(AFP) - 2 hours
ago
JOHANNESBURG - Nestle said Thursday that it will stop buying milk
from a
farm owned by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's family, who seized
it from
white farmers under his controversial land reforms.
The
world's biggest food company said in a statement on its website that it
had
begun buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate and seven other farms in
February because local dairy processor, Dairy Board of Zimbabwe, was not
able to pay for its orders.
"In February 2009 the food and economic
crisis in Zimbabwe reached a level
where the dairy industry was at real risk
of collapse, and the Dairy Board
was no longer able to buy milk from these
eight farms," the statement said.
"In light of our long-term commitment
to Zimbabwe, we bought this milk on a
temporary basis. This helped prevent a
further deterioration in food
supplies in Zimbabwe at that
time."
Nestle said the Dairy Board would resume its purchases from the
eight farms,
and that the Swiss firm would stop receiving milk from Gushungo
from Sunday.
Newspaper reports last weekend revealed that Nestle was
buying milk from
Gushungo, one of the farms seized under Mugabe's land
reforms meant to
correct colonial-era imbalances that left the best land in
the hands of
whites.
Gushungo is one of several farms now controlled
by Mugabe's family, and has
been touted in state media as an example of
successful land reforms.
The land reforms began in 2000 but were marred
by widespread political
violence, devastating the economy as agricultural
production plunged,
leaving the nation dependent on international food
aid.
The table at the end of this post holds a list of names of army personnel responsible for specific atrocities in Zimbabwe.Some of these names may already be familiar to you, but we are now calling on our readers to do all they can to publicise this list widely. We ask you to carefully look through it and try and remember some of these names.
Look at Harare, for example, where an army employee identified as “Paratema” has been associated with several victim testimonies: “soldiers assaulted Rungano Kureva and force marched her to their base, chanting zanu slogans”; “he heavily assaulted Beatrice Musiiwa with sticks and she sustained body injuries. This was 30 May 2008.”; “Forced Patrick Makarabha to surrender his party regalia, made him chant liberation songs and beat him severely in May 2008.”
The image above is of a man who was beaten with fan belts and chains towards the end of April 2008. To remind yourselves of how severe the violence was, please visit our Flickr set showing images of post-election violence. Not for the faint-hearted!
The significance of this list is that all these people, as army employees, answer to the State. At the time of these crimes, their direction came from the Zanu PF party under the leadership of Robert Mugabe and his henchmen. The fact that they are known to have done these things is evidence that the Zanu-PF party orchestrated the terrible violence in the aftermath of the elections last year. We have future elections to face, it is important that soldiers engaged in criminal behaviour understand they are not protected by the State and that their names will enter the public domain if they set out to violate human rights.
The best way to send this signal to the army and to their controllers, is to get this list out as far as it can possibly go. Please circulate it by email, tweet it if you have a twitter acount, re-tweet it from our twitter account, and publicise it via your Facebook accounts by sharing it with your Facebook friends from our Facebook page. Please ask everyone to do the same.
All of the victims are Zimbabwe civilians, guilty of absolutely nothing more than believing in democracy and freedom, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Named army personnel responsible for atrocities in Zimbabwe | |||
Name | District | Incidents | Violator Institution |
Squadron Leader U. Chitauro | Inciter of violence in Marondera. | Army | |
Major Gurure | Murehwa | Part of the gang that assaulted people in Murewa. | Army |
Lt Colonel Mukurazhizha | Murehwa | Part of the gang that assaulted people in Murewa. | Army |
Lt Colonel Chinete | Murehwa | Part of the gang that assaulted people in Murewa. | Army |
Sgt Magorimbo | Hwedza | One of the culprits at Mhakwe torture base where they are staying with two young girls. | Army |
Major Makanandure | Hwedza | One of the culprits at Mhakwe torture base where they are staying with two young girls | Army |
Mrevererwi | Hwedza | One of the culprits at Mhakwe torture base where they are staying with two young girls. | Army |
Karenga | Hwedza | One of the culprits at Mhakwe torture base where they are staying with two young girls. | Army |
Sgt Nhenga | Hwedza | One of the culprits at Mhakwe torture base where they are staying with two young girls. | Army |
Chembwa | Hedzwa | One of the culprits at Mhakwe torture base where they are staying with two young girls. | Army |
Cde Mutsata | Hwedza | One of the culprits at Mhakwe torture base where they are staying with two young girls. | Army |
Cde Mutsata | Hwedza | One of the culprits at Mhakwe torture base where they are staying with two young girls. | Army |
Jairos Kunonga | Hwedza | One of the culprits at Mhakwe torture base where they are staying with two young girls. | Army |
Dehwa | Harare | They as soldiers assaulted Rungano Kureva and force marched her to their base, chanting zanu slogans. | Army |
Paratema | Harare | They as soldiers assaulted Rungano Kureva and force marched her to their base, chanting zanu slogans. | Army |
Paratema | Harare | He heavily assaulted Beatrice Musiiwa with sticks and she sustained body injuries. This was 30 May 2008. | Army |
Dehwa | Harare | He heavily assaulted Beatrice Musiiwa with sticks and she sustained body injuries. This was 30 May 2008. | Army |
Nkala | Harare | Forced Patrick Makarabha to surrender his party regalia, made him chant liberation songs and beat him severely in May 2008. | Army |
Paratema | Harare | Forced Patrick Makarabha to surrender his party regalia, made him chant liberation songs and beat him severely in May 2008.Army | Army |
Dehwa | Harare | Forced Patrick Makarabha to surrender his party regalia, made him chant liberation songs and beat him severely in May 2008. | Army |
Wellington Tutisa | Harare | Led the gang of zanu supporters that abdcuted Takaruza Tangai to their base where they heavily assaulted him, left him unconcious. | Army |
Colonel Masamvu | Makoni | The leader of displacements, assaults and tortures in Makoni district. | Army |
Mhuruyengwe/ Machakaire (soldier) | Buhera | One of the main leaders of politically motivated chaos in Buhera. | Army |
Tsuro (soldier) | Buhera | One of the main leaders of politically motivated chaos in Buhera. | Army |
Dzifarwi (soldier) | Buhera | One of the main leaders of politically motivated chaos in Buhera. | Army |
Major Moyo | Gokwe North | He is part of the group that stabbed Isaac Danda to death. | Army |
Major Moyo | Gokwe North | He struck to death R. Gomwe, looted his property and burnt his house on the 8th day of May 2008. | Army |
Colonel Muzilikazi | Makoni | Member of the active unit causing political violence in Makoni and Buhera districts. | Army |
Dangirwa | Mutare | He beat Funagi Nyakuwanda for more than 3 hours and later destroyed his home in July 2008. | Army |
Norbet Kuwanda (soldier) | Mutare | He beat Fungai Nyakuwanda for more than 3 hours and later destroyed his home in July 2008. | Army |
Major Kairo Mhandu | Mazowe | He led the group in army uniform to murder Jeff Jemedze, David Mapuranga and Patson Madzuramhende in Mazowe on May 5 2008. | Army |
Major Maravadza | Mazowe | He led the group in armyuniform to murder Jeff Jemedze, David Mapuranga and Patson Madzuramhende in Mazowe on May 5 2008. | Army |
http://www.swradioafrica.com
'
By Tichaona Sibanda
1
October 2009
The hidden crimes of systematic detention, torture and
murder committed
against MDC activists and pro-democracy campaigners by
state security agents
will soon be exposed, in a $500 million lawsuit
against the government.
Prominent human rights activist Jestina Mukoko
and eight MDC activists are
suing the government for a record $500 million,
after terror charges against
them were dropped on Monday by the Supreme
Court. The Court granted them all
a permanent stay of prosecution because of
their illegal detention and
torture. They were facing charges of plotting to
overthrow Robert Mugabe and
recruiting people to train as bandits in
Botswana.
Lawyer Harrison Nkomo confirmed on Thursday that he had filed
the $500
million lawsuit in Harare on Tuesday. Respondents in the case are
the police
commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, former Intelligence Minister
Didymus Mutasa
(who sanctioned the abductions) and several CIO and police
officers.
Besides Chihuri and Mutasa, a number of senior security agents
and police
officers, involved in the planning and execution of the
abductions, were
named in a court affidavit some months ago. They are:
Assistant Director
External of the CIO retired Brigadier Asher Walter
Tapfumanei; police
Superintendents Reggies Chitekwe and Joel Tenderere;
Detective Inspectors
Elliot Muchada and Joshua Muzanango; Officer Commanding
CID Homicide the
notorious Crispen Makedenge; Chief Superintendent Peter
Magwenzi; Senior
Assistant Commissioner Simon Nyathi.
SW Radio Africa
has it on good authority that a list of the 'foot soldiers - the actual
abductors and torturers within the state apparatus - has been compiled and will
be released at the appropriate time. The list is accompanied by a damning
dossier that documents what the agents did, when, where and how.
'Its
like you are reading a book from the Nazi torture camps. But we've
entered a
period in the country where human rights violations cannot be
ignored any
more. The best way to deal with these dastardly acts is to
expose the names
of the perpetrators,' a source told us.
The source added that the
transitional government should be prepared to be
held accountable by a
critical, questioning populace that is now refusing to
be cowed into
compliance.
'We all know ZANU PF still controls the levers of power but
gone are days
where Robert Mugabe will trample on people's freedoms with
impunity,' the
source added.
During the past three decades, Mugabe's
security forces have continually
violated the rights of the people of
Zimbabwe - they have killed, tortured,
raped and massacred with impunity,
free from any fear of punishment.
'This lawsuit will act as a test case
to gauge the level of freedoms enjoyed
under the unity government. The
victims in the lawsuit have been able to
document what happened to them
since the periods they were abducted,' our
source said.
He added;
'Historically, mankind has always shown a propensity for
inflicting agony
upon its fellow man but what these people went through can
only be described
as hell. The torture techniques, ostensibly designed to
extract confessions,
were often so brutal that almost all the victims have
been left scarred for
life. In Mukoko's case, after she was abducted from
her home in Norton in
December, she was constantly moved from one police
station to another and
other places of detention.'
'She was made to kneel on gravel, punctuated
with beatings on the soles of
her feet, to try to force her to admit she was
recruiting Zimbabweans for
military training in neighbouring Botswana,' the
source said.
http://af.reuters.com
Thu Oct 1, 2009 3:26pm
GMT
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - A human rights group
called on Thursday for Zimbabwe to
pursue all cases of rights abuses, which
critics say continue despite a
power-sharing deal between President Robert
Mugabe and rival Morgan
Tsvangirai.
In a statement welcoming a court
decision barring the state from prosecuting
a leading rights campaigner who
says she was tortured to confess to
terrorism charges, Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights said it was important
for the government to restore the rule of
law to win international
confidence.
The government has yet to
respond to the court ruling.
The group's executive director Irene Petras
told reporters that in a normal
democracy, Zimbabwe Attorney-General
Johannes Tomana would have resigned
over Jestina Mukoko's case.
"The
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights believes law officers should be
disciplined, and any similar cases should immediately be reviewed and
charges withdrawn," Petras said.
"Immediate and concerted action
should also be taken to investigate and
prosecute the perpetrators of the
violations," she said, adding that this
was important for restoring public
confidence in Zimbabwe's justice system.
"This has implications on the
regional confidence in the democratisation of
our country," she
said.
IN CUSTODY
Zimbabwe's Supreme Court ruled on Monday the
government could not prosecute
Mukoko, head of a local human rights group,
as her abduction and torture in
custody infringed her
rights.
Mukoko's lawyer Harrison Nkomo said she was suing the state for
over
$500,000 in damages, but refused to go into details.
Analysts
say the Supreme Court ruling on the Mukoko case has opened the way
for other
rights and opposition activists to have similar charges dropped.
That could
help ease tension within the unity government formed by Mugabe
and Prime
Minister Tsvangirai in February to try to end a decade long
crisis.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, in power since independence from
Britain in 1980, is
feuding with Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) over the pace
of reforms and the appointment of some top state
officials, including
Tomana's continued stay as the
attorney-general.
Tomana and his office have not commented on the Mukoko
case.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
1 October
2009
Webster Shamu, the Media, Information and Publicity Minister, has
announced
a scandalous list of new media board members for the six
parastatals under
his ministry. Disturbingly every board has at least one
military person and
many staunch ZANU PF individuals, such as the notorious
'media hangman' Dr
Tafataona Mahoso. The list poses a serious impediment to
the democratisation
of the media in Zimbabwe.
The Minister is quoted
in the state controlled Herald newspaper saying the
'government and the
people of Zimbabwe expected the appointees to work hard
to ensure the
entities were economically viable'. Shamu said: "We expect no
less from them
than hard work. The people have been selected for their
expertise in various
fields related to the companies they will be serving,
and we want to see
these entities contributing to the development of the
country."
The
controversial Mahoso is now head of the Broadcast Authority of Zimbabwe
(BAZ), even though he is said to have come absolutely last in recent
interviews for the long awaited Zimbabwe Media Commission - which has still
not come into being. Mahoso must take the blame for the complete muzzling of
the private media, when he was chair of the now defunct Media and
Information Commission (MIC).
The board members were appointed to
the BAZ; Zimpapers; Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Holdings; Transmedia; Kingstons
and New Ziana Boards, with
immediate effect.
There are very few
independent thinkers on these new boards and equally
worrying is that all of
them are littered with military personnel - a total
of eight retired senior
military officials - in a move that shows that ZANU
PF wants to remain
firmly in power and in control. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Board contains
three retired army generals.
One notable controversial appointee to this
board is Retired Major General
Gibson Mashingaidze, who was allegedly
deployed to Masvingo province last
year to 'force' people to the polling
stations to vote for Mugabe.
Commenting on the board appointments the media
watchdog MISA-Zimbabwe said:
"While it remains the right of any Zimbabwean
to serve the country in
whatever democratically arrived at government
position, it is extremely
disturbing that retired brigadiers and colonels
would be seconded in such
numbers to civilian regulatory authorities. MISA
Zimbabwe is therefore wary
of the potential for the militarisation of the
media at a time when it
should be democratised."
Andy Moyse, the
Director of the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ),
said the
announcement illustrates the unilateralism of the ZANU PF arm of
government
over important appointments such as the broadcasting authority.
"All the
appointments are ZANU PF loyalists or apologists, CIO, the military
and
represent a huge leap back into the dark ages. This goes to show
completely
how ZANU PF are insincere about any form of significant or
authentic media
reform."
MDC sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say the list
is scandalous
and also exposes serious nepotism. They say the new Deputy
Chair of the ZBH
board is Mrs Doreen Sibanda, wife of Misheck Sibanda, the
Chief Secretary to
the President and the Cabinet. Dr Charles Utete, the
former Chief Secretary
to the President and Cabinet, is the new chairman for
the Zimbabwe
Newspapers Group. But while there is an outcry from the MDC, it
is widely
believed that the party will merely rubberstamp these new
appointments.
Moyse said the fact that the MDC did not anticipate this
and has not been
able to stop it is quite worrying. He said the MDC actually
contributed to
the problem by corrupting the process by which the
broadcasting authority
was going to be selected, by agreeing to have the
rejects of the Zimbabwe
Media Commission, allowed to be candidates to the
BAZ. Some observers fear
that the appointments of some of the ZANU PF
apologisers, especially to the
BAZ, will neutralise the Zimbabwe Media
Commission, which is still to be
appointed.
MISA criticised the
latest appointments saying it creates an impression of a
lack of
transparency and accountability to the Zimbabwean public. "It is
MISA-Zimbabwe's strong view that the nomination and appointments to public
bodies should have been characterised by broader public consultation and not
only in so far as it pertains to who can be appointed to these boards, but
also the very nature of the Acts and Statutes that establish these media
regulatory bodies which to this day remain patently
undemocratic."
Complete List of Appointments:
Zimpapers Board: Dr
Charles Utete (Chair), Mr Chakanyuka Karase (Deputy
Chair) Mr Alexander
Kanengoni, Dr Munyaradzi Kereke, Brigadier-General
Epmarcus Kanhanga (Rtd),
Dr Nyasha Madzingira, Mr Joseph Mandizha, Mr
Rungamo Mbire.
BAZ
Board: Dr Tafataona Mahoso (Chair), Dr Primrose Kurasha (Deputy Chair),
Mr
Edward Dube, Colonel Reuben Mqwayi (Rtd), Ms Charity Moyo, Brig-Gen
Elasto
Madzingira (Rtd), Mrs Erica Mususa, Reverend J D Mutuvira, Chief
Gambiza,
Mrs Susan Makore, Dr Vimbai Chivaura, Dr G Chada.
ZBH Board: Mr Cuthbert
Dube (Chair) Mrs Doreen Sibanda (Deputy Chair),
Brig-Gen Benjamin Mabenge
(Rtd), Mr Job Jonhera, Mr Olley Maruma, Brig-Gen
Felix Muchemwa (Rtd),
Advocate Farai Mutamangira, Mr Christopher Pasipamire,
Mr Bob Nyabinde,
Major-General Gibson Mashingaidze (Rtd), Mr Clement Mabaso,
Bishop Trevor
Manhanga.
Transmedia Board: Dr Paul Chimedza (Chair), Ms Mercy Chizodza
(Deputy
Chair), Engineer David Chikowore, Mrs Beauty Simpson-Zhuwao,
Brig-Gen
Livingstone Chineka (Rtd), Mr Raymond Takavarasha, Mr Clive
Murwira, Mr
Zwelitsha Masuku, Mrs Sithsengiso Muzanenhamo-Zivhave, Eng
Emmanuel Midzi.
Kingstons Board: Dr Millicent Mombeshora (Chair), Mr
Justin Mutasa (Deputy
Chair), Brig-Gen Collin Moyo (Rtd), Mr Munyaradzi
Machacha, Mr Mohamed
Allana, Ms Cynthia Khumalo, Rev Elias Musakwa, Mr
Foster Chitava, Ms
Priscilla Munangate
New Ziana Board: Mrs Rosemary
Mazula (Chair), Mr Goodson Nguni (Deputy
Chair), Rtd Col Claudius Makova, Mr
Douglas Dhliwayo, Mrs Florence
Sigudu-Matambo, Mr Stephen Mpofu, Mr Nimrod
Chiminya, Mrs Evelyn Kawonza, Mr
Peter Nyoni.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by
Martin
Thursday, 01 October 2009 15:08
MISA-Zimbabwe is deeply
concerned with the arbitrary and opaque manner
pertaining to the
appointments of the new board members for state funded and
state controlled
media bodies and corporations.
The appointments of individuals to the
Broadcasting Authority of
Zimbabwe (BAZ), Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings
(ZBH) and Zimbabwe Newspapers
Group, New Ziana, and Transmedia by the
Minister of Media, Information and
Publicity, Honourable Webster Shamu gives
the immediate impression of a lack
of transparency and accountability to the
Zimbabwean public.
It is MISA-Zimbabwe's strong view that the
nomination and appointments
to public bodies should have been characterised
by broader public
consultation and not only in so far as it pertains to who
can be appointed
to these boards, but also the very nature of the Acts and
Statutes that
establish these media regulatory bodies which to this day
remain patently
undemocratic.
It is apparent that the haste and
secrecy concerning the appointments
to these regulatory boards was intended
to limit the extent to which the
public as well as the Parliament of
Zimbabwe can oversee the appointment
process. It is also regrettable that
these appointments only serve to
undermine the agenda of consulting media
stakeholders on key challenges and
the envisaged reforms of the media - a
process that has been stalled since
the Ministry's Media Stakeholders
Conference held in May 2009 in Kariba.
Further to this, MISA Zimbabwe
can only construe these appointments as
an attempt by the responsible
ministry to undermine the necessary democratic
reforms of the media in
Zimbabwe. As MISA Zimbabwe has sated both publicly
and to the government
before, such reforms would, among other important
results, lead to the
reform of the ZBC from a state to a truly independent
public service
broadcaster; the introduction of a singular
telecommunications law that
would establish and independent
telecommunications authority to oversee both
frequency allocations and
broadcasting; and the limiting of the role of the
government in the print
media.
A further disturbing development is
the fact that a total of eight
retired senior military officials are also
among some of the board members
appointed by the Ministry. While it remains
the right of any Zimbabwean to
serve the country in whatever democratically
arrived at government position,
it is extremely disturbing that retired
brigadiers and colonels would be
seconded in such numbers to civilian
regulatory authorities. MISA Zimbabwe
is therefore wary of the potential
for the militarisation of the media at a
time when it should be
democratised.
MISA-Zimbabwe reiterates its calls for the repeal of the
undemocratic
media laws that empower the Minister with the wide
discretionary appointing
powers. These are notably the Broadcasting
Services Act (BSA), the ZBC
Commercialisation Act, the Interception of
Communications Act as well as the
Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA).
It is imperative that the government begins the
process of
establishing independent regulatory bodies more so as it pertains
to
broadcasting and the imperative need to transform the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting
Corporation into a truly independent public broadcaster.
(AFP) - 2 hours
ago
HARARE - Zimbabwe will grow one-quarter of the food it needs to feed
its
people, with the next maize harvest expected to drop by 70 percent, the
UN
food agency said Thursday.
Zimbabwe is expected to reap 450,000
tonnes of maize during the next harvest
in May, against 1.5 million tonnes
this year. The government estimates that
the country needs 1.8 million
tonnes to feed its people.
"Due to low yield level due to poor land and
crop management... the expected
output for this year is 450,000 metric
tonnes, which is a quarter of the
national requirement," said Michael
Jenrich, an FAO operations officer.
The announcement came one day after
the government's secretary for
agriculture Ngoni Masoka told reporters that
he expected cereal production
to increase this year.
The World Bank
on Wednesday announced that aid agencies would nearly triple
to 74 million
dollars its funding for Zimbabwe's farms, aid that will be
channeled through
non-government organisations.
Jenrich said small farmers lacked enough
fertiliser, seeds and other inputs,
but urged authorities to improve their
management of the nation's land
rather than to rely on handouts to
farmers.
The country's power-sharing government said the increased
funding would help
boost yields, but farmers' unions report that large
tracts of land are lying
fallow as farmers lacked the means to
plant.
The country has faced chronic national food shortages for years,
as a result
of drought and President Robert Mugabe's controversial land
reform
programmes.
In 2000, Mugabe embarked on land reforms that saw
Zimbabwe fall from a food
exporter to a regular recipient of food aid, after
some 4,000 mostly white
farmers were forcibly removed from their
properties.
But the new farmers often lacked experience and government
support, while
the reforms were tinged with political
violence.
Agriculture was once the backbone of Zimbabwe's economy, but
now accounts
for only about 20 percent of the gross domestic product.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/
October
1, 2009
Kaya Burgess
South Africa
It has
been claimed in court documents lodged in South Africa that
"commissions"
worth £115 million were given to agents who facilitated a £2.3
billion arms
deal for BAE as they negotiated contracts for Gripen and Hawk
aircaft in
1999. Two South Africans have reportedly already been convicted
for
corruption.
South African police raided the Johannesburg home of British
businessman,
John Bredenkamp, over bribery allegations. His assets were also
frozen by
the US treasury, who accused him of financially supporting Robert
Mugabe's
regime.
Tanzania
There are allegations of corruption
surrounding an air traffic control deal
in Tanzania in 2002, worth almost
£28 million. The radar-based air traffic
control system was branded a "waste
of money" by the World Bank, and the
investigation is reportedly focusing on
whether Tanzania was overcharged and
whether alleged commissions of more
than 29 per cent may have been paid into
a Swiss bank.
The original deal
was backed by Downing Street against the opposition of
then Development
Minister Claire Short, who made corruption allegations.
Tanzania, one of the
poorest countries in Africa, had no need for a complex
military system to
control its air traffic and could, it is believed, have
bought a civilian
system for around an eighth of the price.
Czech Republic
The SFO
is also examining an abortive deal to provide fighter planes worth
over £1
billion to the Czech Republic in 2001. There are allegations of
corruption
in the deal to lease BAE Saab Gripen fighters to the country. The
US
protested to Britain at the time. The US had offered fighters such as the
F-16 to the Czech Republic, which said it would consider the offer, but BAE
ended up as the only formal bidder.
Romania
The investigation
centres on around £7 million of commissions allegedly paid
during a deal to
provide obsolete frigates to Romania. Adrian Nastase, the
Romanian premier
at the time, has also faced an investigation. Two surplus
British frigates,
HMS Coventry and HMS London, were taken to Romania in 2003
in a deal
organised by the MoD.
The ships had cost £250 million to build in 1989,
but were given to BAE for
a scrap value of £100,000 each. BAE organised a
deal with the Romanian
government to receive £116 million to refurbish the
ships. A British
businessman, Barry George, was investigated as the agent
who allegedly
received around £7 million to fix the deal, paid into an
anonymous Guernsey
trust.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, October 1, 2009 -
Human rights activist Jestina Mukoko is
suing the the Ministry of Home
Affairs for USd 500 000 for unlawful
detention as well as demanding the
return of her passport, title deeds and
bail money.
The
Supreme Court on Monday upheld an application by Mukoko, a former
TV
journalist and director of the faith-based rights group, Zimbabwe Peace
Project (ZPP) in which she argued that her constitutional rights to liberty,
full protection of the law and right to freedom from torture had been
infringed when she was abducted from her Norton home on December 3 in a
pre-dawn raid.
Mukoko's lawyer, Harrison Nkomo, of Mtetwa and
Nyambira legal
practitioners, said they served the summons to all the
respondents.
"The financial damages sought are for illegal abduction,
disappearance
and torture at the hands of State players," said
Nkomo.
Mukoko was held incommunicado in secret detention facilities
until
December 24, when she appeared in court charged with sabotage,
banditry and
terrorism.
During her detention, she says she was
tortured by her abductors
together with 23 other human rights and political
activists.
Seven other people who were abducted around the same time
with Mukoko
are said to be still missing.
Handing down judgement in
the matter Monday, Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku, sitting with Justice
Paddington Garwe and Justice Luke Malaba,
ordered a permanent stay of
prosecution in the criminal case.
Mukoko is also demanding her
bail deposit, passport and title deeds
from the Attorney General (AG)'s
Office following her acquittal.
In a letter written to the AG's
Office just after her acquittal, Nkomo
said the AG's Office should reimburse
Mukoko her bail money of USd 600,
return her title deeds and her passport
which she surrendered in February as
part of her bail
conditions.
"We are fully aware that all these are in the custody
of the clerk of
court, but a letter from your office explaining the legal
position to the
clerk of court might expedite this matter," read part
ofNkomo's letter.
Mukoko said she needs her passport to enable her
to travel to Germany
to receive a human rights award and to attend meetings
in the United States
of America.
Jestina Mukoko's abduction, detention and torture in 2008, and the subsequent
dropping of all charges by a full bench of Zimbabwe's Supreme Court on 28
September 2009, is serving as a timeline in a country emerging from the depths
of despair into the first glimmer of hope. Mukoko, a single mother, journalist and human rights campaigner, became a
cause célèbre for both local and international human rights organizations, with
her personal ordeal seen as a representation of the state's repression and its
contempt for the rule of law. The Supreme Court said in its judgment: "The court unanimously concludes that
the state, through its agents, violated the applicant's constitutional rights
protected under the constitution of Zimbabwe to an extent entitling the
applicant to a permanent stay of criminal prosecution associated with the above
violations." Mukoko was charged with banditry, but many believe her work of collating the
litany of human rights abuses committed against political activists, unionists
and civil society members by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government -
which held power before the current unity government - ensured that she would
occupy the same dank prisons and suffer the same beatings as those whose stories
she had documented. After the judgment she told IRIN: "I came out of this experience not a bitter
person, but a better person; better in the sense that I was able to understand
what fellow Zimbabwean activists had been going through all this time." In 2008 Zimbabwe was trapped in a vortex of political violence, widespread
hunger, hyperinflation and keenly contested elections that threatened to end
Mugabe's nearly three decades of rule. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) and now prime minister, withdrew from the second round of the presidential
poll - after narrowly failing to win the first round outright - in protest over
the deaths of scores of activists, and the torture of hundreds if not thousands
more. Mukoko, head of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, a non-governmental organization
that detailed human rights abuses such as gang rape and political violence
allegedly perpetrated by the security forces, patiently transcribed the
harrowing experiences of those who survived while they recuperated in hospitals
or safe houses, fearing further arrests. The international community, including African election monitors, declared
Mugabe's uncontested presidential victory as hollow. On 15 September 2008,
ZANU-PF and the MDC signed a power-sharing agreement, but it was only enacted in
February 2009 with the formation of the unity government. The intervening months
were marked by increased reports of state violence, meticulously documented by
Mukoko. "I am so relieved to know that the charges against me have been dropped, but
I think the victory was only possible because of the support from the
international community, fellow journalists and colleagues in civic society, and
human rights defenders," she told IRIN. The abduction In the early hours of 13 December 2008 a group of masked men and a woman
hauled Mukoko from her bed, and under the terrified gaze of her teenage son,
bundled her into an unmarked car and disappeared as fast as they had arrived.
HARARE , 1
October 2009 (IRIN) -
Photo:
Africa News
Jestina
Mukoko at one of her court appearances
Dressed in only her
nightdress, her prescription medicine left by her bedside, she disappeared
without a trace. Over the next few days, then weeks, people expected her body to
be found by the roadside, or stumbled upon in a shallow grave by someone
collecting firewood in the bush.
I view the judgment in a
positive sense, in that it resulted in a reform of the judiciary, especially at
a time when the country is going through a constitution-making process
In fact, she was constantly being moved from one police station to another and other places of detention. Disorientated and suffering round after round of interrogation, during which she was made to kneel on gravel, punctuated with beatings on the soles of her feet, to try to force her to admit she was recruiting Zimbabweans for military training in neighbouring Botswana.
On 2 March 2009, a month after the unity government was formed, amid a furore over her detention by local and international journalists as well as human rights organizations, she was released on bail. She immediately filed a court challenge over the manner of her "arrest", and violation of her human rights.
Emotional scars
"I view the judgment in a positive sense, in that it resulted in a reform of the judiciary, especially at a time when the country is going through a constitution-making process, and that the same charges brought against other activists will be dropped," she said.
The emotional scars of her ordeal are still fresh. "It is difficult at this stage to give a detailed account of what I went through because it is such an emotional subject. I would really have to psych up for that kind of discussion."
I am a widowed mother, and what I went through brought a lot of trauma to my family, especially to my son, who did not know if he had lost the only remaining parent that he had |
The ordeal has not deterred her or her organization from documenting human
rights abuses.
"I am a widowed mother, and what I went through brought a
lot of trauma to my family, especially to my son, who did not know if he had
lost the only remaining parent that he had."
http://www.zimnetradio.com
By KING SHANGO
Published on:
1st October, 2009
HARARE - One month on, the SADC troika has not taken
any action to resolve
outstanding issues in the troubled government of
national unity.
The SADC Summit in Kinshasa referred the overseeing and
monitoring of the
implementation of outstanding issues on the power-sharing
agreement to the
Troika of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security
Co-operation.
No date or venue has been announced for a Troika meeting to
commence this
assignment. The Troika is chaired by Mozambican President
Armando Guebuza
and the Deputy Chairperson is President Rupiah Banda of
Zambia, who were
elected to these positions at the Summit and will hold
office for a year,
until the next regular Summit.
The third member is
the outgoing chairperson, King Mswati of Swaziland.
South African President
Jacob Zuma will also be involved in discussions, as
South Africa 's role as
facilitator and guarantor of the GPA continues.
MDC-T spokesperson Nelson
Chamisa has said that MDC-T has written to SADC
since the Summit requesting
urgent action on the outstanding issues.
But there has been no movement
to date.
http://www.zimtelegraph.com/?p=3380
By GETRUDE GUMEDE
Published: October 1,
2009
BULAWAYO - Online business in the country was on Tuesday and Wednesday
been
brought to a standstill after an Internet connection blackout on
Powertel
optic fibre connections outside Harare.
Powertel, a
subsidiary of Zesa's Zimbabwe Power Company, runs a network of
optic fibre
cables that link to major Internet service providers.
Powertel's sales
and marketing officer Vimbai Gwenzi said the fault was
caused by vandalism
on an optic fibre cable in Harare linking the capital to
other parts of the
country on Tuesday.
"Powertel engineers are working flat out to resolve
the problem. As for now
we are not so sure of the nature of the damage and
the total amount required
to repair the damages. We urge our customers to
bear with us in this
difficult time," said Gwenzi.
Some clients
failed to access money from their bank accounts because their
computers are
linked to servers in Harare by the Powertel optic fibre cable.
"I came
here on Monday morning and they told me that I should change my bank
account
to US dollars. When I went back to collect my money after changing
my
account I was told to come tomorrow (Tuesday) and when I returned the
internet was down and up to now I have not accessed my money," said an FBC
client.
U.S. Embassy Harare
Press Release
Opens
The Department of State announces the opening of the registration period for the DV-2011 Diversity Visa lottery. Entries for the DV-2011 Diversity Visa lottery can only be submitted electronically. It is not possible to mail or submit paper entries. The registration period for the DV-2011 program begins at 1800 hours Zimbabwe time, Friday, October 2, 2009, and ends at 1800 hours Zimbabwe time, Monday, November 30, 2009.
Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) and submit their entries free of charge at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter. Heavy demand may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted after 1800 hours Monday, November 30, 2009.
In the DV-2010 program, 170 Zimbabweans were selected and will be processed through the U.S. Embassy in Harare. The congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Section 131 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-649) amended INA 203 and provides for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants.” Section 203(c) of the INA provides a maximum of 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) each fiscal year to be made available to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. A computer-generated, random lottery drawing chooses selectees for DVs. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions, with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and with no visas going to nationals of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the period of the past five years. Within each region, no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year.
No countries have been added or removed from the list of eligible countries. The list of eligible countries remains the same as for DV-2010.
The Department of State implemented the electronic registration system beginning with DV-2005 in order to make the DV process more efficient and secure. The Department utilizes special technology and other means to identify those who commit fraud for the purposes of illegal immigration or those who submit multiple entries.
For detailed information about entry requirements, along with frequently asked questions about the DV lottery, please see the instructions for the DV-2011 DV lottery available at www.dvlottery.state.gov or write to consularharare@state.gov
# # # #
Issued by Tim Gerhardson, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Embassy Harare, October 1, 2009. Previous statements and reports from the U.S. Embassy can be accessed at http://harare.usembassy.gov
This morning, the internet had a story
that told us that just 3% of farmers
had been compensated for the loss of
their land.
Before we can actually comprehend what that 3% represents, we
have to
remember that Mugabe and ZANU PF will only pay compensation for
improvements
to the land - nothing more.
But a fair percentage of the
land taken by Mugabe was purchased since
independence by the commercial
farmers after his government had declared 'no
interest' in developing the
land.
Then it must also be borne in mind that the compensation paid will
be based
upon figures arrived at by a ZANU PF appointed assessor who,
reportedly,
undervalue the land by as much as 90% and then, consequently,
the
improvements thereon.
Any compensation for the land itself is to
be paid for by the British
government. Well, that is what Mugabe wants - but
he wants that money to be
channelled through his government - so he can
plunder it just like he has
done with any other money that has been detoured
via his government.
But let's not concentrate on supposition. Just 3% in
nine years - even based
upon the ZANU PF undervalued assessment - is a few
shillings only.
I remember reading an article quite a few years ago where
it was reported
that evicted farmers were pressured into accepting the
reduced payments
because they had been rendered paupers by the evictions and
needed the money
to stay alive!
Mugabe will, no doubt, wear the 3% as
a badge of some merit, telling the
world that his administration has paid
that much without the assistance of
the former colonial power. In reality
though, the monies so paid - and I
find it quite annoying that the article
has failed to quantify the 3% - a
far less than the true value of any
improvements to the land.
And that some of the farms that were forcibly
taken over, were valueless
even after independence, and it is only the work
of the commercial farmers
that have endeavoured to make that land worth
something.
To declare no interest in the land until such time as the
commercial farmer
has developed it into a project that is worth something,
not only to the
farmer, but to the country as a whole, is tantamount to
theft - especially
if the 'compensation' is a mere fraction of the
investment on the land, let
alone the initial financial outlay to purchase
the land!
I, personally, understand the need for the land appropriation,
but would
certainly have preferred that it be done properly without any
violence,
abductions or deaths. Mugabe is steadfast in his claim that
Britain should
pay any compensation, but is also ignoring the basic rule of
law in Zimbabwe
by allowing the land grab to take on such a tragic
environment.
We should also remember that it is not just the commercial
farmer that is
rendered without a farm, a livelihood and a home when these
enforced
evictions take place. The farm workers are also rendered jobless
and
homeless when the farmer is thrown off, as the new 'owner' has no
requirement for workers who sided with the 'bloody whites' (Mugabe's words,
not mine) - not to mention how the country is affected by the loss of the
farm's production which is for either domestic use or the export
market.
Land appropriation is one thing, a 'land grab' is another thing
entirely -
and Mugabe may profess to be conducting the former when he is
really
perpetrating the latter.
Robb WJ Ellis
The Bearded
Man
http://mandebvhu.instablogs.com/entry/do-you-call-this-compensation/
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Gerry Jackson
1st October 2009
On Wednesday close to two
hundred thousand people from Arizona to Zanzibar
read the last email from ZW
News - a daily email compilation of the latest
news stories on
Zimbabwe.
Despite the cost effectiveness and wide subscriber base, the
man behind ZW
News in the UK, and his colleague in Zimbabwe, have been
unable to source
funding to keep going.
We wanted to pay tribute to
these guys, who like to keep a low profile so no
names mentioned, and we
asked if one of them would like to give us an
interview. That was declined
but, in his own words, here are a few details
of the extraordinary reach of
ZW News.
"There are a little over 160 000 readers of ZWNEWS/Grimnews
every day, in
just about every place you can imagine, from Alaska to Zambia,
via Cuba,
Thailand and Afghanistan, amongst many, many other places. But the
vast
majority are in Zimbabwe, including in the corridors of power in Harare
(or
corridors of powerlessness, in the case of the MDC ministries). Very
senior
members of ZANU PF have been loyal subscribers since day
one.
Very cost effective - a small fraction of a US$ per reader per year,
and
produced 363 days a year, technical hitches and finances permitting.
(Xmas
and New Year's Day off).
Benefit of being one person? No
commuting, no office politics, no meetings,
no dress code. Although it
hasn't been just me - there is someone in Harare
who has been part of ZWNEWS
for years.
ZWNEWS motto: There are only two kinds of politician: those
who have lied,
and those who have yet to get round to it. Followed, if
possible, by (a
wholly inappropriate) rendition of 'Always look on the
bright side of life'.
Cheers"
SWRA and 160,000 other people
(barring perhaps the ZANU PF subscribers) are
very sorry to see you go.
Thanks for everything.