The Times
July 16, 2005
No work, no
schools and the furniture sits outside: this is life
in Mugabe's transit
camp
By Jan Raath
Our correspondent goes inside
the only camp provided for
millions thrown out of their
homes
ESNAT MIDZI has spent the past two months
living in a tiny
shelter made from old fertiliser sacks stretched over
rough-hewn branches.
This is President Mugabe's answer to the
sturdy two-roomed brick
house she used to own in Hatcliffe, a Harare
township now reduced to rubble
by Mr Mugabe's "Operation Murambatsvina" or
"Clean up Trash".
Home for Esnat and 5,000 others is
now the Caledonia transit
camp ten miles east of the capital, to which The
Times managed to gain
access this week. Journalists and the taking of
photographs are strictly
forbidden.
It was a desperate
sight. The densely-packed camp occupies about
five acres of steeply sloping
land bulldozed to clear the bush. The
Government has provided no water, no
electricity, no sanitation - nothing
except the land, which it seized from a
white farmer.
Shacks made from ropedtogether plastic
sheeting, plywood,
corrugated iron or any other scrap material - even an
upside-down boat -
stand against each other in unequal
rows.
Around each shack are wardrobes, lounge suites,
mattresses and
other possessions salvaged from the demolitions, bundled up
in plastic and
piled high. There are heaps of firewood and broken building
material.
Cooking fires smoulder. When the wind blows, sand gets into
everything.
"At night you hear the children coughing," said
Partson Mkondo.
"You breathe in dust and smoke while you are sleeping. The
toilets are
messy, and there are people with diarrhoea."
The camp has 44 pit latrines, one for every 114 people. The only
sources of
water are large green bowsers supplied by the United Nations
Children's
Fund, along with blankets and plastic sheeting for shelter.
The children have no schools and few of the displaced men have
work. Aid
agencies are the main source of food.
"People are living in
the most appalling and shocking
conditions," said the Rev Ron Steele, a
member of a delegation from the
South African Council of Churches (SACC)
which visited the camp this week.
"The church leaders are horrified. It's
one of the most inhumane conditions
that people can be subjected
to."
The Mugabe regime claimed yesterday that the delegation,
led by
the heads of South Africa's Anglican and Catholic churches, was a
clandestine operation disguised as a fact-finding mission and bankrolled by
Britain to undermine the Government.
The SACC estimates
that about a million have been made homeless
by the mass demolitions.
Caledonia is the only transit camp that the
Government has provided. The
rest of the displaced are either living in the
ruins of their homes or
trying to return to their family villages. Aid
agencies estimate that most
of those in Caledonia have no rural homes to go
to. The rest cannot face the
grim poverty and looming famine of the tribal
areas.
"This is my third month at Caledonia," said Harrington Phiri, a
signwriter.
"I came (to Zimbabwe) from Malawi in 1968. The Government
destroyed my home
and they say you must go back to the rural areas. I don't
have anywhere else
to go. They tell us nothing. I cannot plan anything."
Mr
Mugabe denies that a major demolition has taken place and
says 5,000 houses
will be ready by the end of next month.
"There will be joy on
the part of those who did not have homes,"
he said on Thursday. At the same
time, the Government admitted that it had
laid foundations for only 140 new
homes and had money to build only a
fraction of the
target.
"They have no idea what to do with the people,"
Russell Botman,
the president of the SACC, said.
Esnat
Midzi was drinking tea without milk or sugar. She ate a
porridge of pulses
distributed by aid agencies. "No money," she said. There
is no public
transport to Caledonia and she cannot get to work. Her children
have been
out of school since they got here. At her feet a young woman lies
coughing.
"I had a two-room house," she said. "I had real
plans, not fake
plans. They were approved by the council. Mugabe gave us the
plot to build
on. Now they have destroyed my house. Why? I can only feel
anger for people
like this."
URGENT COMMUNIQUÉ TO ALL COMMERCIAL FARMERS AND AGRICULTURAL
TITLE
HOLDERS.
The JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE TRUST is concerned by
recent press reports and
the resultant false perceptions emanating from them,
at rural and urban
grass roots levels, that farmers are being invited to
return to their
farms, and are infact taking up such offers. Nothing could
be further from
the truth.
The JAG TEAM have followed up on numerous
rumours of this occurring in
various commercial farming areas and can find no
evidence whatsoever to
substantiate such a move, in good faith and formally
by the authorities.
However, what has emerged is, unofficial, disjointed
approaches being made,
non transparently, by individuals, not prepared to
officially identify
themselves. These could be opportunists trying to jump
on a non-existent
band wagon or, as seems more likely, undercover operatives
testing the
commercial farmer waters and thereby fuelling the
propaganda.
Against a background of continuing and intensifying pressure
on those few
farmers still in-site to "get off", coupled to the fact of
actual evictions
occurring almost daily, it is absurd to give any credence or
mileage to the
propaganda relating to farmers returning to their farms.
Farmers are
cautioned to see this for what it is, yet another propaganda
ruse.
It has however, come to the JAG TRUST'S attention that some in-situ
farmers
have, unwittingly, accepted the GOZ offer of 99 year lease in
exchange for
their free-hold title deeds, in a desperate attempt to stay on
farm
producing. The JAG TRUST strongly advises against this move. One would
in
effect be exchanging something of substantive legal substance, protected
by
the laws and constitution of Zimbabwe and with International acceptance
and
recognition for something of "straw" brokered non-transparently with
a
regime of very dubious legitimacy and a sound track record of acting in
bad
faith.
It is indisputable fact that there is absolutely no legal
support for 99
year leases in either the Zimbabwe Constitution or the laws of
Zimbabwe and
it is in fact, unlawful to enter into a contractual lease
agreement
extending beyond 10 years in Zimbabwe. This is substantiated in
that those
farmers who have gone down this road, having relinquished their
title, have
had to accept short term, five to ten year, leases; not 99 year
leases as
promised.
The JAG TRUST would like to remind all commercial
farmers and title holders
of what transpired with similar agreements relating
to the ceding and
downsizing of farms under the GOZ's LA3 initiative. Nearly
a thousand
farmers embarked, in good faith, on this initiative, which was
provided for
in law in the LAND ACQUISITION ACT under sections 6a and 6b.
The JAG TRUST
is reliably informed that nearly 180 farmers handed over
original title
deeds, in good faith, under this scheme and many more farmers
might have
also totally compromised their legal position and their title,
by
surrendering various forms of copy of their title deeds. Hundreds
of
co-existence farmers had their downsize and ceding agreements
formalised
and recorded in the administrative courts of Zimbabwe. Yet, the
Goz, two
years after the launch of this initiative, simply reneged in law on
all
these agreements by repealing sections 6a and 6b of the Act in amendment
No
1 of 2004.
This callous move effectively rendered all these
downsize and ceding of
land agreements null and void in law, and of no force
nor effect. Even
those formalised in the admin courts. This left most of
these farmers
hugely exposed, having gone way beyond the 90 days of their
section 8
orders and in effect illegally occupying their farms, at the mercy
of the
authorities and with "dirty hands" when it came to reverting to the
courts.
More recently, one of these downsized, co-existence and exposed
commercial
farmers who had been "lawfully" evicted some months ago, was
offered the
opportunity of returning to his farm only if he was prepared to
surrender
his remaining title deed in favour of 99 year lease. He had in
fact made
the approach himself, to find that this was what was being
offered.
Having accepted the terms, surrendered his title deed (original),
and
signed a short term lease (promised 99 year lease would follow) he
was
assured that the farm would be evacuated of settlers and the incumbent
A2
farmer evicted and given another property. The commercial
farmer
magnanimously gave the A2 settler time to vacate. During that short
period
the authorities totally reversed their position and reneged on the
whole
agreement. The commercial farmer has taken the matter on appeal to
the
highest political levels, to no avail. He assures us that by week-end
he
will be prepared to go public on his demise.
The JAG TRUST, mindful
of the present sad scenario and with due
consideration to the disastrous
history of this so called "Land Reform
Program" and the illegalities and
human right abuse perpetrated therein,
remain emphatic that no farmers should
return to their farms until the
following terms and conditions are met
:
(i) A return to the rule of law country wide but especially in
commercial
farming areas, and a restoration of the Independence of the
Judiciary and a
repealing of all unjust laws.
(ii) Respect for and
protection of Property Rights as enshrined in the
present Constitution with
International Guarantees put in place, until a
new Constitution is
enacted.
(iii) and; Farmers are comprehensively compensated / restituted
under
International Law governing compulsory expropriation of land,
improvements
and moveable assets and the extensive damages claims, arising
through not
having been timeously and equitably compensated, have been
settled.
THE JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE TRUST (JAG)
THE JUSTICE FOR
AGRICULTURE MEMBERS ASSOCIATION (JAGMA)
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM
Email: jag@mango.zw;
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter
Forum
to;jag@mango.zw
with "For Open Letter Forum" in the subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prelude
text
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1:
Dear Jag,
Many thanks to Michelle Frost for her poem Homeland.
I am sure it struck a
chord with many, as it did me.
Very recently, I
read a book called "Ghost Heart" by Cecilia Samartin,
about a girl who left
Cuba with her family in the early 1960's. She
remained in close contact with
a cousin, and in one of her letters she
says:
".............all I have
now are memories. I love them and I hate them for
what they do to me. I love
them because when I'm lost in their vision,
this hollow pain in my heart goes
away for a while. I hate them because
they are so beautiful they fool me into
believing I'm really home - and
then I must leave all over
again......................"
I think many Zimbabweans of all races have
felt this, but just haven't been
able to put it into such words. It comforts
me that others can.
Linda Costa
Buderim
Australia
---------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
No 2
Dear Jag,
The note asking me to explain what deal was
available to Ian Smith in 1973
needs some response. At that time there were a
number of possible "road
maps" on the table. The Tiger and Fearless talks
were all about this issue
and I think on at least one occasion Ian Smith was
empathetic to the
proposals but was forced to back down by the hardliners in
his Cabinet and
the President at the time - Dupont.
Essentially they
all followed the same basic principle - how to get from
where we were to a
place where full democratic rights could be granted to
every person in the
country. A 15 year transition was suggested.
The Nationalist leaders at
the time did not want a gradualist approach and
would have resisted this very
much but if Smith and the then British
leadership had been able to agree,
there would have been no way that they
could have blocked the deal. They
needed the support and sanctuary of
western States and this would have been
withdrawn as soon as a deal was
struck.
The fact that both sides opted
for the hard line on this issue eventually
made it inevitable that the war
would drag on - defeat for the white
minority was inevitable and only the
intervention by the US and South
Africa saved us from a scorched earth
ending. In fact there is quite a lot
of evidence that Mugabe favoured the
latter whist Joshua Nkomo was open to
a deal. Strange how history repeats
itself - right now we seem to be back
at the beginning again - only worse off
than in 1973. We again need
external intervention (Diplomatic) to actually
end this impasse and allow
reality and realism to take the stage
again.
Eddie
Cross
---------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
No 3
Dear Jag,
After seeing an SATV documentary on Roy Bennett on
Sun eve (released from
the cess-pits they call jails in Zim) I feel I just
have to do SOMETHING. I
sent 98 e-mails yesterday to 14 countries. This
spread should not be
wasted. Please will you all copy this to as many people
as you can.
When colonial whites were perceived to be misbehaving in
Africa, the entire
"western" predominantly white, world climbed on the
bandwagon and used evey
tool in the book to bring about change, and achieved
it. The UK
successfully cut this country off from the rest of the world
except SA.
Kissinger then turned the screws on SA's Vorster who agreed to
strangle
the Smith Regime if it didn't come to heel.
Not too long
after, the world threw its arms open to welcome the hero
Mugabe. The "welcome
mats" were still being frenziedly thrown out for him,
while he quietly
orchestrated the massacre of the Ndebele. But just as
subsequently in Iraq,
Ethiopia, Sudan, Rwanda.........................
no-one uttered a peep. It
was fine because 'they' were doing it to each
other.
Well, it is NOT
okay. It wasn't when Germans did it to Jews,
Pol Pot did it to Cambodians,
Milosovic did it in Kosovo,
Hussein in Iraq.........and so on ad
nauseam.
Just as Vorster held the key to the Rhodesian problem, Mbeki
holds the key
to stopping this nightmare in Zimbabwe.
Step outside
this country, and EVERYONE said to me "but surely it can't be
that bad. IF it
is, then there'd be an uprising!!" Those of you who know
this country, are
aware that the majority of people live in easily
patrollable townships (a few
men, vehicles and AK rifles is all it takes).
Distances are great, there is
no fuel other than blackmarket, all roads
have armed police roadblocks, city
and town centres have riot police and
plainclothes Border Gezi Youth (vicious
young bored unemployed thugs). Most
people in the rural areas are either
starving, or on the verge of. You try
standing around, never mind marching
when you are that hungry. Fear feeds
upon itself and quickly grows. E-mails
and phone calls are monitored.
Countries who've had successful
revolutions did not have neighbours who
openly condoned corruption and
brutality, such as South Africa does.
Geldof and Bono's hearts may be in
the right place, but I somehow cannot
bring myself to believe that rock stars
with over 20 yrs in the limelight,
are motivated by altruism rather than
egos. "Make Poverty History", how
arse about face is that??? "Make Corrupt
Dictatorships History", and you've
solved the problem EVERYWHERE including
North Korea and Myanmar (Burma).
South Korea, on the same sliver of land, is
booming. Zimbabwe used to be
"the bread basket of sub- Saharan
Africa".
Archbishops Tutu (in SA) and Ncube (here) are lone black voices.
Whites
must help where and when they can, quietly and effectively. However
its the
time for blacks to prove they are worth more than being chanters of
racist
slogans. Watch Mbeki shout 'imperialism', 'bigotry', etc (yawn) every
time
he's asked to stand-up for a few million POOR blacks being
brutalised.
PLEASE forward this to EVERY black person, group, church,
newspaper, you
know or can reach. It is their time now to stop the criminal
activities of
their fellow blacks, just as whites did to Smith and de
Klerk.
ANY black person you know in Zimbabwe, who is not in government,
needs help
NOW, I GUARANTEE you. ALL are in some form of danger. The vast
majority are
among the nicest, gentlest people on earth.
I don't wish
to spoonfeed you lot, but you've not had to live with this
version of Krystal
Nacht (?) 24/7. Americans--- forward this to Condoleesa
Rice, Oprah, Colin
Powell, Jesse Jackson et al. South Africans - give it to
your colleagues,
business associates, drivers and maids. Catholics
everywhere, let your
priests redeem themselves to a small degree of the
scandals of paedophilia,
by standing up for the poorest of the poor, the
scardest of the scared, the
starving, the sick. Face it, you can no longer
achieve sainthood by being
eaten by pagan cannibals. I'm just asking you to
hit the forward button or
give a printout to some black person with
integrity. No more or less than
some white people did to help Africa
towards 'independence'.This may be seem
pathetically amateurish to the
intelligentsia, but I know how few
Intelligentsia there
are........................
If I am arrested, or
have a car accident, don't get your g-strings in a
knot, someone has become
scared shitless.
With love from a white African grandmother.
PS
Paying off your credit card will give you momentary peace of mind.
Making
Brutality History will give you a high for which you will NOT
need
therapy.
...........................................................................
.......................................................................
Follow
up:
Hi there!
I have been crapped on by some people overseas who've
felt that my e-mail
was grossly innaccurate but they weren't specific about
which aspect.
So I'm going to put this another way. In the struggles for
dependence in
Africa, Russians, Americans, Brits, eastern and western
Europeans, and
Chinese provided arms, ammunition, money and moral support for
the Freedom
Movements. It was not forseen that this would basically lead to a
continent
full of power-hungry vicious dictators such as Selassie, Mariam,
Amin, Sese
Seko, Taylor, Kaunda, Banda, Doe, Rawlings, Bokassa etc etc.
Fortunately
for Africa, most have passed away or been booted out in coups.
But by now
most of these countries are destitute, and still
corrupt.
In Zimbabwe's case, the only countries who've spoken out against
what's
happening here is the UK, US, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
The
African Union states, especially SA, and SADCC have done zilch. RM
and
company refer to the Brits as 'Blair and His Gay Gangsters' and are
equally
derogative of the rest. The aforementioned countries do not do
anything
more than dish out the odd lecture. They want Africa to sort out
this
problem. All Mbeki does is say he's using 'quiet diplomacy'. Surely
after 5
years he can see this hasn't changed a thing............its just got
worse.
My heart breaks for the people affected by the bombs in London.
No-one
needs to explain to me what its like to lose family and friends. But
in
between, please spare a thought for more than 50 people a day
needlessly
dying here from lack of medication, housing and
food.
Instead of just criticising, send helpful advice and
suggestions.
Love,
A white African
Grandmother
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
No 4
Dear Roy and Heather,
We are so grateful to you both for
making a Godly stand against the evil
oppressors who are hellbent on
destroying Zimbabwe. We are too far away to
have helped, but we have prayed
so much and God has honoured your
faithfulness. Wonderful that you are free
again. We watched Carte Blanche
and were riveted to your natural leadership
and honesty. May God Himself
protect and keep you and your precious family .
Roy, if there is anything
concrete we can do, tell us.
Our home is
here for you all anytime you need a break.
Your Dad and Mum and George
and ALL Heathers family, are rejoicing, I am
sure!!
And thankyou, Jag,
for Judith Todd's article which we feel has been the
best yet. Thankyou for
blazing the truth to the world.
Love, Marian & Neville
Wright.
---------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
MISA-Zimbabwe statement on the Code of Conduct and Media Council
Project
Country/Topic: Zimbabwe
Date: 15 July 2005
Source: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Person(s):
Target(s):
Type(s) of violation(s):
Urgency: Bulletin
(MISA/IFEX) -
The following is a 14 July 2005 MISA press release:
July 14,
2005
MISA-Zimbabwe statement on the Code of Conduct and Media Council
Project
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe, the
Zimbabwe Union
of Journalists (ZUJ) and the Media Monitoring Project of
Zimbabwe (MMPZ),
under the umbrella body of the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe
(MAZ) met with the
Minister of Information and Publicity, Dr Tichaona
Jokonya at his
Munhumutapa offices on July 13, 2005.
The meeting
focused on the Code of Conduct and Voluntary Media Council
Project that MAZ
in partnership with the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum
(ZINEF) have
embarked on. The Code of Conduct, which has been agreed to by
all these
partners including journalists in the state media, is to be used
by
journalists and media houses in Zimbabwe in the course of their work and
will be administered by a voluntary body that the media itself will
constitute.
The Minister was informed of the concerns of media
practitioners, especially
those from private media houses, that the
statutory media regulatory body,
the Media and Information Commission (MIC)
has failed to fairly regulate the
media and has unfairly targeted the
private media and journalists.
The Minister was also informed that the
sprouting of news agencies and radio
stations focusing on Zimbabwe from
outside the borders is a result of the
closing of the space in Zimbabwe as a
result of laws such as AIPPA.
Partners also informed the Minister that
the government has a responsibility
to come up with policies that promote
the media in Zimbabwe even if that
media is critical of the government. For
his part, the Minister expressed
concern for what he called unpatriotic
journalism that does not take
national interests into
consideration.
He urged journalists to identify with their country. The
Minister also says
there must be broader principles that the people of
Zimbabwe agree on as far
as how the media operates.
The Code of
Conduct is the first step in setting up a self-regulatory media
council. The
Voluntary Media Council is not meant to accredit journalists or
register
media houses but mediate in disputes between journalists and the
general
public.
Journalists and media houses in Zimbabwe, especially private
media houses
and MAZ, have spoken out against the accreditation of
journalists and
registration of media houses as unnecessary and placing
restrictions on the
operations of the media.
The voluntary media
council is, therefore, set on the premise that
complaints against the media
must be resolved amicably without costly
litigation. It is also realised
that complaints against the media must not
result in the arrests of
journalists or closures of media houses but a fair
hearing in which the
media, if it errs, is asked to apologise and retract
such
reports.
Members of the public who choose to pursue civil suits in the
courts of law
are, however, free to do so, though the media houses and
journalists would
campaign and urge the use of the voluntary media
council.
The Voluntary Media Council is meant to promote rapport between
the media
and its publics and demonstrate that media practitioners believe
in
responsible journalism. The Voluntary Media Council is therefore a
national
project that all sectors of society from the church, labour and
business
must buy into.
The Minister, his Deputy Honourable Bright
Matonga, and the Permanent
Secretary George Charamba agreed that the
government would not stand in the
way of these efforts.
They
applauded the media for taking this first step. They also indicated
that
depending on the success of this project, the Ministry is willing to
re-visit the operations and mandate of the MIC. The Permanent Secretary says
the MIC can be directed to focus on issues of access to information and
training.
MORE INFORMATION:
For further information,
contact Zoé Titus, Programme Manager, Media Freedom
Monitoring, MISA,
Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61 232 975,
fax: +264 61 248
016, e-mail: research@misa.org, Internet:
http://www.misa.org
ABC, Australia
Transcript
This is a transcript from Correspondents
Report. The program is broadcast
around Australia on Sundays at 08:00 on ABC
Radio National.
Church leaders act against Zimbabwe slum
clearance
Correspondents Report - Sunday, 17 July , 2005
Reporter: Zoe Daniel
HAMISH ROBERTSON: For our final story, we go to
Africa, where church
leaders say they'll publicise the plight of Zimbabweans
made homeless by the
slum clearance campaign.
The idea is to
embarrass President Robert Mugabe into stopping the
demolitions, and even to
force the international community to step in.
They also want to
shame Africa's politicians into taking action.
Zimbabwe is fast
becoming a public relations nightmare for African
leaders, as well as for
aid groups who're trying to get the "Make Poverty
History" campaign -
overshadowed by the London bombings - back on track with
promises of good
governance.
Here's our Africa Correspondent Zoe
Daniel.
ZOE DANIEL: When members of a South African multi-faith
church
delegation arrived back from Zimbabwe last week their shock was
evident and
their intentions were clear - to stop the
crackdown.
Council of Churches President Russel
Botman.
RUSSEL BOTMAN: Its objective is to stop the operation and
to express
solidarity with the victims, and to help bring an end to the
ongoing
suffering of the people.
ZOE DANIEL: The Council of
Churches plans to immediately send a second
delegation into Zimbabwe to tell
the world what's happening inside the
country, and to try to embarrass the
Government into stopping its campaign.
The United Nations says up
to 300,000 people have been made homeless
by Operation Murambatsvina or
Drive out Rubbish. But despite that, African
governments remain silent,
refusing to criticise the Zimbabwean
administration.
Church
leaders like Father Matthew Esau say representations will be
made to the
African Union to get some action.
MATTHEW ESAU: I'm hoping that we
would address the AU, that we would
add to the United Nations report, that
this body would ask or mandate a
group to speak to our
President.
ZOE DANIEL: The conventional wisdom is that African
leaders are
reluctant to criticise President Robert Mugabe because of an
informal
brotherhood between governments whose countries have shaken off
colonial
rule.
The African Union also argues that there is too
much focus on
Zimbabwe, when human rights abuses on a worse scale are
happening elsewhere
in Africa.
Caroline Sande from
ActionAid.
CAROLINE SANDE: They argue that there are worse things
happening in
other parts of the continent - 'Why do we keep focusing on
Zimbabwe?' - and
again from a scale perspective, human rights violations
anywhere, whatever
the numbers of people involved, should be
condemned.
So I think we are always going to be struggling with
this, a
preoccupation or a perceived preoccupation from the part of the
international community on Zimbabwe, yet there are other crises happening
elsewhere in Africa.
ZOE DANIEL: Aid groups are currently
trying to restart the "Make
Poverty History" campaign that was stymied by
the London bombings just as
Africa looked like getting some serious
attention from the G8.
Governance in Africa has already vastly
improved, and Sue Mbaya from
the Southern African Regional Network says
Zimbabwe shouldn't be used as an
example by Westerners considering whether
aid to Africa is a worthwhile
investment.
SUE MBAYA: We must be
careful not to make the issue around governance
sort of like more of the
same and the new frontier as far as
conditionalities are concerned. And so I
would like to think that the people
you refer to - the grassroots - who
we're calling to support, would be more
analytical and probably more mature
in their assessment.
ZOE DANIEL: But the failure of African leaders
to condemn the
so-called "Clean Up" campaign is creating serious credibility
issues as
Africa seeks two permanent seats on the UN Security Council. And
while
church leaders are now trying to embarrass the Zimbabwean Government,
they're also trying to shame other African governments into
action.
In Johannesburg, this is Zoe Daniel for Correspondents
Report.
Scoop, New Zealand
Protest Sends Goff Message - No Zimbabwe Tour!Saturday, 16 July 2005, 5:49
pm
Article: Selwyn Manning - Scoop Auckland
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Auckland Protest Sends Goff Strong Message - No Zimbabwe Tour!
By Selwyn Manning - Scoop Co-Editor.
Foreign Minister Phil Goff faced a staunch Global Peace and Justice Auckland
(GPJA) protest today calling for the Government to legislate to prevent New
Zealand's Black Caps cricket team from touring Zimbabwe.
Opposition to the August tour has been mounting due to ongoing human rights
abuses against Zimbabwe's people by its president, Robert Mugabe.
Zimbabwe's outspoken critic of the Mugabe regime, Judith Todd (Sir Garfield
Todd's daughter) also attended the protest. She thanked New Zealanders for
turning out in what is believed to be the first of such protests worldwide
opposing human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
Auckland - Zimbabwe former cricket great,
Henry Olonga, and Sir Garfield Todd's daughter, Judith Todd, led protests today
against a New Zealand cricket tour of Zimbabwe. Click here to listen… Scoop
Audio: Zimbabwe’s Judith Todd.
The New Zealand Government has been outspoken against the Mugabe regime but
has backed off passing a law that would prevent New Zealand sportsmen from
touring Zimbabwe. Also, if New Zealand Cricket called off the tour, then the
International Cricket Council would fine it millions of dollars.
The ICC wrote to the government this week stating that it would waiver the
fine should New Zealand make the tour unlawful.
A public meeting in Auckland last night passed a resolution insisting the
Government move to prevent the tour from proceeding without interfering with New
Zealanders' right to travel.
GPJA spokesperson, John Minto said today, that people "can have it both
ways". He said the Government must enact a law, or promote a means that would
prevent the cricketers from touring Zimbabwe while still honouring New
Zealanders' right to freedom of travel.
But Phil Goff said today, only concerns for the safety of New Zealand's
players would stop the tour from going ahead.
New Zealand foreign minister, Phil Goff, said his
government cannot create a law that would prevent New Zealanders' right to
travel. Click here to listen… Scoop Audio:
Foreign Minister Phil Goff.
He told a group of hecklers that to pass a law that prevented free New
Zealand citizens from exercising their right to travel would be wrong and would
mirror the same style of human rights abuses that Zimbabwe's leader Robert
Mugabe had imposed on that nation's peoples. He also said that such a law would
create a dangerous precedence in New Zealand that could be exploited by future
governments.
Phil Goff added, that a planned tour of New Zealand by Zimbawe Cricket in
December will not go ahead.
Goff said his government has lobbied all International Cricket Council
nations to group with New Zealand to force an ICC sporting ban on Zimbabwe. He
told the group of around 2000 protesters that only Australia and the United
Kingdom had agreed with New Zealand's stance.
New Zealand and Australia has also lobbied European Union nations for
support, and also the United Nations security council, and has asked the
International Criminal Court to have Mugabe investigated and tried for human
rights abuses and crimes against humanity.
Global Peace and Justice Auckland spokesperson, John Minto, calls
for a total boycott of sporting contact with Zimbabwe.Click here to listen to
John Minto's response to Phil Goff's stance… Scoop
Audio: John Minto responds to Phil Goff’s stance.
Green Party co-leader Rod Donald has been calling for legislation to be
rushed before Parliament that would prevent the tour from going ahead. Rod
Donald said the Government could stop this tour from going ahead if it was firm
in its resolve to do so. He also said it is able to outlaw this tour without
eroding the right of New Zealanders to freely travel where the so wish.
Green Party co-leader, Rod Donald, says his bill provides a
solution that would stop the tour while protecting New Zealanders' right to
travel. Click here to listen… Scoop
Audio: Green Party co-leader Rod Donald.
Earlier this month, Rod Donald drafter a bill that he said would stop the
tour, but uphold New Zealanders' right to travel.
The Zimbabwe Sporting Sanction Bill would make it an offence for any New
Zealand national sporting organisation to send a team on a tour of Zimbabwe. If
any team defied the law, their national body would be fined $50,000 and have all
its government funding revoked for one financial year.
"New Zealanders don't want the Black Caps to tour Zimbabwe and they don't
want NZ Cricket punished financially if the tour is called off," Mr Donald said.
"This Green Bill offers the best of both worlds: it stops the tour and gets NZ
Cricket off the hook with regard to any ICC fine," Rod Donald said.
He said: "I have drafted the Bill in such a way that it preserves the
freedoms of individual New Zealanders enshrined in the Bill of Rights Act. The
purpose of the Bill is to ensure that no national sports team can give comfort
to Robert Mugabe's genocidal regime, bringing New Zealand into disrepute and
opening us up to the accusation that we are failing to live up to our
international human rights commitments.
"NZ Cricket's Future Tours Agreement explicitly states that where a
government action makes it illegal for a national team to undertake a tour of
another country, then that team is not liable for any financial penalty. As
such, this Bill will ensure that NZ Cricket will be able to pull out of the
Zimbabwe tour and avoid any financial penalty," Rod Donald said.
Yesterday, New Zealand High Commissioner to London Jonathan Hunt met with the
International Cricket Council president Ehsan Mani. Hunt is well known for his
love of Cricket and wine.
Hunt was required to ask the ICC what its actions would be should New Zealand
Cricket heed the Government's request that the tour be cancelled. The ICC said
in this circumstance, its fines would not be waived. It informed Hunt that the
tour ought to go ahead unless New Zealand ruled the tour unlawful - clearly a
move the Labour-Progressive Government is loathed to do.