no industry. These are really the poorest parts of southern Africa
that do stand to benefit if this is done the right way.
      This involves something that is basically a human rights issue. It
involves giving local residents rights and respecting them. It involves
giving them land rights and small commercial rights so that they can use the
park and its resources to create an industry that they work in but also that
they own from the beginning. If it is done that way then I am optimistic
that the park will have major benefits for the future.
      People will be living within the boundaries of the park?
      That is one of the questions. That is why I cautioned against the
notion that this park exists. There are 20 000 people living in Mozambique
over whose heads that statement that you just made is a question. Nobody
knows whether they will stay there or whether they will move and with what
kind of compensation. That question is unanswered. And I fail to see how you
can talk about a Transfrontier Park when there are 20 000 people living in
the area and there is, as of yet, no policy about what is going to happen to
them.
      That is the core question - the welfare of those 20 000 people who, as
the Wits report points out, only recently returned to their ancestral lands
from which they were dislocated by war. What happens to them should be the
very first planning issue. And it is very late (to be having that
discussion).
      Are there people on the South African side living within the
boundaries of the park?
      No.
      And on the Zimbabwe side?
      On the Zimbabwean side there are. But there is a corridor winding down
the western Zimbabwean border with Mozambique called the Sengwe corridor
which is owned by the Sengwe people. They own it but they are willing to
keep it free of settlements.
      What about the idea that this park will provide economic development
to the people living in the general area around the new park?
      While the South African government and the environment minister have
committed themselves to creating models that work in terms of sustainable
development around the Transfrontier Park, there are very real signs and
lots of evidence to show that on the ground, the minister's officials are
botching things up.
      In fact, there is no real commercial and tourism plan to promote local
economic development. Where efforts have been made to alleviate poverty,
these have been done in an incredibly bad way. So the minister is
well-intentioned and has very good policies and he has put the framework in
place, but he is now going to have to concentrate on delivering the goods on
the ground if this park is to become a model. It could become a model, but
there is a huge amount of work that needs to be done in terms of creating
sustainable forms of economic activity, primarily around tourism, that
benefit the rural poor. So far, the performance has been very, very poor.
      If all three governments want this park to become a model for the rest
of the world, I would say they need to develop a local economic programme
that works, with examples that are a shining success; they need to solve the
problem of the 20 000 people in Mozambique who are vulnerable and poor,
amongst the poorest of the poor; and somebody, somehow has to tackle the big
crisis in Zimbabwe. Otherwise this park won't be what it could be.
      Where else are cross-border parks with similar issues emerging in
southern Africa?
      There is another one across the Northern KwaZulu Natal-southern
Mozambique border. There is one between South Africa and Lesotho, the
Maloti-Drakensberg.
      There is a very big one that already exists, because it is a big open
system between South Africa and Botswana, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier park.
That is a very interesting one.
      There is a very big one call Uzokti, the Upper Zambezi-Okavango
Tourism Initiative. This is a very ambitious one - it takes in the Caprivi
strip, the Okavango Delta, and the Zambezi Valley on the Zimbabwe side. It
is huge and this is the heart of African unspoiled bush. - allAfrica.com
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      DRC's child soldiers: outsize uniforms and lethal AK-47 rifles


      2/20/03 3:26:14 AM (GMT +2)

      BUNIA - Eddie Ndichu is short, skinny and a soldier. He is also 12
years old.
      For two years, Eddie, in army fatigues which are too large for him and
a rifle slung over his fragile shoulderblades, has been fighting alongside
rebels whose war has ripped Congo apart.

      "I prefer my life in the army," Eddie said, but he could scarcely hold
back his tears as he recalled how tribal militias killed his parents during
clashes in 2000.
      "I hid under the bed and saw every moment of their death," he said,
although he remembers little of the detail except the sound of rain and the
darkness of the night outside.
      After months sleeping on the streets of Bunia, in the northeast of the
vast central African country, Eddie joined the rebel forces. The only
remnant of his past life is the silver-plated watch that belonged to his
father.
      Bunia lies in Ituri, a region of dense forests east of the Ugandan
border torn between rival rebel forces and rag-tag militias, fighting for
control of land and the lucrative minerals hidden in the rich red soil.
      Fighting between the Hema and Lendu tribes has often troubled the
region. Thousands have been killed by combatants wielding machetes, spears
and arrows.
      Tensions between numerous rebel groups in the area have added to the
chaos, bringing guns, rapes, looting and even cannibalism to the fray.
      Child soldiers have been drafted into the conflict all over the east
of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but aid workers say Ituri is the worst
affected region.
      Children as young as six have reportedly been dragged onto the
battlefield, humanitarian workers say.
      Baggy uniforms
      There are dozens of child soldiers wandering around Bunia's dusty
streets, army fatigues sagging round their ankles and rifles or sub-machine
guns weighing on their little arms.
      Most seem brainwashed, happy and proud of their new status.
      "I enjoy being with the Afandes (rebel commander)," said one
15-year-old who works as an escort to one of the rebel leaders.
      Though the rebels deny they are forcibly recruiting children, one UN
official in Bunia told Reuters that as much as 70 percent of the rebel
forces were below the age of 18.
      "This is the most affected province in the Democratic Republic of
Congo," a social worker in Bunia said. "Figures show that the average age of
the soldiers here is 16 years old."
      Djuma Baudoin, a coordinator for the SOS humanitarian organisation in
Bunia, said the rebels like the malleability of their youngest recruits.
      "They have no other interests, they never disobey their commanders,"
he said. "Many of them die on the battlefields, because they are sent ahead.
Others are traumatised by what they see during clashes."
      Ethnic tensions
      The ethnic tensions between Hemas, who live primarily from crops, and
Lendus who rely on both cattle and cultivation, have worsened the situation,
with some parents forcing their children to take up arms and fight for their
tribe.
      "Some parents find it a tribal obligation for children to become
tribal warriors," Baudoin said. "There are thousands of children within
these tribes who are also armed."
      The Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) rebel group that controls parts
of Bunia blames non-governmental organisations for failing to take care of
the many orphans in the region.
      UPC President Thomas Lubanga said the loss of parents pushes many
young children to join his forces.
      "I asked Save the Children to assist us but little has been done," he
said.
      Despite peace deals aiming to try to end the war that has ravaged
Congo since 1998, the conflict in Ituri is far from over. Fighting
intensified in the last months of 2002, and about 150 000 civilians have
fled their homes.
      The United Nations has accused both Rwanda and Uganda - two of many
foreign armies sucked into Congo's war - of building up troops in
mineral-rich Ituri, despite promises to withdraw.
      Uganda has promised to leave by March 20. Rwanda denies its soldiers
have returned.
      Aid workers say the rampant poverty in the region will continue to
push children to arms as long as there is a war to be fought.
      Having dropped out of school, their parents too poor to put food on
their tables, a life in rebel ranks is understandably attractive. Many will
contract sexually transmitted diseases, most will be traumatised.
      "Life here is a catastrophe," Baudoin said. "We cannot do much in
terms of helping these child soldiers. We can only hope the security
situation will improve before we can help in demobilising them."
      - Reuter

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FinGaz

      Soldiers harass Fingaz sub-editor

      Staff Reporter
      2/20/03 3:42:58 AM (GMT +2)

      FINANCIAL Gazette sub-editor Taungana Ndoro was last Sunday victimised
by soldiers guarding the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)'s Mbare
studios, who forced him to roll on the tarmac and in a pool of mud.


      Ndoro said he was waiting near the broadcasting station for his wife
when a group of about six armed soldiers seized him and led him to their
post at the studios.
      "They asked me where I worked and when I told them I worked for the
Financial Gazette, one of them grabbed me by the collar and dragged me to
their post,' he said.
      "The soldiers then threw me into a pool of mud and ordered me to roll
in there and poured water on me saying this was my punishment for selling
out the country."
      The soldiers then ordered the mud-soaked Ndoro to roll on the tarmac
until he was dry. They also ordered him to simulate sexual activity while
they watched, the sub-editor said.
      He was released an hour later, after being sternly warned that he was
now under surveillance.
      The soldiers boasted to Ndoro that they had permission to punish
"people like (him)".
      Ndoro said: "They told me that I could report to wherever I wanted
because they had been given the permission to deal with people like me by
(President Robert) Mugabe.
      "I would have reported the case at the nearby police station but I was
afraid that these people work in cahoots," he added.
      Army spokesman Lameck Mutanda could not be reached for comment on the
matter.
      But state security organs including the army, police and Zimbabwe's
spy agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation, have been accused on
several occasions of torturing and victimising journalists, civic society
leaders and members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
      The government denies the charges.
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