Its Over!

http://zimbabwemetro.com

By Margaret Mutyambizi and Nkosilathi Ncube ⋅ © zimbabwemetro.com ⋅ June 22,
2008 ⋅
Majority party leader,Morgan Tsvangirai has withdrawn from the highly
discredited presidential run-off. The decision follows a meeting of the
party’s executive council in Harare.

He said President Robert Mugabe had declared war, and the MDC would not be
part of his war.

He said the election result had already been determined by Mugabe adding:
“We will not play his game.”Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has
withdrawn from the presidential run-off elections due June 27.

Tsvangirai accused the government of President Robert Mugabe and the ruling
Zanu-PF of intensifying an onslaught against the opposition ahead of the
poll.

The MDC leader says he cannot ask Zimbabweans to cast their ballots on
Friday if that vote will cost them their lives.

“The police have been reduced to bystanders while ZANU-PF militia commit
crimes against humanity ranging from rape, torture, murder, arson,
abductions and other atrocities,” Tsvangirai said at a garden news
conference at his Avondale home. “We in the MDC have resolved that we will
no longer participate in this violent, illegitimate sham of an election
process.”

Tsvangirai rejected suggestions that pulling out of the vote handed Mugabe
victory on a plate or offered him legitimacy.

“Mr. Mugabe created the conditions for a runoff and he declared that he is
not going to accept the result of the election,” Tsvangirai said. “He has
even said he is not going to go away.”

“No, we are not legitimizing Mugabe. No, we will not allow him to fool the
people of Zimbabwe and the international community that he’s holding an
election. No, we will not play the game of Mugabe,” he said.

Mugabe last week was quoted by state media as warning that he would not
surrender power to Western-backed opponents. “We shed a lot of blood for
this country. We are not going to give up our country for a mere X on a
ballot. How can a ballpoint pen fight with a gun?” The Herald quoted Mugabe
as saying.

Earlier today, Tsvangirai was to address a mass rally at a Show grounds. As
early as 4 am the area around the stadium was cut off with roadblocks and
hundreds of youth militants of the ruling ZANU-PF party surrounded the
stadium, beating up and harassing opposition supporters, preventing the
rally from going ahead.

He said the MDC was not closing the door on taking part in an election if
the international community intervened to ensure security and fair electoral
conditions.

“When a government declares war against unarmed civilians and starts
massacring people, it’s the responsibility of the U.N. to protect people,”
he said.

To stop ZANU-PF genocide, MDC pulls out of run-off election

http://www.hararetribune.com

By Trymore Magomana & Tawanda Takavarasha
Harare Tribune Correspondents
Sunday, June 22, 2008 12:39
news@hararetribune.com

Zimbabwe, Harare -- Tsvangirai said Sunday he is pulling out of this
week's presidential runoff because of mounting violence and intimidation
against his supporters. Tsvangirai announced his decision during a news
conference in Zimbabwe's capital after thousands of ZANU-PF militants and
thugs,loyal to Robert Mugabe blockaded the site of the MDC's main campaign
rally.

"We can't ask the people to cast their vote ... when that vote will
cost their lives. We will no longer participate in this violent sham of an
election," he said. "Mugabe has declared war, and we will not be part of
that war."

Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said the runoff would go ahead
in accordance with the constitution — and to prove Zimbabweans' support for
Mugabe, who has held power since independence from Britain in 1980.

"The constitution does not say that if somebody drops out or decides
to chicken out the runoff will not be held," Ndlovu said.

Tsvangirai said he would put forward new proposals by Wednesday on how
take the country forward. He did not provide any details about what the
proposals would include.

"Our victory is certain, but it can only be delayed," he said.

Tsvangirai won the first round of the presidential election on March
29, but did not gain an outright majority against 84-year-old Mugabe. That
campaign was generally peaceful, but the runoff has been overshadowed by
violence and intimidation, especially in rural areas. Independent human
rights groups say 85 people have died and tens of thousands have been
displaced from their homes, most of them opposition supporters.

ZANU-PF militants were beating opposition supporters who were trying
to reach the site of a planned campaign rally and said at least two people
were seriously injured.

The opposition said the militants attacked journalists and forced
African election monitors near the rally site to flee. Election monitors
could not immediately be reached for comment and there was no independent
confirmation of the opposition claims.

Mugabe said Friday that the opposition was lying about the violence
and said everywhere he visited was peaceful. His powerful police chief
pinned the blame firmly on the opposition and said that police would clamp
down.

Tsvangirai complained that he was being treated like a "common
criminal," with his attempts to tour the country stymied by police at
roadblocks.

The state-controlled media have banned opposition advertisements,
claiming they "contain inappropriate language and information." The media
cited one ad that claimed that Tsvangirai won the election, "which is not
the case, hence the runoff."

Tendai Biti, the opposition party's No. 2, was arrested within minutes
of his return from South Africa last week and is being held on treason
charges.

"It is evident that the Mugabe regime has disregarded regional and
continental opinion that has been calling for an end to disruption of MDC
election campaign programs, state sanctioned brutality, violence and
harassment of the people of Zimbabwe," the opposition said in a statement.

As news of the MDC pull out from the election spread, ZANU-PF
militants went on the rampage, attacking citizens willy nilly in Harare.

"More than 2000 youth militia are currently on the rampage in Mbare,
central Harare, carrying out random attacks on innocent citizens," the MDC
said in a statement. "Casualty departments in Harare are already receiving
injuries from these attacks."

The party reiterated its calls for urgent intervention by the regional
and African groups.

Meanwhile, Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Sunday
Mugabe cannot be the legitimate leader of the country now that the
opposition has pulled out of an election run-off.

Miliband told Sky News television that Britain, the former colonial
power, would be supporting "very strongly" a drive at the United Nations
Security Council Monday for a full discussion on the situation.

"I think that is important. It's also important that African leaders
continue to make clear that a government which violates the constitution in
Zimbabwe... cannot be held as the legitimate respresentative of the
Zimbabwean people," he said.

He said the constitution had been violated because "the second round
was meant to happen within 30 days of the first round and we're now three or
four months on."

A senoir Tory said the decision by the MDC to pull out of the run-off
is "wholly understandable", shadow foreign secretary William Hague has said.

Mr Hague said: "The MDC's withdrawal from the election is wholly
understandable in the face of the rigging, violence, and murder perpetrated
by the Mugabe regime.

"It is now clear beyond doubt that Zimbabwe is suffering under one of
the world's vilest and most despotic tyrannies."

He called for a swift response from the international community.

He said the Zanu-PF government should no longer be recognised.

And he said a UN Commission of Inquiry should be set up to look into
the "grotesque abuses of human rights, with a view to future action by the
International Criminal Court".

"This is a criminal government, and should now be treated as such," he
said.

"While these measures will hit ordinary Zimbabweans too, they might,
if implemented swiftly succeed where all else has failed to force Mugabe's
regime out of power." ★ -- Harare Tribune News

MDC Press Statement On Presidential Run-Off

Movement for Democratic Change (Harare)

The world reacts to MDC pull out of the Zimbabwe election

http://www.hararetribune.com

By Marvis Murray
Harare Tribune Correspondent
Sunday, June 22, 2008 12:40
news@hararetribune.com

Zimbabwe, Harare -- A fews hours after Morgan Tsvangirai of the
Movement for Democratic Change went on record indicatinig that he will be
pulling out of the June 27 run-off election, world leaders have welcomed his
decision.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Sunday Mugabe cannot
be the legitimate leader of the country now that the opposition has pulled
out of an election run-off.

Miliband told Sky News television that Britain, the former colonial
power, would be supporting "very strongly" a drive at the United Nations
Security Council Monday for a full discussion on the situation.

"I think that is important. It's also important that African leaders
continue to make clear that a government which violates the constitution in
Zimbabwe... cannot be held as the legitimate respresentative of the
Zimbabwean people," he said.

He said the constitution had been violated because "the second round
was meant to happen within 30 days of the first round and we're now three or
four months on."

A senoir Tory said the decision by the MDC to pull out of the run-off
is "wholly understandable", shadow foreign secretary William Hague has said.

Mr Hague said: "The MDC's withdrawal from the election is wholly
understandable in the face of the rigging, violence, and murder perpetrated
by the Mugabe regime.

"It is now clear beyond doubt that Zimbabwe is suffering under one of
the world's vilest and most despotic tyrannies."

He called for a swift response from the international community.

He said the Zanu-PF government should no longer be recognised. And he
said a UN Commission of Inquiry should be set up to look into the "grotesque
abuses of human rights, with a view to future action by the International
Criminal Court".

"This is a criminal government, and should now be treated as such," he
said.

"While these measures will hit ordinary Zimbabweans too, they might,
if implemented swiftly succeed where all else has failed to force Mugabe's
regime out of power."

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, current chair of the 14-nation
Southern African Development Community, said Sunday it was "scandalous for
SADC to remain silent on Zimbabwe."

"It's scandalous for SADC to remain silent on Zimbabwe," Mwanawasa
told reporters after Zimbabwe opposition chief Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew
from the country's presidential run-off. He added that conditions in
Zimbabwe had violated SADC's principles on elections.

"The current political situation in Zimbabwe falls far short of the
SADC principles," said the president.

"Free campaigns have not been allowed, and the opposition have been
denied access to the media. These are all in contravention of the SADC
principles."

Mwanawasa criticised South African President Thabo Mbeki's mediation
efforts in Zimbabwe's crisis, saying he had not briefed him on his meeting
last week with Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe. bSADC has appointed Mbeki
mediator in the crisis.

"I feel disappointed that as the chairman I'm being denied
information," said Mwanawasa. "I have to rely on my own intelligence reports
gathered on Zimbabwe."

The regional bloc has been divided on how to deal with Zimbabwe, with
Botswana and Zambia taking a harder line. In his comments on Sunday,
Mwanawasa suggested the Zimbabwe vote could be postponed until a later date,
without providing further details.

"There is no need to be ashamed in announcing that the presidential
run-off should be called off until further notice," he said.

Tsvangirai said his party reached the decision to withdraw because
violence in the country had made a fair vote impossible.★ -- Harare Tribune
News

MDC pull-out: Zimbabwe reacts

Mugabe government 'not legitimate' after MDC pull-out: Miliband

Yahoo News

1 hour, 55 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe cannot be the legitimate
leader of the country now that the opposition has pulled out of an election
run-off, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Sunday.

Miliband told Sky News television that Britain, the former colonial power,
would be supporting "very strongly" a drive at the United Nations Security
Council on Monday for a full discussion on the situation.

"I think that is important. It's also important that African leaders
continue to make clear that a government which violates the constitution in
Zimbabwe... cannot be held as the legitimate representative of the
Zimbabwean people," he said.

The constitution had been violated because "the second round was meant to
happen within 30 days of the first round and we're now three or four months
on", he added.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai quit Zimbabwe's presidential run-off
earlier Sunday, saying increasing violence before Friday's planned vote had
made a free and fair election impossible, virtually handing victory to
Mugabe.

Miliband, whose government has previously said Mugabe was at the head of a
"criminal cabal", described the violence as "state sponsored on a very large
scale with one very clear motivation".

"It was not ethnic cleansing per se, but the desire to remain in power," he
told the broadcaster.

He added: "I think Zimbabwe is being bossed by Robert Mugabe and by his
henchmen and he remains the apex of power despite the fact that the people
of Zimbabwe deserted him quite a long time ago."

Instead he said the 49 percent of the vote in the first round on March 29
went to Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and not Mugabe's
ZANU-PF but that was "the lower end of support that the opposition have".

"If you include many of the other factions that didn't support Robert
Mugabe, it was evident that the opposition were heading for a victory and
that explains the level of violence both before the election and in
preparation for rigging the poll that the government in Zimbabwe were
willing to undertake.

"This is a vital, critical moment because it's the people of Zimbabwe who
want rid of the regime," he added.

Britain was the colonial power in the former Rhodesia until 1980. Mugabe
frequently accuses London of stirring up unrest and backing the MDC.

 

Zimbabwe's Mugabe to go through with runoff

Washington Times

ANGUS SHAW
Originally published 02:34 p.m., June 22, 2008, updated 02:32 p.m., June 22,
2008

It will be an election with no opponent and little hope of endorsement from
even traditional allies. But President Robert Mugabe appears determined to
go through with a runoff later this week, and to extend his nearly three
decades in power for as long as he can.

On Sunday, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the two-man
race. Tsvangirai said his party had been the target of so much brutality
meted out by Mugabe's police, soldiers and militant loyalists that the
run-off was a sham. But Mugabe's information minister said the vote would go
ahead Friday.

A runoff seen as so tainted by violence that the opposition candidate
withdrew was unlikely to be recognized by the international community as
legitimate. That and the majority Tsvangirai's party and allies won in
parliamentary elections in March could prompt moderates in Mugabe's party to
reach out to the opposition.

Much may depend on neighboring South Africa, to whom many in the region look
for economic and political leadership. South African President Thabo Mbeki
has been mediating between Mugabe and Tsvangirai for more than a year with
little sign of progress.

Mbeki has steadfastly refused to publicly criticize Mugabe, an ally from the
days of South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle, saying confrontation would
only worsen the situation. On Sunday, Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga
did say that the violence Tsvangirai cited was not helpful.

Ratshitanga said Tsvangirai had called South Africa's president earlier
Sunday to inform him he was withdrawing. Tsvangirai had earlier called on
Mbeki to step down as mediator, accusing him of siding with Mugabe.

"Of course we would like to encourage the MDC to continue to play a role in
the normalization of the political process in Zimbabwe," Mbeki's spokesman
said. "And we are encouraged that Mr. Tsvangirai says he is not closing the
door completely on negotiations."

Tsvangirai had once said that only after he had taken part in the runoff and
the international community had seen Mugabe steal his victory would world
leaders be moved to take firm action. He may have come to doubt that as the
violence mounted and Mugabe continued to ignore criticism _ even when it
came from old allies like neighboring Angola.

Independent human rights groups say 85 people have died and tens of
thousands have been displaced from their homes, most of them opposition
supporters.

Zimbabwean Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said that the runoff would
go ahead in accordance with the constitution _ and to prove Zimbabweans'
support for their longtime leader.

"The constitution does not say that if somebody drops out or decides to
chicken out the runoff will not be held," Ndlovu said.

While nothing seems to move Mugabe, at least one Western diplomat familiar
with the region said others in his ZANU-PF party may feel the pressure. The
diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity last week because of the
sensitivity of the issue, said ZANU-PF moderates may try to sideline Mugabe
to bring Zimbabwe out of international isolation.

Several African leaders have said Zimbabwe should consider a coalition
agreement, similar to the one that resulted in Raila Odinga becoming Kenya's
prime minister, sharing power with his rival Mwai Kibaki as president after
a disputed presidential election there sparked widespread violence.

Tsvangirai came in first in a field of four in Zimbabwe's first round of
presidential balloting in March. But, according to official figures, he did
not win the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a second round against
second-place finisher Mugabe.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa said that Zimbabwe's runoff should be
postponed in light of Tsvangirai's withdrawal and the violence.

Tsvangirai called on the United Nations, the European Union and the Southern
African regional bloc to intervene. The European Union threatened Friday to
step up sanctions against Mugabe's government, and the United States and
Britain want a special U.N. Security Council meeting.

Tsvangirai said he would put forward new proposals by Wednesday on how take
the country forward. He did not provide any details about what the proposals
would include.

Where does Tsvangirai's pullout leave Zimbabwe?

Guardian News Blog

Lee Glendinning
Reaction to the opposition leader's decision to withdraw from the
presidential runoff vote against Robert Mugabe
June 22, 2008 5:24 PM
The Movement for Democratic Change was to meet tomorrow to make what had
been hailed as the most pivotal decision in its history: whether to continue
with the electoral race. But it didn't get there.

With the weeks leading up to the election run-off next Friday marred by
violence and brutality - in which independent human rights groups estimated
85 people have been killed, Morgan Tsvangirai this afternoon pulled out of
the run-off calling it a ''violent, illegitimate sham of an election
process''.

While his decision may lead to a temporary halt in the bloodshed in
Zimbabwe, it leaves the nation's people unable to express their pain at the
ballot box.

The conditions, Tsvangirai said, meant a credible election was impossible.
It was not so much an election as a war said Chris McGreal in the Observer.

Jacob Mafume from the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition says the MDC was left
with no choice but to pull out.

"The MDC had no option. The brutality is too much. It's now time for the
regional leadership to show leadership on the issue."

In a news conference to declare his decision held in Harare this afternoon,
Tsvangirai called on the UN to stop the genocide.

Many believe the international consensus deploring Mugabe's actions is
growing and sanctions have been threatened.

After the announcement today, Brian Raftopolous, a political analyst for the
Zimbabwe Institute said Tsvangirai's move could lead to diplomatic isolation
for Zimbabwe.

But Patrick Chinamasa, the Zimbabwean justice minister, disputed the level
of violence in the region.

"There's no genocide taking place anywhere, justifying any intervention.
He's [Tsvangirai] only saying that to bring foreign intervention in this
country."

Wilf Mbanga the founder and editor of the independent newspaper, The
Zimbabwean said Zimbabwean people had sensed Mugabe was a "wounded animal"
and there had been a new found hope in the country.

But today, from his self-imposed exile in the UK, he said: "What's the point
in taking part? Mugabe has already said he will not accept defeat.

"They are a lawless government. If Morgan had taken part in that election it
would have legitimised that process. It's better that he pulls out."

However, in an interesting footnote, Tom Cargill said that while today's
developments have undermined the MDC, Tsvangirai standing down could be a
catalyst for Mugabe retiring.

"Mugabe's aura of invincibility has still been destroyed by the election,
within the region and to some extent in Zimbabwe.

"That myth has now gone, so that undermines his position.

''But bizarrely there is a train of thought that this helps in the
transition in that he knows he wants to retire but will only go from a
position from strength."

Broad Support For Zimbabwe Opposition Election Boycott

VOA

22 June 2008

Citing the deadly risk to voters from escalating political violence and
other factors, Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai announced on
Sunday that his Movement for Democratic Change will not participate in the
presidential run-off election slated for Friday. The decision appeared to be
broadly backed by civil society leaders and many in the electorate.

Tsvangirai said state-sponsored political violence which has claimed more
than 80 lives among his supporters and government manipulation of the
electoral playing field made it impossible for a credible election to be
held. The opposition leader emphasized that his party could not ask
Zimbabweans to cast a ballot for him when that action might cost them their
lives.

He listed eight broad reasons for the decision: state sponsored violence
waged by the ruling ZANU-PF party's militia; state actions intended to
cripple his campaign; the "decimation" of his party's organization by
arrests and violence; a partisan electoral commission he said has been taken
over by ZANU-PF militants; state repression of independent media; statements
by Mr. Mugabe saying he will not accept defeat; and government moves to rig
the election.

Consequently, Tsvangirai said, the MDC leadership resolved not to take part
in what he called a "violent, illegitimate sham of an election process."

Initial government responses were ambiguous. Information Minister Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu said the run-off election would go ahead in accordance with the
constitution, telling the Associated Press that "the constitution does not
say that if somebody drops out or decides to chicken out the run-off will
not be held." However, CNN quoted Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa as
saying that no run-off ballot would be held this week.

Among international reactions, the White House issued a statement demanding
that Harare halt election-related violence immediately, accusing the
government of using "thugs" to intimidate its political opponents.
Earlier Sunday, an opposition rally in Harare was broken up by hundreds of
ZANU-PF militants wielding iron bars, sticks and other weapons who attacked
journalists and election observers, driving them from the grounds, as
correspondent Thomas Chiripasi reported.

Among civil society reactions, National Constitutional Assembly Chairman
Lovemore Madhuku welcomed the decision, saying that taking part in the
run-off would have been futile and that the MDC should join civil society in
demanding a new constitution as the way forward.

Political analyst John Makumbe, a professor at the University of Zimbabwe,
said President Mugabe had hoped to mend his tattered legitimacy through the
ballot, so that in the high-stakes political card game the MDC "trumped"
him.
But political analyst Hermann Hanekom of Cape Town, South Africa, said the
MDC made a strategic blunder and in doing so set a bad precedent for the
African continent.

Ordinary Zimbabweans reached by VOA expressed relief at news of the MDC
boycott.

A resident of Gutu, Masvingo province, who gave his name only as Shadreck,
voiced hope the boycott might lead to a reduction in political violence.

Another VOA listener, Faro, said the boycott will ease the suffering of
Zimbabweans even if it disappoints those who were hoping to vote Mr. Mugabe
and ZANU-PF out of power

Zimbabwe faces political stalemate

Financial Times

Published: June 22 2008 18:56 | Last updated: June 22 2008 18:56

While Morgan Tsvangirai's decision to withdraw from Friday's presidential
run-off election theoretically hands President Robert Mugabe yet another
term as the country's leader, the reality is likely to be very different.

The decision could put the country on the road to weeks - possibly months -
of fresh political uncertainty and accelerating economic collapse.

The political situation, already bleak, is in stalemate, with an executive
president, Mr Mugabe, having to work with a parliament dominated by the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
Because the ruling Zanu-PF party lost the parliamentary election to the MDC
in the March 29 poll, the president will either have to try to govern
without a majority in parliament or form a coalition government.

The MDC has in effect stymied both options, saying it will not join a
national unity government headed by Mr Mugabe - as proposed by South Africa's
President Thabo Mbeki - and will use its majority in the house to block his
legislation.

Zanu-PF insiders discount these statements predicting that they will be able
to "buy off" enough MDC parliamentarians to secure a working majority.

But the violence perpetrated against MDC followers in the last few weeks
seems likely to have put paid to hopes of such a compromise.

The MDC has its own problems. The decision to pull out of the run-off was
far from unanimous.

Many senior party leaders and activists are dismayed by the move, some of
them hoping over the next 48 hours to persuade Mr Tsvangirai, not always the
most decisive of leaders, to think again.

Despite their deep disappointment at the failure of the international
community to take a much harder line against the Mugabe government, MDC
leaders are pinning their faith on international, especially regional and
African pressure to force Mr Mugabe to retire.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to debate the issue today.
However, a specific course of action for the UN, African Union or Southern
African Development Community has yet to emerge - and was even lacking from
the MDC's call for intervention.

A jubilant justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, insisted that Mr Tsvangirai
had withdrawn because he faced "a humiliating defeat" in the second round.

He added that the poll would go ahead on Friday unless the MDC gave formal
notice in writing of its withdrawal.

Some of the more militant MDC leaders are calling for the party to set up a
government-in-exile, arguing that because the west will not recognise Mr
Mugabe's "victory" this would be a big step towards marginalising the
Zanu-PF regime internationally.

Economists and business people believe that the Mugabe victory will be
short-lived. Asked how much longer he thought his business could survive,
one Harare industrialist said: "The other day, I thought we would not last
the week". He says inflation - measured by the wage he pays a factory
worker - increased from 2m per cent in May to 10m per cent this month.

"Even then, the guys reckon they are worse off now than last year."

Since January, the Zimbabwe dollar has collapsed from 10m to the pound to
Friday's free market rate of 40bn.

"This can't last" said a bank economist last night. "They [the government]
are going to have to sue for peace with the international community

Mbeki says will encourage Zimbabwe leaders to talk

Reuters

Sun 22 Jun 2008, 17:08 GMT

JOHANNESBURG, June 22 (Reuters) - President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday that
South Africa would encourage President Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai to meet to discuss Zimbabwe's political crisis after the
opposition leader pulled out of a June 27 presidential run-off vote.

"From our point of view it is still necessary that the political leadership
of Zimbabwe should get together and find a solution to the challenges that
face Zimbabwe," Mbeki told South African public broadcaster SABC.

"I would hope that that leadership would be open to a process which would
result in them coming to some agreement about what happens to their country.
And that most certainly is what we would try to encourage". (Reporting by
Marius Bosch)

Day of drama in Harare

 

Sunday, 22 June 2008 16:43 UK

By Farai Sevenzo Harare It was inevitable something dramatic would have to happen. The electoral playing field had become so one-sided, the incidents of violence and murder against his supporters so widespread, that Morgan Tsvangirai had to do something. On Sunday afternoon he called a press conference in his Strathaven home in Harare's central suburbs and announced that his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was pulling out of the presidential run-off scheduled for Friday, 27 June. In the week preceding this announcement, the city had become numbed by the ongoing violence and ruling party Zanu-PF's brand of aggressive campaigning. This is not an election, this is a war, and we will not legitimise it by taking part in what is a farce Tineyi Munetsi MDC official Whole constituencies comfortably won in the 29 March poll were being overrun by Zanu-PF's youth militias. Mob rule reigned even in the townships. Those affiliated with the opposition - elected MPs, councillors, organising secretaries, activists - were being systematically targeted. I visited houses that were stoned and ruined, burned to ashes, and the families of such officials were seen as targets too. One youth was dragged out of his councillor relative's home in Chitungwiza, a satellite town south of Harare, and the axe used to break down their door was embedded in his skull. An opposition mayor had his young wife kidnapped and murdered. It was against this background that Sunday promised something dramatic from the opposition. Rally hopes dashed Despite their Secretary General, Tendai Biti, appearing in leg irons at the high court last Friday, MDC supporters were hoping that one rally in Harare, which the authorities had granted permission for through the High Court, would go ahead. But it was not to be. Morgan Tsvangirai said he had no option but to withdraw The ruling party headquarters was filled with militant youth spoiling for a fight and the location for the rally, a wide open space nearby, behind what used to be the Sheraton Hotel, was filled with police officers in riot gear. With the rally not going ahead as Mr Tsvangirai prepared to announce his decision to pull out, the militant Zanu-PF youths went on the rampage and beat people in the centre of town. For just under an hour, tear gas fired by police drifted along Samora Machel Avenue, and passing cars were stoned. A text started doing the rounds from around 1200 GMT: "Avoid Samora Machel and Borrowdale road big riot underway police with teargas army zanu thugs stoning cars mdc uprising at rally." Mr Tsvangirai listed many reasons for his decision. Among them the obvious fact that his campaign has been frustrated at every turn, that he has had no access to the state broadcaster, his only means to speak to the people. The MDC says three-quarters of the country is no longer accessible to its election agents and campaigners, "war veterans" having set up bases and roadblocks which make it impossible for anyone from the opposition to move freely. The opposition says 75 activists have been murdered since the first election on 29 March and 200,000 people displaced amid appalling levels of violence. "Zanu-PF has no respect for SADC (Southern Africa Development Community), for the AU (African Union), for the UN, for anybody," said one party official. 'Bloody campaign' Tineyi Munetsi, MDC organising secretary for Chitungwiza, rang me from Mr Tsvangirai's house and I asked him what he thought of the decision to pull out. "I believe it is the right decision," he answered. "For the last week it was my task to organise polling agents for the rural constituencies, and they are all being targeted. "There is not a single area we can campaign in, even the townships are closed. And think of how many of our people have been murdered. This is not an election, this is a war, and we will not legitimise it by taking part in what is a farce." Mr Munetsi also alleged that the MDC had discovered plans for massive ballot-rigging. "Look here, people are being told that after they vote they have to write down the serial numbers of their ballot papers so the fake election monitors can cross-reference them to who they voted for." As for ordinary Hararians, a snap poll on the streets and on the phone revealed little knowledge of the opposition leader's decision to pull out of the presidential race. "You're not serious, why did he do that?" said a woman selling fruit in the winter sun. Stella in Highfields agrees with the decision. "We are being made into their goats and livestock, being herded here and there, forced to wear their T-shirts, asked [to chant] the Zanu-PF slogan which is 'June 27, Mugabe in office by force', and losing our relatives to their bloody campaign." The drama of this story is far from over, and the pleas for international action and intervention may get louder, but there is little sign that the party which prides itself on its tactics of war and its own brand of persuasion will be listening.

Mugabe's Zimbabwe must be expelled from the SADC

http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/hartley/2008/06/22/mugabes-zimbabwe-must-be-expelled-from-the-sadc/


22 June 2008, 15:45 GMT + 2
MORGAN Tsvangirai's decision to withdraw from the run-off election against
Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe has thrown down the gauntlet to Southern Africa's
compromised political leaders.
Regional leaders and South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, in particular,
have failed to act against Mugabe even as evidence of the torture, murder
and mutilation of opposition campaigners has mounted.
They have not raised a finger to stop brazen election rigging and what now
amounts to the theft of the run-off election by Mugabe's thugs.
Mbeki was in Harare this last week to try and broker the laughable idea of a
"government of national unity", which some see as one last desperate gambit
to keep Mugabe in power should Tsvangirai have won the poll.
Yesterday, even as the MDC was prevented from holding a rally in Harare and
barred from entering Mashonaland, South Africa urged it to continue talks
with Mugabe.
Mbeki's flaccid diplomatic has failed utterly and yet, like a man who
believes he can press reality into assuming his likeness, he persists with
this weak initiative.
What is needed now is action against the Mugabe regime.
Southern African leaders must expel Mugabe from the SADC now, sending a
signal to the world that they will not tolerate him.
There is a precedent for this: South Africa led the suspension of the
Nigerian dictatorship from the Commonwealth in 1995 because of its
undemocratic behaviour.
There can be no question that Mugabe will not hesitate to destroy his
country and kill his countrymen in his bid to prolong his stay in power.
South Africa cannot stand by while elections are brazenly stolen and people
campaigning in a democratic election are arrested, tortured and butchered.
We must act to stop this horror.

2 Comments so far:
  1.. lulu on June 22nd, 2008

  Thabo Mbeki will obviously pay the price of looking on and doing nothing
to aid Zimbabwean's in their plight against Mugabe.
  Mugabe has been in power since 1980. A rational person stays in power for
a maximum of 8 years. But, oh no, not my man Robby, 28 is not enough. How
different is he from Ian Smith? Not at all, well Ian Smith, was a colonial
leader, and honestly I think it hurts more when a person who promised
democracy impinges on those rights he promised people. Ian Smith did not
promise us anything. I remember in the 80's Mugabe going on and on about
Born Frees..the kids norn in after 1980.One may ask, what did these kids
amount to?..for the most part nothing, either they died of AIDS, or were
killed trying to go abroad or across the Limpopo.Mugabe has destroyed our
contry , but mainly he betrayed a generation.those so called born free's.
Thank God I was born in 1979

  2.. Paul on June 22nd, 2008

  A small and independent elite force like the Blackwater security teams in
Iraq should be deployed to assassinate Robert Mugabe. Then US and UN
military should move in to help secure Tsvangirai's party in the
governmental seat until a fair democratic election system can be
established. The civilized world's tolerance of Mugabe's undisguised
oppressive regime is an affront to humanity.
  In the absence of a small military force to perform this task any
passionate individual should try to liquidate Mugabe by any means necessary.
That person will surely have done the world a great service.

Zimbabwe opposition says ZANU-PF youth on rampage

Reuters

Sun Jun 22, 2008 3:20pm EDT

HARARE (Reuters) - Youth members of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party attacked
citizens in Harare on Sunday after the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
announced it had pulled out of the June 27 presidential run-off.

"More than 2000 youth militia are currently on the rampage in Mbare, central
Harare, carrying out random attacks on innocent citizens," the MDC said in a
statement. "Casualty departments in Harare are already receiving injuries
from these attacks."

The party reiterated its calls for urgent intervention by the regional and
African groups.

(Reporting by Muchena Zigomo; editing by Paul Simao)

An African tragedy

Rocky Mountain News

Zimbabwe dictatorship becomes more lethal, less accountable
Rocky Mountain News
Sunday, June 22, 2008
It was hardly a surprise that Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe's main
opposition party Movement for Democratic Change, announced Sunday that he
would not participate in the June 27 runoff presidential election.
Incumbent President Robert Mugabe lost the first round of the election in
April to Tsvangirai, though not by a majority. Since then the dictator has
made every effort, including voter fraud and intimidation, to ensure he
didn't lose a second time.

Mugabe's military, police and goon squads have been roaming the countryside,
murdering opposition supporters, beating others and burning their homes. So
far, European Union officials report 59 confirmed murders, 34,000 people
removed from their homes and 2,700 men and women beaten and tortured.

In a display of effrontery that would be funny if the threat wasn't so real,
Mugabe last week suggested arresting those opposition party leaders still
out of jail for spreading pre-election violence.

Independent media organizations based outside Zimbabwe have vigilantly
reported the arrests of rank-and-file opposition party members, in addition
to the shocking brutality Mugabe's thugs have used against their fellow
countrymen.

You can understand why the MDC refused to lend any legitimacy to this sham.
After all, Mugabe has announced that he won't leave the presidency even if
he loses. Last Friday he proclaimed, "Only God who appointed me will remove
me" from office.

Zimbabwe is starving due to Mugabe's mismanagement but aid organizations
have been forbidden from leaving the cities and government food stocks are
going only to government supporters. The only positive sign we can see is
that as the dictator's outrages grow, his regime becomes increasingly
isolated.

Heads of state belonging to the South African Development Community, a
regional organization of governments, had previously stood behind Mugabe.
Now more and more of them are abandoning him.

After SADC sent a couple of hundred election monitors to witness the
campaign, current and former leaders of Angola, Tanzania and Rwanda declared
last week that the election will not be free or fair and that Mugabe must
end the violence. Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, now chairman of the
SADC, called Sunday for the runoff to be postponed. Instead, Zimbabwean
Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said the vote would go ahead to
demonstrate the nation's steadfast support of Mugabe.

The European Union has frozen the assets of Mugabe and his cronies and may
impose additional sanctions. The problem is, Mugabe's only remaining ally in
the region, South African President Thabo Mbeki, continues to prop up Mugabe
with foreign aid.

Mbeki has himself been ostracized by other African leaders. So it may take
his withdrawal of support, if not God, to end Mugabe's reign of terror.

White House tells Zimbabwe 'thugs' to halt poll violence

Yahoo News

Sun Jun 22, 11:39 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House Sunday demanded that Zimbabwe's
government and its "thugs" halt election violence immediately, after
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai quit a presidential run-off vote.

"The government of Zimbabwe and its thugs must stop the violence now," White
House spokesman Carlton Carroll said in a statement.
The statement did not specifically address Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the
run-off, on the grounds that violence by the regime of President Robert
Mugabe had made a fair vote impossible.

But Carroll said: "All parties should be able to participate in a legitimate
election and not be subject to the intimidation and unlawful actions of the
government, armed militias and so-called war veterans."

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged "broader and
stronger international action" to end the worsening pre-poll violence in
Zimbabwe and ensure a free and fair presidential vote later this month.

Chairing an informal meeting of the UN Security Council on Zimbabwe, she
said that "by its actions the Mugabe regime has given up any pretense that
the June 27 election will be allowed to proceed in a free and fair manner."

"We have reached the point where broader, stronger international action is
needed," she said.

In late March, Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the first round of the presidential
vote, but election officials said he fell short of an outright majority and
had to face Mugabe in the June 27 run-off.

Sunday's decision by Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic
Change, almost certainly handed victory by default to Mugabe, 84, who has
ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.

"We in the MDC cannot ask them (supporters) to cast their vote on the 27th
when that vote would cost them their lives," Tsvangirai told reporters.

"We will no longer participate in the violent illegitimate sham of an
election process," he said, arguing that Mugabe had "declared war by saying
that the bullet has replaced the ballot."

Rice had slammed what she called an "orchestrated campaign of violence and
harassment" by the Mugabe government, accusing its supporters, "including
police and so-called war veterans," of having killed more than 60 opposition
supporters, injured thousands and intimidated or displaced many more.

Britain says Zimbabwe in crisis under tyrant Mugabe

Reuters

Sun 22 Jun 2008, 17:38 GMT

(Adds more quotes, details, background)

LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - Britain said on Sunday the people of Zimbabwe
had reached a critical point in their efforts to remove President Robert
Mugabe from power and free themselves from his "tyrannical rule".

Speaking after Zimbabwe's leading opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai
pulled out of a June 27 presidential vote, citing violence and ballot
rigging, Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Mugabe and "his
thugs" had made an election there impossible.

"Now we face a critical crisis of legitimacy because it's clear that the
only people with any shred of legitimacy are the people who won the March 29
first round and that was the opposition," Miliband told reporters.

He accused Mugabe of engaging in "state-sponsored violence" and called on
leaders of other African nations to put pressure on him to stop.

"We have reached an absolutely critical moment in the drive by the people of
Zimbabwe to rid themselves of the tyrannical rule of Robert Mugabe,"
Miliband said.

"Zimbabwe is being bossed by Robert Mugabe and by his henchmen and he
remains the apex of power despite the fact that the people of Zimbabwe
deserted him quite a long time ago."

Britain, the former colonial power in Zimbabwe, has voiced particularly
fierce criticism of Mugabe in recent years, and has in turn been accused by
him of being reluctant to relinquish its former authority over his country.

Miliband urged the United Nations to hold a "full discussion" on the issue
at Monday's Security Council session, saying: "The U.N. does have a big role
and of course up to now it hasn't been able to find a voice."

He said it was also important "that African leaders continue to make clear
that a government which violates the constitution of Zimbabwe cannot be held
as a legitimate representative of the Zimbabwean people." (Reporting by Kate
Kelland; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Solana calls Zimbabwe political situation "parody of democracy"

Monsters and Critics

Jun 22, 2008, 18:41 GMT

Brussels - The European Union's chief diplomat Javier Solana on Sunday
expressed sympathy for the decision of Zimbabwe's opposition not to take
part in the second round of the country's presidential elections, calling
the vote a 'parody.'

The 'systematic campaign of violence, interference and intimidation by the
Zimbabwean authorities' made clear the reasoning behind the opposition move,
Solana said in a statement from Brussels.

'Under these conditions, the elections would have been a parody of democracy
that is unworthy of today's Africa,' he added.

Solana also praised the African Union and the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) for 'having attempted to bring Zimbabwe to reason.'

Hague calls for South Africa to turn the screw on Mugabe

Conservative Home

Following the decision of the MDC to withdraw from Zimbabwe's elections,
William Hague has called for the international community to do five things:

  1.. Withhold recognition of the Harare Government
  2.. Widen EU sanctions on members of the regime, and enforcing them
properly
  3.. Debate Zimbabwe at the UN Security Council and calling for a UN
Commission of Inquiry into the grotesque abuses of human rights, with a view
to future action by the International Criminal Court (see Ben Rogers on
this)
  4.. Maintain the pressure on Southern African countries to cease to prop
up a regime disgracing their region (Dan Lewis notes that S Africa could
turn Zimbabwe's power off).
  5.. Prepare an international rescue programme for when Mugabe is gone
(William Hague has written on this subject for ConservativeHome).
The Shadow Foreign Secretary concluded: "This is a criminal government, and
should now be treated as such."

June 22, 2008 at 18:16

Zambian president says SADC silence on Zimbabwe 'scandalous'

Yahoo News

1 hour, 56 minutes ago

LUSAKA (AFP) - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, current chair of the
14-nation Southern African Development Community, said Sunday it was
"scandalous for SADC to remain silent on Zimbabwe."

"It's scandalous for SADC to remain silent on Zimbabwe," Mwanawasa told
reporters after Zimbabwe opposition chief Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from
the country's presidential run-off.

He added that conditions in Zimbabwe had violated SADC's principles on
elections.

"The current political situation in Zimbabwe falls far short of the SADC
principles," said the president.

"Free campaigns have not been allowed, and the opposition have been denied
access to the media. These are all in contravention of the SADC principles."

Mwanawasa criticised South African President Thabo Mbeki's mediation efforts
in Zimbabwe's crisis, saying he had not briefed him on his meeting last week
with Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe.

SADC has appointed Mbeki mediator in the crisis.

"I feel disappointed that as the chairman I'm being denied information,"
said Mwanawasa. "I have to rely on my own intelligence reports gathered on
Zimbabwe."

The regional bloc has been divided on how to deal with Zimbabwe, with
Botswana and Zambia taking a harder line.

In his comments on Sunday, Mwanawasa suggested the Zimbabwe vote could be
postponed until a later date, without providing further details.

"There is no need to be ashamed in announcing that the presidential run-off
should be called off until further notice," he said.

Tsvangirai said his party reached the decision to withdraw because violence
in the country had made a fair vote impossible.

The opposition claims more than 80 of its supporters had been killed in a
campaign of intimidation ahead of the vote and thousands injured.

Has Zimbabwe’s Mugabe been bolstered or weakened by Tsvangirai’s decision to abandon poll?

Zimbabwe Vigil Diary - 21st June 2008

The suffering in Zimbabwe as Friday's run-off election approaches has
touched the whole world.  Certainly, no one in the UK can miss the media
coverage. There is a lot of anger too. One elderly gentleman signing our
petitions said "I would like to sign Mugabe's death certificate and I'm a
doctor, you know".

Supporters had asked us to dedicate this Saturday as a prayer vigil and no
one could fail to be moved by the outpouring of sorrow.  Many thanks to
Sally Sakala, a gospel musician and worshipper at God Solution Centre who
led the impassioned prayers and hymn singing.  We were happy to be joined by
the Reverend Richard Carter of our local church, St Martin-in-the-Fields.
We contacted him after attending a service there last week addressed by
Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Reverend Carter quoted Desmond Tutu: "Goodness is stronger than evil, love
is stronger than hate, light is stronger than darkness, life is stronger
than death, victory is ours through him who loves us". He said St Martin's
had always stood by the struggles of the peoples of Zimbabwe and South
Africa and he believed that Jesus Christ was present in the suffering of his
people in Zimbabwe. He prayed "Stop the violence, stop the oppression, stop
the rule of hatred, begin the rule of justice and peace." Everyone was
heartened by the spirit of togetherness as we prayed in unity at this
pivotal moment in the history of our country.

Zimbabweans are in every corner of the world. Walking along a canal in
Brittany, supporters on holiday there saw a large banner on a house "Viva
Zimbabwe".  Zimbabwean John Knight and his French wife Cecile are living
there and were delighted to welcome our supporters.  John was the cartoonist
Alpha Zulu whose work appeared in the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper.

Thanks to Lynnette who kindly brought us food and drink.  Thanks also to
Chipo Chaya who did an excellent job of repairing one of our dilapidated old
banners in readiness for our next decade of protest!

There was a big demonstration in Trafalgar Square by people opposed to the
right wing British National Party and many of them signed our petitions as
they passed.  See below for details of our future events but our main focus
is Friday when we hold a mock presidential run-off.  We are outside the
Zimbabwe Embassy from 10 am to 4 pm and have also booked a space outside the
South African High Commission from 1 - 2 pm on that day. Our ballot box will
be a coffin symbolizing the death of democracy in Zimbabwe.  The coffin will
be taken to the South African High Commission along with our petition:  "A
petition to President Mbeki of South Africa. Exiled Zimbabweans and
supporters urge you to stop supporting Mugabe and allow a peaceful transfer
of power from the military regime to the Zimbabwean people. Our blood is at
your door."

For latest Vigil pictures check:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.

FOR THE RECORD:  154 signed the register.

FOR YOUR DIARY:
·    Demonstration for democracy, rights and freedom for Zimbabwe.
Monday 23 June 2008, 12.30 - 2 pm organised by the TUC and ACTSA and
supported by the Vigil. Outside the Zimbabwe Embassy. On 23 June Lovemore
Matombo, President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and
Wellington Chibebe, General Secretary of ZCTU are due in court to face
charges of spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state. As part of their
bail conditions they are not allowed to address political or public
gatherings. For full details check www.actsa.org.
·   Service of Solidarity with Torture Survivors of Zimbabwe, Thursday
26th June 4 - 5.30 pm on UN International Day in Support of Victims of
Torture organised by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum supported by the
Vigil. Venue: St Paul's Church, Bedford Street, Covent Garden WC2E 9ED.  All
welcome to join the service and post-service procession to lay flowers on
the steps of the Zimbabwe Embassy.
·    Zimbabwe Vigil's Mock Presidential Run-off. Friday 27th June 10
am - 4 pm outside the Zimbabwe Embassy + protest outside the South African
High Commission from 1 - 2 pm.
·   Mandela 90th Birthday Concert. Friday 27th June, 4 pm in Hyde
Park.  Vigil supporters to attend the event with banners reading "Speak out
Mandela" and "What about Zimbabwe?"
·   Next Bristol Vigil. Saturday, June 28th in Gloucester Road,
opposite Amnesty Bookshop
·   Next Glasgow Vigil. Saturday 5th July,  2 - 6 pm.. Venue: Argyle
Street Precinct. For more information contact: Ancilla Chifamba, 07770 291
150, Patrick Dzimba, 07990 724 137 or Jonathan Chireka, 07504 724 471.
·   Shona / Ndebele Mass in Southwark.   Sunday. 13 July at 6.30pm,
Southwark Cathedral will be holding a special Eucharist for the Zimbabwean
community in the Shona and Ndebele languages with a Zimbabwean choir.
·   Zimbabwe Association's Women's Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays
10.30 am - 4 pm. Venue: The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre, 84 Mayton
Street, London N7 6QT, Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest underground: Finsbury
Park. For more information contact the Zimbabwe Association 020 7549 0355
(open Tuesdays and Thursdays).

Vigil co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.

Trudy under seige

From: Trudy Stevenson
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 12:27 AM

My home has been under seige since yesterday Saturday 21 June.

At around 1.30 pm yesterday a ZanuPF group came marching to my gate, singing
and chanting and shouting slogans.  They threw a pile of campaign flyers
over the gate, then went off to Ashbrittle shopping centre about 5 houses
away, where they hung around until they were collected by a lorry around
5pm. They promised to come back to my place at night.  Instead, they
returned this morning around 9am, and promised to return tonight Sunday.
Meanwhile they organised a rally for this afternoon, initially saying it was
at Ashbrittle shopping centre, then moving it up to Bond Street shopping
centre in Mt Pleasant.  This afternoon at around 1.30 pm a new white pickup
without number plates came to my gate - inside was one man in police uniform
and one in civilian clothes.  They left after a while when no one answered
the bell.

Jim and I are in a safe place, but obviously we are very worried that the
place will be attacked tonight or later, in view of this pattern repeated
several times this week with people being abducted, tortured and murdered
and the houses petrol-bombed - and now ZanuPF in a high state of excitement
in Harare.  We have tried to persuade the domestic workers and lodger to
move out, but so far they prefer to remain. They are aware of the risks.
They are also looking after the dogs.

I have alerted the police, observers, the party, neighbours (they knew
already!), my sons and friends.

Well, let's see what transpires!

Trudy

Al Jazeera Kicked out of Zimbabwe

http://zimbabwemetro.com

By Roy Chinamano ⋅ © zimbabwemetro.com ⋅ June 22, 2008 ⋅

 Al Jazeera has been denied permission to operate in Zimbabwe, a source in
the Ministry of Information and Publicity told Metro.
Its Harare bureau will be moved to Johannesburg.

The source said the government was not happy with its plans to fire its
correspondent Supa Mandiwanzira who is being accused of not being objective.

Last year before joining Al Jazeera Mandiwanzira was fired from SABC News,
South Africa’s State broadcaster for his alleged involvement in a ZANU-PF
and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) sting operation against Roman
Catholic prelate Bishop Pius Ncube.

CNN,BBC,SkyNews are Banned in Zimbabwe.

Urban Areas Under Siege

Zim Standard

Local
Saturday, 21 June 2008 18:17
ZANU PF militias, youths and war veterans have invaded the MDC
stronghold of the urban areas, laying siege to towns and cities, previously
largely untouched by the violence raging in the rural areas.

The signs of their heavy presence are evident in both high and
low-density suburbs, and in the streets and along the roads.

On Wednesday morning, four MDC supporters were found dead, a day after
they had been abducted in Unit F in Chitungwiza. This raised the death toll
blamed on Zanu PF by the MDC to 70.

On Thursday night, MDC supporters were attacked in Mbare, Rugare,
Warren Park, and Dzivarasekwa by the Zanu PF militia code-named Chipangano
("our agreement").

In Dzivarasekwa, Zanu PF militias, accompanied by people in army
uniforms were last week ordering residents to remove their satellite dishes
or risk attacks or even murder.

Most Harare high-density residents were forced to attend night
meetings(pungwes) where they are ordered to sing Zanu PF songs praising
Mugabe and Zanu PF.
At these meetings residents have come to realise the importance of
knowing Zanu PF slogans.

"All those who do not know Zanu PF slogans are assaulted in public.
Even commuter buses are forced to pull off the road and commuters ordered to
chant Zanu PF slogans. It's so degrading," said one Dzivarasekwa resident.

In a commuter bus halted near Rufaro stadium on Friday, three women
found themselves in trouble after they failed to identify "WW" - a Zanu PF
slogan for "Win or War". They could not identify "PNG" - Penzura negidi
hazvienderane (A pen is not equivalent to a gun).

Two men in another commuter bus were beaten up after they failed to
chant the "27 JMM TM, MK" slogan (27 June, Mugabe Muoffice - Tsvangirai
Muoffice, Mugabe kuHondo).

The youths forced commuter bus operators to reduce their fares to $500
million and stick Mugabe's campaign posters on their buses. For their
safety, they also have to wear Zanu PF T-shirts.

The terror campaign has spawned a demand for Zanu PF cards, now
fetching as much as R100 on the black market.

Flea market operators, who could lose their stalls, are scrambling for
the cards in most suburbs.

In Magada in Epworth, there were many reports of attacks by "war
veterans" and Zanu PF youths on suspected MDC supporters. Several houses
were burnt down and many people ended up in hospital. Militias told
residents the settlement would be destroyed if Mugabe lost the election.

In Mabelreign, Zanu PF youths sang all night on Sunday, threatening
war. Residents woke up to see Mugabe's campaign posters under their doors
and pasted on their vehicles.

In New Alex Park, "war veterans" called a meeting at the corner of
Swan and Borrowdale Roads on Thursday, to tell domestic workers the "dead
people at Chimoio" were not happy Zimbabweans wanted to give land back to
the whites.

To appease them, they instructed the workers "to vote Zanu PF", not at
Hellenic Club or Alex Park (the polling stations) but at a secret tent which
would be erected on the day of the election.

Violence was not limited to Harare. Zanu PF took hold of Kadoma city
after Mugabe addressed a rally at Rimuka stadium on Monday. They stoned 12
houses and beat up several people suspected of opposition sympathies.

Ketai Makodza, the MDC Mashonaland West party chairman, said the
youths barricaded the Kadoma-Sanyati road, stopping motorists and forcing
them to chant Zanu PF slogans. They assaulted anyone who didn't sound
convincing.

MDC spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa condemned the violence, saying Zanu
PF was resurrecting the violent tactics of the Smith regime.

Chamisa said scores of MDC supporters in Zaka, Nyanga, Bikita,
Chiweshe and Gutu were now living in the nearby mountains, fearing for their
lives.

The deputy minister of Information and Publicity, Bright Matonga
yesterday accused The Standard of negative reporting.

"You always report negative stories about our party and I have never
seen a report about MDC assaulting Zanu PF supporters in your paper. You
need to report about that if you want my comment," Matonga said.

War veterans' leader Jabulani Sibanda denied they had set up bases in
Harare.

By Godfrey Mutimba/Walter Marwizi

War Veterans Reject Mugabe War Claims

Zim Standard

Local
Saturday, 21 June 2008 17:47
The War Veterans Board, tasked by the government to look after the
welfare of the former freedom fighters, has dismissed President Robert
Mugabe's claims they have endorsed his threats to go back to war if he lost
Friday's election.

The board is made up of former ZIPRA and ZANLA commanders, including
Dumiso Dabengwa, Solomon Mujuru, and Vitalis Zvinavashe.

It was appointed by Mugabe soon after a number of war veterans
reportedly played a prominent role in the so-called Tsholotsho Declaration.

The declaration, hammered out at a prize- giving day ceremony at
Dinyane High School has been described by Zanu PF heavyweights as an
attempted "smart" coup against Mugabe.

It led to a serious purge of senior ruling party officials.

Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWA), leader
Jabulani Sibanda, accused of leading Mugabe's terror campaign and
war-mongering had been affected by the clear-out.

Dabengwa, a signatory of the statement issued by the board and
published in today's newspapers, said he had the full support of all the
board's members, most of them considered to be Zanu PF power brokers.

He said the veterans were "really depressed, looking at the sacrifices
they made and the comrades they "lost" during the war.

"They feel they are being used to defend what they don't understand,"
he said. "They are being forced to defend an individual at the expense of
the nation and they are saying it is not possible that after struggling for
so many years there is still only one person who is capable of defending the
revolution."

Mugabe has claimed during his campaign rallies the veterans have vowed
to take up arms if he lost to the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai.

He has claimed they were motivated by a belief the MDC would return
land acquired from white commercial farmers to their former owners.

"Those are pseudo-war veterans and the real ones are saying the talk
about reversing the land reform is a gimmick," Dabengwa said. "Even if
Tsvangirai were to repossess the farms he knows there would be an uprising
as people would not allow it."

The former ZIPRA intelligence chief has consistently challenged
Sibanda and his lieutenant, Joseph Chinotimba's liberation war credentials.

Dabengwa led a major revolt against Mugabe and backed former politburo
member, Simba Makoni in his presidential challenge to Mugabe in the March
elections.

'It must be remembered that some of the senior war veterans joined the
liberation struggle in January 1960, when the NDP (National Democratic
Party) was formed," the board said in a statement.

"As war veterans we feel betrayed by the leadership of the party
because after fighting for the liberation of this country and delivering it,
we have been discarded in favour of the pseudo-war veterans.

"It looks like our efforts get betrayed each time we are making real
progress."

The board said Mugabe had betrayed the ideals of the liberations
struggle by seeking to cling to power by all means.

Mujuru and Zvinavashe could not be reached for comment.

NGOs Prevented From Operating: NANGO

Zim Standard

Local
Saturday, 21 June 2008 17:45
 WAR veterans and Zanu PF youth militia continue to block relief
agencies and HIV and Aids service organisations from accessing areas in dire
need of aid in rural and peri-urban areas.

This is despite recent assurances from the government that the NGOs
could resume their humanitarian operations, the national association of NGOs
has said.

The government three weeks ago suspended all NGO licences, accusing
them of being conduits of foreign interference in Zimbabwe's politics.

But there was an apparent about-turn on the blanket ban last week,
with the government announcing that more than 400 organisations working in
the HIV/Aids sector would be allowed to operate after local and
international NGOs protested at the ban.

Nango's spokesperson Fambai Ngirande last week said it was still
impossible for the organisations to operate.

He said local government officials, war veterans and Zanu PF youth
militia continued to block any form of aid to the needy.

"Right now the problem is accessing rural and peri-urban areas where
war veterans and militia are still blocking the operations of our member
organisations. Rural areas are no-go areas at the moment," Ngirande said.

He could not name the organisations for security reasons.

One NGO operated in a Harare high-density area, feeding malnourished
children but last week it closed shop after threats from youth militia on
the rampage in the area.

The militias have threatened the workers and are preventing the
children from going for food at the centre.

"It's dangerous for us to continue with the feeding scheme at the
moment but the conditions of the children will definitely deteriorate," said
one of the officials, who refused to be named for fear of victimisation. "It's
very inconsiderate for them to force the closure of such an important
feeding centre."

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has dozens of
international and local NGO partners who help implement relief and
development programmes. Almost all have had to stop working under threats of
violence after the government ban.

"The situation in the last week has certainly become a lot worse for
Zimbabwe's children because so many hundreds of thousands of them are
dependent on aid," said UNICEF's Zimbabwe spokesperson James Elder last
week.

Ngirande said most NGOs had suspended operations, particularly in the
rural areas where political violence is on the increase.

The MDC claims 70 of its supporters have been killed by militia and
war veterans loyal to President Robert Mugabe, who faces MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai in the 27 June election.

Ngirande said efforts to seek dialogue with the Minister of Public
Service, Labour and Social Welfare Nicholas Goche over the hostile
environment NGOs are operating in the country had proved fruitless.

"Goche is always not available," said Ngirande.

Repeated efforts by The Standard to get a comment from Goche last week
were in vain.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the recent
suspension of NGOs involved in field operations had worsened the plight of
people living with HIV/Aids (PLWHAs).

ZLHR through its HIV/AIDS, Human Rights and Law project, called on the
government to consider the plight of the PLWHAs.

"The unforeseen dimension here is that of a country that bans/suspends
NGOs and yet applies for funding under the Global Fund, thereby putting the
latter in a difficult position of handling a proposal from a country that
has banned/suspended NGOs or where the very existence of key implementers is
not guaranteed. The implications are therefore too ghastly to contemplate,"
said the organisation in a statement last week.

In the original circular to civil society, Goche wrote: "It has come
to my attention that a number of NGOs involved in humanitarian operations
are breaching the terms and conditions (by engaging in political
activities). I hereby instruct all NGOs to suspend all field operations
until further notice."

The government's intolerance and suspicion of NGOs is not a new
phenomenon. Mugabe has in the past publicly labelled the NGO sector
"hatcheries of political opposition" and "conduits of foreign interference
in Zimbabwe's national affairs".

NANGO reiterates that the NGO sector has meticulously endeavoured to
remain non-partisan and to adhere to International Humanitarian Standards
and Principles.

"Further, NANGO does not regard the said investigations into NGO
operations to be sufficient grounds to jeopardise the humanitarian needs of
millions of Zimbabweans who are being supported by NGO 'field operations',
or as a basis for the continued victimisation of civil society activists,
human rights defenders, aid workers, election monitors or other personnel
linked to the NGO sector," Ngirande said.

Security alert

Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 7:59 PM

Kariba is besieged by soldiers from 2 Commando Harare.  Information is that
a number of MDC office bearers are to be killed as an example of what will
happen to Kariba residents if they vote for President Tsvangirai next
Friday.

Please remember the word GENOCIDE when you receive these alerts.  This is
just a small part of it.  Will President Mbeki be indicted for complicity in
Genocide?  His silence and outright support for Mugabe indicates that he
will be accompanied to the International Criminal Court, by his friend, in
due course.

MAY GOD SPARE OUR BELOVED COUNTRY FROM FURTHER BLOODSHED AND MISERY.