Zim Online
Thursday 22 March 2007
By
Patricia Mpofu and Thabani Mlilo
HARARE - A Zimbabwe High Court judge on
Wednesday ordered the police to
immediately allow two opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC)
officials to seek specialist medical treatment
outside the country.
In an urgent chamber application, Justice Bharat
Patel further ordered the
police to release the travel documents of Sekai
Holland and Grace Kwinje to
enable the two to travel outside the
country.
Holland and Kwinje were arrested at Harare International Airport
last
Saturday as they prepared to travel to South Africa for medical
treatment
following their brutal torture by state agents last week while in
police
custody.
In his submissions, the MDC officials' lawyer, Alec
Muchadehama argued that
the police were in contempt of court after they
failed to abide by an
earlier High Court ruling last week ordering the
police to take the MDC
activists to court on Tuesday or release
them.
Muchadehama said the accused persons were free after the police
failed to
summon the MDC activists to court to answer to charges of public
violence.
"I submit that the honourable court treat the applicants as
people who were
re-arrested without any charges being preferred against them
given that
police had failed to abide by an earlier court ruling to take
them to court
by 12 noon on the 13th of March for remand.
"As far as
I am concerned, the accused persons were released in terms of the
original
order," argued Muchadehama.
Patel consented to the MDC officials' request
to have armed police officers
guarding them at a local Harare private clinic
removed and that the police
be barred from restricting their movement
outside the country.
"The applicants are granted leave to exit Zimbabwe
to South Africa for the
purposes of seeking urgent life saving medical
treatment at a health
institution or hospital of their choice and to leave
and enter Zimbabwe,"
said Patel.
"The respondents and all those
acting through them be and are hereby ordered
to release forthwith the
applicants' passports. Respondents . . . are hereby
directed to cause the
removal of the guards at applicants' hospital beds at
the Avenues clinic in
Harare," the judge said.
The judge however, said Holland and Kwinjeh
should at all times keep the
police advised about their whereabouts during
the next six weeks in the
event that the police would want to serve the two
with summonses.
"They should make themselves available in Zimbabwe after
the period stated
in order to be served with such summons as may be issued
against them to
answer criminal charges as may be preferred against them,"
he said.
Muchadehama confirmed the ruling when contacted for comment last
night.
"It means they can now go for medical treatment in South Africa
but we are
trying to get their passports from the police," said Muchadehama.
-
ZimOnline
The Times
March 22, 2007
Jan Raath in Harare
About 2,500 Angolan
paramilitary police, feared in their own country for
their brutality, are to
be deployed in Zimbabwe, raising concerns of an
escalation in violence
against those opposed to President Mugabe.
Kembo Mohadi, Zimbabwe's Home
Affairs Minister, confirmed their imminent
arrival, with 1,000 Angolans
expected on April 1 and the rest in batches of
500. Angola is regarded as
the most powerful military nation in Africa,
after South Africa.
The
deployment comes amid reports of concern in President Mugabe's
Government
over the capability of the country's own police force to suppress
outbreaks
of unrest, which are mostly in Harare's volatile townships.
The townships
have been under curfew for about three weeks; one man has been
shot dead and
hundreds of civilians injured. Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader
of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and about 30 opposition
activists
are still recovering from beatings they received when police
suppressed an
attempted rally on March 11.
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Mr Mohadi said that he had signed an agreement for the deployment of
the
Angolan paramilitaries with General Roberto Monteiro, the Interior
Minister
of Angola, last week.
"We signed a memorandum of cooperation
last Thursday and it is meant to
ensure public order and security for both
our peoples and the whole southern
African region," he said.
The
police would be on "an exchange programme", he claimed. "We have done
that
in the past, and it is not something new."
Police sources who asked not
to be named said previous training exchange
programmes with southern African
countries had involved only small numbers
of officers at a time. "This is
the first time that there has been such a
large group," said one. "Our
capacity for training is badly run down, and we
could never deal with so
many. I doubt if any of them speak English. They
can only be here for riot
control and to back up our own riot police."
Dubbed "Ninjas" for their
all-black uniform of combat trousers and tunics,
boots and balaclavas, the
paramilitaries form part of the presidential guard
of Jose Eduardo dos
Santos, who has been in power since 1979. They patrol in
pickup trucks, with
mounted heavy machine-guns, and are notorious for their
violence. "Angolans
are terrified of them," an Angolan resident said.
They will significantly
reinforce Zimbabwe's police force, which used to
have 25,000 officers but
has been severely depleted in recent months by mass
resignations due to
discontent with low pay and poor conditions.
Zimbabwe and Angola are both
members of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), the regional
economic bloc. President Levy Mwanawasa of
Zambia was the first member of
the community to speak out against Mr Mugabe,
describing Zimbabwe as "a
sinking Titanic".
"SADC is an economic body, but it has a security and
defence protocol,
allowing for intervention only in cases of threat by an
external force,"
said Brian Raftopoulos, a political commentator on
Zimbabwe. "But this is a
domestic problem and Zimbabwe is not under external
military threat.
It [the deployment] is interference. Mugabe is bringing
a military power of
the region into Zimbabwean politics."
Sekai
Holland and Grace Kwinjeh, two of the opposition activists who were
severely
injured on March 11, were granted an order by a high court judge
yesterday
for their immediate release from custody in hospital. They have a
round-the-clock guard in their ward.
On Saturday, police hauled the
women off an aircraft about to fly them to
South Africa for medical
treatment and returned them to hospital, under
guard.
"We take one
step at a time," said Mrs Holland's Australian husband, Jim
Holland. "The
next thing is to see what they do when they [the two women]
try to leave
hospital."
Zim Online
Thursday 22 March 2007
By
Patricia Mpofu
HARARE - The Zimbabwean government has imposed an
undeclared curfew in most
suburbs in Harare forcing shops and bars to close
as early as 6pm as
political tensions rise in the troubled southern African
country.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
said on
Wednesday the latest crackdown amounted to a virtual declaration of
a state
of emergency.
Roadblocks have been posted on all major roads
leading into the city centre
while armed riot police have maintained a heavy
presence in Harare's working
class suburbs, the bedrock of opposition
support.
"The townships have virtually been declared no-go areas when
night falls,"
said Tendai Biti, the secretary general of the Morgan
Tsvangirai-led MDC
faction.
"We have received reports that residents
in most of these townships are not
allowed to go out at night at times as
early as 7pm. Those found outside
their homes are beaten-up," Biti said. "We
are in a de facto state of
emergency," he added.
Pressure is mounting
on President Robert Mugabe who is presiding over a
deepening economic crisis
that has seen inflation zooming beyond 1 700
percent amid deepening poverty
and unemployment.
The MDC has vowed to mobilise Zimbabweans to confront
Mugabe on the streets
to force the veteran president to step
down.
Mugabe has however reacted violently to the opposition challenge
with his
state agents brutally torturing Tsvangirai and several opposition
leaders
while in police custody last week.
Political analysts say
Mugabe will likely not give up power without a fight
resorting to
heavy-handed tactics to hang on to power.
Gabriel Chaibva, the
spokesperson of the Arthur Mutambara-led MDC, said his
party had been
inundated with reports from their supporters of police
beating up people on
the streets at night, especially in Kambuzuma suburb.
"We have received
numerous reports of shops and bars being closed before
their closing time.
We have noticed that if the police find people in groups
of more than five,
they disperse the people," said Chaibva. "There is an
undeclared state of
emergency," he added.
Matthew Chirwa, a resident of Mufakose suburb in
Harare, told ZimOnline
yesterday that the police were randomly beating up
people whom they found
outside their homes after 7pm.
"Police are out
in full force in the streets. Yesterday they stormed a local
council beer
hall just after 6pm brandishing guns and baton sticks. They
ordered everyone
out and ordered that the bar be closed," said Chirwa.
Masimba Zhou, from
Kuwadzana concurred. "Shops close at 6pm. People no
longer move freely after
6pm because the police are beating us up," said
Zhou.
The Combined
Harare Residents Association (CHRA) said it had received
similar reports of
police harassment in Harare's working class suburbs.
"Residents are no
longer free to move around in their neighbourhood.
Wherever they go the
police are either searching them or assaulting them for
no apparent reason,"
said Shumba.
"We have received such reports from Glen View, Budiriro,
Kambuzuma, Mabvuku
and Glen Norah. People are being asked to stay in doors,"
he said.
Contacted for comment, police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena
denied that the
government had imposed a state of emergency in
Harare
"There is nothing like a curfew or whatever you are trying to
intimate.
Police are going about with their duties of protecting lives and
property.
As such there has been a marked decrease in incidents of violence
in the
townships," said Bvudzijena. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thursday 22 March 2007
Own
Correspondents
JOHANNESBURG - British Prime Minister Tony Blair on
Wednesday launched a
blistering attack on President Robert Mugabe calling
his government
"disgraceful" and "appalling" following last week's brutal
crackdown on the
opposition.
Addressing the British parliament, Blair
called for tougher sanctions
against Mugabe who is under pressure for his
violent crackdown against the
main opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) party.
"We will press the European Union to widen the political
sanctions that were
introduced in 2002 and introduced very much as a result
of our prompting at
the time," Blair said.
Blair also said he said he
would want to see the United Nations Security
Council and the UN Human
Rights Commission dealing with the eight year
crisis in Zimbabwe.
"We
will be urging partners in both those institutions to come out with
strong
statements against what is happening in Zimbabwe, which is appalling,
disgraceful and utterly tragic for the people of Zimbabwe," he
said.
Mugabe is under pressre from the international community following
the
brutal torture of Morgan Tsvangirai and several other opposition leaders
while in police custody last week.
The British Prime Minister said
the African Union (AU) should continue to
exert pressure on Mugabe to
embrace political reforms saying the solution
will not come through pressure
from Britain but from African countries.
"Let's be very clear: the
solution to Zimbabwe ultimately will not come
simply through the pressure
applied by Britain. That pressure has got to be
applied within Africa, in
particular within the African Union," Blair told
legislators.
"We
will continue to do all we can to make sure that Africa realizes this is
the
responsibility of Africa as well as the Zimbabwean government."
Britain
as well as the United States have been at the forefront in
criticizing
Mugabe's policies.
Mugabe accuses the two Western countries of pushing a
regime change agenda
after he seized white farms for redistribution to
landless blacks seven
years ago. - ZimOnline
Yahoo News
by
Fanuel Jongwe
HARARE (AFP) - Global pressure mounted on Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe
on Wednesday, with former colonial ruler Britain
calling for tougher EU
sanctions over his "disgraceful" crackdown on
opposition leaders.
Criticism of the Zimbabwean regime's violent
campaign against the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has
deepened in recent days, with other
African leaders joining a Western outcry
over Mugabe's tactics.
Britain has been among the most vocal critics, and
Prime Minister Tony Blair
on Wednesday said he wanted Europe to take a
tougher line with the
83-year-old head of state.
"We will press the
European Union to widen the political sanctions that were
introduced in 2002
and introduced very much as a result of our prompting at
the time," Blair
told parliament.
Mugabe himself and his entourage are banned from
travelling to the EU under
sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe in 2002 for human
rights violations.
Blair echoed Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett's view
that action was also
needed from the UN Security Council and the UN Human
Rights Commission.
"We will be urging partners in both those institutions
to come out with
strong statements against what is happening in Zimbabwe,
which is appalling,
disgraceful and utterly tragic for the people of
Zimbabwe," he said.
Zimbabwe's ruling party however, said existing
targeted sanctions had not
achieved their goals, and had hurt the people of
Zimbabwe despite the
intention of the EU and US not to do so.
"The
sanctions have not achieved what they set out to do. It's not true when
they
say the sanctions were limited. They were of course imposed on 126
members
listed, but they (US and EU) put pressure on the IMF and World Bank
not to
give grants and investment capital to Zimbabwe," ZANU-PF spokesman
Nathan
Shamuyarira told AFP.
"That has hurt the ordinary people. So it's not
true that the sanctions only
hurt the leadership."
Mugabe's
government has been conducting a crackdown that has included
arresting and
beating opposition leaders.
On Tuesday, the US ambassador to Zimbabwe,
Christopher Dell, called the
president a "desperate dictator" and suggested
that his long years in power
were coming to an end.
"The fact is that
the man is in a corner and he knows it," Dell said. "What
we are really
looking at is a failing regime that is increasingly wobbly."
At the same
time, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa likened Zimbabwe to a
"sinking
Titanic" and said it was time to consider changing the traditional
policy of
"quiet diplomacy" with Harare adopted by the likes of Zambia and
South
Africa.
Zambia's former president Kenneth Kaunda, an historic ally of
Mugabe's,
urged African leaders on Wednesday to appoint a committee of
eminent people
to mediate in the worsening political crisis.
Amid all
the criticism, Mugabe has remained defiant, and observers said
there was
little chance of him stepping down voluntarily.
"I don't think this
signals the end of the line for Mugabe," analyst
Moeletsi Mbeki of the
Johannesburg-based South African Institute of
International Affairs told
AFP.
"I don't think he thinks of himself being in power because of public
support. He stays in power through the use of terror."
Zimbabwe's
junior information minister Bright Matonga said the government
"will not be
intimidated by its enemies," among whom he cited Blair and US
President
George W. Bush.
"This is a personal vendetta they have against our
president and they think
we will chicken out. We are a sovereign nation,"
Matonga told AFP.
Following Blair's call for tougher sanctions, the
African Union's
representative in Brussels said there was an element of EU
hypocrisy
involved in approving action against Mugabe while ignoring abuses
by other
African leaders.
"I would have preferred that there were no
double standards at the European
level, even for judging heads of state," AU
ambassador Mahamat Annadif told
reporters.
EUbusiness
21 March 2007,
17:37 CET
(BRUSSELS) - European Union sanctions against Zimbabwe, which
British Prime
Minister Tony Blair isto urge his EU partners to stiffen, were
first put in
place in 2002.
The measures include a travel ban and
assets freeze on government and other
officials, and an embargo on any arms,
training or assistance that could be
used for internal
repression.
They were imposed on President Robert Mugabe's regime after
the long-serving
ruler won elections in 2002, which the opposition and
foreign observers say
were rigged.
The measures target "the
government of Zimbabwe and persons who bear wide
responsibility for serious
violations of human rights and of the freedom of
opinion, of association and
of peaceful assembly."
The EU lists 125 people subject to a travel ban
and assets freeze, ranging
from Mugabe and his wife to current and former
ministers, through to
intelligence, police and election officials, as well
as governing party
politburo members.
"The objective of these
restrictive measures is to encourage the persons
targeted to reject policies
that lead to the suppression of human rights, of
the freedom of expression
and of good governance."
The embargo also "imposed a prohibition on the
supply of arms and related
material, on the provision of relation technical
training or assistance and
on the supply of equipment that might be used for
internal repression."
The sanctions were extended last month until
February 2008.
Other countries have imposed their own sanctions on
Zimbabwe, including
Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the
United States.
The Commonwealth, which unites 53 mainly former British
colonies, has also
imposed sanctions.
Mugabe pulled Zimbabwe out of
the organisation in December 2003 after its
membership had been suspended
because of the controversial presidential
election.
Despite the
sanctions, Mugabe was able to attend the funeral for Pope John
Paul II in
April 2005. He has also been able to attend an FAO summit in Rome
and a
Franco-African summit in Paris.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated
PressPublished: March 21, 2007
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa: Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe is fighting for
his political life in a
behind-the-scenes power struggle within his own
party that could oust him
faster than street battles with a reinvigorated
and determined political
opposition.
While hardline elements of Mugabe's secret police and
militant youth militia
step up a brutal and bloody crackdown on government
opponents, analysts said
rival factions within the ruling ZANU-PF are
plotting to force the president
to step down at the end of his term next
year.
A key test could come as early as next week at a meeting of the
ruling party
Central Committee, when a faction could seek to block the
president from
running for another term next year.
University of
Zimbabwe political analyst John Makumbe said rival factions
supporting the
former parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa or Vice
President Joyce
Muguru, whose husband is a powerful ex-army commander, are
confident they
can prevent another Mugabe term.
"That is where the real trouble for
Mugabe is. Both factions of ZANU-PF
don't want him to continue. They are
united on that, but they are not united
on who to replace him with. That is
when they take out their machetes and
start cutting each other's back,"
Makumbe said in a telephone interview from
Harare.
"For Mugabe, the
end is in sight. For him to believe otherwise is naive,"
added
Makumbe.
Christopher Dell, the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, told The
Associated Press
that the ruling party was in disarray, that tremendous
pressures were
building within the party because of the succession battle
and that growing
numbers within the party want Mugabe to step
down.
"Mugabe is a very resourceful fellow. One has to give him certain
grudging
admiration for his political skills, I mean he's managed to stay in
power
for 27 years, that's no mean feat," said Dell.
"He is far from
giving up. That he has made very evident," Dell added. "He's
not prepared to
go down without a fight, but he is weaker than he's ever
been before,
because the economy has simply made him weaker and because
everyone
recognizes that he's 83 years old."
Mugabe complained in an interview
broadcast on his state television last
month that top officials were
jockeying to succeed him. But, he announced:
"There are no vacancies because
I am still there."
Dell said there are several possible scenarios in
Zimbabwe "from the
president unilaterally declaring a state of emergency and
seizing power -
dropping the facade of democracy - to somebody moving
against him, to him
being forced to stand down by his own
party."
Disaffection with Mugabe within the ruling party, the military
and security
forces stems from the country's economic meltdown, said Dell.
Annual
inflation now stands at 1,730 percent and the International Monetary
Fund
predicts it will reach 5,000 percent by year's end.
In just
eight weeks the exchange rate on the black market, where even the
Zimbabwe
Central Bank has had to go to buy hard currency, has gone from
5,000
Zimbabwe dollars to US$1 to 24,000 to $1.
"I don't think we need to do
much more to put economic pressure on the
government because it seems to be
doing a damn fine job of ruining its own
economy," said Dell. "Let me put it
this way, the government is applying
much more effective sanctions on itself
than the outside world could ever
hope to craft and impose."
Makumbe
said powerful businessmen allied with the ruling party know their
businesses
cannot survive the economic freefall. While they may like Mugabe,
they can't
afford to support him.
"While Mugabe is in office the economy is not
going to recover. Mugabe is a
liability to the national economy and his
opponents know it," said Makumbe.
Dell said the collapsing economy has
helped caused splits within the
security services.
"The fact is that
over the last 27 years the government there has ruled
mostly by a
combination of repression and patronage. As the economy
evaporates from
under the government, the ability to distribute largesse, to
distribute
patronage disappears and the ability to support the security
services
disappears," said Dell.
Mugabe has used fear, violence and intimidation
very effectively against the
opposition and the people of Zimbabwe have had
good reason to be scared, the
ambassador said.
"The key new element
in the equation that's really become obvious over the
last 10 to 12 days is
the new spirit of resistance, some would even use the
word defiance, on the
part of the people," said Dell.
"With this economic collapse, the people
of Zimbabwe are being pushed to
that point," said Dell.
"And they are
losing their fear, despite every effort of the government to
build that fear
over the last eight years. What I think we've seen over the
last week is
that the people have turned a corner and they are not afraid
anymore," he
added.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was among those police
assaulted to
break up a March 11 prayer meeting. The opposition, which split
in 2005 as a
faction revolted against Tsvangirai's leadership, has said it
has unified in
the face of the latest violence and will continue to
resist.
Mugabe has also always had some support from his African
neighbors in trying
to resist international pressure for changes in his
autocratic rule. But
Dell said the recent violence against the opposition
has changed the
response from African governments and deepened his
isolation.
South Africa issued its strongest criticism of Zimbabwe to
date on Tuesday,
and others in the region have been even more
pointed.
"One thing you will notice is that none of them are really
speaking in
Mugabe's defense any more. There is a kind of embarrassed
silence in the
region now. I think the scenes that we witnessed in the last
few weeks of
the black police and security forces of an African government
assaulting its
own people are too shockingly reminiscent of what happened in
South Africa
in the apartheid era," said Dell.
"We will work to make
sure that the isolation isn't broken, that the regime
knows that there is no
way out except the well-trodden clear path of
democratic and economic
reform."
____
EDITOR'S NOTE: Terry Leonard is The Associated Press
bureau chief for
southern Africa.
UN Integrated Regional
Information Networks
March 21, 2007
Posted to the web March 21,
2007
Harare
Fear has gripped opposition supporters in rural
Zimbabwe after a police
crackdown on the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) in the past
few weeks.
Dubani Mlotshwa, a small-scale
farmer and grassroots opposition party
official in the rural Nkayi district,
in the western province of
Matabeleland North, said unknown assailants, whom
he suspected were ruling
ZANU-PF party agents, had visited his homestead and
threatened his family
for supporting the opposition.
"We are now
living in constant fear. The tension is high here; we are seeing
people we
don't know these days, who move around saying they are looking for
all MDC
supporters. We are now even scared of attending community
gatherings. I, for
one, have been warned, and the people who came to my
homestead were
strangers to me," said Mlotshwa.
Most rural areas have traditionally been
part of ZANU-PF's support base.
Tension has been mounting in Zimbabwe for
the past two months, marked by
protests and running battles with the police
over a worsening economic
crisis compounded by shortages of foreign
currency, food, fuel, electricity
and medicines.
An opposition
supporter was killed last week, and Morgan Tsvangirai, who
leads an MDC
faction, was among the pro-democracy leaders arrested and
beaten by the
police, allegedly for inciting violence.
The regime is on the path of war
with the people of Zimbabwe
The leader of the other MDC faction, Arthur
Mutambara, was arrested with
Tsvangirai and 47 other members of the MDC when
they gathered on Sunday (11
March) in the populous suburb of Highfield in
the capital, Harare, to attend
a prayer meeting.
The gathering was
dispersed by heavily armed police who arrested and
allegedly beat up the
activists, resulting in Tsvangirai and Mutambara being
hospitalised.
Abednico Bhebhe, the MDC legislator for Nkayi,
confirmed the anxiety felt by
the opposition in rural Matabeleland as well
as other provinces. He said MDC
supporters were being punished because the
authorities feared that the
recent defiance campaign by the opposition in
urban centres might spread to
the countryside.
"The regime is on the
path of war with the people of Zimbabwe. They were
shaken by the spirit of
defiance that was shown by the MDC in major cities
and now they want to move
swiftly to cow rural people into silence, but the
time has absolutely run
out for them," he told IRIN.
Police instilling "law and
order"
Nathan Shamuyarira, the ZANU-PF spokesman, denied the claims.
"It's only the
police who are instilling law and order across the country.
They have to do
this in view of the violence unleashed by the MDC thugs
recently on
civilians and the police. Police have a right to move around,
even in rural
areas; there is nothing new here."
In a statement the
MDC said it was "getting disturbing reports of police
officers and youth
militias working hand in glove to punish our supporters
in rural areas. The
systematic violence, which started with the assaults and
torture of our
leadership in Harare and Bulawayo [Zimbabwe's second city],
including other
cities, is deplorable and uncalled for".
The ruling ZANU-PF should rein
in its supporters or "we are headed for
widespread violence across the
country", the MDC statement warned.
Earlier this week, Nelson Chamisa,
spokesman for the Tsvangirai faction of
the MDC, was beaten while he was
preparing to travel to Brussels for a
meeting of parliamentarians from
African, Caribbean and Pacific states as
well as the European
Union.
Mutambara was among three people arrested as they attempted to
leave the
country. The police said he could not leave because he was facing
charges in
court.
Western envoys warned
Welshman Ncube,
secretary-general of the Mutambara-led faction of the MDC,
claimed the
members' arrest "was an obvious attempt by an increasingly
paranoid
government to ensure that the outside world does not get the true
version of
how the rights of members of the opposition are being abused."
Ncube
said, "The police acted in direct defiance of last week's High Court
order
that directed that Mutambara be released unconditionally. It is a
mystery to
us why they decided to take him again, and deny him the basic
human right of
freedom of movement."
Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi
summoned western envoys to
his office on Monday, including those from
Britain, New Zealand, Australia
and Sweden, while the United States
Ambassador, Christopher Dell, walked out
before the minister arrived at the
meeting.
"Zimbabwe's tolerance is being stretched to the limit,"
Mumbengegwi told the
diplomats. "You must scrupulously observe the relevant
provisions of the
Vienna Convention governing the conduct of diplomatic
relations. Any failure
to do so will leave us with no option but to invoke
the relevant
conventions, so as to bring to an end any interference in our
domestic
affairs."
He accused some of the envoys of interfering in
the internal affairs of
Zimbabwe. He also accused the eight unnamed
ambassadors of visiting the
police stations where MDC members were being
held in custody last week and
giving them food.
The government has
justified its crackdown as an act of safeguarding public
order across the
country, maintaining that the protesting parties were
agents of Western
countries, notably the US and Britain, which have been
accused of trying to
effect regime change in the country.
[ This report does not necessarily
reflect the views of the United Nations ]
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
PRESS
RELEASE
March 21, 2007
Posted to the web March 21,
2007
Harare
IRIN reported on 20 March the UN Security Council
would soon hold a briefing
on Zimbabwe at which a senior official from the
Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) would
speak.
The UN spokesperson's office has clarified overnight that neither
the
Security Council session nor the invited speakers have yet been
officially
confirmed. IRIN regrets any inconvenience.
[ This
report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
The Zimbabwean
House of
Commons
Tuesday 20 March 2007
Oral Answers to Questions
FOREIGN
AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
The Secretary of State was
asked-
Zimbabwe
4. Mr. Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con): What
steps she is taking to
address the political situation in Zimbabwe.
[128291]
6. Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby) (Con): If she will make a
statement on the
political situation in Zimbabwe. [128293]
The
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Margaret
Beckett):
It is evident that the severe economic and humanitarian crisis now
facing
ordinary Zimbabweans is entirely the fault of the misguided policies
of
President Mugabe and his Government. With the international community, we
are pressing him and others in his Government to reverse course and to end
human rights abuses and political violence, to stop gross economic
mismanagement, and to take the necessary steps to lead Zimbabwe to a better
future.
Mr. Hollobone: Under the evil, violent and increasingly
despotic regime of
Robert Mugabe, thousands of the citizens of Zimbabwe,
which was once the
bread basket of southern Africa, are dying of
malnutrition and disease every
month, and average life expectancy has fallen
to just 38. What hope can the
Foreign Secretary offer to Morgan Tsvangirai
and others who would lead a
free and democratic Zimbabwe that Robert
Mugabe's regime is under the
intense scrutiny of Britain, the Commonwealth
and the international
community, and that something effective will be done
in the very near future
to ensure that that regime comes to an
end?
Margaret Beckett: I simply say that, of course, there is
considerable
concern across the international community and the hon.
Gentleman is right
to identify it. It is important to make it clear,
particularly in this
House, that, yes, the United Kingdom is greatly
concerned about the
situation in Zimbabwe, but that those concerns are
shared by the whole
European Union, by the African Union-sadly, those
concerns have not always
been expressed as loudly as they might be-by the
United Nations and by the
whole international community. It is very
important that we recognise that
this is not a bilateral dispute between
Britain and Zimbabwe; this is about
the whole international community
expressing concern about a very dangerous
and deteriorating human rights
situation. We will keep up the pressure
through all those bodies.
Mr.
Robathan: It is difficult to understand why the Government have been so
dilatory and slothful over half a dozen years in showing leadership and
taking firm diplomatic action against Zimbabwe. Can the Secretary of State
say specifically why John Bredenkamp, close family members of the regime and
other members of it are not on the travel ban and do not have personal
sanctions against them? Why is food aid still allowed to be used as a tool
of manipulation by the Zimbabwean Government? Has Robert Mugabe been
relieved of his honorary knighthood? I have yet to discover whether he has,
but I hope so.
Margaret Beckett: The hon. Gentleman asked what we do
to prevent food aid
being used as a tool. Of course, we make absolutely sure
that the food aid
and other aid that we send is channelled through the
United Nations or, on
occasion, through non-governmental organisations, and
that it does not go
through-
Mr. Robathan: It is used as a
tool.
Margaret Beckett: Of course food aid that goes to Zimbabwe is used as a
tool, but not UK-funded food aid, which is what I am responsible for. We
have to deal with the reality. I understand and share the hon. Gentleman's
anger and distress at the situation in Zimbabwe, but to pretend that Britain
alone can somehow wave a magic wand and bring about an end to this tragic
situation is clearly entirely wrong. We do everything that we can. I believe
that the hon. Gentleman is right in saying that President Mugabe still
retains his honorary knighthood. The hon. Gentleman may wish to give him
further publicity by making that the focus of attention, but I have more
concern for the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe than for whether or not
Robert Mugabe has an honour to which he is not entitled.
Mr. David
Winnick (Walsall, North) (Lab): Most fair-minded people would
accept that
Britain is doing all that it possibly can to draw attention on
the
international scene to what is happening in that unhappy country. Does
my
right hon. Friend accept that many of us are very disappointed that South
Africa has not recognised the tremendous harm being caused by Mugabe-an
outright gangster clinging on to power-and would it therefore be useful if
South Africa did what is necessary to help the people in
Zimbabwe?
Margaret Beckett: As I said in response to the hon. Member for
Kettering
(Mr. Hollobone), we continue to discuss the issue and exert
pressure through
the various international bodies, including the African
Union. There have
been discussions in recent days with the president of the
African Union and
the president of the Southern African Development
Community, who are also
anxious about the situation in Africa. We are urging
that we should use the
opportunity identified by my right hon. Friend the
Minister for Trade of the
new Human Rights Council to focus discussion on
the worrying and
deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe. Of course, we seek
discussion and
support from African countries, including South Africa, in
endeavouring to
do that, because of the belief that the HRC is the right
place to take those
discussions forward.
Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab):
I pay tribute to the work that the Minister for
Trade has done on this issue
over the past few months. Does my right hon.
Friend the Foreign Secretary
agree that the rather measly words of South
Africa on this issue are of real
concern, especially in comparison with the
Congress of South African Trade
Unions, which has strongly condemned what is
happening in Zimbabwe? Does she
also agree that the G8 summit to be hosted
by Germany in two months' time
will be an opportunity to say
straightforwardly to South Africa that if it
wishes to take the lead in
leading southern Africa into democracy, it has to
speak out and declare
absolutely that what Mugabe is doing will not be
allowed to continue?
Margaret Beckett: I am aware of the honourable and
strong stance taken over
a considerable period of time by COSATU, which has
long been active and
vocal on this issue. My hon. Friend refers to the
opportunity to discuss the
matter at the G8 and I can assure her that if the
position remains as it is,
it is likely that some discussion will arise in
that context. However, as I
hope I indicated a moment ago, we do not intend
to wait for that summit
before discussing those issues. I have discussed
them this week with my
South African counterpart and we are endeavouring to
get a head of steam
behind a discussion in the UN Human Rights Council in
the very near future.
Mr. Michael Ancram (Devizes) (Con): Will the
Foreign Secretary explain the
Government's attitude to ethnic cleansing,
murder, tyranny and oppression in
Zimbabwe over the past eight years
compared with their attitude to similar
outrages in the Balkans? Why is it,
as hinted by Morgan Tsvangirai over the
weekend, that this Government have
consistently walked by on the other side
in respect of
Zimbabwe?
Margaret Beckett: The right hon. and learned Gentleman will
know that we
condemn ethnic cleansing and endeavour to resist it wherever it
occurs, not
least in the Balkans, perhaps in contrast-if I may say so-to
what sometimes
happened under our predecessors. I also remind him that
although I have seen
reports in certain sections of the British news media,
I have not seen any
attribution to Morgan Tsvangirai of the words that the
right hon. and
learned Gentleman used about the British Government walking
by on the other
side. I have seen reports of statements by Morgan Tsvangirai
that suggested
that the British Government had not done enough. I have also
seen reports of
a full statement made by him live on television, in which he
said in terms:
"The British Government cannot be seen to be at the
forefront of confronting
Mugabe alone. I have always said that that will be
misconstrued."
He said that Britain should act together with the
international community,
the African Union and so on. Why only the part of
his concern that suggested
that he would like to see the British Government
do more-which I completely
understand-was reported in some organs of the
media is outside my
competence.
Kali Mountford (Colne Valley) (Lab):
I am listening carefully to my right
hon. Friend. It seems to me that there
is a fine line between taking clear
action against Zimbabwe's despotic
regime and stirring up a response that
could lead to Britain's role being
misunderstood. Does she agree that our
opposition to Mugabe's regime must be
clear, and that we should act with our
EU neighbours to put pressure on the
African Union to ensure that a united
effort is made?
Margaret
Beckett: My hon. Friend speaks very wisely, if I may say so.
Successive
Foreign Secretaries in this Government have been guided by three
concerns
when dealing with Zimbabwe. First, we have given priority to the
interests
of the people of Zimbabwe, and we have done everything in our
power-in ways
that the Government of Zimbabwe could not manipulate-to help,
support and
aid them, not least through direct food aid, and so on.
Secondly, we have
always acted in ways that would promote reform and genuine
democratic
dialogue in Zimbabwe, although we have been careful not to give
Mugabe an
excuse to act against those in Zimbabwe who are prepared to stand
up to him
publicly, as that would be to put them at further risk. We have
always tried
to be guided by what those people have said was the balance to
be struck
between supporting them and not putting them at risk.
Thirdly, the
Government have been guided consistently by the fact that
Mugabe has always
used any stance taken by the UK as an excuse to stir up
support among people
elsewhere in Africa-and I suspect that this may be one
of the reasons other
African Governments stay their hands in respect of
Zimbabwe-for claims that
the dispute is between the old colonial power that
wants to take back power
and to interfere with Zimbabwe, and Zimbabwe's
heroic revolutionary
Government. Sadly, those claims have much too much
resonance in Africa. That
is why we have always tried to make sure that we
deprive Mugabe of that
excuse, while remaining strong in condemnation of his
actions.
Sir
Malcolm Rifkind (Kensington and Chelsea) (Con): I lived and worked in
Zimbabwe for almost two years, and I share Members' expressions of concern.
The Foreign Secretary has said that she wants to achieve more effective
sanctions, but will she consider encouraging an urgent meeting of the
Commonwealth Heads of Government to try to promote a high-level visit to
Zimbabwe, preferably under President Thabo Mbeki? He could make it clear to
Mr. Mugabe that the only final service that he can make to the welfare of
his country is to resign as soon as possible.
Margaret Beckett: The
right hon. and learned Gentleman draws on his own
experience to make an
interesting suggestion, and I shall certainly give it
consideration.
However, the precedents are not very encouraging, as he will
know. It is
true that President Kikwete of Tanzania was able to go to
Zimbabwe during
the week, on behalf of SADC, but the right hon. and learned
Gentleman will
recall that it is not so long ago that the UN
Secretary-General sought to
visit Zimbabwe to express exactly the concerns
that have been expressed here
today, yet was not permitted to do so.
Tom Levitt (High Peak) (Lab): My
right hon. Friend will be aware of
newspaper reports today that 3,000
militia might be sent from Angola to
Zimbabwe support Mugabe's repressive
regime. Will she comment on the truth
or otherwise of that story? If it is
true, will she make it clear to Angola's
representatives-and to those of any
other country wanting to act in a
similar way-that they would be treading on
very dangerous ground?
Margaret Beckett: I can tell my hon. Friend that,
like him, I have heard
those rumours this morning. As yet, I have heard
nothing to substantiate
them or to clarify the purpose of such activity.
However, I assure my hon.
Friend that that will be one of concerns that we
will be pursuing over the
coming days.
Mr. William Hague (Richmond,
Yorks) (Con): Can the Foreign Secretary confirm
whether visas issued to a
Zimbabwean delegation attending an EU meeting in
Brussels today included an
individual banned by the EU from travel to Europe
for serious violations of
human rights, even though in the past few days the
Mugabe regime has
violently prevented opposition figures from leaving
Zimbabwe to attend the
very same Brussels meeting?
Margaret Beckett: The right hon. Gentleman
makes an extremely pertinent and
powerful point. It is my understanding that
one of those who travelled to
the meeting in Brussels was indeed on the
banned list, but that his visa was
issued in error by-I believe-the Belgian
Government. There has been some
suggestion-I do not know whether it is a
misunderstanding-that an NGO
suggested that one of those people travelled
through London, so I take this
opportunity to tell the right hon. Gentleman
that the British Government
have issued no such visa.
Mr. Hague: We
welcome the news that there was an error, but such errors, as
well as
admitting a Zimbabwean delegation at a time when opposition figures
are
being beaten senseless at the airport, suggest that the EU cannot muster
the
consistency and courage even to enforce the measures on Zimbabwe on
which it
has already agreed. Is not it time for the EU to agree and enforce
additional asset freezes and visa bans on members of the Mugabe regime, and
to make it clear that anyone on the EU sanctions list should be excluded
from attending the EU-AU summit in Portugal later this year? Otherwise, the
summit will become an immense embarrassment for Europe and give Zimbabweans
the impression that Mugabe is still welcome overseas.
Margaret
Beckett: I entirely share the right hon. Gentleman's sentiments.
The
Government of Belgium have apologised for the error and withdrawn the
visa.
I also share his concern that we should consider additional asset
freezes,
visa bans and so on, and the extension thereof. It is certainly
something we
shall be pushing with our EU colleagues in the days to come.
Mr. Michael
Moore (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (LD): The House is
united in its
condemnation of the brutality of the Mugabe regime and in its
tribute to the
bravery of Morgan Tsvangirai and countless others who refuse
to be cowed by
the oppression of Zimbabwe's thugs. We certainly support the
tightening of
existing sanctions from Europe and the contemplation of new
ones, as has
just been discussed.
Returning to the subject of South Africa, can the
Foreign Secretary confirm
that South Africa rebuffed British attempts to
have recent events discussed
at the UN? For all the difficulties with
diplomatic conventions, does she
agree that when Britain takes the chair at
the Security Council it ought to
ensure that there is a debate on Zimbabwe
and, if necessary, embarrass
countries in Africa and elsewhere that would
object to it?
Margaret Beckett: I have not had a chance to have the
report checked, but I
have seen the suggestion that the South African
Government impeded
discussion of Zimbabwe in the Security Council. However,
part of my
conversation with the South African Foreign Minister was that the
proper
place for such discussion was, initially, in the new Human Rights
Council.
We share that view. There may be a time for the matter to come to
the
Security Council, but the Human Rights Council is the right place for
discussion now. Before coming to the Chamber I did not have a chance further
to explore the stance taken by South Africa, but I believe that it is not
necessarily inconsistent with the wish to see the matter pursued in the
Human Rights Council.
The Nation
(Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
March 22, 2007
Posted to the web March 21,
2007
Nairobi
The unfolding events in Zimbabwe in the past few
weeks illustrate the depths
of repression and political intolerance raging
in a country that once stood
as a shining hope for Africa. The brutal
attacks on opposition chief Morgan
Tsvangirai and a few others slightly over
a week ago, and the violent events
that followed meant Zimbabwe is sliding
fast to anarchy.
Only at the weekend, the administration went on to stop
three opposition
personalities from travelling - two to South Africa and one
to Belgium - by
seizing their passports and literally grounding them at
Harare airport in
separate incidents.
In the meantime, the Robert
Mugabe government has been spinning horrendous
tales about the opposition
chiefs, saying how they have been involved in
bloody plots to seize power
from him through the gun.
For the past decade or so, the octogenarian
President has perfected the art
of political intolerance, manifested in the
ruthless handling of opponents -
real and imagined.
When he felt it
expedient, he orchestrated a land grab campaign that saw the
so-called War
Veterans take over land from white settlers in a disguise of a
land reform
programme. And whenever challenged, he has vociferously attacked
the West,
specifically Britain's Tony Blair and America's George Bush for
plotting his
ouster and impoverishing Zimbabweans.
But the naked truth is that
Zimbabwe's problems are squarely a result of
oppressive political, social
and economic policies. President Mugabe has
presided over an administration
that looted the country's enormous wealth,
stifled any form of dissent and
aggressively fended off any external
intervention to restore sanity to the
country.
With an inflation rate of 1,700 per cent and acute shortage of
all essential
commodities, Zimbabwe stands out as a sore thumb on the
continent. Sadly,
Africa has stood aside and kept an odious silence as
Zimbabweans suffer
injustices and indignity.
African Union, which has
been pushing for peer review mechanism to tame
belligerent leaders under the
auspices of Nepad, has done nothing. Not even
the Southern African
Development Community.
For how long will Zimbabwe bleed? Is Zimbabwe
being relegated to a place
that time has forgotten.
The Citizen
XOLANI MBANJWA
Members of civic organisations in Zimbabwe live in so
much fear that
they stay in safe-houses to escape the police.
Women
Of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) national coordinator Magodonga
Mahlangu, who
launched the Zimbabwe People's Charter in Yeoville with about
100
Zimbabweans living in South Africa yesterday, said many civic
organisations
in Zimbabwe had gone underground.
"Since we started Woza in 2003 I have
been arrested over 21 times
without being formally charged. The most I was
detained in jail was five
days with 171 other women in a cage outside a
Bulawayo prison last year. It
was raining. The police never charged me or
any of the women because they
didn't have enough evidence."
She
said that when President Robert Mugabe took power in 1980 "the
people of
Zimbabwe made the mistake of not watching what the new government
was doing
from 1980 on. There were no watchdogs, so the government did their
own thing
with impunity.
"The human rights abuses started on a very small scale
and grew. It
didn't start in 2000 or 1999 ... it's been long
coming."
Since January last year, Woza has consulted 10 000 Zimbabweans
about
what they want in a new Zimbabwe. "We are here to make South Africans
and
Zimbabweans understand we are going to undertake a non-violent campaign
that
is huge. We know we may be arrested, detained and beaten, but we will
face
it."
Mahlangu said the response from the SA government and
neighbouring
countries "legitimises what is happening in Zimbabwe. This has
nothing to do
with Tony Blair or George Bush... it's Mugabe trying to save
face and his
ego, not wanting to let go of power".
Last updated
21/03/2007 10:05:32
Zim Online
Thursday 22 March 2007
By
Wayne Mafaro
HARARE - Zimbabwe's main opposition party on Wednesday filed
an urgent court
application to force the police to release travel papers for
Arthur
Mutambara which were seized at Harare International Airport last
Sunday.
Mutambara, who heads a faction of the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
party, is grounded in Zimbabwe after suspected state agents
seized his
passport, cell phone and air ticket on Tuesday.
Gabriel
Chaibva, the spokesperson of the Mutambara-led MDC, said they had
filed
papers at the High Court to force the police to release Mutambara's
travel
documents.
Chaibva said the seizure of the papers was a desperate ploy by
President
Robert Mugabe's government to stop opposition leaders from leaving
the
country as they would expose the extent of rights abuses in
Zimbabwe.
"The police, who last night (Tuesday night) fled with President
Mutambara's
passport have today refused to hand over the President's
passport, cell
phone and air ticket.
"Court papers have been served
and we are waiting for an indication as to
when the matter will be set
down," said Chaibva.
He said the police had refused to release
Mutambara's travel document to
Beatric Mtetwa and Harrison Nkomo,
representing the MDC leader, saying they
were still waiting for
"instructions from above."
"It has become clear that the regime's
intention is to bar President
Mutambara from leaving the country and we are
well informed that
instructions have been issued to all exit points to
arrest him if he
attempts to leave the country.
"Robert Mugabe and
his government are determined to ensure that the horrific
and terrible
situation obtaining in Zimbabwe is not told anywhere else in
the world,"
said Chaibva.
University of Zimbabwe lecturer and political commentator
John Makumbe said
it was illegal for the police to seize anyone's passport
unless one had a
pending court case.
"The travel ban is part and
parcel of the clampdown on the MDC because the
Zimbabwean government is
trying to stop the opposition from informing the
outside world on what is
happening in the country," said Makumbe. -
ZimOnline
Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
OPINION
March 20, 2007
Posted to
the web March 20, 2007
By Michael
Dingake
The cheek of Robert Mugabe He says those who criticize him can
"go
hang!" Cheeky, eh? Has he become the superman of the world, a
demi-
god above earthly reproach? He must be the biggest political
romanticist of all times. It is possible, he has been misled by his
SADC
comrades-in-arms, who treat him like an untouchable supremo.
"Zimbabwe
situation is for the Zimbabweans" is the sickening rhetoric
we hear everyday
from the lily-livered presidents of SADC member
states. How can Zimbabweans
solve their problems when Mugabe rigs
elections with impunity, when his war
veterans intimidate everybody,
particularly the rural voters, to vote for
Zanu-PF? The elections in
Zimbabwe have not been free and fair, particularly
since the
emergence of the MDC. It is known that supporters of the MDC have
been murdered, disappeared from the scene and beaten up during
political
campaigns; the press is gagged; journalists are detained
and tortured;
independent judges are demoted and the bootlickers
promoted; public rallies
are banned; food rations from international
bodies are supplied to ZANU-PF
supporters alone and MDC supporters
denied the donations they are entitled
to; workers' strikes are
clamped down upon, workers' leaders are harassed;
migrants from rural
areas attempting to make ends meet in the urban areas
are subjected
to murambatsvina blitz.
Nothing works in favour of the
ordinary Zimbabwean. Under such
circumstances how are Zimbabweans expected
to solve their own
problems, when such a monstrous political beast in the
form of ZANU-
PF, led by Gabriel Robert Mugabe has been unleashed on their
helpless
poor selves? Those who say they must, are simply accomplished,
callous, hypocritical cowards imbued with double standards.
The
Zimbabwean situation is fast going to the dogs. If a leader of
the official
opposition can suffer wanton assaults spiced with snide
remarks like "he
asked for it," then without a doubt a veritable
political meltdown is nigh
in Zimbabwe. Tyrants do not love the idea
of supreme beings other than
themselves. That is why the wrath of
Mugabe was visited on Tsvangarai
because he was not carrying Mugabe's
prayer book nor was he going to worship
at ZANU-PF altar. But if the
ZANU-PF leader thought he was humiliating the
MDC leader by beating
him, he is mistaken, for he made him a hero!
When the SADC leaders wash their hands of the Zimbabwean situation
and say it is for the Zimbabweans to handle alone, do they know that
after the manhandling of the MDC leader, Zimbabweans may feel,
without
external support they are now left with the option of the
last resort -
violence, only? Who can blame them if they begin to
think Mugabe must go the
way of Ian Smith? Does the SADC silent
diplomacy envisage this extreme
method? If SADC feared some backlash
would result, if they openly and
candidly told Bob to his
face: "Brother-comrade, you played a big role in
the history of
Zimbabwe, but now you may sully, everything if you go on the
way you
are going; restore the rule of law in Zimbabwe, respect human rights
and retire gracefully; we will negotiate a hard-to-resist retirement
package for you," Mugabe might comply.
Unless this approach is
followed and the SADC "big men" continue the
refrain of, "Zimbabweans must
solve their problems" these shamefaced
leaders are gambling with political
tranquility in the region.
Assaulting a leader of Tsvangarai's stature,
may be the spark that
ignites a conflagration of ugly proportions. This
cannot be what
our "big men" envisage with their quiet diplomacy! If civil
war
breaks out in Zimbabwe, the Chimurenga that broke the back of Ian
Smith will look like a picnic and Batswana will suffer a fallout like
they have never imagined.
This excuse of doing nothing but quiet
diplomacy, because Zimbabwe,
is a sovereign state, is old hat. The
conservative British PM, Harold
Macmillan rejected it, way back in 1960 when
he addressed the white
SA parliament.
He curtly dismissed the
apartheid propaganda argument that the world
was interfering in her internal
affairs by drawing a business
analogy: " Mind your own business, when your
business is interfering
with mine is unacceptable,." or words to that
effect.
Mugabe's "business" is dragging his SADC neighbours' businesses down
with his; it is not his business alone that is in trouble, all his
neighbours' businesses are. But the sycophants are scared of the
bully
to utter, "ouch!"
Moreover let us be clear: sovereignty in Zimbabwe does
not lie with
Mugabe, the tyrant; sovereignty belongs to the Zimbabweans;
when it
is violated, principled human rights advocates are obliged to
intervene. An illegitimate state cannot be sovereign, it does not
represent the citizens' interests.
Batswana need to show solidarity
with the Zimbabweans. They should
join the bold voices of young MPs,
progressive parties and NGOs who
have been prompt to condemn the recent
outrageous ZANU-PF atrocities.
Once leaders fail to lead when a crisis
looms, the people themselves
must lead the leaders and expose their
limitations.
SADC leaders behave like somebody was urging them to invade
Zimbabwe
militarily. Not even Bush or Blair has ever suggested that. What
the
critics are saying, is that SADC leaders should publicly convey to
Mugabe that no-one is amused by his antics of hanging tenaciously to
power and trampling people's rights in the process. If Mugabe is told
off in such open diplomatic language, he will realize the game is up
and
he will sober up.
Straight talk breaks no friendship, it will make the
despotic Mugabe
see sense. Assuming he fails to respond positively, isolate
him;
suspend him from SADC and the AU! That will make him squirm. He loves
nothing better than to be pictured in world company spouting his
deprecations of past colonial masters, hoping to impress gullible
Africa.
Sanctions are unnecessary to deal with the Zimbabwean
situation,
except perhaps the so-called smart ones currently applied by US
and
EU. Military intervention is not called for either, the army is
slowly disintegrating; we read of officers, deserting the barracks;
outside pressure will accelerate desertions, and bring the army to
the
side of the masses.
As far as sanctions are concerned, 1700% inflation
and 85%
unemployment, inflicted by Mugabe's political pranks, is sanctions
enough to make any external sanctions redundant!
Kenya Times
BY Clifton O. Mulegi
The unfolding events
in Zimbabwe have put the African continent in the
limelight pitting the
integrity of its leaders in democratic dispensation.
Having been set free
from the yoke of colonialism as early as 1957, with
Ghana as the
forerunners, the continent experiences all forms of atrocities
with some
leaders still drinking from the colonial cups.
What can the continent
lay acclaim to, when the economic and democratic
gains made by the founding
fathers has been destroyed? The likes of Kwameh
Nkrumah of Ghana, Nelson
Mandela of South Africa, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya,
Mwalimu Nyerere of
Tanzania, the noble sons of Africa are no more.
The violation of human
rights by African governments, elicits no admiration.
For while other
continents the world over are grappling with economic wars,
African leaders
are deeply entrenched in spreading their tyranny through
dictatorship and
human rights violation.
After a spirited land reform by President Robert
Mugabe of Zimbabwe, what
has been left of the once prosperous nation is a
country with dilapidated
infrastructure, looming poverty, famine, lack of
electricity, 80 %
unemployment and an inflation at 1,700%. The lands were
expropriated from
the whites and given to the blacks, who lack capital,
skills and manpower to
turn them around to productive ventures. The
government of Mugabe forced
potential investors from taking interest in the
country resulting in a
weaker economy.
Having taken power in 1980,
President Mugabe exhibits all forms of tyranny
and injustice to his
countrymen with an aim of hanging onto power. His
government has suppressed
the opposition and other voices of reason and
relegated the later to
prisoners in their own motherland. At 83 years Mugabe
contends seeking
another term if asked by his ruling party ZANU-PF the
period after
2008.
His administration arrested and tortured opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai
and other figures on Sunday during a prayer meeting. The court
chamber was
treated to a session of horror and uncertainty as it resembled
the butcher
gallows, now with the victims being none other than the poor,
noble citizens
of Zimbabwe. Even as the country receives international
condemnation, Mugabe
remains adamant and unperturbed, threatening and
railing at Western envoys
and asking those dissatisfied to quit. Mr.
Tsvangirai's tribulation arises
from a long standing eight-year political
rivalry between his party,
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe's
ZANU-PF.
Many can not forget former Ethiopian dictator Colonel Mengistu
Haile Mariam,
self-exiled in Zimbabwe. Mengistu, despite escaping from the
hangman's
noose, has been sentenced to 17-year-jail term, which he is yet to
serve due
to Mugabe's reluctance to hand him over.
The action is a
challenge to both the African Union (AU) and the United
Nations (UN) for
Zimbabwe's is a situation that requires more than human
intervention.
Imposing economic sanctions is not enough, but all forces
should be geared
towards forcing Mugabe out of power. Diplomacy can not be
applied where the
same language seems foreign. President Mugabe who is a
replica of Saddam in
Africa should be made to account for his misrule by
whichever means, even if
it means going to the extremes.
However, Zimbabwe's scenario compounds
the complex ailing African leaders.
Of note is President Hosni Mubarak of
Egypt who in 2005 refused to release
an ailing opposition leader Mr. Ayman
Nour. Mr. Nour then 43 years was
serving a five-year jail sentence for
forging documents of his Ghad party
plus 32 other charges.
Nigeria
continues to experience the same with President Obasanjo reigning on
the
candidacy of Vice-President Abubakar. The Vice-President is set not to
contest due to corruption charges levelled against him by his former ally's
government. Nigeria, the world's eighth richest country in oil production,
is threatened with rampant corruption, human rights abuse, political
instability and declining infrastructure. An armed group has held hostage
well over 100 foreigners linked to the oil industry since 2006, in protest
to Obasanjo's rule.
Sudan deserves attention due to the crimes in
Darfur orchestrated by the
Khartoum government. Since 2003 the population of
Darfur has experienced
crimes with 2.5 million being displaced and an
estimated 200,000 killed. The
government of President Omar el Bashir has
failed to protect the blacks in
the south from the Arab insurgency. The
peace efforts made by southern
leaders, not to mention the late Dr. John
Garang, is now futile, with cases
of murder, rape and abductions widely
reported.
The government wants to restrict UN movement in Darfur. Even
the proposed
African Union-UN hybrid force has been denied access to
Sudanese soil, with
President el Bashr writing a letter to the world body
rejecting its plans.
Other African countries on the list of shame
include Uganda under President
Yoweri Museveni, Libya under Col Muammar
Gaddafi, Senegal under President
Wade, and Guinea under President Langsan
Conte. All these leaders, with some
facing or doing their octogenarian
period and ailing are still determined to
hang onto power. They have
manipulated their countries' constitutions in
their favour and undermined
competitive democracy. They are not wise to
learn from the likes of Mobutu
Seseko of Zaire, Sani Abacha of Nigeria and
Idi Amin of Uganda who couldn't
embrace change until it dawned on them.
If Africa is to reclaim its glory
on the global forum, then leaders should
pay homage to these humble words of
a poet, Saxon White Kessinger "Sometime
when you are feeling important,
sometime when your egos in bloom, sometime
when you take it for granted that
your going would have an unfillable hole.
Just follow these simple
instructions and see how they humble your soul."
Take a bucket and fill
it with water, put your hand in it up to your wrist.
Pull it out and the
hole that is remaining is a measure of how you will be
missed.
Anchorage Daily News
DALE McFEATTERS:
--
Scripps Howard News Service
Published: March 19, 2007
Last Modified:
March 19, 2007 at 03:52 PM
Zimbabwe may be far and away the worst-run
country on the planet.
The economic statistics alone would be a joke if
they were not so grim for
its impoverished people: 80 percent unemployment;
an inflation rate of over
1,700 percent (if you were so foolish as to make
the exchange, you could get
17,500 Zimbabwe dollars for one U.S.) and
projected to reach 4,000 percent;
over one-fifth of the population is
economic refugees in neighboring
countries.
And this was once one of the
wealthiest nations in Africa, mineral-rich and
the continent's breadbasket.
Its people survive today on international food
handouts.
This
disaster is the handiwork of Zimbabwe's president of 27 years, Robert
Mugabe, and these past weeks he's demonstrated how he's managed to stay in
power so long.
After Mugabe banned political rallies, the opposition
held a public prayer
meeting that was savagely broken up by the police and
regime thugs.
Opposition leaders were jailed and beaten, and those who tried
to leave the
country were intercepted at the airport and beaten there. The
chief
opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is said to have a fractured
skull and
broken arm.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry summoned
Western diplomats and threatened
them with expulsion if they tried to help
the opposition, even by such
charitable gestures as providing food, water
and medicine.
While Mugabe likes to blame his troubles on various
nefarious imperialist
schemes by Britain and the United States, the West has
little influence in
Zimbabwe. It is already the subject of extensive
sanctions and Mugabe's
tolerance for the suffering of his people is
apparently limitless.
To their shame, other African leaders - especially
those in South Africa and
the African Union - have been silent to the point
of indulgence about
Mugabe's depredations. Their censure and disapproval
would hearten the
opposition and perhaps even check Mugabe. If he runs
again, as he is
threatening to do, in another rigged election, they should
refuse to
recognize the results.
African leaders have been prone to
excuse the present by dwelling on the
colonial past, but what is taking
place in Zimbabwe is inexcusable in any
sense.
IOL
March 21 2007 at
12:10PM
By Angela Quintal
President Thabo Mbeki is
keeping a "close personal eye" on the
Zimbabwean situation.
Briefing reporters in Cape Town on Tuesday, cabinet spokesperson
Themba
Maseko said the president also rejected calls for tougher action
against
Harare, saying South Africa did not agree with the view that "the
time for
dialogue is past".
"In fact, the time for dialogue is now more than
ever before. All
parties need to sit around the table," Maseko
said.
"When you are beginning to experience a loss of life and
violence
meted out against members of the opposition, it clearly emphasises
the need
for parties to begin talking.
"We are
calling on both sides to show an element of stronger
leadership and agree to
put their differences aside... to find a peaceful
and lasting
solution."
However, one of the ANC's key allies, the South African
Communist
Party, on Tuesday expressed concern "about the very weak stance
taken by our
government in the light of the very serious latest developments
in
Zimbabwe". SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande noted that South Africa
was
celebrating human rights month in the context of a deteriorating rights
situation in Zimbabwe.
Speaking after the cabinet's fortnightly
meeting, Maseko said there
was no way that South Africa could force the
protagonists in Zimbabwe to
talk to each other.
He defended
Pretoria's policy of "quiet diplomacy", saying it had
worked in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, where parties were eventually
prepared to
negotiate.
"We think it is possible, even in the Zimbabwean
situation, to reach a
point in the near future where both parties will be
wiling to say 'the
situation is getting out of hand, let's sit around the
table'. And at that
point it will be easier for South Africa to provide
further support," Maseko
said.
Maseko referred to newspapers
reports that Mbeki had met President
Robert Mugabe two weeks ago, and said:
"We will continue interacting with
the government of Zimbabwe and opposition
parties."
There also needed to be extensive consultation with other
regional
heads of state to try to impress on the Zimbabwean government and
opposition
parties the need to begin talking to each other.
"We
think the best thing to do is to put our energies where we think
we will
make the biggest difference... getting the parties to sit down is
the best
intervention."
He identified the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change's refusal
to accept the outcome of the 2006 parliamentary elections
in Zimbabwe, which
Pretoria had endorsed as free and fair, as part of the
problem.
Meanwhile, Sapa-AFP reports that the head of the Catholic
Church in
Zimbabwe, Archbishop Pius Ncube, has criticised the South African
government
for failing to rein in the Mugabe regime.
"They are
in the best position to put pressure on Zimbabwe, to call
for sanctions if
necessary," the archbishop of Bulawayo said yesterday.
"They could
force Mugabe to change but they have been watching this
thing. It's now the
eighth year it has been deteriorating."
Mugabe has come in for
widespread international condemnation over his
treatment of the MDC, whose
leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested and
assaulted last week.
The archbishop, however, said it was vital that any new measures did
not
hurt the general population.
"The civilians are already extremely
vulnerable," he said. "But
sanctions that are targeted towards the
government, or quick sanctions -
cutting off the electricity, for instance -
would cause the Zimbabwean
government to think fast.
News24
21/03/2007 16:35 -
(SA)
Lusaka - Zambia's former president Kenneth Kaunda, an historic
ally of
Zimbabwe's embattled leader Robert Mugabe, urged African leaders on
Wednesday to appoint a committee of eminent people to mediate in that
country's worsening political crisis.
Kaunda told state-run radio the
issue needed to be resolved urgently, but
defended Mugabe by saying British
Prime Minister Tony Blair - a harsh critic
of the Harare regime - mishandled
issues in the southern African nation.
"There is a need for African
leaders to appoint a committee of eminent
persons which should find a
lasting solution in Zimbabwe," said Kaunda.
He accused western nations of
supporting the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change's (MDC) activities
in Zimbabwe.
Sata lambasts MDC leader
The issue of Zimbabwe is
heating up in Zambia with President Levy Mwanawasa
taking a tough stance
against Harare while another ex-president, Frederick
Chiluba, has defended
Mugabe.
Zambia's main opposition leader Michael Sata recently lambasted
MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai as a puppet of the West, financed to cause
trouble in
Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwean government has launched a violent
crackdown on opposition
leaders, which has seen many arrested and assaulted
in recent days as
international condemnation of the 83-year-old Mugage's
regime mounts.
Mugabe has been in power since Zimbabwe's independence
from Britain in 1980,
and has announced his intention to stand again in
elections scheduled for
next year.
Inflation in the one-time
breadbasket of Southern Africa is running at 1
730% and there are widespread
food shortages.
The Herald (Harare)
March
21, 2007
Posted to the web March 21, 2007
Harare
THE Registrar
General's Office has received US$7 million from the Reserve
Bank of
Zimbabwe, which should enable it to clear the backlog of 300 000
passports.
The money will also enable the RG's Office to issue
polythene national
identity cards, Registrar General Mr Tobaiwa Mudede said
yesterday.
Mr Mudede also told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee
on Defence and
Home Affairs that the department was in urgent need of an
additional US$1
million to import photographic material for processing
temporary national
identity documents in preparation for possible general
elections next year.
He was presenting oral evidence before the committee
at a briefing that was
also attended by Secretary for Home Affairs Mr Melusi
Matshiya.
Mr Mudede said the US$7 million sourced from the central bank
would also be
used for the programme to decentralise the issuance of the
national identity
cards.
He said the department would, in the short
term, concentrate on clearing the
passport backlog and was dealing with
emergency cases.
Mr Mudede said his office was currently having
discussions with Treasury on
the US$1 million needed for photographic
material.
The department, he said, had decided to purchase photographic
material such
as films, bromide paper and chemicals from South Africa for
the processing
of temporary identity documents since such material was not
available
locally.
Temporary identity documents would be issued in
remote areas of the country
while in some cases generators might have to be
used for the processing of
the polythene national identity cards.
"We
have, therefore, decided to approach our Zimbabwe Embassy in South
Africa so
that they can speed up the acquisition of the photographic
material. As a
result, foreign currency required to source the materials
from SA is R7,8
million," he said.
Funds were also needed for the issuance of temporary
identity cards under
the mobile registration exercise.
Kadoma West MP
Cde Zacharia Ziyambi (Zanu-PF) wanted to know whether the
RG's Office would
cope with the demand for national identity cards in view
of the possible
elections.
Mr Mudede said his department was geared for the
task.
"We will have to work flat out because time is running out. We will
have to
work day and night to make sure that we do not fail to meet the
deadline of
the 2008 elections," he said.
Mr Mudede said it had been
brought to his attention that some financial
institutions were not accepting
temporary identity documents and discussions
were underway to resolve the
issue.
Mr Matshiya told the committee that the department should
constantly be
adequately funded as it needed at least US$200 000 weekly for
it to function
at full throttle.
He said out of the US$7 million that
had been availed by the RBZ, about
US$2,4 million would be used to pay
arrears.
The RG's Office had suspended the issuing of passports and other
documents
due to a huge backlog of unprocessed travel documents arising from
the
shortage of foreign currency.
There have, however, been calls
from the public for the department to
operate on a full cost-recovery basis.
The department charges $500 for an
ordinary passport and $5 000 for an
executive passport for adults, amounts
many feel are too low given that the
department needs to import some of the
materials needed to process the
documents.
The Herald (Harare)
March 21,
2007
Posted to the web March 21, 2007
Harare
BASIC foodstuff
prices have shot up by between 50 and 200 percent in just
about a fortnight,
as the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe this week raised
fresh concerns over
rampant price increases and their impact on consumers'
purchasing
power.
The highest price increases were reported in milk, which went up
139
percent, cooking oil up 112 percent while onions and margarine were up
110
percent and 73 percent in that order.
CCZ director Mrs
Rosemary Siyachitema said: "It has been 12 days and some
product prices have
shifted by as much as 173,8 percent, being the shift in
the price of roller
meal. This situation has subjected consumers to untold
suffering as their
incomes fall far short of the costs of basic
commodities."
Economists
have since warned speculative price increases will push inflation
even
higher from its current 1 729 percent.
Added Mrs Siyachitema: "We will be
engaging the relevant authorities on the
situation with regard to price
movements.
"Indeed a social contract needs to be established between
stakeholders in
order to put to a stop to unwarranted price
increases.
"With such worrying price increases, the cost of living for
households is
bound to shoot up by significant margins, whilst on the other
hand salaries
lag behind.
"CCZ acknowledges that economic
fundamentals shift constantly in this
hyperinflationary environment, but
calls on those in business to base their
price increases on genuine
increases in costs of production."
Meanwhile, the consumer rights
watchdog says as a result of the spate of
"unwarranted" price increases, it
would from now onwards conduct weekly
price surveys, in a bid to keep on top
of the situation.
Nevertheless, past experience reveals that there is
very little the CCZ can
do to keep prices under check. Neither can it bring
price speculators to
book as it does not have arresting powers.
For
this reason, some members of the public are beginning to question its
relevance.
Others believe the CCZ's role should be expanded to
include meting out
punishment on consumer rights violators, in an
environment where frequent
price increases have become the norm rather than
the exception.
Just this week, consumers were reeling from a fresh wave
of price increases
on basic commodities such as sugar, mealie-meal, cooking
oil, margarine,
fresh milk and vegetables, among others.
Bread, which
has since disappeared from the shelves, has been replaced by
wholewheat
varieties, rolls and other fancy confectionery as bakeries seek
to evade
price controls.
According to an ongoing countrywide survey by the
consumer council,
commodities such as flour, cooking oil and sugar were not
available on the
formal market in some regions, except for
Masvingo.
There, a 2kg packet of sugar was going for $3 200. In the other
four
regions, it was available only on the parallel market at between $5 000
and
$7 000. This, the CCZ said, was "deeply disturbing considering
Zimbabwe's
sugar production surpasses the demand for the commodity".
21
Mar 2007 15:47:43 GMT
Source: IRIN
BULAWAYO, 21 March 2007 (IRIN) -
Tjilumbe Moyo is a former freedom fighter
and ruling ZANU-PF supporter. He
was among the first group of war veterans
to seize white-owned commercial
farms when land reform began in 2000. He
spoke to IRIN about the country's
current economic and political crisis, and
said change was
needed.
"When I went to war at the age of 17 my main objective was to
liberate my
country and make life easier for my children and every other
citizen. I
fought and survived fierce battles under ZIPRA [military wing of
the
nationalist party ZAPU, led by Joshua Nkomo]. He [Nkomo] was a leader
that
we respected together with President Robert Mugabe and his
ZANU.
After years of discomfort in the bush, we won independence in 1980
and
behold we were all happy. I returned home and reconciled with my family,
but
found some family members had died due to war. I had no hard feelings,
because that is what happens in any strife.
At the onset of farm
invasions, which I think were noble because we still
had no land that we had
gone to war for, I joined other war veterans and
chased away a lot of white
farmers in Matabeleland North [in the south of
the country]. Our people got
resettled there, and that is where I am also
staying.
But since then,
life has not been easy for us since we can not utilise the
land due to lack
of inputs. The economy is collapsing daily; food shortages
are widespread; I
cannot take my children to school because I don't have the
money, and this
sort of contradicts my expectations when we gained
independence. Things are
just too expensive and life has become increasingly
unbearable in
Zimbabwe.
It's now clear that he [President Mugabe] has failed to run the
economy, but
he still wants to contest the elections next year and rule some
more. He is
now old and should just allow new guys with new ideas to take
over. He can
always remain as an adviser.
ZANU-PF has extremely
intelligent young guys who can resuscitate this
economy; we need them.
Mugabe should let them take over, not these MDC
puppets whose masters we all
know [a reference to Western governments]. I
personally want change, but the
change should be from within ZANU-PF."
The
Herald (Harare)
March 21, 2007
Posted to the web March 21,
2007
Harare
FARMERS yesterday said they would continue withholding
their tobacco for the
2007 selling season until the Government comes up with
a profitable price
for the golden leaf.
Farmers have since last week
withheld their tobacco, arguing that a
kilogramme of tobacco cannot be
cheaper than a banana, which now costs
between $1 000 and $2
000.
A kg of tobacco is worth about US$1,50, which -- when converted
at the
official bank exchange rate of US$1 to $250 -- translates to the
farmer
getting $375 per kg.
In an interview, Zimbabwe Farmers' Union
vice president Mr Edward Raradza
unless price distortions were resolved,
farmers would not sell their
tobacco.
"As farmers, we are not going
to sell our tobacco until Government has
announced prices that enable us to
plant again next season," Mr Raradza
said.
He said farmers had
already submitted in written form their concerns to the
Gover- nment for
consideration by the Ministry of Agriculture.
"We have forwarded our
papers to Government and they are currently working
on them. So we are happy
with the minister's statement that he is going to
address the issue once and
for all," he said, referring to the Minster of
Agriculture, Cde Rugare
Gumbo.
Following the stalemate, Cde Gumbo announced on Tuesday that the
Government
was moving to eliminate distortions in tobacco pricing. The
tobacco selling
season usually commences around March/April yearly but has
since been
postponed indefinitely owing to the pricing
impasse.
However, Zimbabwe Farmers' Development Trust chief executive Mr
Lovegot
Tendengu said there was no stalemate as such over the pricing of
tobacco but
that farmers were only asking for the exchange rate applicable
to growers to
be reviewed to US$1:Z$10 000.
He said currently farmers
are paid in local currency at the rate of Z$250 to
US$1 in sharp contrast to
the parallel market rate that is now hovering
around $15 000 to the
greenback.
"There is no stalemate. I don't know where people are getting
this. Farmers
have not yet finished reaping their crop so the pricing
stalemate is not an
issue at all. It is a misconception by the media as
tobacco is sold through
the auction system," Mr Tendengu said.
Some
tobacco farmers have also called for the Government to pay them 65
percent
of their earnings in foreign currency.
Currently farmers are getting 15
percent of their total earnings in foreign
currency, which is held in their
foreign currency accounts.
However, Reserve Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono
last week maintained that he
would not yield to the farmers'
demands.
Dr Gono said tobacco farmers should remember that they are not
the only
foreign currency earners and, thus, should not hold the country to
ransom.
He said for farmers to continue withholding their crop unless the
dollar was
devalued would not help anyone.
"This is tantamount to
biting the hands that feeds you," Dr Gono said.
Most auction floors were
closed yesterday and officials indicated that they
would only open when
farmers start selling their crop.
"We have not yet been told of a new
date, but we understand there are still
discussions between the stakeholders
and authorities," Tobacco Industry and
Marketing Board technical director Dr
Andrew Matibiri said.
In a related matter, more than 400 tobacco farmers
contracted by Saltlakes
Tobacco are expected to deliver at least three
million kilogrammes of the
crop to the auction floors.
Company
executives told The Herald separately that all the contracted
growers were
willing to sell their tobacco to allow them to get funds to
prepare for the
next tobacco farming season.
Saltlakes executive chairman Mr Temba Mliswa
said the growers did not want
to hold the Government to ransom and had
agreed that all their tobacco be
sold.
Sales executive Mr Macmillan
Matimba said the company was confident that the
Government would come up
with a viable support price through the Reserve
Bank.
"We know that
Government is working on a good support price through the RBZ.
We are
confident the price would be good enough to allow the farmers to go
back
into the fields next season," he said.
He said it was important for the
company to sell its tobacco for the
Government to get the necessary foreign
currency to spur other economic
activities.
Saltlakes is now
disbursing support finance to allow the farmers to harvest,
cure, package
and transport their crop to the floors.
Mr Matimba said preparations for
next season had already begun with funds
for tillage and inputs being
processed.
He said the company has earmarked to finance the tillage and
planting of 10
000 hectares. The support includes chemicals and seedbed
preparation.
Trócaire
Date: 21 Mar 2007
As predictions of the possible collapse of the
Mugabe government in Zimbabwe
grow, during the first months of 2007 more
than 500 anti-government
activists have been subject to torture, arrest, ill
treatment and harassment
by state forces including the police, army and
youth militias, writes Otto
Saki of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights.
The American ambassador in Harare yesterday predicted the
downfall of Robert
Mugabe's government following the recent riots that led
to opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) being
brutalised and hospitalized. For some time now Zimbabwe's
economic collapse
has been felt by all.
The job market can only
absorb 20 per cent of the population and
hyperinflation is now pegged at
1729 per cent. For those living with and
affected by HIV and Aids, the cost
of anti-retroviral drugs has become
unaffordable. This has contributed to
the dramatic decline in life
expectancy - it now stands at 37 years for men
and 34 years for women.
The abuse of political power by Mugabe has been a
major source of
frustration for Zimbabweans. In 2000, 2002, and 2005,
general and
presidential elections were marred by violence, institutional
shortfalls and
loopholes that benefited the ruling party, with no redress
for the families,
political parties and individuals affected. With the 2008
elections on the
horizon, attempts have already been made by the ruling
party to postpone the
election to 2010, and opposition political parties
have been barred from
holding rallies to launch their presidential campaigns
in preparation for
the election. The ruling party also continues to inhibit
access to state
electronic and print media.
The government's
centralisation of power and the role of its Central
Intelligence
Organisation and other state forces in civilian matters have
reminded
Zimbabweans of the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. Public institutions
have been
militarised and political meetings and gatherings banned under the
Public
Order and Security Act.
State policy is now implemented like a military
operation. In 2005,
'Operation Murambatsvina', (Operation Drive out Filth)
destroyed the lives
of over 700,000 due to forcible evictions and the
destruction of houses. In
2006, 'Operation Currency Revolution', where the
old paper currency was
changed for a new currency, was implemented with
massive violations of
personal rights. And now in 2007, 'Operation
Chikorokoza Chapera' (Operation
Illegal Mining), which aims to curb illegal
gold panning, has also been
implemented with a disregard for human
rights.
The international community must continue to insist on a
re-introduction of
the rule of law and effective safeguards of the
independence of the
judiciary. The open defiance of court rulings in
Zimbabwe emasculates the
judicial system and sets a dangerous precedent by
exaggerating the role of
the police force in the overall matrix of the State
to being more of a hired
militia meant to foster the whims of its
masters.
Any form of intervention in Zimbabwe's affairs should be based
on
established principles to which the Zimbabwe government is party; this
will
reduce the state's accusations against those it criticises as having
ulterior motives. There should be more focus on regional blocks such as the
African Union and its human rights organ, the African Commission on Human
and Peoples' Rights, and, most importantly, the Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC), which has remained conspicuously silent and complacent in
the face of massive human rights violations. Pressure must also be exerted
on the government to revoke aspects of domestic laws that abrogate
fundamental human rights and are contrary to international human rights
norms and standards.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights receives
funding from Trócaire.
To contact Trócaire's press team:
Republic
of Ireland: Catherine Ginty, Press Officer, Trócaire. T: +353 1 505
3270, M:
086 629 3994
Northern Ireland & UK: David O'Hare, Press Officer,
Trócaire. T: 028 90 80
80 30, M: +44 7900053884