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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in Zimbabwe to meet new friend Robert
Mugabe
Visit of Iranian leader 'sends wrong
message about company we keep', argues Morgan Tsvangirai, leading MDC
boycott
Robert Mugabe welcomes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Harare airport.
Photograph: Desmond Kwande/AFP/Getty Images
For some the scene would have called to mind Henry Kissinger's remark about
the Iran-Iraq war: too bad both
can't lose.
Two arch-nemeses of the west, Robert Mugabe and Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, came face to face in Harare today despite criticism of Zimbabwe's president for
inviting his Iranian counterpart.
The state visit has driven a wedge between Mugabe and the prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai,
whose party condemned it as "a colossal political scandal" and "an insult to the
peace-loving people of Zimbabwe and Iran".
Mugabe greeted Ahmadinejad at Harare airport thisafternoon and was due to
host a state dinner for him . Tsvangirai and leading ministers from his Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) are to boycott the entire trip.
Iran is the biggest exhibitor at an international trade show that Ahmadinejad
is due to open in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo tomorrow. He is the first
leader from outside Africa to open the show since Zimbabwe became independent 30
years ago.
The MDC, partner of Mugabe's Zanu-PF in a unity government, criticised the
"unilateral" decision to invite Ahmadinejad, whose uranium enrichment programme
and human rights abuses have made him a bogeyman in the west.
The MDC said: "His visit will definitely send a wrong message about the kind
of company that we keep at a time when the people of Africa and the rest of the
world have begun to see us as a nation working hard to restore democracy and
good governance." The party, which observers agree was robbed of election
victory in 2008 by a campaign of violence and intimidation, drew parallels
between Mugabe and Ahmadinejad's strong-arm tactics.
The MDC said while the teetotal Ahmadinejad would be "wining and dining" in
Zimbabwe, nine opposition activists in Iran faced death sentences for contesting
the outcome of last year's presidential election.
The party added: "Choice of friends defines character and inviting the
Iranian strongman to an investment forum is like inviting a mosquito to cure
malaria.
"Hobnobbing with dubious political leaders confirms stereotypes that we are a
banana republic."
If a man is to be judged by his friends, Mugabe has some image problems to
repair. His visit to North Korea in the early 1980s to seek help from dictator
Kim Il-sung is widely blamed for leading to the Gukurahundi massacre, in which
more than 20,000 Zimbabweans died.
Mugabe is also said to have been close to Nicolae Ceaucescu and to have
considered his Romania a model socialist state. Rumour has it that he was so
inconsolable on learning of Ceaucescu's execution that he did not eat for three
days.
Zanu-PF has always enjoyed ties with China, which
is flooding Zimbabwe with cheap products. Earlier this year, Mugabe attended
an 86th birthday party held in his honour at the Chinese embassy in Harare - the
first time he had visited a foreign embassy in the country during his three
decades in power.
But on a different note, guests at Mugabe's 1996 wedding to Grace Marufu
included the then South African president, Nelson Mandela, while Joaquim
Chissano, the impeccably democratic president of Mozambique, was best man.
Zimbabwe's Herald newspaper, a mouthpiece of Zanu-PF, said Ahmadinejad's
visit came after the west had declared Iran "an axis of evil" and Zimbabwe a
pariah state.
It accused the west of wanting to bully both countries using "the might of
its weapons of mass destruction".
"The west's neocolonial agenda should only make us stronger," it said in an
editorial.
But the diplomatic embrace of Ahmadinejad was criticised by human rights
groups.
McDonald Lewanika, co-ordinator of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, said:
"Clearly his track record shows he is not the best kind of person to associate
with. They have a lot in common. They are both experts are repressing their
people, both experts at killing their electorates. This visit is an unfortunate
and unhelpful thing for Zimbabwe."
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, the foreign minister and a Mugabe ally, said Zimbabwe
would benefit from the trip by signing several trade and co-operation agreements
with the oil-rich country.
After Zimbabwe, Ahmadinejad is due to visit Uganda, where oil has recently
been discovered.
Tsvangirai's
party slams "scandalous" Ahmadinejad invitation
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/
Apr 22, 2010, 16:24
GMT
Harare - Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party on
Thursday
slammed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the
southern
African country as a 'colossal political scandal,' and an 'insult
to the
peace-loving people of Zimbabwe and Iran.'
On Thursday,
Ahmadinejad began a two-day visit to Zimbabwe to discuss trade
and open a
trade fair, at the invitation of President Robert Mugabe.
'The MDC
condemns the scandalous invitation of Ahmadinejad,' Tsvangirai's
Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) said in a statement.
Ahmadinejad had made his
reputation as 'a war monger, a trampler of human
rights, an executioner of
those with dissenting voices and a leader of
questionable legitimacy'
following his disputed victory in last year's
presidential elections, the
party said.
'His visit will definitely send a wrong message about the
kind of company
that we keep at a time when the people of Africa and the
rest of the world
have begun to see us as a nation working hard to restore
democracy and good
governance,' the former opposition party, which is in a
power-sharing
government with Mugabe's Zanu-PF, said.
Ahmadinejad's
reelection to a second term in June was clouded in
controversy. Security
forces shot dead several people in a violent response
to massive
demonstrations over the alleged rigging of the result in his
favour.
Some MDC members say the election mirrored what the MDC
suffered in a
presidential run-off election in 2008 when scores of its
supporters were
killed by Mugabe party loyalists.
Accusing Mugabe and
Ahmadinejad of having 'shared values' the MDC called
upon the Zimbabwe
government 'to desist from associating our peace-loving
country with
despots.'
Mugabe's invitation to Ahmadinejad to open the Zimbabwe
International Trade
Fair in the southern city of Bulawayo Friday was 'like
inviting a mosquito
to cure malaria,' the MDC said, expressing fears that
his visit would deter
investment in Zimbabwe.
Iran begins war games in Persian Gulf oil
route
Associated Press
By NASSER KARIMI and LEE KEATH (AP) - 1 hour ago
TEHRAN,
Iran - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard held war games Thursday in
the
strategic Persian Gulf oil route, the Hormuz Strait, a show of its
military
strength at a time when the country's leaders are depicting
President Barack
Obama's new nuclear policy as a threat.
Ahead of the military maneuvers,
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
accused Washington of trying to
dominate the world through its nuclear
arsenal and vowed that Iran would not
bend before what he called "implicit
atomic threats."
Khamenei was
referring to Obama's announcement earlier this month of a new
nuclear
strategy that focuses less on Cold War threats and more on
preventing the
spread of weapons. As part of the new guidelines, Washington
vowed not to
use its arsenal against nations that don't have their own
nuclear weapons,
with the exception of countries that are not abiding by
international
non-proliferation rules - a caveat the administration said
meant Iran and
North Korea.
Khamenei's rhetoric, depicting Washington as seeking to
dominate Iran,
appeared aimed at keeping up support at home as Iran tried to
fend off a new
U.S. attempt to win a fourth round of United Nations
sanctions over Iran's
nuclear program.
The Obama administration is
lobbying hard at the U.N. Security Council for
tougher punishment of Iran
over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a
process that can produce
either a warhead or fuel for a nuclear reactor. The
U.S. and its allies
accuse Iran of seeking to build a weapon, a claim Tehran
denies.
Tehran launched its own push Thursday to try to weaken the
U.S. sanctions
campaign as Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki headed to
Austria, the first
of several Security Council members he plans to tour in
coming days. Mottaki
has said he wants to talk with council members about
possibilities for a
nuclear fuel deal that was originally touted as a
possible way to ease the
international standoff over Iran's nuclear program
but has since hit a dead
end.
Iran has been holding military
maneuvers, dubbed as The Great Prophet, in
the strategic waters of the
Persian Gulf annually since 2006 to show off its
military capabilities - and
serve as an implicit warning of the consequences
if the United States or
Israel attack Iran's nuclear facilities.
Iran's leaders have said in the
past that if attacked, the country would
respond by shutting off the Strait
of Hormuz, the mouth of the Gulf through
which around 40 percent of the
world's oil and gas supplies pass, as well as
by attacking American bases in
the Gulf.
The three-day war games brought in naval, air and ground units
from the
Revolutionary Guard, state television reported. In the past four
years, the
maneuvers were held in the summer, and there was no official
explanation why
they were brought forward this year. But it came after
repeated
denunciations by Iran's top leaders over the past week of the new
U.S.
nuclear policy.
On Thursday, the military unveiled a new attack
speedboat, describing it as
an "ultra-speed and smart" vessel called "Ya
Mahdi." Iran also said 313
smaller speedboats with the capability of firing
rockets and missiles would
participate.
State television later showed
video footage of a Ya Mahdi vessel firing
rockets at a still target in the
sea, while dozens of the small speedboats
launched rocket-propelled grenades
at an abandoned ship and troops boarded
it in a simulated attack on an enemy
warship.
On Wednesday, Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said "new
weapons" would be
test-fired in the war games, but did not give details.
Iran has declared
many advances in its military industries and sciences to
demonstrate
self-sufficiency despite sanctions and attempts by the U.S. and
its allies
to isolate the country.
The annual maneuvers are also a
testimony to the growing power in Iran of
the Revolutionary Guard, the elite
force tasked with protecting the rule of
Islamic clerics. The 120,000-member
force is separate from the regular
military, with its own naval, air and
ground forces, and has grown to take a
hand in every critical area including
missile development, oil resources,
dam building, road construction,
telecommunications and nuclear technology.
It also has taken the lead in
cracking down on Iran's domestic opposition
amid the turmoil since last
year's disputed presidential election.
U.S. officials played down the
significance of the war games.
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell
said "they don't seem out of the
ordinary" from what Iran's military has
done in the past. He also said
Tehran often makes exaggerated claims about
its weapons testing.
The U.S. Navy said its expected "no significant
impacts" to its operations
in the area, where it has a number of ships,
including the aircraft carrier
USS Eisenhower.
On Wednesday, ahead of
the exercises, Khamenei spoke to a conference of
nurses and denounced
Obama's new nuclear guidelines. U.S. officials have
said the changes aim to
push Iran into cooperating with the U.N. on its
nuclear program, but the
supreme leader depicted them as dangling the threat
of nuclear attack over
his country.
"Implicit atomic threats against Iran will have no effect,"
he said. "The
Iranian people will not submit to such threats and will bring
those who make
them to their knees." He repeated that Iran is not seeking to
build a
nuclear weapon.
"The nuclear powers, particularly the United
States, are using their nuclear
might to try to impose their authority over
the world," he said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile,
flew to Zimbabwe on
Thursday where he was welcomed by President Robert
Mugabe - a meeting of two
leaders united in fierce opposition to the
West
Iran is the biggest exhibitor at a trade exposition Ahmadinejad is
scheduled
to open in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo on Friday.
Iceland
volcano ash forces cancellation of EU-Zimbabwe talks
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
22 April 2010
Fresh talks on mending relations between the
inclusive government and the
European Union have been postponed to a later
date, owing to the closure of
air space in most European
countries.
The six-day airspace shutdown forced the Zimbabwe delegation,
which was due
in Brussels on Tuesday, to seek alternatives dates. The
objective of the
trip was to 're-engage' the EU on various issues, including
the targeted
sanctions against Robert Mugabe and over 200 allies from ZANU
PF.
Since 2002 the EU have imposed an assets freeze, travel ban and
arms-sale
ban on the former ruling party. ZANU PF has been on a constant
push for
these targeted sanctions to be lifted, but the EU has made it clear
that
this was not going to happen while serious doubts remain about human
rights
abuses and the stalling of political reform.
The Zimbabwe head
of delegation, Elton Mangoma, the Economic Planning
Minister from the MDC-T,
said they were working on finding new dates to
travel to Brussels. Mangoma
was due to attend the talks with Patrick
Chinamasa, Minister of Justice from
ZANU PF, and Regional Integration
Minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga
from Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara's smaller MDC
formation.
Earlier this year an EU team, led by Development Commissioner
Karel De
Gucht, held separate talks with Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai
in Harare, the first official dialogue with the Zimbabwe
government in 7
years. Although the EU team praised the meeting they
indicated it was not
appropriate yet for sanctions to end and complained
about the slow pace of
reforms.
South
Africa refuses to accept new Zimbabwe travel document
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
22
April 2010
Thousands of Zimbabweans have been left stranded at the
Beitbridge border
post after South African immigration officials refused to
recognize a newly
introduced Temporary Travel Document. According to reports
from the state
owned Herald newspaper 'South African port officials
allegedly fired their
guns to frighten the affected travellers into crossing
back to the
Zimbabwean side of the border.'
On the 14th April this
year the Registrar General's office introduced a new
Temporary Travel
Document, valid for 6 months, arguing it wanted to stop the
spread of fake
Emergency Travel Documents (ETD's). Registrar General Tobaiwa
Mudede
convened a press conference at which he hailed the new document as
meeting
international standards. 'The new document is machine-readable just
like a
passport,' and has 'invisible marks which can only be detected by the
machine at ports of entry,' he said.
But it seems someone forgot to
tell the South Africans, or at the very least
show them a specimen. On
Tuesday night South African immigration officials
are reported to have
started turning away Zimbabweans who were using the new
document and
referred them back to the Registrar-General's Office in
Beitbridge. Those
who still have the old 21-day Emergency Travel Document
are being allowed in
with no problems.
One of the affected passengers is said to have filed a
complaint with the
South African Embassy in Harare, after his 8 year old
daughter was hauled
off a bus around midnight. She was among a group of
travelers 'shepherded
back with guns' by South African police at the border.
In an effort to scare
away the disgruntled passengers the police are alleged
to have fired
gunshots into the air. South African police and border
officials deny the
allegations even though their Zimbabwean counterparts
confirmed hearing the
gunfire.
On Thursday Newsreel spoke to Maqoba
Ndebele, a cross border bus driver, who
confirmed that thousands of
passengers are being turned back. He said most
of the travellers are furious
as they have used a lot of money on their
journeys and have been turned back
through no fault of theirs. In response
to this situation Co-Home Affairs
Minister Kembo Mohadi has been quoted as
saying they will inform the South
African government about the new travel
documents.
It would have been
a good idea to do this at the beginning!
Police
Back-track On MDC Demo
http://news.radiovop.com
22/04/2010 12:20:00
Masvingo, April 22,
2010 - More than 300 youth from the Morgan Tsvangirai
led Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC-T) took to the streets on Thrusday
to protest against
the slow implementation of the Global Political Agreement
(GPA).
The
youth, defied the police order to cancel the demonstration. The police
had
back-tracked, at the eleventh hour, on its earlier decision to grant the
youth permission to march through the streets of Masvingo, saying they had
received orders from above to stop the planned protest.
The youth
demanded a speedy implementation of the GPA, re-surgent violence
and the
need to swear in deputy agriculture Minister designate Roy Bennett,
currently facing treason charges. It also called for the speeding up of new
appointments of provincial governors.
The placards waving youths,
also petitioned Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa over 'the absence of the
rule of law' as well as the selective
application of the law.
MDC-T
provincial spokesperson ,Tongai Matutu, said the police made an about-
turn,
on the last hour and cancelled their clearance in a bid to stop them
from
marching.
"We were just informed by the police 30 minutes before the demo
that they
had cancelled our clearance, and threatened to arrest the youth
but the
activists, however, said they were not moved by such a partisan
action,"
said Matutu.
Provincial police spokesperson, Assistant
Inspector Prosper Mugauri said
they were 'given orders from above' that they
should not give the MDC-T
youths clearance to press ahead with the
demo.
"That was a directive from Harare, phone our headquarters for a
comment,"
Ass Insp Mugauri said, before hanging the phone.
Matutu,
legislator for Masvingo Urban, slammed the police for barring the
MDC-T from
having peaceful demonstrations, when Zanu (PF) is granted the
authority and
is also escorted with the police.
Early this month, a handful of war
collaborators took to the streets and
blasted Tsvangirai over western
sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
South
African farmer accuses Zimbabwe authorities of ethnic cleansing
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet
Gonda
22 April 2010
South Africa citizen, Ian Ferguson, who built up
Denlynian Game Ranch in
Zimbabwe's dry Beitbridge area into a prized tourism
destination, has
accused the Zimbabwean authorities of 'ethnic cleansing'
under the guise of
land resettlement.
The white commercial farmer is
the latest casualty of the government's land
reform programme.
The
commercial farmer said he took over the farm when it was derelict 24
years
ago and got a 'letter of no interest' from the government. Ferguson
built it
up and installed electricity and pumping points, only to have a
group of
people calling themselves the 'Zhovi Conservancy' invade the farm
recently.
Ferguson said there is currently widespread looting and
asset stripping by
the group who invaded the game ranch last Wednesday. 20
staff members,
including game guards, were evicted and dumped along the
Bulawayo road. His
son, Arthur, was arrested in front of his young children
and spent a night
behind bars at Beitbridge police station.
The
farmer said there is no law and order when it comes to the land issue
and
those taking over the ranch include police officers, civil servants,
municipal workers and communal farmers. ZANU PF vehicles were also
reportedly seen on the property.
"The property has the highest
density of plains game in Zimbabwe and a very
sensitive ecosystem. Our fear
is that they are going to slaughter the game
and destroy it within weeks if
not days." Ferguson breeds a unique pack of
wild dogs and the wildlife ranch
is home to animals including antelopes,
giraffes, eland, kudus, bushbucks
and zebras.
He pointed out that there is a major river that runs through
his property
and on the opposite side is land that was purchased by
government in the
early 1980s. The farmer said this particular land, which
is three times the
size of his wildlife conservation farm, was fully
developed when it was
acquired by the authorities but has been completely
neglected.
"It's totally derelict with not a single person living on it.
So the whole
thing doesn't make any sense at all. It's nothing to do with
land
resettlement, it's purely ethnic cleansing. That's all it
is."
He said the 'new settlers' claim they have offer letters 'but they
won't
give us the offer letters and we have been told that the offer letters
are
not legal because they were created in Beitbridge and not by the
ministry'.
Ferguson said the South African Embassy in Harare have told
him that his
farm is not protected under a Bilateral Investment Promotion
and Protection
Agreement (BIPPA), signed by South Africa and Zimbabwe last
year. According
to this agreement any property which was gazetted for
acquisition before
2009 is not protected under this BIPPA. He said his farm
was originally
gazetted for acquisition in 2007.
He added: "But as a
South African citizen the South African government is
still obliged to
protect one's interest in foreign countries and we can't
complain, they are
doing everything they can and they are being very
cooperative and are
concerned."
It is understood the South African embassy has approached the
Zimbabwe
Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the issue but it is not known what
the
response has been.
Reports also claim that co-Home Affairs
Minister Kembo Mohadi, who comes
from Beitbridge, is behind this latest land
invasion, but we have not been
able to get a comment from the
Minister.
FIFA World Cup SA: a Deadline for Death in Zimbabwe
22 April 2010
"We will kill
you after the World Cup," promises ZanuPF district Chairman
Mike Chiwodza,
backed by a gang of thugs gripping machetes and barbed-wire
clubs. Robert
Mugabe's ZanuPF officials are once more terrorising villagers
in
Mashonaland East, using the FIFA World Cup of Soccer closing ceremony as
a
deadline for death.
On the 8th and 9th April, 2010 ZanuPF thugs
led by Chiwodza went from home
to home in the villages around Marambapfungwe
district of Mashonaland East,
telling the people that as MDC supporters
"your houses won't be burned this
time because then that would be evidence.
This time we will abduct and kill
you and get rid of your body in the Mazowe
River or down mine shafts."
In the meantime, the thugs also
demonstrate their power using acts of petty
cruelty. Those victims of the
2008 political violence who received blankets
from Red Cross have been told
they have to give them back to the MDC -
'where they belong'. Red Cross
blankets and other basic necessities were
donated to victims left homeless
and traumatised after their villages were
razed to the ground after the last
election. Mugabe's orgy of reprisals
after being trounced at the 2008 polls
was code named "Operation
Mavoteraphapi" (meaning How Did You
Vote?).
This season's food aid in the form of maize, beans and
cooking oil supplied
by CRS Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and which is
distributed by the
village chiefs, is being given to known ZanuPF members
and is not reaching
all the intended recipients - MDC families are
excluded.
On the 17th April, 2010 chairman Chiwodza and his group
visited more
villages and elaborated on his previous threat not to burn
their houses.
This time, he told the forced assembly of people, even if the
MDC activists
and officials fled their homes, they (ZanuPF) would find their
wives and
children and kill them after the Soccer World
Cup.
These threats are real. Retired South African army generals
investigating
post-election violence in Zimbabwe in 2008 uncovered ample
evidence of
state-sponsored terror.
"What we have heard and
seen is shocking. We have heard horrific stories of
extreme brutality and
seen the victims," said one of the generals. "We have
seen people with
scars, cuts, gashes, bruises, lacerations and broken limbs,
and bodies of
those killed. It's a horrifying picture."
South Africa has
officially urged calm and nonviolence in Zimbabwe, so that
FIFA World Cup
visitors will feel confident and secure out here in Africa.
But it seems
that has been twisted by the ZanuPF element to mean: "No
murdering for now,
but do what you like after the tourists have gone home".
Robert
Mugabe, at his party's Congress last December, promised another
election
'soon'. After his party was trounced at the polls in 2008 he will
not risk
another defeat. Under pressure from the SADC negotiators, a raft of
electoral reforms have recently been prepared for presentation to Zimbabwe's
legislature.
A reformed Electoral Act and administration would
severely curtail the
Mugabe machine's ability to rig the poll again. But
conveniently for ZanuPF,
the GPA-formed Parliament is in recess until
June.
Judging by the steady increase in the number of terror
gangs, torture
centres and youth milita bases being deployed in the rural
areas of
Zimbabwe, Mugabe's 'electoral campaign' is already well under way.
This time
thugs like Chiwodza won't use half-measures; their orders are to
'eliminate'
the opposition en masse.
The perpetrators will
not fear prosecution since for over thirty years there
has been complete
impunity for ZanuPF's political terrorists in Zimbabwe.
Some of the police
are complicit and the army actively assists when
required. Even so, reports
indicate that the majority of the armed forces
(including the police) want
to return to their professional and non-partisan
status and would welcome
the real and lasting change to democracy. Thus, the
youth ilitias and party
cadres are key to Mugabe's survival strategy.
No dictator in
Mugabe's discredited and vulnerable position would wait for
electoral laws
to be reformed before calling an election. It is becoming
increasingly clear
that the clock is ticking towards a deadly campaign to be
unleashed in
Zimbabwe as promised - right after the FIFA World Cup. This
could then be
followed by an early election, possibly as early as August
this year, with
the opposition MDC devastated and the conditions heavily
weighted in
Mugabe's favour.
Will the AU and SADC stand by and watch another
slaughter, another stolen
election in Zimbabwe? Should Mugabe's plan be
allowed to unfold, all the
gains and goodwill brought to southern Africa by
the FIFA World Cup would be
at risk.
Ends
www.zimbabwedemocracynow.com
Zimbabwe's
War Vets Seeking Compensation From Britain
http://news.radiovop.com
22/04/2010
12:15:00
Harare - April 22, 2010 - A splinter group of the Zimbabwe
National
Liberation War Veterans Association, has started a "Heal Our Wounds
Campaign", meant to force the British government to give them more
compensation for taking part in the liberation struggle.
Zimbabwe
gained its independence in 1980, from British colonial rule, after
a
protracted war.
Coordinating committee member, Ignatius Chigwendere, told
Radio VOP that
they were demanding compensation from Britain for the
atrocities caused by
the Smith regime.
"We are saying the British
should compensate us as a form of healing our
wounds. The Smith soldiers are
on an in-definite pension scheme," said
Chigwendere.
The group,
sponsored by one war veteran, Fred Mutanda, this week, started
placing
advertisements in newspapers claiming that over 27 000 "comrades
were
massacred during the liberation war by the Rhodesian Security Forces"
and
there was no national healing that was carried out for the parents and
relatives of all those who were massacred.
The group, based in
Harare, is suspected to be aligned to Joseph
Chinotimba. The War veterans
split following a congress that was held in
Bindura recently with Jabulani
Sibanda leading the other group.
The dispute has now taken on an ugly
tribal dimension with the Chinotimba
faction calling for the establishment
of a "national office in Harare."
"Some of the Rhodesian forces who
perpetrated the atrocities are now
Cabinet Ministers and policy advisors
today. The war veterans' leadership
said nothing about such people, because
they were not there and don't know
what they did. What is therefore national
healing?" reads part of the full
page advertisement placed in the Financial
Gazette on Thursday.
The advertisement, which is attributed to the War
Veterans Coordinating
Committee, and with no logo, also questions who is
"healing the widows,
widowers and children of the fallen heroes who are
living in abject poverty".
"Your brother and sisters did not die in vain;
the war veterans' leadership
needs your help to honour them for we only knew
them by their chimurenga
names. The Mau-Mau in Kenya was compensated why not
Zanla and Zipra?" asked
the war vets in their advertisement.
Zanla
and Zipra were military wings of the old Zanu and Zapu that took part
in the
war from Mozambique and Zambia. The two parties later joined in the
unity
accord of 1997.
In 1997, the government acceded to demands by the
ex-combatants and paid
them Z$50 000 each and it eventually worked as a
catalyst to the country's
economic collapse.
Chigwendere said the
money was not enough.
"That Z$50 000 we got is nothing because it was a
once- off payment. We want
the inclusive government to assist us push
Britain to compensate us just
like what the Smith regime is doing to its
ex-combatants," he said.
Currently war veterans get at least US$60 per
month as part of the
government's appreciation of their role in the
liberation struggle.
The war veterans listed numerous dates, which they
said, bring haunted
memories of their lost colleagues.
Some of the
incidents of the liberation struggle they listed include the
March 18, 1975
assassination of Herbert Chitepo, the 1976 Nyadzonya massacre
and the 1977
Chimoio massacre. They also listed the Selous Scouts poisoning
of water
sources in Mozambique from 1976 to 1979. They also mentioned the
1979 death
of Zanla commander Josiah Magama Tongogara.
Mix of hope and resignation about the return of independent press
Reporters without Borders
Published on 19 April 2010
Fed up with years of inactivity because of forced closures
and still waiting for their newspapers to be given licences to start working
again, Zimbabwe's independent media journalists are drifting in limbo - between
hope and resignation - Reporters Without Borders found during a fact-finding
visit to Harare from 20 to 23 March, its first trip to Zimbabwe after years of
being denied visas.
"The Zimbabwean press has endured enough repression in recent
years," Reporters Without Borders said, pointing out that Zimbabwe is ranked
136th out of 175 countries in its press freedom index. "It is time for the
government of national unity to demonstrate its will to reform press legislation
and liberate the country's media. There have been enough statements. We urge the
Zimbabwe Media Council to quickly grant licences to the media that request
them."
During the visit to Harare, the head of the Reporters Without
Borders Africa desk met Jameson Timba, who is the deputy minister of media and
information and an adviser to the prime minister, human rights lawyer Beatrice
Mtetwa, photojournalist Shadreck Anderson Manyere and members of the management
and staff of The Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard, NewsDay, The Financial
Gazette and the defunct Daily News.
Reporters Without Borders also met a foreign press correspondent,
a state media representative, and representatives of the Media Institute of
Southern Africa, the Zimbabwean Chapter (Misa-Zimbabwe), the Media Alliance of
Zimbabwe (MAZ), Zimbabwe Journalists for Human Rights (ZJHR) and Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR). Reporters Without Borders regrets being unable
to meet the head of the Zimbabwe Media Council (ZMC), who did not want to give
an interview.
Mutambara
says violation of human rights doesnt collapse economy
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by THABANI
SHUMBA
Thursday, 22 April 2010 07:41
BULAWAYO - Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara (Pictured) shocked
delegates at the Zimbabwe International
Business Conference in Bulawayo on
Wednesday when he said bad governance,
violation of human rights and
democracy do not affect investment and the
growth of Zimbabwe's economy.
Responding to a question from one of the
participants at the conference
which is being held concurrently with the
Zimbabwe International Trade Fair
(ZITF) Deputy Prime minister Mutambara
said countries like China, Singapore
and Malaysia have successful economies
despite their poor record on
democracy and human right violations. "Malaysia
under Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad was not a democracy but has one of the
best economies in
Asia. There is also no democracy in China and Singapore
but their economy
is one of the biggest in the world," said Mutambara who is
the leader of the
smaller faction of the MDC.
Mutambara claimed that
colonization is the corner stone of the British
economy while the American
economy was anchored on slavery. "The American
economy is built upon slavery
and not democracy. The same applies to the
British economies which grow as a
result of colonization of Africa. So we
must be very careful when we talk of
democracy and human rights violations
in Zimbabwe because human rights
violations in our country has nothing to do
with the collapse of our
economy, " said Mutambara.
Mutambara's comments were apparently at variance
with his boss Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who bemoaned the resurfacing
of political
violence in the country while earlier addressing the same
gathering. The
business conference was organized by ZITF in partnership with
the National
Economic Consultative Forum (NECF).
Zimbabwean
women rescued from "Slave trade" operation
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/world/5096.html
22 April, 2010 02:45:00
bY
CAPE TOWN - South African police officers have rescued five
teenage girls
believed to be the victims of a suspected (slave trade), human
trafficking
ring operating from a small warehouse in Parow.
The squad,
acting on a tip-off, entered the warehouse last night and found
them huddled
together in a corner, clutching their possessions. Old
mattresses were
scattered across a cement floor, bedclothes tossed over
them.
One of
the young women told officers that she had had a miscarriage last
week, but
had not received any medical attention.
They said they had been lured to
Cape Town from towns like Prieska in the
Northern Cape after being offered
good jobs and salaries.
Instead, they alleged, they had been forced to
work in a woman's house and
her friends' shops.
They claimed that
they were fed only dry bread slices in the morning, with
baked beans for
supper.
Niel Arendse, spokesman for the city's Specialised Law
Enforcement Services,
said an officer from his unit had been attending to a
dispute in Clarendon
Street, Parow, on Wednesday evening.
"The people
who were fighting told her there were young girls locked in that
(ware)house."
In a matter of hours, the Vice Squad and police put the
rescue operation in
place. When they arrived, they spoke to the young women
through the
warehouse window.
The building's owner, whose name is
known to the Cape Argus and who lives in
Parow, was called to open the
warehouse on the corner of Market and
Clarendon streets.
She said on
Thursday morning that her employment agency found young women
for domestic
work. Until they found employment, the company provided them
with food and
accommodation in the warehouse.
"It is explained to these women on their
arrival in Cape Town that they can
leave the agency at any given
time."
She said the women were not held against their will and the
property was
locked at night for their own protection.
As soon as the
warehouse door was opened last night, the teenagers rushed
around the
warehouse gathering their belongings. They were taken to a city
shelter, a
move that was organised by two NGOs.
The young women - four are 18 and
one is 19 - said they had been promised a
better life in the city. But, they
said, they had been held captive, some of
them since January.
"We
either worked in her house or in shops. But she knows the people," said
one
of them.
"Sometimes they tell us we made a mistake with the till in the
shop and they
take R70 or R200 off our money.
"Some of us have not
seen money since we got here in January."
The girls painted a bleak
picture of their life in Cape Town. They said
those who were lucky enough to
work in the woman's house would receive the
occasional portion of rice and
meat.
"She didn't leave any food here (at the warehouse) for us. If we
tried to
tell her she mustn't lock us in, she would scold us," said one of
the girls.
"She also told us we must stay at the back (of the warehouse) and
not go
near the front."
But they managed to alert a few residents to
their situation and one told
the officer.
"I don't care about work
any more, I just want to get home," said one girl.
The girl, who said she
had suffered a miscarriage last week, said she had
been told by the
warehouse owner that it was "not her problem".
The unit's officer said:
"Now we need to make sure she gets to a doctor
urgently."
Aldred
Charles, who heads the city's Substance Abuse, Safety and Security
Specialised Service Unit, said the woman could face charges of human
trafficking and exploitation.
He said they had found documents
showing that the operation centred on
recruiting young women from rural
areas.
Charles said human trafficking, for both labour and sex, was a
growing
problem in the city.
The Vice Squad had planned to crack down
on a suspected sex trafficking ring
last night, involving foreign women
without residence permits, but the women
had been moved before the squad
could act.
Arendse said the squad had uncovered a similar operation in
Table View last
month. Here, women from Mozambique and Zimbabwe were
allegedly being
trafficked.
Church
Camping Site Torched
http://news.radiovop.com
22/04/2010 12:21:00
Masvingo, April 22, 2010
- A camping site belonging to Members of the
Johanne Masowe Apostolic sect
here was torched on Wednesday and a church
elder said he was suspecting that
it was the work of officials from the
Central Intelligence Organisation
(CIO).
Church Elder Raphel Maponda, told Radio VOP that following the
heckling of
former governor and Chivi-Mwenezi Senator Hosiah Hungwe on
Sunday, by church
members, elders of the sect had been receiving threatening
messages.Church
members and elders had cut Hungwe's speech short, accusing
him of
politicking. Hungwe had called the church members to support Zanu PF
and
President Robert Mugabe.
On Thursday morning church members were
shocked to see the church's
traditional Maparanyanga Camp, about 20
kilometers out of town along
Bulawayo road, had been razed destroying
property worth over US$ 1 000.
"We are going to call for an urgent
meeting today or tomorrow and find the
way forward," said Maponda. "We
highly suspect that CIOs are behind this
move because since Sunday, we
started to receive some threats from known
CIOs who said we were not
supposed to humiliate Hungwe.
"We never humiliated him. All we did was to
ask him to sit down when we
discovered that his speech was sour to our
church members."
Maponda said he had filed a police report at Masvingo
Rural police but
nothing had been done so far.
"We reported the case
to the police but nothing has been done. We highly
suspect foul play because
almost every elder received a different kind of
threat since Sunday. We
might be forced to look for another praying site,"
he added.
Masvingo
acting police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Prosper Mugauri,
said he
received the report but everything was still under investigation.
"We
have received such a report but it's too early to come up with what
happened, maybe it was just a result of veld fire. We are investigating,"
said Mugauri.
Hungwe refused to be associated with the
fires.
"I am out of it. Right now I am in Chivi, how can you link my
service there
with fire? It is just an accident," said Hungwe.
African 'Jewish' tribe displays its lost ark
By Moira Schneider,
April 22, 2010
The ngoma, a sacred wooden drum
Members of an African tribe are displaying a sacred object they believe to be
the Ark of the Covenant in a Harare museum.
The item is a ngoma, a sacred drum made of wood. According to oral tradition,
a ngoma was carried from Israel by the Lemba, a South African tribe who believe
they are descendants of Jews from the Middle East. After it burst into flame and
was destroyed, another ngoma - the one currently on display - was constructed
from the ruins.
DNA research has traced the Lemba's origins to the Middle East. More
remarkably, a genetic marker largely found only in Cohanim, descendants of the
ancient Jewish priesthood, is present in the same proportions among the Lemba's
own priests, known as the Buba.
The 80,000 Lemba people, who live in Zimbabwe and northern South Africa, have
many customs in common with Jewish tradition, including male circumcision,
refraining from eating pork, allowing the blood to drain from an animal before
they eat it, wearing skullcaps and prayer shawls during rituals and adorning
some tombstones with Stars of David.
But Alex Makotore of Harare, son of a late chief of the Lemba, says that the
tribe does not claim to be Jewish. He accuses scholars of trying to impose a
foreign identity on them.
"We don't want to look like people who are looking for an identity," he said.
"We've got our own African identity, we are not looking for our roots.
"They call us black Jews, but it is them [the scientists] that call us that.
If we are linked to the Jews, then fair and fine, but we cannot rightly say that
it is only the Jews that [have those customs]."
He does say he is "excited" about a possible connection to the Old Testament,
but says the Lemba are unconcerned that there is little connection with the
local Jewish community.
"We don't look for them. We don't want to end up with a situation where we
feel second-rate to another race."
By contrast, Perez Hamandishe, member of parliament from the Movement for
Democratic Change and a pastor in the Pentecostal church, says that the Lemba
believe that they are Jews.
"We are Jews by blood," he insists, adding that like the majority of the
Lemba, he is Christian by religion, but Jewish by culture.
"My lifestyle is Jewish, we observe everything Jewish - we only eat kosher,"
he said. "If I go to a Gentile house, I don't eat their food. When I travel, I
carry my own pots and food. I don't eat prawns, fish without scales or
rabbit."
Sam Benatar, president of the Zimbabwe Jewish Board of Deputies, said that
there were "all sorts of claims all over Africa by people purporting to be
Jewish", but the Lemba's belief "may well be true".
Peter Sternberg, former president of the Board, said that the Lemba "are
virtually all either Christians or Muslims - one should really leave it at
that."
The story of the Lemba Ark was originally revealed by Tudor Parfitt,
professor of Hebrew at London University's School of Oriental and African
Studies, in his book The Lost Ark of the
Covenant.
Harare
Jazz Festival - A Success
http://news.radiovop.com
22/04/2010 12:37:00
Harare, April 22,
2010 - The Harare Jazz Festival broke local music
attendance records, when 3
000 fans including the Vice President Thokozani
Khupe paid their way to
watch the show held at the Harare Sports Club.
The is probably the
biggest crowd to attend a musical show in the country.
The show was probably
one of the most expensive in the country with tickets
going for US$500 for a
table of 10 people.
The show was mostly attended by company executives
and politicians including
Vice President Khupe.
Sam Mataure, one of
the organisers of the festival, said the show was a
success but said they
were hugely let down by the Zimbabwe Republic Police
who failed to control
some people who thronged the venue without advance
tickets.
"We paid
the police US$2 100 but they completely failed to control the
crowds,"
Mataure said.
Oliver Mtukudzi opened the concert which kicked-off on
Saturday.
To South African jazz mucisician Hugh Masekela, Ladysmith Black
Mambazo,
Sibongile Khumalo (SA), Themba Mkize (SA), Silvia Manco Quartet
(Italy),
Mbare Trio (Zim), Cool Crooners (Zim) and Jazz Invitation (Zim)
also
performed at the show.
Meanwhile Tuku Music Company has released
on CD the 1986 album Ivai Navo
previously on vinyl. This is the first such
time Tuku is reproducing on CD
his oldies formerly on vinyl. By reproducing
on CD, some of his old music
recorded on vinyl, Tuku wants to make the
yesteryear records more accessible
following huge market demand for the
golden oldies. Fans can now buy the CD
directly from Pakare Paye Arts Centre
or from leading record bars across the
country.
Hits from Ivai Navo
include Ivai Navo, Mombe Ndonda, Hakuendwe, Nhodzera,
Vende and Kanyanisa.
Vende is one of Tuku's many compositions that celebrate
the lives of our
beloved departed.
Tuku says of Vende which he dedicated to his late
father Samson: "The gap he
left in my family cannot be filled. When I look
in the mirror I see his
face, when I look at my face I see his face. Now I
realise I have to learn
to live with it."
Tuku's late son Samson was
named after his grandfather.
Also now available after selling out is
Tsimba Itsoka (2007). The CD is now
on sale in all leading record bars
across the country. Alternatively it can
be purchased from Pakare Paye Arts
Centre.
Songs on Tsimba Itsoka: 1. Ungade'we 2. Chikara 3. Kuropodza 4.
Mhinduro 5.
Hapana kuti mbinjana 6. Junga 7. Kuipedza 8. Masimba mashoma 9.
Mbiri
hurimbo 10. Nzungu imwe 11. Vachakunonokera 12. Kumirira nekumirira.
Bulawayo music festival 2010
Greetings,
Two years ago we held the 6th Bulawayo Music Festival and we
are about
to host another one!
I attach the details about
it.
As before, I appeal to any ex Academy students and friends to
contact
the Academy if they would like to help financially to support
this
Festival. Two years ago there was some generous support from
your
readers.
Any help would be gratefully appreciated and an
acknowledgment would
be put up in the foyer during the duration of the
festival.
Please write to me if you can help and I will send you our bank
details.
Many thanks,
Bruce McDonald
Administrator
Zimbabwe
Academy of Music <zam@gatorzw.com>
=============================
BULAWAYO
MUSIC FESTIVAL 2010
The Seventh Bulawayo Music Festival will take
place at the Zimbabwe
Academy of Music from Wednesday 19 May through to
Sunday 23 May.
Sponsored principally by Sandvik and the Beit Trust, it will
feature
more visiting performers than ever before. There will be
four
pianists including Leslie Howard whose many claims to fame include
an
entry in the Guinness Book of Records for a feat unequalled by any
solo
artist in recording history, his 99-CD survey for Hyperion of the
complete
piano music of Franz Liszt.
The other pianists are Zimbabwe-born Michael
Brownlee Walker, Coady
Green and Elizabeth French and they will be playing in
various
combinations including several works for four pianists and even
some
for four pianos.
Visitors from South Africa include the Odeion
String Quartet and
guitarist James Grace as well as the double bass virtuoso
Leon Bosch
who was born in Cape Town but left South Africa in the apartheid
years
and settled in Britain. Trevor Lax is a trumpeter who will
be
conducting workshops for wind players as well as performing, as
will
James Grace, and, in a first for the festival, there will also
be
musical light entertainment by Kit and the Widow, a comedy duo who
have
performed in some of the top venues all over the world. In
addition, one of
the duo, Richard Sisson, has written The Mukamba
Tree, a half-hour work based
on a book by the local author June
Farquhar which will involve upwards of 200
young performers as well as
all the visiting musicians.
The line-up is
completed by Petroc Trelawny, very well known in
Britain as a BBC Radio 3
announcer and producer. He will be
interviewing all the performers during
the festival and acting as
narrator for The Mukamba Tree as well as
researching the 1953 Bulawayo
Rhodes Centenary Festival for a projected radio
programme and possible
book.
There will be a total of sixteen concerts
in the Sibson Hall at the
Academy and, as well as the various multi-piano
concerts, they include
two to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Chopin's
birth and a solo
recital from Leslie Howard. Leon Bosch, James Grace and
Trevor Lax
will all give lunchtime solo recitals and there will be
two
performances from Kit and the Widow.
The chamber music repertoire
is particularly strong this year and
takes full advantage of the presence of
a double bass with a string
quintet by Bottesini, a piano quintet by Hummel
and a sextet by
Mendelssohn as well as Schubert’s much loved “Trout"
Quintet. There
will also be Dvorak’s Piano Quintet, a Guitar Quintet by
Boccherini,
string quartets by Mozart and Ravel and the Septet by Saint-Saëns
for
trumpet, string quartet, double bass and piano.
As well as a
multi-piano gala in the central section, the opening
concert will begin with
a performance of a Bach 3-Piano Concerto and
end with Vivaldi's Gloria with a
choir drawn from Girls' College, the
Convent, CBC and the Academy Singers
whilst the closing concert will
involve all the visiting performers in a
light-hearted programme
before the festival ends with The Mukamba
Tree.
But this is by no means all. Whenever there isn’t a concert in
the
Sibson Hall, there will be music in the grounds, often two events
with
performances in a large marquee plus workshops, etc. in a
second
venue. The entertainment lined up for the grounds includes
Liyana
with Prudence Mabhena, Drums of Peace, the Peterhouse Orchestra,
the
Girls’ College marimba band, gospel choirs, pop bands, jazz and
more.
All in all the Bulawayo Music Festival promises something
for
everyone, whatever their interest in music though it is
obviously
primarily aimed at classical music fans. Booking for season
tickets
which cost $60.00 is open at the Academy, e-mail zam@gatorzw.co.uk,
tel: [09] 60684 /
67195. Season tickets cover all concerts in the
Sibson Hall whilst entry to
all other events is free though donations
will be welcome. Booking for
individual concerts will open on Monday
26 April. Tickets for the main
evening concerts will be $10.00, for
all others $5.00.
Further
information from zam@gatorzw.co.uk or music@gatorzw.co.uk.
"I shout; I speak out on issues concerning
women living with HIV"
HARARE, 22 April 2010
(PlusNews) - Evelyn Mashamba is one of Zimbabwe's most outspoken gender and AIDS
activists and has being living with HIV for the past 10 years. She told
IRIN/PlusNews how being HIV-positive propelled her into the movement to fight
for the rights of women living with the virus.
"I started my work as an
activist 2005 in Masvingo [Province in southeastern Zimbabwe]. It so happened
that there was a workshop at the College of Primary Health Care and Physicians,
and a doctor friend of mine invited me to share my story with the participants.
"Since then I have not looked back - in 2008 I founded an organization
known as Shamiso Development Trust, where I am currently the director. Shamiso
is an organization that seeks to empower women and girls to claim their space in
society, especially since the advent of HIV/AIDS.
"HIV-positive women's
lives can only improve if their income base is improved - most women are stuck
in care work, where they are not remunerated due to the fact that programmers
have categorized care work as 'voluntary'.
"It's sad that the majority
of women are doing this unremunerated work. I wonder why women are not paid when
they are doing such a wonderful job?
"I have been living with HIV for
the past 10 years - it hasn't been a bed of roses, especially when other people
try to pull you down. There have been times when I have gone not knowing when I
will get my next medical supply; I have been down and under health-wise, but
determination is what has driven me to where I am today.
"HIV/AIDS
programming has not been very favourable to us women living with HIV. However,
all these challenges have made me stronger, and given me the edge to demystify
the pandemic.
"I shout; I speak out on issues concerning women living
with HIV. This is what drives me out of bed every day ... My dream is to
establish a special clinic and wellness centre for women living with HIV ...
only then will I slow down."
[ENDS]
|
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations] |
Foreigners
and local whites out
http://www.economist.com
A muddle over "indigenisation" looks set to slow down an
economic recovery
Apr 22nd 2010 | JOHANNESBURG | From The Economist print
edition
FOR a moment it seemed as though a mortal threat to businesses in
Zimbabwe
had been lifted. Now the usual lack of clarity has been restored.
Would-be
foreign investors and local businessmen alike do not know what to
do next,
except to hold their breath.
Two months ago Zanu-PF, the
party of Robert Mugabe, who marked 30 years in
power on April 18th,
unilaterally announced regulations to put into effect
an "Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Act". The law, passed two years
ago but not previously
enforced, required all firms worth more than $500,000
to be majority-owned
by "indigenous Zimbabweans"-and to show plans within
six weeks for
compliance within five years.
Under Mr Mugabe's bluntly racist conception
of nationality, white
Zimbabweans are excluded, since the law defines
"indigenous" as those
"disadvantaged by unfair discrimination on the grounds
of his or her race"
before independence in 1980, plus their descendants. So
any white
Zimbabwean, let alone a foreign firm, is liable to be prevented
from wholly
owning any smallish enterprise or farm. Whites are barred
altogether from
some sectors, including bakeries and beauty
parlours.
Among the foreign firms that would be hit are Barclays Bank and
Standard
Chartered, two British banks that are big in the region, as well as
Nestlé,
the Swiss-based food giant, and Impala Platinum Holdings (Implats),
one of
the world's biggest producers of platinum, which is headquartered in
South
Africa but is one of Zimbabwe's prime mining companies.
Just
ahead of a deadline for companies to submit their plans for compliance,
the
Movement for Democratic Change, the former opposition party that is
locked
in an unhappy national unity government with Mr Mugabe's lot, said
that the
cabinet had pronounced the regulations "null and void". Rubbish,
said
Saviour Kasukuwere, a Zanu-PF man who is the minister in charge. He
insisted
that there would merely be further "consultation" before the law is
put into
action.
Even the delay gave foreign and local white business people a
glimmer of
hope that they could go on running their own shows. Zanu-PF would
be loth to
admit publicly that it was backing down over anything, least of
all in the
face of foreigners and whites. Mr Mugabe says that indigenisation
"recognises our sovereign right of ownership". Ultimately, he says, his law
will prevail.
The next step is for a parliamentary committee to
consider the regulations,
so far without a deadline. But the MDC's slim
majority in the lower house,
which it won in a general election two years
ago despite rigging and
intimidation, is steadily being whittled away by
deaths, arrests and
criminal convictions which mean that a growing number of
the party's MPs
cannot vote in parliament. And even if the indigenisation
rules were
suspended or scrapped, that would be no guarantee of security.
Earlier this
month a South African-owned game ranch was invaded, even though
a new
bilateral investment-protection treaty between the two neighbouring
countries' governments had just come into force.
In any event, the
indigenisation debate and Zanu-PF's capriciousness hardly
encourage
foreigners-let alone white citizens-to invest. Despite Zimbabwe's
mineral
riches, most big mining firms have stalled future plans. And the
uncertainty
is spiking the efforts of Tendai Biti, the MDC man who is the
unity
government's finance minister, to secure the foreign cash the country
sorely
needs to recover from Mr Mugabe's ruination of the economy.
Some say this
is part of Zanu-PF's plan to fight the next election, perhaps
as early as
next year, on its usual populist platform, blaming the West for
all
Zimbabwe's ills. It is certainly wary of letting the MDC take the credit
for
a recovery.
Commonwealth Documents from 1979 Released to
the Public
http://allafrica.com
Commonwealth News
and Information Service (London)
22 April 2010
press release
Previously
classified files released by the Commonwealth Secretariat this
week give a
unique insight into the history of women in international
development 100
years after the German socialist Clara Zetkin proposed the
establishment of
International Women's Day.
Milestones for 2010 include a quarter century
of Commonwealth Women's
Affairs Ministerial Meetings and 30 years since the
first appointment of a
Women's adviser at the Commonwealth
Secretariat.
Records released under the 30 year rule document the
establishment of this
role from endorsement at the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in
Lusaka 1979, to the work of the Internal Working Party
on Women &
Development.
The seminal report on how the Secretariat
could support national efforts, by
Elizabeth Reid, is also released. She was
the first ever adviser on women's
affairs to the Australian Prime
Minister.
1979 also saw Britain elect its first ever female Prime
Minister, Mrs
Margaret Thatcher. After only a few months in office she
attended her first
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Lusaka. The
records show that
there was uncertainty as to how Britain and its new leader
would respond to
the agenda item of Southern Africa. In the event, however
the meeting was
hailed as a great success. In his closing remarks Zambian
President Kenneth
Kaunda described how an 'atmosphere of friendship and the
spirit of
frankness had greatly contributed to a constructive approach to
some of the
most difficult problems'.
It paved the way for the
Lancaster House Meeting and Zimbabwe's
independence, and it produced the
Lusaka Declaration on Racism and Racial
Prejudice. This declaration was a
solid and unified commitment for action on
South Africa, and gave little to
suggest that Britain would eventually want
to oppose sanctions against the
apartheid regime.
However, that point lay in the future, in 1979
consensus seemed to have been
achieved, and with amazing swiftness too,
incredibly the meeting finished a
day early.
A copy of the complete
list of files is available on its website at
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/archive.
The files are available for viewing
in the Secretariat's Library and
Archives at Marlborough House and
appointments may be made with Hilary
McEwan, Archivist, by telephone at +44
(0)20 7747 6167, by fax at +44 (0)20
7747 6168, or by email at
h.mcewan@commonwealth.int.
A Criminal Act: Child Soldiers
The use of child soldiers in Zimbabwe's 30th Independence anniversary
celebrations on 18 April 2010, was detestable and has no place in a society that
is currently engulfed in a low-intensity conflict.
Absent from these images are the children of the
ruling class and of the political elite comfortably sitting in a lounge watching
their compatriots on a HD television, or playing the latest video games. The
children from impoverished and marginalized backgrounds are taken by adults for
indoctrination, given crisp army uniforms, food and training, while undisturbed,
the wealthy hide their children behind walled mansions.
The Eighth Assembly of the World Council of Churches held at the
University of Zimbabwe in Harare, December 3-14, 1998, addressed by President
Nelson Mandela of South Africa and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, adopted
a statement on child soldiers, stating: "The involvement of children in armed
conflicts violates fundamental humanitarian principles, exposes them to the risk
of death and injury, threatens their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual
well-being, and draws them into a culture of violence."
"The use of children as soldiers destroys lives, families and the
social fabric of communities. Conditions of violence and poverty are perpetuated
when children are forced to abandon school and their families to enter
conflicts. The practice violates international law, which has established the
minimum age of 18 for recruitment into all forms of military service. Action
must be taken to ensure that this standard is universally upheld, violators are
brought to justice and hope is restored for children trapped in this cycle of
violence."
According to Radhika Coomaraswamy, a special UN representative for
children in armed conflict, using children as soldiers was "particularly
abusive" as their ignorance of death made them fearless. Children under fifteen
had "an under-developed notion of death".
Under Article 8.2.26 of the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court (ICC), adopted in July 1998, and entered into force 1 July 2002:
"Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into the
national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities" is a
war crime.
Pictures courtesy of Associated Press
Phil Matibe
PEACE WATCH 5/2010 of 21st April [When is it a Crime or Disturbanceof the Peace to take a Photograph?]
PEACE
WATCH 5/2010
[21st
April 2010]
Taking Photographs
Taking photographs can be a high-risk occupation in Zimbabwe for
journalists [and sometimes for other people, including tourists]. Last month
a
freelance photojournalist was arrested outside Harare magistrates court for
taking photographs of arriving prisoners without the permission of the
Commissioner of Prisons, and, although this is not against the law, he was
detained, questioned by the police and charged with disorderly
conduct. This raises the question: “In what circumstances can
journalists and other people take photographs in
Zimbabwe?”
The Legal Position
The general rule is that everyone is free to take photographs of
anything and anyone they like, except where the law specifically forbids
photographs to be taken. This is one aspect of freedom of expression, which is
protected by the Constitution and which includes freedom to receive and impart
ideas and information. This freedom as spelt out in the Declaration of Rights
[section 20] can only be limited in certain circumstances, by a law
passed in order to protect:
·
the interests of defence, public safety, public order, the economic
interests of the State, public morality or public health;
or
·
the reputations, rights and freedoms of other people, or the private
lives of people concerned in legal proceedings; or
·
the authority and independence of courts or tribunals or
Parliament.
And any such law must be “reasonably justifiable in a democratic
society”. There are several laws that prohibit or restrict the taking of
photographs in Zimbabwe. By listing them here we are not implying that they
comply with section 20 of the Constitution – even some of the following
provisions could be open to a constitutional
challenge.
Laws Prohibiting or Restricting Taking
Photographs
Defence Act: Under section 94 of the Defence Act, the Minister of Defence has the
power to declare any area to be a protected area and to give directions banning
the taking of photographs within the area [but not of the area from outside
it]. Although section 94 is couched in extremely wide terms, it probably covers
only defence installations. Taking photographs in contravention of section 94
attracts a fine of US $200 or six months’ imprisonment or both. Various areas
were declared to be protected before Independence, but none have been since.
The pre-Independence declarations have never been
repealed.
Electoral Regulations: Under section 25 of the Electoral Regulations, 2005, it is a criminal
offence to take a photograph of anyone inside a polling booth, or to take a
photograph within a polling-station without permission from the officer in
charge of the station. Anyone who contravenes the section is liable to a fine
of US $700 or a year’s imprisonment or both. There is nothing wrong, however,
with taking photographs of the outside of polling
stations.
Official Secrets Act: Under section 3 of the Official Secrets Act anyone who takes a
photograph which is calculated or intended to be, or which might be, useful to
an enemy of Zimbabwe is guilty of espionage and liable to imprisonment for up to
25 years, if he or she takes the photograph for a purpose prejudicial to
Zimbabwe’s safety or interests. Section 3 of the Act is couched in very broad
terms and could afford a pretext for the arrest of anyone who tried to
photograph defence installations and other places believed to be of strategic
importance.
Prisons (General) Regulations: Under section 168 of the Prisons (General) Regulations, 1996, it is
an offence to take photographs inside a prison unless the Commissioner of
Prisons consents. A contravention of the section attracts a year’s
imprisonment. Taking photographs of the outside of a prison, on the other hand,
seems to be perfectly all right — unless the photographer loiters when taking
it, in which event he or she may be arrested and charged with loitering within
100 metres of a prison and failing to move on when requested to do so, in
contravention of section 85 of the Prisons Act. If found guilty of that crime,
the photographer is liable to a fine of US $100 or three months’ imprisonment or
both.
Protected Places and Areas Act: If premises are declared to be a protected place, the declaration
usually includes prohibitions or restrictions on taking photographs on the
premises [section 4(5) of the Act]. Anyone who takes a photograph in
contravention of such a provision risks a fine of US $400 or two years’
imprisonment or both. Similarly, if an area is declared to be a protected area
the taking of photographs within the area is usually prohibited [section 5 of
the Act], and anyone doing so is liable to the same penalty. Note that the Act
does not make it an offence to take photographs of a protected
place or area, merely within the place or area. The following
places and areas are listed in the Index to Legislation as being protected under
the Act: the Aurex Factory, Goromonzi; the Beitbridge border-post; the
“Chimanimani Restricted/Reserved Area” [presumably the Marange diamond fields];
the Zimbabwe Defence Industries factories in Domboshawa; Fidelity Printers and
Refinery in Harare; an underground fuel depot in Mabvuku; a fuel depot in
Masasa; the National Heroes Acre; the Presidential retirement home in
Borrowdale, Harare; the environs of State House, Harare; and the Wilton Pipe
Station.
Other Situations Where Photography is
Restricted
Parliament: Taking photographs of the proceedings of the Senate or the
House of Assembly is considered to be contempt of Parliament unless permission has
been obtained from the President of the Senate or the Speaker. Although not
stated specifically in the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act
or in Parliamentary Standing Orders, it is established practice of both Houses
to prohibit visitors from filming or taking photographs of their proceedings.
The prohibition does not extend to taking photographs outside the Parliament
building.
Court proceedings: Similarly, filming or taking photographs of court proceedings without
permission from the presiding judge or magistrate amounts to contempt of court
and is punishable as such. So far as is known, no court in Zimbabwe has ever
given permission for criminal or civil proceedings to be filmed or photographed
[apart from the ceremonial opening of High Court sessions] and no court is
likely to give such permission in future. Again, there is no prohibition
against photographing the outside of court buildings.
Parties to criminal and civil proceedings: If a court has prohibited disclosure of the identity of a party or
witness to criminal or civil proceedings, then it would be unlawful, and
punishable as contempt of court, for a journalist to photograph the party or
witness entering or coming from the court in connection with the
proceedings.
In All Other Situations
In all other cases journalists and other people can generally take
photographs of what and of whom they choose. It is not necessary to get the
consent of a person before taking his or her photograph; if the person objects
to having the photograph published, he or she can take civil proceedings to
prevent publication but cannot normally invoke the assistance of the police to
prevent the photograph being taken. The police can become involved only if
taking the photograph:
·
seriously impairs the dignity of the person concerned or seriously
invades his or her privacy, in which event it will amount to criminal insult,
which is punishable by a fine of US $300 or a year’s imprisonment or both;
or
·
amounts to intentionally engaging in disorderly or riotous conduct in
a public place, in which case it will amount to disorderly conduct in a public
place, a crime punishable by a fine of US $200 or six months’ imprisonment or
both.
In some other cases people can be prevented from taking photographs
and the police may be called on for assistance. For example, if a person enters
private land or premises in order to take a photograph, he or she can be told to
leave and, if he or she does not do so, will be guilty of criminal trespass and
liable to a fine of US $200 or six months’ imprisonment or both [section 132
of the Criminal Law Code]. The police may be called upon to eject the
person from the premises. But in such a case the essence of the crime would be
failing to leave the premises rather than taking photographs. Much the same
applies if a person takes photographs of a meeting such as a company meeting
without permission from the person presiding: he or she may be asked to leave
and may be ejected if he or she refuses.
Legitimate
Law Enforcement or Police Harassment of a Photo
Journalist
To return to the story of the freelance photojournalist. On March
1st he was apprehended and detained by prison officials at the Harare
magistrates court for taking photographs of prisoners without the permission of
the Commissioner of Prisons. He was later handed to the police who detained and
questioned him. There is
no law in Zimbabwe that prohibits filming outside courthouses, nor one that
requires journalists to seek permission from the Commissioner of Prisons before
performing their duties, so the police could not charge him for taking
photographs. They eventually charged him with disorderly conduct and he paid
the fine rather than spending the night in the cells, but his lawyer is contesting that charge as spurious. [Note: the
prisoners he photographed were a group
of alleged coup plotters being brought to court to
face charges of attempting to escape from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison and
the photojournalist was pursuing his legitimate professional job covering a case
of public interest.]
On
January
18 this year, the same photojournalist, Andrisson Manyere,
was arrested and detained by the police for two hours for filming a public
protest march in Harare by members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise [WOZA]. He was
released without charge. The following month a group of ZANU-PF youths
unlawfully apprehended and detained him for filming the youths’ public protest
against sanctions on the ZANU-PF leadership. The youths handed Manyere over to
State security agents who, unlawfully, forced him to delete all footage in his
camera before they released him.
Previously,
State security agents seized Manyere at his home in Norton on December 13,
2008. Without search warrants or any legal justification, they raided his house
and confiscated his work equipment, including a camera and two laptops, which
have never been returned to him. While in police custody, Manyere was
threatened with death and accused of taking and sending images of victims of
human rights abuses to international media. Manyere was charged with banditry,
sabotage and terrorism, together with other abductees [see previous Peace
Watches] and kept in Chikurubi maximum security prison for months, and was
only finally released on bail on 13th May, 2009. His case is pending before the
courts. His lawyer has said he was tortured and that during
his incarceration his rights to legal representation, a fair trial, and
security of person were violated; he has brought a civil case claiming damages
against the State but a court date has not been set.
Meantime
he is trying to earn a living following his profession and is having to replace
the equipment which has not been returned to him. His constantly being arrested
is making this difficult and is also causing a lot of suffering to himself, his
wife and children, who each time he is arrested fear the worst.
Conclusion
Any limitation on peoples’ constitutional rights and freedoms must be
in accordance with the law. A person should not be stopped from taking a
photograph unless there is a given law that prohibits him or her from doing so.
And the law must comply with section 20 of the Constitution. The police’s duty
is to uphold the law, not to act outside the parameters of the
law.
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied.