Breaking News - Midnight 4th June 2003
News just received that 40 MDC
youth members were arrested at their base on
the outskirts of Bulawayo.
Suspected to been amongst those arrested are
George Moyo, the organising
secretary and the owner of the house. The group
were pounced on by police and
army in two army trucks and it is unclear
whether they have been
taken.
For more information, please call Hot lines 091 408 026 / 091 274
664 / 091
294 951 / 023 514 895
Zvakwana Newsletter #30 - Police scuttle around the sinking ship
June 04, 2003
Choose
The single clenched fist lifted and
ready,
Or the open asking hand held out and waiting.
Choose - for we meet
by one or the other.
~ Carl Sandburg
Breaking news . . .
Round 2!
Friday June 6 for big march. See press and refer to local
MDC structures for details.
One of our subscribers, called Mike, said he was looking forward to the next
Zvakwana newsletter in the hope for positive news and a clearer plan of action
for the next two days of the week of action.
The answer lies with YOU. People are worried that the stayaway is losing
momentum. It is not the stayaway that is losing momentum, it is YOU who is
losing momentum. The stayaway works as a collaboration between ordinary
Zimbabwean consumers and business/store owners. If both these parties engage
then the stayaway is a complete success. It has been noted that business owners
are slowly re-opening their doors, sometimes (not always) because they have been
intimidated by the zanu police force. The stayaway will remain in force so long
as YOU do not go out and drink coffee, eat in cafes, buy groceries in
established supermarkets and stores. Shops without customers are a stark
reminder that people power can be triumphant.
The
pressure must continue
Remember that in high density areas running
battles continue to occur between pro-democracy activists and the repressive
state authorities. Brave Zimbabweans have, throughout this week, taken on the
might of the illegitimate regime. Just this morning, a group of Zvakwana
activists mobilised in Tafara in a localised action to stretch the regime's
resources.
We have just heard that the MDC hopes to encourage
more people to come out on to the street in our collective fight for freedom on Friday, June 6th.
If you have decided that you are unable to put yourself forward for active
participation in marches or demonstrations, then by all means commit to an
extended engagement in the stayaway.
It is the very least you can do.
Democracy is when you're not
closed for being open.
~Vlada Bulatovitch
Principles, people, diversity and stayaways - send us your
views
Many Zimbabweans have emailed us to complain about
certain businesses remaining open during the ongoing stayaway. These messages
have outnumbered the few that have asked whether it is fair to impose our
beliefs on others. If we do, then are we no better than the zanu pf thugs, is
the question that is asked? Of course it is quite apparent that naming and
shaming as well as marking premises with a C (for collaborator) is very much
different from the brutal horror that zanu pf is responsible for. How many times
do we get slapped in the face before we say: zvakwana! Let us know your views on
creatively dealing with both violent zanu pf policies and, those Zimbabweans who
continue to sit on the wire. Write to news@zvakwana.org
Some shop owners under the
gun
It is important for us to reflect and appreciate the variety
of different views and situations that exist in our communities. Zvakwana
acknowledges that there has been much pressure put on shop and business owners
by the zanu police force to open their doors during this week of action. At Fife
Avenue Shopping Centre Lucullus is being pressured by the police to serve
customers. Close by the Lucullus entrance Zvakwana activists witnessed a group
of approximately 8 riot police lurking under the trees. At Super Athientis
workers within the store commented that the police were roaming around the
shopping centre maintaining a threatening presence. Meanwhile in Avondale
Santana jeeps circled the car park and one was parked in front of the Wimpy (see
picture) ensuring compliance with mugabe's orders. The Italian Bakery was
pretending to be closed. They had pulled their blinds down and had their chairs
stacked on the veranda but inside there were people sipping coffee.
Where
are YOU in all of this?
We must acknowledge that it is no laughing
matter to be a shop owner or a business operator faced with intimidating zanu
police. Whenever we see a particular sector of our community facing extreme
difficulty we must come to their aid. In this case what it means is that "we",
all the individuals out there must have enough solidarity and resolve not to go
out buying goods during the stayaway period. Zvakwana realises that this is
easier for some to do more than others. Some of us do not have a fridge to keep
things cold for example. All the time it is clearly evident that it is easier
for the authorities to target a few people and intimidate them very
successfully. Avondale Shopping Centre is a good example. However if the
majority do not go out and make use of open stores then there will be no
opportunity for specific victimisation.
If you are drinking coffee in the Italian Bakery, buying tomatoes in
Lucullus, eating in the News Café - then please reconsider the impact of your
actions. Zvakwana urges all Zimbabweans to desist from supporting businesses
that remain open during this week of action.
State concedes no law
prohibits stayaways
The illegitimate government of
Zimbabwe today admitted that there was no law that forbids any citizen from
organising or participating in a stay away. This admission was made by the
Attorney-General's office in the treason trial in which the state is seeking an
order from High Court Judge Paddington Garwe to alter the bail conditions of
Morgan Tsvangirai and Professor Welshman Ncube to include a condition which bars
them from saying anything which the state considers could lead to public
disorder.
Overheard in a TM Supermarket in Borrowdale, Friday 30th
May
Young male till operator (when asked if he was going
to be at work during the Week of Action):
"I won't be here, it is
time to support my fellow countrymen".
Borrowdale "madam" in designer tracksuit waiting to
pay for her groceries:
"Oh, I can't believe it's another stayaway!
Where will I go to shop".
zanu
republic police run amok at the Avenues Clinic
Close to lunchtime
today (4th June) Zvakwana activists witnessed riot police
intimidating and slapping Zimbabweans in the car park of the Avenues Clinic.
There was heavy police presence not only in the hospital premises but also in
the streets surrounding the hospital. Inside were many assaulted activists from
all different walks of life. Injustice does not discriminate.
zanu
pf's reaction an indication of their panic
These violent actions,
of zanu pf organized gangs of soldiers, policemen and vigilante groups are
retributive actions by a government that uses brutal force in response to any
expression of constitutional guaranteed rights by Zimbabweans. Contrary to
government propaganda, the success of the mass action in the last two days, has
created panic among government circles. They intimidated people, send armoured
tanks into township, intimidated shop owners and business people forcing them to
open, issued threats and ultimatums to commuter omnibus operators and presented
"business as usual" propaganda on radio and TV, but could not break the spirit
of the people on the first two days. While the volume of people in the city
increased today compared to yesterday, most shops were closed and those who
opened were already closed by the beginning of the afternoon. Clearly, the
regime has lost the battle of minds and souls of the people.
Change demands action and sacrifice
The tree of freedom and democracy is watered by blood, tears
and sweat. Change demands the need to stand up as individuals and organisations
to shout loud and clear that it is enough. We have lost everything and it is
high time we went on the battlefield to recover and reclaim all that we have
lost. The struggle is a long, arduous odyssey. Within political parties and
civic organisations, we need leaders and their people to come out and say it is
enough in action. It is the "grumbling in our bedrooms" type of protests that
cannot change anything in this country and that gives the lie that everything is
alright. It is the same scenario among the oppressed that made Dr Martin Luther
King Jnr make this world-famous speech: "It is not the violence of a few that
scares me, but the silence of the majority." What an apt description of the
situation here.
Clifford
Mazodze is a poet and political activist - Daily News
And
on the same subject . . .
Please can you air my views. I was in
Unity Square on Monday looking for the march. I was not pleased that I did not
have all the correct information to lead me to the right place but I thought
that Unity Square might be the right position. There were just a few people
there. Now, what I am not happy about is the absence of our civic leaders -
those people who are always organising public meetings on this thing and that
thing, the media and the like. Where was the constitutional reform lobby? Or the
Crisis in Zimbabwe lobby - do they think that they just speak of the crisis in
workshops or over there in London? Then what of our religious organisations -
especially our church leaders who should more than ever before leading their
congregations in unity over violence and lawlessness. There is too much talking
by so-called civil society.
Zvakwana
subscriber
Mount Pleasant - a target for violence
A key player
in the incidents at Mount Pleasant shopping centre was Chikando Marango who
works at the Mount Pleasant Municipality. He is a zanu(pf) official in the area
and was present on Monday identifying to the zanu(pf) thugs those who were MDC
members or who did not attend zanu(pf) functions. He appeared to be in charge of
the thugs and was present when my worker was assaulted by these men. He was hit
with burning logs and booted feet and had his cap stolen. Marango is well known
in the area for being a corrupt official allocating pieces of land to family and
cronies. The thugs at Mount Pleasant shopping centre got totally out of hand and
started robbing people of their clothes, money and even bicycles and then
started looting from the Shell garage. The riot police were called in and had to
fire tear gas to bring them under control and they were then taken away in
buses.
From a Zvakwana
subscriber
A
time to auction or a time to activate?
Perhaps you could write to TWA (Tim Wotton Auctioneers) asking if it is
totally necessary to have house and car sales this week, selling amongst other
things, 'painted ostrich eggs' and 'good ceramics' when over 500 people have
been arrested and many more others shot and wounded . . . including a pregnant
woman. Email Tim Wotton: twotton@zol.co.zw
From a Zvakwana
subscriber
Pictured above is another marked Collaborator - the Creamy Inn: fast food
outlets are seldom supportive of stayaways.
Private Boarding School raided by war vets in
Norton
Lilfordia School, a private primary boarding school
situated in a farming area just outside of Harare, was raided by war veterans at
1.30pm today. This gang of approximately twenty state sponsored thugs is led by
a woman, comrade yondo, the local leader of the war vets and zanu pf
representative. She claims that since the school was closed they are MDC
supporters. She has declared the school a government school now. The school's
ground staff and labour force are currently being held by the war vets who have
forced them into the parking lot to chant zanu pf slogans.
Resources for non-violent intervention
There are literally hundreds of different forms of non-violent
resistance and struggle, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Gene
Sharp, one of the leading scholars on non-violent direct action has developed a
list of 198 forms of non-violent action, which he divided into three categories:
non-violent protest and persuasion (the mildest), non-cooperation, and
non-violent intervention (the strongest). Non-violent protest and persuasion
includes symbolic actions such as marches or parades, picketing, teach-ins, or
vigils--any action which voices peaceful opposition to a policy or a law. The
intent is to persuade others to change their attitude toward that policy and to
join the non-violent struggle to overturn or correct the policy or
law.
Read more on this matter
African Americans Letter to Robert Mugabe Condemns
Political Repression
Progressive leaders
among leading African American organisations, trade unions, church and advocacy
groups today (June 4th) released an open letter to Zimbabwean President, robert
mugabe, to oppose the political repression underway in that Zimbabwe. Read the letter
SABC
Zimbabwe's hospitals flooded with injured
people
June 05, 2003, 07:30
Hospitals in
Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, are reported to be
flooded with injured people
who allege that security personnel attacked
them.
This
comes as a week-long strike called by the opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) enters its fourth day. Earlier,
President Robert Mugabe said he
regretted that the police and army had
crushed the demonstrations but added
that it was a necessary move.
Tudor Makunike, a doctor at one
of the hospitals in Harare,
described the state of affairs as being volatile
as there are many
complications in dealing with the scores of injured
people.
Meanwhile, the MDC has lashed out at Mugabe over what
it says is
the heavy-handed manner in which his security forces are trying to
stop the
countrywide protests.
Tendai Bithi, of the MDC,
says scores of businesses will remain
closed despite attempts by police and
the army to force owners to open their
doors. Bithi was released last night
after spending three days in police
detention. He says the protests might
continue next week.
Mugabe has said that he will not submit
to opposition demands to
step down. He said the MDC's push to topple him was
doomed to failure.
MSNBC
Zimbabwe police arrest 300 in attempt to break strike in
Zimbabwe
First death from protests reported
ASSOCIATED
PRESS
HARARE, Zimbabwe, June 4 - Authorities attempted to break a
three-day
nationwide general strike by arresting 300 people, including
opposition
lawmakers, and a rights group said police raided a hospital
emergency room
Wednesday and took away people they had beaten
earlier.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change reported the
first
death in the protests that are trying to force President Robert Mugabe
to
step down as leader of the country he has led since it gained
independence
23 years ago from Britain.
Security forces have
reacted swiftly to crush street demonstrations,
using rubber clubs, rifle
butts, water cannon, tear gas and warning shots
with live ammunition to
disperse crowds.
An opposition statement said Tichaona Kaguru died
Wednesday at the
main government hospital in Harare from injuries inflicted
by soldiers and
police after he was taken from an opposition official's home
Monday.
Kaguru was beaten and then dumped on the outskirts of Harare,
where
he was found and taken to the hospital, according to opposition
officials.
The police had no comment, and hospital officials would not
discuss the case
with the media.
The opposition blames Mugabe for
sinking the country into political
and economic ruin. There are shortages of
food, medicine, fuel, and
currency, and annual inflation is at 269 percent.
Widespread starvation has
been avoided only with international aid.
Many stores, businesses and factories across the country remained
closed
Wednesday, despite government threats against businesses supporting
the
opposition-led strike. But security forces again prevented massive
street
protests against Mugabe.
The independent Human Rights Forum, a
grouping of independent rights
and civic groups, said police and intelligence
agents raided the emergency
room at a private Harare hospital and took away
several people being treated
for injuries from beatings by police and
troops.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said he had no further
information
on police actions since he reported that 300 people were arrested
during the
first two days of protests. Those arrested included opposition
lawmakers who
tried to lead street protests, the opposition said.
Some shops reopened in Harare, the capital, while about 60 percent
of
Bulawayo, the second city, was closed. That was an improvement from a
90
percent shutdown the day before.
''More people have trickled in
to work today but I still think the
message has got through to Mugabe. Who is
running the country and who has
the support of the country if it can be
brought to a standstill so
emphatically?'' said Roy Tafira, who runs a large
real estate firm here.
As part of a government crackdown on
opposition-aligned businesses,
teams from the country's security agencies are
investigating firms for
allegedly locking out workers in support of the
anti-government strike,
state television reported.
It said the
government would withdraw trading licenses and the work
permits of foreign
managers and employees of companies that stopped work.
Labor Minister
Ignatius Chombo warned before the strike began that
businesses found to have
supported it would be seized and handed over to
''patriotic
Zimbabweans.''
Harare economist John Robertson said the strike was
unlikely to have
a severe effect on what he said was already a
''dysfunctional'' economy.
Unemployment is running at 70 percent.
Agriculture, the biggest sector of the economy, has ground to a
virtual
standstill since Mugabe's controversial land reform program was
completed
last year.
The majority of white-owned commercial farmland was
seized,
ostensibly for redistribution to landless blacks. Many of the prime
farms,
however, have gone to Mugabe confidantes. Most of the farms given over
to
blacks have been divided into tiny subplots.
Financial Times
Businesses reopen in Zimbabwe as strike
falters
By Tony Hawkins in Harare
Published: June 5 2003 5:00
| Last Updated: June 5 2003 5:00
The national strike called by
Zimbabwe's opposition groups appeared to
weaken yesterday as more shops,
banks and schools re-opened after two days
during which the country's main
cities were paralysed.
One business organisation estimated that
30-40 per cent of companies
had yesterday opened for at least part of the
day, though many closed early
to enable their employees to find transport
home. There was a noticeable
increase in the level of traffic on roads in
Harare, the capital, including
public transport.
However, one
businessman warned against concluding that the strike was
collapsing, saying
his employees had said protest action would be "stepped
up" ahead of the
weekend.
The mass stayaway had been called by the Movement for
Democratic
Change as part of a week-long "final push", starting on Monday, to
force
President Robert Mugabe, 79, to step down.
Last night the
MDC accused the security forces of using "brutal force"
to crush its peaceful
protests. It said more than 150 people had been
admitted to Harare's main
private hospital overnight on Tuesday, with
injuries received when they were
beaten up by the police and youth militias.
Riot and plainclothes police
yesterday searched the clinic.
On Monday and Tuesday even the
government admitted the strike was
80-90 per cent effective in Harare and
Bulawayo, the country's second
largest city. However, it blamed fuel
shortages which prevented workers from
getting to work, and "lock-outs" by
employers who are routinely accused of
supporting the MDC.
"The
role of employers has been very dubious and very devious," said
Nathan
Shamuyarira, senior spokesman for the ruling Zanu-PF party, while
Samuel
Mumbengegwi, industry minister, said foreigners were "given work
permits to
work, not to close".
Opposition spokesmen have accused the
government of forcing employers
to open their offices by threatening to
withdraw business licences. But both
Jimmy Sanders, president of the Zimbabwe
National Chambers of Commerce, and
Anthony Mandiwanza, president of the
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries,
said they had not heard of any
businesses being forced to open.
The Harare high court meanwhile
reserved judgment until today on a
government attempt to tighten bail
conditions on Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC
leader who is on trial for treason.
This would prevent him from making
"inflammatory statements" or inciting
people to take part in "illegal
demonstrations".
The MDC also
yesterday reported the second fatality of the mass action
campaign. It said
Tichaona Kaguru, a party activist, had died in hospital
from injuries he
sustained on Monday night when he and an MDC councillor
were "assaulted and
tortured". State media had earlier reported that an
activist of Mr Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party had been stabbed and stoned to death
by 50 MDC
supporters.
The government has hit back over Tuesday's final
statement by the
Group of Eight summit in Evian, which expressed concern
about "reports of
further violence by the authorities in Zimbabwe against
their own people".
Stan Mudenge, foreign minister, summoned foreign
diplomats yesterday
to tell them: "If allowed to succeed, it [mass action]
will lead to anarchy
and chaos in the country. No government worth its name
can ever tolerate
such a situation."
But the MDC countered that
the success of its mass action campaign had
"created panic" in the
government.
ssonet.com
Male rape in Zimbabwe
EVIDENCE IS EMERGING THAT MUGABE
IS USING MALE RAPE AS A MEANS OF
CONTROLLING THE OPPOSITION TO HIS REGIME.
GEOFF HILL FROM JOHANNESBURG
INTERVIEWED SOME OF THE VICTIMS.
By Geoff
Hill
Men as young as 15 are being raped at youth-training centres across
Zimbabwe
in what the opposition claims is a concerted effort by the
government of
President Robert Mugabe to crush dissent.
Out of 52 male
torture victims I interviewed, 38 claim to have been raped or
forced to
engage in gay sex with other victims. One man, who refused to take
part in an
orgy, had his eardrums punctured with a screwdriver.
The men accuse the
police, army, militia and Mugabe's dreaded Central
Intelligence Organisation
(CIO) of widespread sexual assaults, which they
say are part of a nationwide
terrorisation of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC).
British gay campaigner, Peter Tatchell, who tried to arrest Mugabe
in Paris
in February on charges of human rights abuses, says the Zimbabwe
government
is guilty of "outrageous hypocrisy and
homophobia".
"Although the Mugabe regime is viciously anti-gay," Tatchell
said, "many
members of the police, army, CIO and youth militia are homosexual
sadists.
They are raping men as a way of terrorising political opponents
and
satisfying their own violent, perverted sexual fantasies.
"What is
happening in Zimbabwe echoes the use of male rape as a weapon of
war by the
Serb forces in Bosnia. The aim is to ritually humiliate and
demoralise
opponents of the regime. It shows how low Mugabe's thugs are now
prepared to
stoop."
In January this year, Patrick Ndhlovu (20), who worked as a
political
assistant to an MDC MP, was questioned by the CIO at a camp in the
south of
the country. His head was forced into a bucket of water during
the
interrogation.
"They kept asking me to recite the local MDC
membership list which has
thousands of people on it. But, as soon as I tried
to say some names, they
would drown me again.
"Finally, they threw me
into a corner and said they were going to dinner,
but that if I was hungry I
should drink more water."
Late that night, one CIO officer returned with
two men from the youth
militia who are loyal to President Mugabe's ruling
ZANU-PF party.
"They removed all my clothing, then one of the militia put
on a condom and
raped me. It was very painful and I screamed and this seemed
to excite him
more.
"I was crying and there was a lot of blood. Then
the second militia man did
the same thing and I saw to my side that the CIO
man had removed his
trousers to his ankles and was masturbating but he never
raped me.
"While the second youth was raping me he told the CIO man that
he could feel
a lot of blood.
"The man replied: 'Just enjoy now this
night. If he is injured, the MDC will
send him for treatment in
England.'
"When it was over, they put me in handcuffs and chains and left
me without
my clothes.
"I stayed in the room for four days and I could
not go to the toilet because
I was in so much pain. Finally some other
militia came and undid my chains
and told me to put on my clothes and
leave."
Patrick fled across the border to South Africa and now shares a
room in
Johannesburg with four other victims.
Gay sex is illegal in
Zimbabwe and President Mugabe is notoriously
homophobic. He has denounced
lesbians and gay men as "worse than pigs and
dogs", declaring they have no
rights and should leave the country.
From January 2000 to February 2003,
260 opponents of the Mugabe regime were
murdered and 3,409 tortured,
according to the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO
Forum.
The MDC secretary
for International Affairs, Mrs Sekai Holland, is aware
that male rape is
becoming a common method of abuse.
"This is not casual sex," she said
from her home in Harare. "It is a
concerted campaign to terrorise our
members. Even one of our MPs was raped
by 10 men and we are trying to counsel
him to go public about the attack."
Mrs Holland said that the rapes were
having a debilitating effect. "It
breaks the person's resolve and takes them
out of circulation for a long
time."
More than two million black
Zimbabweans have fled to South Africa and a
local support group believes that
as many as 2,000 are crossing the border
every day.
A doctor in
Johannesburg, who asked not to be named in case publicity
deterred future
victims from seeking his help, is providing free medical
treatment to 14 of
the exiles.
"In their culture, rape is worse than death and all my
patients are being
treated for depression and mental trauma," he said. "They
show injuries
consistent with violent sodomy and, in one case, the
penetration was done
with a police truncheon. In my 35 years as a doctor, I
have never seen such
brutality."
In the case of Colin (19), a former
bank teller, who was detained near the
capital city of Harare, the militia
urinated into his mouth after which he
was forced to perform oral sex on four
of their leaders.
Another victim, who would give his name only as Peter,
was arrested by
police and youth militia near the southern city of Bulawayo
when he failed
to produce a membership card for the ruling ZANU-PF
party.
"There were about 10 of us who had been picked up for the same
reason, one
boy as young as 15," he recalled. "At the youth training camp, we
were all
stripped and forced to masturbate in front of the militia leaders
and then
made to have sex with each other.
Then myself and three of
the other men were raped by the militia. Finally,
some men arrived wearing
police uniforms and they beat us with whips before
we were released. They
told us that anyone who was not a member of the
ruling party did not count as
a human being in Zimbabwe."
According to Peter Tatchell, "Rape by state
agents is a crime against
humanity under international law. The International
Criminal Court should
indict the perpetrators. They cannot be allowed to
commit these crimes with
impunity."
Geoff Hill is a journalist
based in Johannesburg. His book, The Battle For
Zimbabwe (New Holland
Publishers), will be released in August.
Police beat patients in Harare
Andrew Meldrum
Thursday June 5,
2003
The Guardian
Zimbabwean police raided a private Harare hospital
yesterday, the third day
of a week-long national strike, beating and
arresting several patients,
according to doctors.
Ten police accompanied
by youths from the ruling Zanu-PF party stormed into
the Avenues Clinic,
Harare's largest private hospital, and assaulted many of
the 150 people
seeking treatment for their injuries sustained in
anti-government protests.
Police herded several patients into a van.
Many of the patients were
being treated for gunshot wounds and other
injuries received at peaceful
public protests against President Robert
Mugabe's regime.
The police
surrounded the hospital and ordered away injured people coming in
for
treatment, said health workers.
Government hospitals have refused to
treat anyone suspected of being hurt in
the demonstrations.
The strike
called by Zimbabwe's main opposition kept most banks, businesses
and
factories shut for a third day despite official threats to punish
companies
that failed to open.
Police maintained tight security in the capital
while state radio reported
that the government was auditing which businesses
were closed and would
begin procedures to remove their
licences.
Although the strike has succeeded in closing down virtually all
businesses,
the heavy security prevented massive street protests.
taipeitimes.com
Government hits back at Zimbabwe strikers,
protesters
AP
Thursday, Jun 05, 2003,Page 6
Most stores and
offices in the Zimbabwean capital remained closed yesterday,
despite
government threats against businesses supporting a strike led by
the
opposition.
The general strike, now in its third day, has
succeeded in shutting down
much of Zimbabwe's already crippled economy, but
security forces prevented
efforts to organize massive street protests against
President Robert Mugabe.
The opposition said it hoped the strike and
weeklong protest would be a
"final push" to force the unpopular and
increasingly repressive Mugabe to
step down after 23 years in
office.
As part of a government crackdown on opposition-aligned
businesses, state
television reported that teams from the country's security
agencies have
begun investigating firms for allegedly locking out workers in
support of
the anti-government strike.
The government will withdraw
trading licenses and the work permits of
foreign managers and employees of
companies that stopped work during strikes
and protests it has declared
illegal, the television reported.
Foreigners "were given work permits to
work, not to close," Commerce
Minister Samuel Mbengegwi
said.
Meanwhile, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena told state television
that at
least 300 opposition officials, activists and supporters have been
arrested
since the protest action began Monday.
Opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai was among those arrested but was
later
released.
Security forces reacted swiftly to crush the street
demonstrations, using
rubber clubs, rifle butts, water cannon, tear gas and
warning shots with
live ammunition to disperse crowds.
Rather than
risk confrontation with government troops and police, many
Zimbabweans stayed
home. The general strike halted commerce in major cities,
putting more
pressure on a national economy near collapse.
The opposition blames
Mugabe for sinking the country into political and
economic ruin. There are
shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and currency.
Annual inflation is at 269
percent. Widespread starvation has been avoided
only with international
aid.
Economic hardship has added to the growing dissent in a country
where
ordinary people struggle to survive while the ruling elite enjoy
lavish
lifestyles and frequent travel abroad.
Agriculture, the biggest
sector of the economy, has ground to a virtual
standstill since Mugabe's
controversial land reforms were completed last
year.
This item was posted on a message board and I
have
no idea who wrote it. B
Genocide
Background
Genocide is a scary word. It
is
something that the mind shies away from,
something that people are afraid
to
contemplate even in the abstract,
because it is so horrific that we will
not
believe it. And it is perhaps for
this reason that the genocide of Jews
in
WWII was carried out for so long
before it was fully comprehended, and
why
the Interahamwe managed to kill
800 000 Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994 before
the
international community reacted.
The truth is that at least the latter
could
have been prevented, and that
all the indicators were there for the
international community to see what
was happening. But they did not
react,
partly because they just could not
believe that it was happening, or
could
happen.
When reports of killings and mass human rights violations
reach
the
international community, the first response is always cautious. The
first
demand is for verification, whilst the second is usually
conservative
under-reaction. The machinery for dealing with mass human
rights
violations
is inherently conservative, and this inevitably produces a
significant time
lag in responding to such situations. There seems to be
a
reluctance to
accept that people can really be slaughtering one another
without
provocation and that civilians are being subjected to a steady
and
relentless elimination process.
But the sad truth is that
people
are indeed capable of mass slaughter, and
hence it is all the more
necessary
to be ready to respond quickly where the
indicators are present in order
to
prevent excessive deaths. And Zimbabwe,
recently assessed as one of the
most
oppressive states in the world, seems
primed for just such a situation.
This
may seem a ridiculous claim when
there have been comparatively few deaths
so
far from the conflict of the
past three years, but, as will be seen
below, it
is less the deaths to date
than the insidious pattern of organised
violence
and torture that leads to
the concern about a potential
genocide.
Genocide
The crime of genocide is
defined in international law in the Convention on
the Prevention and
Punishment of Genocide. The Genocide Convention was
adopted by the United
Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948. The
Convention entered into
force on 12 January 1951. More than 130 nations have
ratified the
Genocide
Convention and over 70 nations have made provisions
for the punishment of
genocide in domestic criminal law. The text of Article
II of the Genocide
Convention was included as a crime in Article 6 of the
1998 Rome Statute
of
the International Criminal Court. Zimbabwe is a
signatory to this
Convention.
There are two salient articles in the
Convention:
Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any
of
the following
acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part,
a
national,
ethnical,
racial or religious group, as such:
Killing
members of the group;
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of
the
group;
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
to
bring
about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
Imposing
measures intended to prevent births within the group;
Forcibly
transferring
children of the group to another group.
Article III: The following
acts
shall be punishable:
Genocide;
Conspiracy to commit
genocide;
Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
Attempt to
commit genocide;
Complicity in genocide.
The following are acts of
genocide when committed as part of a policy to
destroy a group's
existence:
Killing members of the group includes direct killing and
actions causing
death.
Causing serious bodily or mental harm
includes
inflicting trauma on members
of the group through widespread torture,
rape,
sexual violence, forced or
coerced use of drugs, and
mutilation.
Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to
destroy a group
includes the deliberate deprivation of resources needed
for
the group's
physical survival, such as clean water, food, clothing,
shelter
or medical
services.
Deprivation of the means to sustain life can
be
imposed through confiscation
of harvests, blockade of foodstuffs,
detention
in camps, forcible relocation
or expulsion into
deserts.
Prevention of
births includes involuntary sterilization, forced abortion,
prohibition
of
marriage, and long-term separation of men and women intended
to prevent
procreation.
Forcible transfer of children may be imposed by direct
force
or by through
fear of violence, duress, detention, psychological
oppression
or other
methods of
coercion. The Convention on the Rights of the
Child
defines children as
persons under the age of 14 years.
As can be
seen,
acts of genocide need not kill or cause the death of members
of a group:
torture, political rape, displacement, deprivation, and various
other
actions, short of killing, also are included in the
definition.
Furthermore,
it is a crime to plan or incite genocide, even before killing
starts, and
to
aid or abet genocide. The criminal acts described in the
Convention
include
conspiracy, direct and public incitement, attempts to
commit genocide,
and
complicity in genocide.
Stages in
genocide
Genocide clearly is not a spontaneous occurrence,
and
the killing of masses
of people, or the harming of large numbers, must
take
place over time and
involve planning. There are usually a series of
stages in
the development of
a genocide or politicide, and there is compelling
evidence
that many of
these stages have already taken place in contemporary
Zimbabwe.
The following is taken from the 8 stages in genocide
identified
by Genocide
Watch, and then applied to the Zimbabwe situation. As will be
seen later,
Genocide Watch themselves argue that stage 6 has been reached
in
Zimbabwe.
1. Classification
Classification is
a
normal human process, and all societies make
classifications about their
composition. This is generally not problematic,
but can become very
dangerous
when a society is racially or ethnically
divided, and is very serious
when
these divisions have resulted in racial or
ethnic clashes and conflict in
the
past.
Zimbabwe has two major ethnic divisions - Shona and Ndebele -
and a
number
of racial divisions. These divisions have played a major part in
the
violence of previous decades, and, in the past three years, there has
been
increasing recourse by the Mugabe regime to attribute the problems
in
Zimbabwe to racial and ethnic problems. It is important here to note
that
the violence in the 1980s would easily conform to the definition
of
genocide, and of course the fundamental basis for the Liberation War
of
the
1970s was the racist policies of the illegal Smith regime. Currently,
there
has been a continuous emphasis by the Mugabe regime on the role
that
whites
and their followers - who tend to be all who do not support Zanu
PF -
are
playing in destabilising the country.
2.
Symbolization
Essentially, here we are talking about
stereotyping of people and groups of
people, and the processes aimed at
dividing up societies that are always
composed of diverse groups into
"in"
and "out" groups. In Zimbabwe, this has
occurred in the past with the
Ndebele
being vilified in the 1980s[1], and
today has revolved around the framing
of
the Zimbabwe crisis as due to the
recalcitrant white commercial farmers,
and
the support of the whites and
their international allies for the MDC.
There
are endless statements along
these lines[2].
The key organising
issue
has been the so-called land problem and its use in
dealing with the
matter of
maintaining political power in the hands of Zanu
PF. The land issue,
despite
the government having failed to produce any
significant land reform in
nearly
20 years of power, is used by the Mugabe
regime to symbolically aim the
problems of the nation at the whites, their
international allies, and
those
whom the whites support. The acceptance of
white support by any
Zimbabwean
group or political party becomes the basis
for including them as enemies,
with the blunt references to the Liberation
War of the 1970s. There is a
very
simple metonymic process: problems of
whatever kind are due to white,
colonial powers, oppressors, enemies, white
sympathisers, etc. The
contrasting pole of this construct is inordinately
simple: Zanu PF are
the
liberators, good, etc, and you can know Zanu PF from
the others simply by
which colour they are or which party card they carry.
This stereotyping
is
extraordinarily effective because it links the past to
the present in a
very
straightforward manner, and uses race as the
organising
device.
3. Dehumanization
This can take many
forms and does not need to conform to the crude approach
of the Nazis to
the
Jews. It is essentially building upon the stereotyping
process by
attributing
the problems in the society to the "out" group,
focusing hate and dislike
against this group, and encouraging actions
against this group.
In
Zimbabwe, there has been and continues to be a basic undercurrent
of
racial
and ethnic hate. This has escalated in the past three years, and,
as
indicated above, takes the form mostly of stereotyping whites as
exploiting
and racist, with all black "out" groups portrayed as willing
dupes
of the
whites. The rhetoric revolves around a plot to return the nation
to
colonial
domination, with frequent references to slavery and the like. In
common with
the Nazi rhetoric, the "out" groups are seen to be involved
in a
plot to
overthrow the nation or maintain economic and political power
over
the "in"
group.
Here the power of the press and media in
escalating
polarisation and
dehumanisation is crucial. The Mugabe regime has
enormous
control of the
press and the media, and especially the radio which is the
primary source of
information for most rural Zimbabweans. The outpourings
of
invective, hate
speech, and blunt misinformation are very significant in
developing the
attitudes of Zimbabweans, and here the vilification of the
MDC
is crucial.
An additionally relevant fact for the development of
dehumanisation has been
the partisan attitude of the Zimbabwe Republic
Police. Since the beginning
of the farm invasions there has been a
deplorable
tendency for the police to
refuse to take action in many situations of
violence and degradation on the
grounds that the matter was "political".
This
has had the effect of removing
protection from many groups in Zimbabwe,
and
encouraging an attitude that
the violence was deserved or condoned. Here
the
partisan statements of the
Commissioner of Police, Augustine Chihuri, are
especially sinister[3].
4. Organization
As
Genocide Watch points out, genocide is always organized, usually by
the
state. Special army units or militias are often trained and armed,
and
plans
are made for genocidal killings. These plans may not aim primarily
at
killing, and, as was seen from the definitions above, genocide can
include
campaigns of systematic torture, displacement of groups, and
deprivation of
food and resources. There is good evidence for all of
these
latter forms of
genocide being perpetrated in Zimbabwe, a fact which does
not
appear to have
been properly understood by much of the international
community, and is
particularly misunderstood, possibly deliberately, by
most
African
governments. This is amply demonstrated by the outrageous reports
of
African
states on the various elections that have taken place over the
past
three
years.
In the past three years, there has been a
proliferation
of militia groups in
Zimbabwe. The first onslaught, after the
Constitutional
Referendum in
February 2000, was spearheaded by so-called "war veterans",
but
very
evidently assisted by military and CIO personnel[4]. This was
facilitated by
the apparent passivity of the Zimbabwe Republic Police in
the
face of
blatant criminal acts being perpetrated on commercial farmers,
commercial
farm workers, and finally on ordinary citizens. The violence,
which was
extreme and revolved mainly around torture[5], was never
formally
repudiated
by the political leaders of Zimbabwe.
The next phase in
the
use of the militia has revolved around "youth militia"
, the so-called
"green
bombers". The initial intakes, as was openly admitted
by the regime, were
composed of the young men who had been associated with
the "war veteran"
militia. This was clearly a reward for loyalty, but, from
the perspective
of
preventing genocide, unfortunately involved further
training of young men
who
had already been involved in violence and human
rights
violations.
As
the reports of all human rights observer groups show, an alarmingly
high
proportion of the human rights violations documented have been
perpetrated
by the youth militia, whilst the pattern of torture seen
clearly
supports
the notion that torture techniques are being taught[6]. The
youth
militia,
when deployed, followed a very clear pattern in the development
of
tolerance
to the presence of youth militia. They re-established the bases
seen in the
Parliamentary Elections, went on a strong recruiting drive -
mostly using
compulsion - of the local youth, and then employed an
in-service
training
programme with these youths. Much of this training again
resulted in
the
local youths becoming involved in violence and torture.
The
last
phase to date has seen the increasing involvement of the
Zimbabwe
Republic
Police in torture and harassment of "out" groups. This has
followed
massive
staff changes in the police ranks, with all new appointments being
based
on a
"loyalty" basis. Subsequently, the reports of observers show a
marked
increase in the number of cases in which the police, and especially
the
ordinary uniformed branch, have perpetrated torture. This
was
dramatically
seen in Buhera, where the endless press reports and statements
of the MDC
arguing that a pogrom was taking place, were amply supported by
the cases
seen by human rights groups[7].
Significantly, the army is not
frequently
mentioned in human rights reports,
but, given the massively effective use
of
the militia in winning elections,
they have not been needed to date. Here
it
should not be forgotten that the
bald statement of political support for
the
Mugabe regime given by the
defence chiefs in 2001 has never been
repudiated.
However, it is important
here to note that the Zimbabwe National Army is
mentioned in many other
reports as benefiting from the favours of the
regime[8].
Finally, the use by the regime of statutes of impunity
adds to
the problem
in a very significant manner, and this has drawn frequent
comment
from local
and international observers[9]. Impunity, both formal and
practical, is
additionally supported by the subversion of the judical
process[10].
5. Polarization
Here the process
requires that groups are driven apart, and the press and
media are
particularly important in forcing and maintaining
the
polarisation.
In
Zimbabwe, the government-controlled press, television and radio
now
operate
in a flagrant manner with all pretence at impartiality gone. Any
cursory
examination will show this to be so, but anecdote is more than
adequately
supported by the reporting of independent press monitoring
groups.
Additionally, virtually all foreign press people have been expelled,
a
relatively large number of local journalists have been
tortured,
assaulted,
falsely charged and imprisoned, harassed, and threatened with
removal of
their licences. Increasingly, all independent voices are
becoming
self-censoring. Even independent monitoring organisations have
come
under
attack, with the arrest in August of the Medical Director of the
Amani
Trust
for allegedly making a "false statement" about political rape being
a
good
illustration of the attempt by the regime to silence all critical
voices.
The wide spread use of hate speech and racist commentary
continues unabated.
The interesting aspect to the attempt to force
polarisation is the pairing
of "white interest" with "MDC dupes", and,
whilst
this might seem an
improbable pairing for use in building towards
genocide,
it is easily
reinforced through the current violence. Only loyalty to
Zanu PF
counts, and
if a person is unable to demonstrate active support for Zanu
PF -
a party
card or attendance at party-approved meetings- then the
presumption
is that
he or she is MDC. Being MDC implies being a dupe of the whites,
and
membership in the "out" group is assured. This can be avoided, and
the
final
defence is of course a conversion to Zanu PF, which will obviously
involve
some form of loyalty test. This loyalty test is now being applied
to
the
distribution of drought relief, where many independent reports show
that
those who are not able to demonstrate allegiance to Zanu PF are
excluded
from food relief[11].
The polarisation has made a slow
and
steady process over the past three
years, and it now permeates all
aspects of
Zimbabwean life. Most
significantly it now revolves around the access to
food, but this is merely
another aspect of the process in which all
people in
Zimbabwe must make
active and open declaration for Zanu PF in order not
to be
a target of some
form of discrimination.
6.
Preparation
It is at this point that Zimbabwe is currently
argued to be by Genocide
Watch. Here the "out" group is visibly
distinguished
by the perpetrators. It
is the final point at which preventive action can
be
taken by the
international community. As Genocide Watch
comments:
At
this stage, a Genocide Alert must be called. If the political will of
the
U.S., NATO, and the U.N. Security Council can be mobilized,
armed
international intervention should be prepared,
or heavy
assistance
to the victim group in preparing for its self-defense.
Otherwise, at
least
humanitarian assistance should beorganized by the U.N.
and private relief
groups for the
inevitable tide of refugees.
Whilst there are no
signs
of concentration camps, there is quite obvious
"sealing up" of rural
districts, quite transparently creating "no go" areas.
This seems likely
to
split the towns from the country, severing family ties,
and ensuring that
rural districts will remain uniformly supporters of Zanu
PF. Here it is
instructive to consider the Appendices, especially Appendices
2 and 3.
The
information in these two reports shows different aspects of
the
preparations.
The two final stages, Extermination(7) and
Denia(8),
do not need to be
described in any detail here, and in any event are
stages
when the
international community has no preventive options
left.
The
point of studying genocide, and, more importantly, of actively
monitoring
potential situations in which genocide may occur, is to prevent
its
occurrence. It is for this reason that continuous reports of gross
human
rights violations from a country attract the attention of
organisations
monitoring for signs of potential genocide. Genocide Watch,
for
example, has
three levels of Alerts. A Genocide or Politicide Watch is
declared when
early warning signs indicate the danger of genocide or
political mass
killing. A Genocide or Politicide Warning is called when
genocide or
politicide is imminent, often indicated by massacres. A
Genocide
Emergency
is declared when genocide is actually
underway.
The
brink of genocide
If we consider the stages above, Zimbabwe
appears to be primed for
massacres, and Genocide Watch (from whom this
information was obtained)
considers that Zimbabwe has already reached the
stage of preparation (see
below). As indicated above, independent
information
gathering and a number
of indicators point strongly towards preparations
for
an ethnic cleansing
operation. The Mugabe regime has already proved that
it
is capable of such
an action through the Matabeleland massacre in the
1980's,
where thousands
were slaughtered, and this episode in Zimbabwe's history
would strongly
conform to the definition of genocide.
The campaign
of
vilifying the opposition has been running since they were
first formed in
1999. Zanu PF, basically a revolutionary party at heart, is
playing the
card
of colonialism to full effect. Their revolutionary rhetoric
appeals to
the
downtrodden, and consequently, at least amongst the security
forces,
there is
something of a feeling that they are doing something
unfortunate but
necessary.
This feeling is being carefully nurtured. The lawlessness
over
the past few
years has forced people to become accustomed to violence,
another important
precursor to genocide. Once people are resigned to the
occurrence of
violence, the gradual escalation of such to include
elimination
of enemies
can be carried out with minimal comment. State-sanctioned
human
rights
violations have been steadily increasing over the last three
years,
and
torture and beatings at the hands of police (or army) no longer
provoke
comment in most sectors of society [12]. At the same time, fear
of
reprisal
forces people to accept more and more extreme situations without
comment.
The greatest concern must be over the role of the newly
formed
youth
militia, known popularly as the "green bombers". These young men
undergo a
rigorous training and political orientation programme under the
auspices of
national service. The trainers are generally drawn from the
Zimbabwe Defence
Forces or the War Veterans Association - whilst the
youths
are not fully
trained soldiers, they receive basic military training and
discipline is
strongly enforced. Combined with a distinctly skewed
version of
recent
history that is determinedly taught them throughout the training
process,
these young party stalwarts have been turned into a potential
instrument of
terror.
There are five main training camps, through
which some 9,000 militia have
passed in the last ten months. It appears
that
the intake is being
increased, however, with the aim of training greater
numbers of the
militia[13]. Furthermore, the government is currently
establishing a series
of at least two base camps in each district, at
which
the newly trained
militia are being established. These bases, generally
in
old army bases,
missions, or resettled farms with sufficient
infrastructure,
are ideal for
carrying out operations on a nationwide
scale.
General
Mike Nyambuya recently headed a strong military delegation to
China,
where he
reportedly secured an assortment of weapons for distribution to
the
"green
bombers". The first consignment of old WWII rifles has apparently
been
received, and more are set to arrive in the next couple of months.
The
indications from within the ZDF are that the green bombers will be
sent
in
to a number of opposition hotspots to exterminate a significant
fraction
of
the population, before the ZNA is deployed in the area to "stabilise"
the
situation. This will significantly reduce the voting population in
the
areas, and the extreme terror of the survivors will ensure a safe win
in
the
event of electoral reruns. Binga is one area that has been singled
out
for
this treatment, and a number of truckloads of "green bombers" have
been
seen
moving into the area, armed and dressed as the police support
unit.
Many areas of the country are effectively "no-go" areas. People
from Mount
Darwin who have been working in the city for the last three
months
are not
being allowed back into their home areas for fear of information
getting in
or out, and in most areas there are roadblocks manned by war
veterans about
ten kilometres off the main roads. It is becoming
increasingly
hard for
anyone to enter these areas, even food distribution programmes,
resulting in
isolated pockets of immobile populations. Light aircraft
flights
are being
carefully monitored, and casual over flight of most abandoned
farming areas
or communal areas are now being strongly
discouraged.
Furthermore, ex-military and CIO members are
infiltrating
much of the local
government structure. The Electoral Supervisory
Committee
(ESC), Prison
Service, Department of National Parks and Wildlife, GMB,
NOCZim, and the
Public Service Commission have all been seconded with ZNA
officers. Officers
are also in the process of secondment to key
parastatals
(ZESA, Air
Zimbabwe, NRZ) to keep an eye on senior management who are
suspected of
opposition sympathies. There is reportedly a plan to replace
wavering
District Administrators with ex Political Commissars from the
military, and
all tribal chiefs, in addition to a massive pay rise this
year,
have also
been assigned two military "bodyguards". This massive
militarisation of
government structure is aimed at creating an
unquestioningly loyal
infrastructure that will readily respond to the
questionable orders
filtering from the top.
In order to obtain
complete power, a regime needs to eliminate all the
potential for an
organised resistance. The approach of the Mugabe regime has
been another
of
the rash of new bills passed by the government. The PVO
(Private
Voluntary
Organisations Act) requires that all non-governmental
organisations
register
with a ministry in order to be allowed to operate.
The regime has the
right
of veto in such situations, and therefore is
effectively able to ban any
organisation that it deems awkward. Already a
number of civic groups have
been threatened and declared illegal, included
the noted human rights
organisation Amani Trust. The attack upon the Amani
Trust has been
particularly sustained, and the organisation has been
variously accused
of
funding the MDC, planning the overthrow of the
government, providing
logistical support for militia actions by the MDC, and
a plethora of
other
minor offences in the eyes of the government. These
threats to NGOs and
the
threatened closures have sent a ripple through civic
society, reinforcing
the
message that Zanu PF has been sending the
population - shut up or be shut
down.
In February 2002, Genocide Watch issued a Politicide Watch for
Zimbabwe,
arguing that there had been significant development of the
first
six stages
outlined above:
Classification: the
population is ethnically classified and ZANU-PF has
become an ethnic
party.
Symbolization: Possession of ZANU-PF party
membership cards is mandatory to
avoid beatings by the Shona
militias.
Dehumanization: President Mugabe refers to
his
opposition as "weeds," and
has called on ZANU-PF to "go and uproot the
weeds
from your garden." In
August,
Vice President Msika declared,
"Whites
are not human beings."
Organization: the ZANU-PF
Youth
Brigades are militias being systematically
trained and armed, taught
Shona
songs, and organized like the militias that
participated in the 1982-1983
genocidal massacres.
Polarization: President Mugabe
regularly appeals to race and ethnicity, and
refers to his opponents as
"traitors" and "terrorists." Police have begun to
arrest moderate
leaders,
including church leaders.
Preparation: President
Mugabe's latest moves to shut off Zimbabwe from
monitoring by human
rights
groups, election monitors, and the press, and his
new laws to criminalize
anyone who criticizes him, are ominous signs that he
is planning at least
massive election fraud. Enemy lists have been compiled
by the state and
party
intelligence services, a sign that political and
possibly ethnic violence
and
terror are being planned that President Mugabe
wants to hide from outside
scrutiny. Movement of a largely Shona Zimbabwe Army
brigade into
Matabeleland, and mob attacks on opposition party offices are
ominous
harbingers of potential mass violence.
Based on their analysis,
Genocide
Watch declared the following in February
2002:
Genocide Watch
declares
a Politicide Watch for Zimbabwe. We call on
governments to protest not
only
President Mugabe's new restrictions on
civil liberties, but also to
demand,
in the strongest terms, that ZANU-PF
dismantle and disarm its Youth
Brigade
militias, and that the Zimbabwe Army
brigade be withdrawn from
Matabeleland.
President Mugabe must be put on
notice that if political or genocidal
massacres are committed by these
militias or by elements of the Zimbabwe
armed forces, he will be held
personally responsible. Zimbabwe's leaders
should be notified that if such massacres
occur, the U.S. and EU will
support
armed intervention by a UN-authorized
regional force, and President
Mugabe
and those who might perpetrate the
crimes would be subject to
prosecution.
The situation has deteriorated considerably since
February
2002, and it is
imperative that the international community now take
notice
of this appeal.
Had the international community taken notice of the signs
and
prepared
themselves for the eventuality, the 1994 slaughter of over 800
000
people in
Rwanda could have been prevented. It is always difficult to
believe
that
genocide is about to happen or even to believe that it is going on,
since it
is such an inhumanly monstrous thing to do. But we must take
cognisance of
the fact that it does indeed happen (with frightening
frequency), and it is
necessary at all costs to try and prevent it from
happening.
Perhaps the final word should be left to those who would
attempt genocide.
As former Speaker of Parliament, Didymus Mutasa, has
put
it:
"We would be better off with only six million people, with our
own
people
who support the liberation struggle. We don't want all these extra
people".
Adolf Hitler could not have put it
better!