The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.

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JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet: www.justiceforagriculture.com

Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the subject line.

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Letter 1:

Further to my letter with table re land distribution in Zim., below is a
more accurate & updated version from JAG.  Interesting to see that at
"Independence" in '80 37,25% of commercial farm land was owned by whites.
Mid to late 90's this had dropped to 28%.  By the time land invasions had
begun in 2000 only 18.5% was still white owned!!! Yet on international news
media etc we STILL get the figure anywhere between 70% & 90% given out??
The mind boggles!! Mugs sure has an efficient propaganda machine...you have
to hand it to him....but the world is so damn gullible, guilt ridden & p.c.
when it comes to race issues that it really is a piece of cake...you can
tell them anything & they all rush into "apology" mode!

Apparently that idiot McKinnon said whites aren't Zimbabweans??? Guess that
makes Aboriginies the only true Australians??  Wonder how much of
Australia's commercial land belongs to whites??  And the same goes for New
Zealand?!  But then there are attitudes & standards that pertain to the
"greedy" whites in Zim. that apparently don't pertain to whites in other
previously colonial countries. Speak about double standards!!????? Thing is
they don't have the overwhelming numbers to deal with that we have in
Zim......they killed most of the natives in those countries off in the
past. How damn convenient for them!!!!

Thanks to JAG for upgrading my figures.

Colleen Henderson.

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Letter 2:

RE: Alexander Cameron's letter about how china is thriving, it is so good
to hear of a country doing well when being given their independence. I
doubt if Mugabe would agree with them though, he would find some excuse for
their success other than their own hard work and good governance.  If he
had any sense, now that China has got a foot in the door of Zimbabwe, he
would hand over control to them so that they could teach him a few truths,
one being that Britain is not to blame for the mess the country is in, and
how it has been to their benefit to stay on good terms with the old
country, and their people. He must think the people of Zimbabwe are miracle
workers to be able to produce food, even for themselves, without the tools
or provision to do so, also we do not hear of any foreigners being
ostracised in China for their colour, religion perhaps, but not colour.

Keep up the good work.

If I do not write again before Christmas I would like to say "Happy
Christmas" but I know it will be far from happy for most of you so I will
just say may God Bless you all ( even the spys !!) and His provision for a
better and peaceful year ahead. I will be praying for you all. Even those
who think GOD is "utter rot".

Joyce

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Letter 3: Re: JAG Press Statement 08/12/03

Dear JAG,

Keep up the good work - The circulation of this document represents another
tiny glimmer of hope to us that are "hanging in" and awaiting the dawn of
our country's rebirth.

Sincerely,

Moira Collen

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Letter 4:

Sir,

For many of us in Zimbabwe, the daily toil of finding finance to buy a loaf
of bread and a litre of milk is enough to keep us worrying. Month end comes
and the bills are counted in hundreds of thousands, but the income in ONLY
thousands.

Life is getting more and more difficult for those of us who used to
consider ourselves" middle classed". In fact the distinction between middle
class and lower class is getting VERY blurred.

Just trying to survive from one day to the next makes most of us dwell on
our own troubles and not much time is taken in stepping back and trying to
see the "big picture"! Many don't even try!

I DID!! And I didn't like what I saw! But maybe I am seeing through a fog.
Perhaps someone can see more clearly than I can and can set the record
straight.

What I see is the "middle class" being taxed higher; food bills escallating
on a daily basis; regulations being put into place to make life harder, and
hospitalisation and doctors are something that is only used as a last
resort.... And all this in another attempt to add that "last straw" and
make those that can, to leave Zimbabwe.

Once the middle class is gone, so has their voice.

The lower class is being starved into submission. Employment has reached an
"all time" low and those who are employed, spend every waking moment on the
fight for the survival of themselves and their family. Hospitals and drugs
are not even on the budget.

The ruling class though is so wealthy that they can afford the high
taxation (or ignore it). The high prices in supermarkets are not a problem,
nor is the idea of shelling out a fortune for a tank of black market fuel.
The regulations made to tie the hands of the middle class are short
circuited by "Mr. Fix-its",
so who cares.. To use the phrase of a well heeled French lady.."Let them
eat cake!".

Now let us look again.... I don't see a "middle class"..

BUT we now have a "ruling class" with a voice, made up of those on the
gravy train and forced to keep to the party/presidential line or else they
fall into dis-favour.

And now we also have a voiceless "slave class", that has shrunken
considerably through starvation and illness. But that does not matter, as
the ones who do survive will be the fittest and more able to serve the
"masters", or they too will fall from favour (along with their families).

Stand back.... DO YOU SEE THE SAME AS I DO?

Do you see a way to stop the future?

Momma Kat

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Letter 5:

Dear Debbie & Jaquie.

First it was the Farmers versus the Townies in this forum.  Now it is
religion with you two. If you have a personal vendetta please sort it out
privately and let us focus on the real problem we are all facing. Leave
peoples God or Bhudda out of this as they are not our problem, our big
problem is the self appointed Zanu PF God MUGABE.

Mari Steyl

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Letter 6:

Dear Family and Friends,

As I write this week the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in
Nigeria has begun. Zimbabwe was not invited to attend. Also as I write, the
annual congress of Zanu PF has opened in Masvingo and all around the
massive tent are posters telling the world just exactly what Zimbabwe's
ruling party thinks about the rest of the world. The slogans on the huge,
impeccably printed posters were insulting and childish. Three of them read:

"Flush McKinnon in a Blair toilet."
"To hell with the racist white commonwealth."
"Blair the toilet, Howard the coward, McKinnon the Liar."

It is with these slogans that Zimbabwe faces the world. But these are not
the real or ordinary faces of Zimbabwe and this week I met up with three
friends, all of whom are black and all of whom don't give a damn about
world headlines, political posturing under the guise of racism or the
Commonwealth.  All we, the ordinary people of Zimbabwe care about, is the
appalling quality of our lives and the desperate plight that our country is
now in because of a political party's determination to stay in power.

The first friend I met was Pat who came to introduce me to Melissa, her 2
month old baby daughter. It was a very hot day and as Melissa wriggled and
niggled, Pat and I talked about Christmas. Pat cannot afford to go to her
rural home this year to visit her Grandmother and extended family. The
return bus fares for the 200 kilometre journey for her family would cost
240 thousand dollars, her husband only earns 80 thousand dollars a month.
Pat cannot afford to buy new clothes for her children this Christmas
either. A baby dress for Melissa costs 25 thousand dollars, shoes for her 3
year old son cost 35 thousand dollars and so it goes on and Pat can afford
none of it. Her husband's entire wage will just keep them in basic food
this Christmas if they are very frugal.

The second friend I met was Jane who used to work in our farm store. Jane
came to give me six cobs of maize as an early Christmas present and she
reminisced about Christmases past and the memories made us both laugh and
cry. Children unwrapping presents and strapping new teddy bears onto their
backs so they could be like their mothers and then eating sweets until they
were ill. Parents being given chickens, eggs and groceries and then
delighting in the chocolate cake I used to bake and my son decorated every
year at our Christmas party for the staff. "Now there is nothing," Jane
said to me and we just sat and drank tea together, grateful to still be
able to see each other and just be two women together, both struggling to
survive and support our children.

The third friend I met I will call Hope. She is a nurse and had just come
back from a trip to Beatrice which used to be one of the most
agriculturally prosperous parts of the country. Again and again Hope said
that what she had seen was "pathetic." She urged me to travel so that I
could see for myself what is happening on the farms that have been "taken"
by Zanu PF. Hope and I both know that few people can travel these days as
there is very little fuel around and the expense has made us all prisoners
in our homes and towns. Hope described farm after farm that she had passed
as being either deserted or just squatter camps where the settlers sit on
the roadsides and beg. "They are starving" she told me. Those huge farm
houses are being stripped and sold, bit by bit, she told me. Roofs, window
frames, doors, fences - everything is just being taken off and sold for
food. Hope said that these new settler farmers are sitting doing nothing,
waiting for world food aid to be delivered. I asked her if she saw crops at
all, or irrigation. Hope said she saw only hungry beggars who are stripping
million dollar irrigation pipes and hammering them out into home made pots
and pans. Hope said she could see immense hunger, malnutrition and disease
just waiting to eradicate thousands upon thousands of people. As a nurse in
a crumbling health system, Hope's own future is bleak and she told me that
thousands of nurses are leaving the country every month, they cannot
survive here anymore. Hope wiped away a tear and looked angrily into my
eyes and said that she too will be forced to leave if things don't change
soon.

Pat, Jane and Hope are just three ordinary women in Zimbabwe. Theirs are
the real faces and voices of our country. The lavish Zanu PF congress
littered with hateful and insulting posters are completely meaningless when
it comes to easing the burdens of our daily lives. As I thought about the
three women I had spent time with this week I wondered why the Commonwealth
are doing what Zanu PF have done and created a racial divide that simply
does not exist. What difference does it make if your skin is black or white
when you are hungry, scared and unable to even be with your family at
Christmas?  This week I wear my yellow ribbon in support of the brave women
of Zimbabwe who took to the streets banging empty pots to highlight our
suffering. Many were arrested and some were beaten as they tried to
protest.

Until next week, with love, cathy.

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All letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for Agriculture.

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africaonline

Australia, Britain prejudged Zimbabwe's suspension says SA
Staff Reporter
PRETORIA, 10 December 2003
South Africa's foreign affairs department issued the statement suggesting
that countries like Britain and Australia may have prejudged the suspension
on behalf of SADEC.

PRETORIA: There have been suggestions that South Africa's currency, the
Rand's 20 cent fall against a weakening US dollar this week may have been
partly influenced by the country's President Thabo Mbeki's strong support
for Zimbabwe. However, Rolind Henward, Pretoria University political science
lecturer, says Mbeki clearly does not condone what's happening in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Tony Blair, British Prime Minister has hailed the Commonwealth's
decision to continue the suspension of Zimbabwe as a victory for the bloc's
values. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president quit the Commonwealth after it
had extended indefinitely Zimbabwe's suspension.

Earlier today, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has
re-acted angrily to the commonwealth's decision not to allow Zimbabwe back
into its decision-making councils. In a statement, SADC says it is apparent
that Zimbabwe's participation was prejudged as some members of the
commonwealth have earlier made comments before the matter was finalised.

SADC says the decision will do nothing to help the people of Zimbabwe
overcome their difficulties. SADC says the present situation in Zimbabwe
calls for engagement by the Commonwealth and not isolation and further
punishment. -SABC

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Telegraph

Neighbours rally round in support of Mugabe
By Christopher Munnion in Johannesburg, Peta Thornycroft in Harare and
George Jones
(Filed: 10/12/2003)

Britain's attitude towards President Robert Mugabe's regime was denounced as
"intolerant" and "rigid" by southern African countries yesterday, reigniting
the row over Zimbabwe's withdrawal from the Commonwealth.

The 12 Commonwealth members from southern Africa closed ranks behind Mr
Mugabe with a statement condemning Zimbabwe's suspension from the group.

Earlier, Tony Blair angrily denied that Mr Mugabe's regime was the victim of
a racist plot. Ending Zimbabwe's suspension would have been "inconceivable",
he said.

Mr Mugabe had appealed for the "solidarity" of his neighbours and the
Southern African Development Community duly rallied to his support. It
blamed Zimbabwe's withdrawal from the Commonwealth on the "dismissive,
intolerant and rigid attitude" of Britain and other member states.

"The present situation in Zimbabwe calls for engagement by the Commonwealth
and not isolation and further punishment," it said.

Botswana is among the countries which endorsed the statement, yet it backed
Zimbabwe's continued suspension from the Commonwealth during the summit in
the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa is believed to be the prime mover
behind the criticism of Britain. His persistence with his policy of "quiet
diplomacy" towards Mr Mugabe's regime has baffled and enraged his critics.

Zimbabwe's economy is in ruins, with inflation above 500 per cent and
unemployment at 70 per cent. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have fled
to South Africa and Botswana.

Reporting to the Commons on the Commonwealth summit the Prime Minister
strongly defended Zimbabwe's suspension. He said it had made no effort to
address international concerns and was going "backwards."

He said Mr Mugabe's "ruinous economic policies" were "driving the country
further and further into chaos."

Mr Mugabe's regime raised the possibility of breaking all diplomatic ties
with Britain. The Herald, the government daily, said: "There is no need for
us to continue pretending that there is a semblance of diplomacy with
Britain or its Australian appendage."

But the regime can ill afford to cut links. Britain has given the country
more than £62 million in humanitarian aid since September 2001.

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ABC Australia

Press freedom group bombards UN summit with pirate radio
An international media freedom group, barred from a UN summit on the
information society, has set up a "pirate radio" service to tell delegates
what was happening at the gathering.

Robert Menard, Secretary-General of the Paris-based group Reporters Without
Borders, told a news conference the service - Radio Non Grata - would put
the organisation's point of view to delegates throughout the three-day
conference.

"We will also be broadcasting details of press freedom violations by many of
the countries taking part in this meeting, like Tunisia and Zimbabwe," he
declared.

The gathering, the World Summit on the Information Society, was called by
the United Nations in an effort to speed the spread of information
technology and the use of the Internet to poorer countries.

But critics from some human rights groups say it is a costly sham that will
bring no benefit to ordinary people.

Reporters Without Borders, which says one-third of the world's people live
in countries with no media freedom and that many journalists around the
globe are in prison "for doing their job", is handing out tiny portable
radios and earphones to delegates so they can receive its broadcasts.

A leaflet with each receiver declares: "Dictators think mice are dangerous
creatures" and shows a computer mouse caught in a spring trap. "Don't let
them [the dictators] decide the future of the Internet," it adds.

The organisation, which has chapters in dozens of countries, was barred from
the summit after losing its UN accreditation this year for staging a protest
over the appointment of Libya to chair the world body's Human Rights
Commission.

Menard said Radio Non Grata - a play on the term used when diplomats are
barred from a country - would broadcast from French territory just across
the border from Geneva and its information would be provided by journalists
at the summit.

-- Reuters
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New Zimbabwe

UK to strip Mugabe of knighthood

By Paul Waugh
10/12/03
TONY Blair said Tuesday that he would consider tighter sanctions and having
Robert Mugabe stripped of his honorary knighthood in an attempt to force
"regime change" in Zimbabwe.

The Prime Minister admitted that the restrictions on the Harare regime were
failing. He said only £500,000 worth of assets had been seized from Mr
Mugabe's associates.

In a Commons statement, Mr Blair said he would try to use February's EU
summit to impose "sharper" sanctions on Zimbabwe. He said he would
"certainly look at the issue of the honorary knighthood" granted to the
country's president by the Queen in 1994. Andrew Robathan, Tory MP for
Blaby, had urged Mr Blair to take "symbolic" action by removing the honour.

Reporting on his trip to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in
Nigeria, the Prime Minister said Zimbabwe had "gone backwards" since its
suspension from the grouping last year.

He said the consensus at the Abuja summit gave the lie to one of Mr Mugabe's
"most outrageous claims ... that the Commonwealth's approach to Zimbabwe is
a white conspiracy led by the UK against black Africans". "The outcome in
Abuja was hard fought, but in the end a victory for Commonwealth values," Mr
Blair told MPs.

Mr Mugabe's subsequent decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth showed
clearly that he did not accept "Commonwealth principles", and would increase
Zanu-PF's isolation, he added.

Mr Blair conceded that attempts to seize the assets of leading members of
the Mugabe regime had failed. The ministers' funds were instead shipped to
neighbouring states. "Let's be honest about it. We have only managed to
seize around half a million pounds. It is important to keep up maximum
pressure to get regime change. We need to make sure the sanctions in place
are more effective," he said.

The opposition MDC had said it wanted more sharply focused measures and more
effective use of the sanctions in place rather than general sanctions.

Mr Blair said real progress would come only once southern African nations
realised that it was in their own interests to see the removal of Mr Mugabe.
He accepted that some neighbouring states, including South Africa, feared
that Zimbabwe could descend into chaos if Mr Mugabe was toppled and that
chaos could "spill into their countries". But the Harare regime had to be
tackled urgently. "This is not just a matter for the EU, it is a matter for
other countries as well," he said.

Michael Howard, the Tory leader, welcomed the Government's "strong stand",
but complained that Mr Blair had been initially "behind the game" on
Zimbabwe. "[The Government] hasn't led, it has followed and the people of
Zimbabwe are the worse for it," he said. Mr Howard said EU sanctions, such
as travel restrictions, against Zimbabwe were not strong enough. "Why don't
they include the businessmen who still bankroll Mugabe?" he demanded.

Mr Blair said his response was guided by what opposition politicians said
about the situation in Zimbabwe. "It is from within that the main change
will come," he added - THE INDEPENDENT, UK
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New Zimbabwe
 
Zimbabwean visa refusals up four-fold in one year

SOURCE: BBC

By By Lester Holloway
10/12/2003
AFRICAN and Caribbean visitors who want to enter Britain to attend a family funeral or wedding are much more likely to be refused a visa, according to shock new figures.

New Home Office statistics show that visa refusal rates have doubled in just one year for people from Kenya, Nigeria and Gambia.

The situation is even worse for Zimbabwe, which has seen a four-fold increase in the number of Zimbabweans denied entry for a short-term visit to Britain.

But the most startling increase in entry clearance is Jamaica, which has witnessed a massive 500% increase.

Critics say the increase is down to racism from British immigration officials and visa refusals cannot be separated from new harsh government anti-asylum measures.

They claim innocent visitors are being denied entry for important family reunions such as weddings and funerals due to an unofficial policy of tightening up on overseas visitors from developing countries.


SA court in landmark asylum ruling

Britain to seize our kids

Britain and its minorities

Visa restrictions a scandal

Despite the huge increases in visa refusals, the Home Office claimed there had been no change in policy and ‘strongly refuted’ any suggestion of racism or prejudice.

But the government cannot explain why visitors from many African countries have seen a sudden and dramatic increase in visa refusals while predominantly white countries like Australia and Canada have seen no change.

Professor Nigel Harris, author of ‘The Immigration Myth Exposed’ said the increases were caused by a right-ward shift in the governments’ stance towards overseas visitors of colour.

He told Blink: "The government is contributing to the public’s embrace of xenophobia. They don’t want to be caught being liberal." He accused the government of ‘lying’ by claiming there was no change in policy.

And Tauhid Pasha, legal and policy director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: "These rises in refusal rates are not matched with any correlating rise in refusal rates from predominantly white countries.

"There quite simply appears to be a systematic attempt on the part of the government to stop people coming from certain countries. It’s quite fair to say that African and certain parts of Asia are in the target line."

Only 55 Australians were refused entry to Britain in 2002, compared to almost 30,000 granted access. And just 120 Canadians were denied entry in the same year whilst 16,800 were allowed in.

This contrasts dramatically with Jamaica, where the number of visitors refused entry has risen more than 500%, from 425 in 2001, to 2,635 the following year.

Much of this increase is due to the imposition of visas. Critics pointed out that the government claimed at the time that the visa regime would not affect ordinary law-abiding Jamaicans.

Last year Labour MP Diane Abbott criticised the imposition of a visa regime on Jamaica, claiming it would only penalise innocent visitors and would do little to halt drug smuggling and crime. Criminals, she said, would simply find other routes to import drugs.

Since then Metropolitan Police chief Sir John Stevens has admitted that drug gangs are smuggling cocaine into Britain through other smaller Caribbean islands.

Critics of the visa policy also said officials would turn down applications to visit Britain on prejudice and stereotypes rather than evidence. There were separate drug laws and enforcement agencies to deal with criminals, and that visas would have no impact on crime at all.

Immigration campaigners are also concerned that some overseas visitors, particularly Jamaicans, are denied entry are detained in immigration holding centres along with asylum seekers before being sent back.

Home Office figures contained in the report ‘control of immigration’ published last month compared the number of visitors refused entry to Britain in 2001 compared to 2002. In those years, nationals from Nigeria who were denied entry doubled from 16,270 to 32,810.

A similar pattern emerged with visitors from Kenya, where refusal rates doubled from 2,140 to 4,770. Zimbabweans denied access quadrupled from 550 to 4,160.

Increases in visa refusals far outstripped any increase in overall applications in many African countries. This situations was not reflected in visitors from ‘white’ Commonwealth countries, Latin America or Eastern Europe.

Asked to explain the large rises in visa refusals for African countries, a Home Office spokesman said: "There’s certainly not any policy that I know of. I would certainly refute [the accusation of racism] in terms of Home Office policy position."

While refusal decisions affecting African visitors as increased, other figures show that around 80% of all refusals that were contested were eventually overturned on appeal.

Campaigners say that often a person appealing against a decision to deny entry to Britain often find their appeal uncontested because the British government fail to send anyone to defend the British case. As a result scores of visitors win ‘by default’.

This ‘tactic’ by the government has brought accusations that officials are making decisions against black visitors they have no intention of defending before an independent adjudicator.

Heaven Crawley, a migration expert with the think-tank the Institute of Public Policy Research, said that her studies showed there was a change in the way visitor applications were dealt with.

She said that in the past British officials used to advise would-be visitors when they did not have sufficient papers to support their application, and ask them to go away and come back with more papers.

But more recently officials have been logging the application to travel to Britain straight away, and that if the applicant did not have the right papers they were turned down without having the opportunity to seek more documentation.

Crawley told Blink: "Despite the fact that entry clearance officers are supposed to operate in the same way across the world, the reality is that they don’t.

"In sub-Saharan Africa people often don't have the right type of information in relation to wage slips and bank accounts unless you are in a particular type of employment, like a bank.

"People have much more informal economies, often very hard to prove you have the kind of money you need to sustain yourself, or that you have even a job to go back to.

"You could say that entry clearance officers assume because you haven't got that information they're much less likely to want to return, and that may be an assumption on their part, so it's a kind of prejudice if you assume someone's going to behave in a particular way.' But Crawley did not believe this was 'blatant prejudice or racism' - BLINK

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From The Guardian (UK), 10 December

Zimbabwe threatens to cut UK ties

Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria

Robert Mugabe's government indicated yesterday that it was considering
severing diplomatic ties with Britain and Australia in response to their
tough Commonwealth stand over Zimbabwe. "The time has now come for Zimbabwe
to fully engage Britain head-on by cutting all diplomatic ties with the
former colonial master and its sidekick, Australia," said an editorial in
the Herald. The newspaper is regarded as the mouthpiece of the information
minister, Jonathan Moyo. On Sunday, President Mugabe announced he was
pulling his country out of the Commonwealth because of the 54-nation
organisation's refusal to lift its suspension of Zimbabwe's membership. This
was imposed last year after accusations of fraud and violence during Mr
Mugabe's re-election campaign. Yesterday, the Herald called for the closure
of diplomatic missions and ending communication with the British government.
It stopped short of demanding the repatriation of about 40,000 British
citizens in Zimbabwe and the closure of the 300 or more British-based firms
operating there.

If the Mugabe government forced Britain to close its mission in Harare, it
could set off a chain reaction of diplomatic closures involving the
embassies of other EU states. The British high commission declined to
comment on the newspaper's suggestion. In the past, the Herald has vilified
Brian Donnelly, the British high commissioner to Harare, accusing him of
plotting to overthrow the government. "If we lost sleep over every
scurrilous article printed about us in the Herald, we wouldn't go to bed at
all," one diplomat said. But observers interpreted the Herald's editorial as
a serious escalation of its campaign against British representatives in
Zimbabwe. The call to cut all diplomatic ties with Britain is viewed in
Harare as a reflection of Mr Mugabe's anger over the weekend Commonwealth
summit in Abuja, but not yet a statement of government policy.

"This shows the current rancour that Mugabe feels more than what he actually
plans to do," said Iden Wetherell, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, one
of the country's few privately owned weekly papers. "But it could be a
harbinger of things to come. Now he has quit the Commonwealth, Mugabe will
want to beat the nationalist drum. That would place Britain in the firing
line, but it will have implications for Zimbabwe's relations with other
countries which might lead him to hesitate." The Herald's editorial said
that by breaking off relations with the British government, Zimbabweans
would prove to be the "true torchbearers to other African and third world
countries suffering under the yoke of imperialism". In the Commons, Tony
Blair said Zimbabwe was being driven further into chaos by "ruinous economic
policies". Half the population now relied on food aid - with Britain the
leading cash donor. "In these circumstances, I and others argued that it was
inconceivable that Zimbabwe should be readmitted to the councils of the
Commonwealth, and that... it should remain suspended until we saw concrete
evidence of a return to democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of
law."

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From The Independent (UK), 10 December

Hoogstraten is out - and this time he is angry with 'nearly everyone'

By Danielle Denetriou and Matthew Beard

Be afraid, be very afraid. The message from Nicholas van Hoogstraten,
dressed in his trademark leather coat, pin-stripe suit and two-inch Cuban
heels, was as clear as it was chilling. Britain's most notorious landlord
was back with a vengeance. Yesterday, Mr van Hoogstraten celebrated the
overturning of his conviction for the manslaughter of a business rival by
declaring that he was planning to sue "just about everybody". The man who
received his first criminal conviction at the age of 11 before becoming the
youngest self-made millionaire in Britain at 22 left no doubt that his legal
crusade would go on. From the Criminal Prosecution Service (CPS) and the
Metropolitan Police, to his former lawyers and business associates, Mr van
Hoogstraten ominously suggested that few would escape from his attempts to
seek justice. One of his targets may well be Michaal Hamdan, a former
business associate believed to have been instrumental in putting Mr van
Hoogstraten in the dock. He refused to testify during the trial and is
thought to have fled the country without giving any evidence at all.

Speaking to the assembled media at the Old Bailey, Mr van Hoogstraten said:
"This prosecution should never have been brought. I have suffered two years
of legal incompetence and dishonesty. Evidence was deliberately hidden by
the CPS and the police. It would have shown who the instigators and the
participants in this crime were." It was when asked whom he was planning to
take legal action against, that he ominously replied: "Just about
everybody." He added: "I'm not allowed to give further details at this
stage." But the shock waves that ensued from the release of Mr van
Hoogstraten, a man with a volcanic temperament and a notoriously
Machiavellian management style, were not confined to his business
associates. Residents near his sprawling, unfinished neo-classical edifice,
Hamilton Palace, in the East Sussex countryside, also expressed fear at the
prospect of his return. Yesterday, Mr van Hoogstraten, 58, revealed that his
stint in prison had done little to dent his dogged tenacity and fiery
temperament. He made his avowal to "sue" immediately after he was formally
acquitted of the murder of Mohammed Raja, 62, in Sutton, south London, four
years ago.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Mr van Hoogstraten had been released from
Belmarsh Prison following a Court of Appeal ruling that there was no
foundation for a manslaughter case and he would not have to face a retrial.
He had served 17-months of a 10-year sentence for the manslaughter of Mr
Raja, who was stabbed five times and shot in the face with a sawn-off
shotgun at his home in July 1999. While two small-time thugs, Robert Knapp
and David Croke, were jailed for life for the murder of Mr Raja, Mr van
Hoogstraten was convicted for allegedly masterminding the assassination of
his business rival. After Monday's hearing at the Old Bailey, the property
tycoon appeared to be revelling in his new-found freedom yesterday. Finally
agreeing to talk after keeping the gathered media waiting for more than an
hour as he chatted to his entourage, he did not fail to live up to his
explosive reputation. He revealed that he had made a formal complaint to the
Metropolitan Police that evidence revealing the perpetrator of the crime for
which he was imprisoned had been withheld during the trial. "This
investigation was commenced but it was stayed pending the hearing at the
Court of Appeal," he said. "I trust that this investigation into the police
conduct of this case as a result of my complaints last year will be
diligently pursued. If it is not, I will have further recourse."

The Metropolitan Police later confirmed that a complaint was to be
investigated into allegations of the "irregular practices" of an officer
involved in Mr Raja's murder trial. The next legal battle on the list for Mr
van Hoogstraten involves the family of the late Mr Raja, who was in the
process of suing him at the time of his death. After his family pursued the
civil action and won £5m last December, Mr van Hoogstraten launched an
appeal which will be heard in the High Court next March. Despite insisting
that he was sympathetic towards the Raja family, he said: "They have partly
bought this upon themselves." While Mr van Hoogstraten's fortune was once
estimated at £500m, his assets of £90m remain frozen in connection with the
pending High Court case involving the Raja family, while a further £30m has
been sequestrated. Mr van Hoogstraten, who states that his political
allegiances lie " to the right of Attila the Hun", refused to answer any
further questions from The Independent, because he claimed it was a
"left-wing, anarchist publication". But the family of Mr Raja expressed
greater disappointment than surprise at the comments of Mr van Hoogstraten,
possibly in the light of the fact that he has previously told one of Mr
Raja's six sons: "Your dad is a maggot." Yesterday, his son Amjad Raja, 42,
told The Independent: "His release does send shivers down our spines. He has
made these comments against our father as he knows that a dead man cannot
take action against him. It is very hard for us but we have to continue
fighting otherwise our father will have died in vain. Someone has to stand
up to this man."

For many whose paths have crossed with that of Mr van Hoogstraten, his
unsavoury comments about Mr Raja should come as little surprise. He once
described a number of tenants who died in a fire in one of his properties as
"low-life, drug dealers, drug takers and queers - scum". His own mother was
referred to as "a miserable cow". Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean President,
on the other hand, warranted the description "100 per cent decent and
incorruptible". Meanwhile, for the residents of his home village of
Uckfield, the prospect of the return continues to instil fear. The property
magnate had made his mark locally, not only with his £40m home, but as
landlord to scores of tenants. He is also a vociferous critic of ramblers,
whom he has described as "perverts" and "the great unwashed". In the 1980s,
he came to blows with the Ramblers' Association, who represented local
walkers aggrieved at being denied an ancient right of way across his estate.
Shelley Garner, 81, from the nearby village of Framfield, said: "I have
lived here since 1969 and I have never seen him but, at one stage, you were
frightened to go walking near the estate. It was just very intimidating, all
the lengths he went to to keep people off his land." The Ramblers'
Association said full rights of way had been restored on the footpath, which
takes walkers within no more than half a mile of Hamilton Palace. A
spokesman for the organisation said: "He went out of his way to keep out
what he termed riff-raff. I went down there myself to sort the issue out and
felt pretty scared by his minders."

Mr van Hoogstraten claimed yesterday that he received up to 900 letters of
support during his stint in Belmarsh Prison, and admitted that he had
received four negative letters, two of them from ramblers. During his time
at Hamilton Palace, named after the capital of Bermuda, he has lived in an
adjacent building while keeping a careful watch on building contractors.
Work on Hamilton Palace has come to a halt during the owner's imprisonment,
but locals fear that may soon change. One neighbour in her thirties from the
hamlet of Palehouse Common, on the edge of the estate, said: "He was more of
a hate figure for my parents when he was gaining a reputation in the 1960s.
But he won't be welcome back here. The main concern is that he's going to
make it his base now.''

Why is he free?

Nicholas van Hoogstraten has never admitted sending his henchmen to
intimidate his business rival, Mohammed Raja. In a pre-trial hearing last
week Mr Justice Stephen Mitchell ruled that even if Mr van Hoogstraten had
ordered the intimidation he could not have expected them to use guns to kill
Mr Raja. Before the case against Mr van Hoogstraten reached the Old Bailey
last year, witnesses for the prosecution withdrew their co-operation. Police
are still investigating three allegations of attempting to pervert the
course of justice in connection with the first trial. Without all their
witnesses the Crown Prosecution Service say the case of murder was weakened,
and the jury acquitted Mr van Hoogstraten of premeditated killing. The judge
offered the jury an alternative charge of manslaughter for which the
multimillionaire was duly convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
The property tycoon appealed against his conviction and sentence. On 23 July
his conviction was quashed on the grounds that the trial judge had
misdirected the jury, as the direction did not properly explain the
relationship between the charge of manslaughter and the possible use of a
loaded firearm.

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MSNBC

Zimbabwe lawyers condemn Mugabe rights record

HARARE, Dec. 10 — The Zimbabwe government's human rights record is worsening
and lawyers are struggling to cope with a growing caseload of rights abuses,
a local lawyers' group said on Wednesday.
       Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights chairwoman Nokuthula Moyo said
dozens of her colleagues had over the past year defended people arrested
during political protests against President Robert Mugabe's government.
       Moyo said some lawyers had been harassed or assaulted by police while
performing their duties -- accusations that have been rejected by the
police.
       ''In the worsening human rights climate, tremendous demands have been
made on human rights lawyers,'' she said at a protest march by about 70
lawyers and law students to mark International Human Rights Day.
       ''It is a pathetic human rights record for our police force that
lawyers have suffered abuse at the hands of the police,'' she said.
       Mugabe's government, battling an economic crisis critics blame on
state mismanagement, routinely uses tough security laws to stop
demonstrations by opposition or rights activists.
       Mugabe says the demonstrations are sponsored by Western powers
seeking to overthrow his government because of its seizure of white-owned
farms for black resettlement.
       The lawyers' protest was one of the few authorised by police.
       The government has denied charges of human rights abuses, dismissing
them as part of a Western-sponsored propaganda campaign against Mugabe.
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Boston Herald

U.N. tech summit split on press freedom
By Associated Press
Wednesday, December 10, 2003

GENEVA - Leaders from more than 50 countries Wednesday launched a summit to
"bridge the digital divide" and expand use of the Internet to poor
countries, but a split quickly emerged over whether news media should be
free or restricted.

     "The right to freedom of opinion and expression is fundamental to
development, democracy and peace and must remain a touchstone for our work
ahead," said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in opening the conference.

     President Omar Bongo of Gabon said, "Journalists have rights but they
also have certain duties, and they have to act in a way that is ethically
acceptable. With that kind of mutual respect we can move forward,
recognizing that the Internet must not be used to destabilize situations nor
to destabilize the way people think."

     Calls for a free press are a smoke screen, said President Robert Mugabe
of Zimbabwe.

     "Beneath the rhetoric of free press and transparency is the inequity of
hegemony," said Mugabe, who is listed by the Paris-based Reporters Without
Borders as one of the world's "predators of press freedom."

     Mugabe, who came to Geneva soon after pulling out of the Commonwealth
because the bloc extended his nation's 18-month suspension, was combative.
"The rich, imperious and digital north remains on the one end of the
development divide," he said. "The poor, disempowered, underdeveloped south
remains on the other end of that divide."

     President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, also on the Reporters Without Borders
list, focused on his goals to provide all Rwandans with access to the
Internet. "We plan to transform Rwanda into a technological hub," Kagame
said and appealed for help from "our development partners."

     Some developing countries have been trying to use the summit to put
control of the U.S.-dominated Internet system into the hands of the United
Nations. But most of the contentious issues, including media freedom, were
resolved - at least on paper - in negotiations before the summit or
deferred, and U.S. officials said they were satisfied.

     The World Summit on the Information Society is helping by drawing the
world's attention to "the importance that new technologies, whether the
Internet or other mechanisms, have for helping people around the world,"
said Ambassador David Gross of the State Department, head of the American
delegation.

     President Bush was one of many Western leaders staying away, but Gross
said the United States was lending strong support by having its speech
delivered Thursday afternoon by White House science and technology adviser
John Marburger.

     Gross said documents that were hammered out in months of negotiations
for the summit "reflect many of the issues we think are critically
important," including free expression, Internet governance and the
importance of intellectual property.

     French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin was one of the few Western
leaders to address the opening session. "We must build an information
society for everyone - a society open to all," Raffarin said. "This is a
wonderful opportunity to help less fortunate countries. We must bring down
the digital barriers."

     At the same time, he said, governments should guard against the spread
of pornography and pedophilia on the Internet.

     Even as the gathering began, organizers were lowering expectations,
noting that a follow up summit will take place in Tunisia in 2005.

     "Geneva is the beginning, the beginning of a process," said Marc
Furrer, the Swiss state secretary who helped broker talks among government
negotiators ahead of the summit. But campaigners for press freedom said the
follow-up meeting should be canceled or moved to another country on grounds
that Tunisia "does not respect free speech and press freedom."

     "The Tunisian press is censored, journalists are jailed along with
hundreds of other political prisoners, and organization of the Tunis summit
has been assigned to a military general alleged to be responsible for the
torture of political prisoners," said a joint statement from the World Press
Freedom Committee, the Inter American Press Association, the World
Association of Newspapers and other groups.

     Pending approval from the world leaders is a declaration that
challenges them to use technology in promoting development goals such as
eliminating poverty, fighting AIDS and curbing child mortality. It calls for
connecting schools, public libraries and health centers in poor countries to
the Internet by 2015.

     Key decisions on the way the Internet works, such as domain names and
addresses, now reside in a private agency spun off from the U.S.
government - and the United States wants to keep it that way.

     China, South Africa, India and Brazil - the main proponents of wresting
control of the Internet from the United States - have offered only vague
blueprints for an alternative.

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RWANDA-ZIMBABWE: Harare, Kigali and UNHCR sign tripartite agreement
KIGALI, 10 Dec 2003 (IRIN) - The governments of Rwanda and Zimbabwe and the
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) signed a tripartite
agreement on Tuesday on the voluntary repatriation of an estimated 350
Rwandan refugees in Zimbabwe.

Signing the agreement in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, the parties pledged to
support the repatriation that is scheduled to begin in mid-2004. They
assigned each other roles and responsibilities to ensure the success of the
process.

The Zimbabwean government was mandated to ensure that the refugees were well
informed about the security situation in Rwanda, to enable them decide
whether or not to repatriate.

On its part, the government of Rwanda would ensure that the refugees
returned home in safety and that it would encourage a few of them to return
to Zimbabwe to sensitise those remaining on the need to repatriate.

The UNHCR would provide support for travel as well as initial settlement for
the returnees.

The parties announced that an information campaign would soon be launched to
inform the refugees in Zimbabwe about the situation in Rwanda.

"The year 2004 will be the year of enhanced voluntary repatriation for
Rwandan refugees from an operational point of view," Wairimu Karago, the
UNHCR regional coordinator for the Great Lakes region, said.

She said that during the first quarter of 2004, the UNHCR would finalise the
establishment of a legal and operational framework with the remaining
countries of asylum in west and southern Africa, which host significant
numbers of Rwandan refugees.

"At the end of next year, UNHCR would like to be in a position to say that
it has done everything possible to facilitate and assist Rwandan refugees to
return home," she added.

Rwanda has signed similar agreements with the governments of the Malawai,
Namibia, Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

It is due to sign a similar agreement with Mozambican officials on Thursday.
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Zimbabwe Cabinet Endorses Decision to Leave Commonwealth
      VOA News
      10 Dec 2003, 11:44 UTC

      Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's cabinet has endorsed his decision
to leave the Commonwealth, paving the way for a debate on the matter in
parliament, Wednesday.
      Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge said the cabinet approved the decision
on Tuesday, and that a motion seeking parliamentary endorsement was being
sent to lawmakers.

      President Mugabe withdrew his country from the Commonwealth on Sunday
after learning its suspension would be extended. He accused a white alliance
within the Commonwealth of punishing him for his forced redistribution of
white-owned farms to blacks.

      In a statement Tuesday, the 14-nation Southern African Development
Community (SADC) also expressed deep concern at what it called the
dismissive, intolerant and rigid attitude by some Commonwealth members.
Zimbabwe was first suspended in 2002 after President Mugabe was re-elected
in a vote widely seen as rigged.

      Many African nations pushed for Zimbabwe's reinstatement -- saying
further isolation would harm efforts toward democracy. But on Tuesday,
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the economic policies of the ruling
ZANU-PF party have driven the nation further and further into chaos. While
warning of more isolation, Mr. Blair also said there will always be a place
for a democratic Zimbabwe in the Commonwealth.

      Kenya urged Zimbabwe to reconsider its withdrawal from the
Commonwealth -- saying the group is vital for the democratization process.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo says he is determined to do everything
possible to return Zimbabwe to the now 53-member grouping of former British
colonies.

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SABC

            Zimbabwe's return to Commonwealth 'inconceivable'
            December 10, 2003, 08:36 AM

            Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, says it is inconceivable
for Zimbabwe to be re-admitted to the Commonwealth while the situation there
remains chaotic.

            The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has accused
countries like Britain and Australia of prejudging Zimbabwe's pull out from
the organisation. Updating parliamentarians in London, Blair said Zimbabwe
had gone backwards since its initial suspension, imposed after a
widely-criticised election last year.

            Blair said Zimbabwe "should remain suspended until we see
concrete evidence of a return to democracy, respect for human rights and the
rule of law, which are the very principles of which the Commonwealth is
founded".

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Daily News

      Rights abuses on the rise

      Date:10-Dec, 2003

      ABOUT 292 violations of freedom of expression, movement and
association were recorded in October, according to a report by the Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum (ZHRF).

      The Forum, which groups non-governmental organisations working in the
field of human rights, also recorded 94 cases of torture, 44 reports of
political discrimination and intimidation and 36 assaults.

      Also reported between 1 and 31 October were 18 death threats, nine
cases of unlawful arrest, a similar number of unlawful detentions, six
displacements due to political violence, three cases of attempted murder and
one abduction.

      "Zimbabwean citizens’ enjoyment of freedom of expression and
association remains extensively curtailed," the Forum said in a report
released last week.

      "Widespread national, regional and international calls for the
Zimbabwe government to respect these freedoms and protect them through their
law enforcement arm, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), have evidently been
unfruitful. The apparent attempt by the Zimbabwe government to restrict the
right to freedom of expression and association has manifested itself in the
continuous harassment of human and labour rights activists through arrests
whenever they attempt to peacefully demonstrate."

      The report cited the frequent arrest of National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) chairman Lovemore Madhuku and other NCA members, saying this
had become a regular form of harassment.

      The Forum added: "Sections of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA)
and the Miscellaneous Offences Act (MOA) are being continuously and
consistently used to impede freedom of expression, movement and association.

      “This was clearly manifested in the arrest of over 170 members of the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions on 8 October 2003 demonstrating over high
taxation and violations of trade union and human rights.

      "Approximately 150 members of the NCA were arrested on 22 October 2003
for participating in a demonstration to call for a new democratic
constitution. Members of both groups were charged either with violating
sections of POSA or of MOA.

      “These arrests also display the contempt for labour rights which has
also been accommodated under POSA and MOA. The Congress of South African
Trade Unions noted, in a statement released on 8 October 2003, as
"regrettable that the Zimbabwe government sees trade unions as one of its
main opponents…Instead of understanding that workers are duty bound to
protest against attacks on their living standards, it sees them as
antagonists."

      The Forum said it deplored the excessive use of force by members of
the ZRP when effecting arrests, and noted with concern the prevailing
climate of impunity for certain police officers who are alleged perpetrators
of human rights violations.

      "This selective impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations
within the ZRP has simply had the effect of perpetuating further human
rights violations," the report noted.

      "The Human Rights Forum strongly condemns the harassment and
alternatively the arrest of individuals when they attempt to report an
incident in which they have in fact been the victim. This can have no other
outcome than the establishing a culture in which Zimbabwean citizens, acting
on their diminished faith in the police force, desist from reporting crimes
committed against them."

      The Forum cited a shooting at the Harare offices of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change in October, where police officers attending
to the scene reportedly spent an hour searching for "hidden guns" before
emerging with the suspected gunman, who was not handcuffed.

      The police indicated that they would charge the three victims of the
shooting with attempted murder and "claimed that the youths had "shot
themselves" with (the suspect's) gun".

      The ZHRF said: "Prior to this incident on 12 October 2003, human
rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa was assaulted as she attempted to report an
attempted car-jacking perpetrated against her. The police officers from
Borrowdale Police Station in Harare accused Mrs Mtetwa of being under the
influence of alcohol and yet failed to conduct a breathalyser test.

      "As the World Council of Churches noted in a letter to the Minister of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, "the case of
Mrs Mtetwa is not an isolated incident of police excesses. There have been
several such incidents resulting in grave and serious human rights
violations of human rights defenders."

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Daily News

      Mugabe*s bodyguards scuffle with journalists

      Date:10-Dec, 2003

      GENEVA - Preident Mugabe's bodyguards scuffled with journalists and
cameramen as he left his hotel in Geneva, Switzerland for the world's first
summit on the information society.

      Mugabe, whose government shut down Zimbabwe's top-selling daily paper
was due to address the inaugural session this afternoon.

      Meanwhile, top UN officials criticised Western leaders for cold
shouldering the world's first summit on the information society as critics
hit out at press repression under many governments taking part.

      UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was to open the conference, has
warned of the dangers of harassing and censoring journalists, saying this
put everyone's rights at risk.

      "Many of the principal barriers and obstacles to development of the
Internet as a platform for free expression have been erected by the very
governments who are in attendance," said Timothy Balding, director general
of the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers.

      The conference sets out to bring poorer nations of the world into the
so-called information age and speed their economic development by boosting
access to information technology such as mobile phones and the Internet.

      Organised by the UN's International Telecommunications Union, the
three-day meeting has attracted officials from 175 countries, but few of the
60 heads of state or government attending come from Europe or North America.

      "For those who did not come, all I can say is you have missed an
opportunity," said Shasi Tharoor, United Nations Under Secretary-General for
Communications and Public Information, who played a key role in organising
the event.

      "This summit is meant to address (the issues) from a policy level, not
just a technological level," he added.

      Roughly 90 percent of the world's population remains unconnected to
the Internet, depriving them of a vital 21st century resource and spurring
fears of a growing "digital divide" between rich and poor.

      Poorer countries, particularly from Africa, had been pressing for the
launch of a "Digital Solidarity Fund" to help finance the infrastructure
they say is needed to close the gap.

      But the idea was opposed by richer countries and the summit
declaration to be approved formally at the close of proceedings Friday
merely commits states to concluding a study on the issue before a second
summit due to be held in Tunis in 2005.

      Other topics range from how to battle the spread of spam and
pornography on the Internet to whether administration of the Worldwide Web
should be put under international control.

      The latter idea, backed by Brazil and other developing countries, but
again opposed by the richer states, was also effectively put on hold after
negotiators agreed to set up a committee to review Internet management.

      But the growing role of the Internet as a vehicle for news and views
has focused attention on press freedom and the fact that many governments
present are widely accused of hobbling their media and restricting access to
the Web.

      Activists are incensed the follow-up summit is to be held in Tunisia,
whose President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has been particularly targeted by
rights groups for allegedly violating press and Internet freedom. - Reuters

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BBC
 
Viewpoints: Does the Commonwealth matter?
The Commonwealth: An important forum or a colonial relic?
The withdrawal of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth and the divisions among participants at the recent Abuja summit have raised questions about the relevance and purpose of the body in the post-colonial era.

BBC News Online asked commentators from six Commonwealth member states to reflect on whether the body does indeed have a role in the 21st Century, or whether it is a legacy of colonialism which should have vanished with the British Empire. Please click on the quotes to read more and use the form at the bottom of the page to send us your opinions.

Tim Shaw, Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Didymus Mutasa, senior Zanu-PF official, Zimbabwe

Noel Garson, South African history scholar

Shaukat Qadir, retired Pakistani brigadier general

Bala Usman
Nigerian political analyst

Eliza Francis, magazine editor, St Lucia

"The Commonwealth does nothing, is nothing, and seems to cause the UK nothing but problems, so why bother?" Sandy, UK


Professor Tim Shaw is the director of the London-based Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

The notion that the body is an ineffectual one in comparison with other international organisations does not in fact stand up to the force of logic.

True enough, there are a large number of powerful bodies - the United Nations, the World Bank - but there are very few that are prepared to suspend their members for not having an acceptable democratic government, and there are few more powerful statements than throwing someone out.

Zimbabwe, for example, is still a member of the UN, although it has been suspended from the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth also has its own monitoring groups for overseeing electoral processes - not so the UN.

It also provides a forum for issues that often do not get onto the mainstream world agenda - one of its main advantages is in fact that the United States is not party to it and so members can air concerns that they might not otherwise be able to.

The US may be interested in what the Maldives for example is doing to fight terrorism, while the Maldives itself is more interested in discussing on an international level how it can stop itself sinking. The Commonwealth provides the opportunity to do this.

The Commonwealth may have its roots in colonialism but it has long since transcended this. Nonetheless, it does need a kind of leadership which Britain - handicapped by history - is unlikely to be able to provide. We should look to countries like India, South Africa and Canada to take the Commonwealth into the future.


Didymus Mutasa is foreign affairs secretary for Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party.

The Commonwealth does not serve any purpose in the world today. We joined in 1980 after we gained our independence as a mark of respect to the British but in the years since it has become clear that the sole purpose of the body is to promote white interests - that is why it was founded and that continues to be the case today. Measures taken against Zimbabwe have been imposed to protect the interests of white farmers.

We have seen some incredible double standards on the part of Britain. Britain dares to criticise Zimbabwe over the presidential elections in 2002, while Prime Minister Tony Blair is swanning around hand-in-hand with the US president, who himself had to go to court to win an election.

I do not believe there are any circumstances in which we could return. What would be the point? We are more distant from Britain as a result but that does not bother us.

As for our African Commonwealth partners, our relations with them will not suffer as a result of leaving the Commonwealth. Trade with our neighbours will continue. Britain's greatest fear is that we will pull ourselves up while we are outside of the Commonwealth, and that is precisely what we intend to do.


Noel Garson is professor emeritus at the University of Witwatersrand and a scholar of South African history in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

South Africa, like Zimbabwe has just done, also withdrew from the Commonwealth between 1961 and 1994 and as such it provides an interesting example as to what extent isolation from the body effects change.

In the South African experience, withdrawal did not make much difference. It retained useful ties with those it wanted to, notably Britain and Australia. It wasn't until the anti-apartheid era kicked in and the United Nations took a stand with sanctions that South Africa really felt isolated and suffered economically. Being outside the Commonwealth had some symbolic significance, but it was really the actions of other bodies that had the impact.

There are many important organisations in the world today with which the Commonwealth cannot hope to compete. The United Nations, the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation, GATT - to name but a few. Nonetheless, we shouldn't underestimate it.

It is still important. It has cultural significance for one - Commonwealth science and education programmes and exchanges are still going strong. But it also provides a forum - the fact that prime ministers, foreign ministers, finance ministers meet and share views is certainly not insignificant - particularly for smaller countries which do not otherwise have a chance to speak on the world stage.

The Commonwealth has successfully managed to get over the notion that it is a relic of colonialism - only people like Mr Mugabe come out with that line. Why would former colonies and indeed countries which have no historical ties with Britain, such as Mozambique, keep wanting to join if it was such a colonial, racist organisation? They sign up freely, and leave freely.


Shaukat Qadir is a retired Pakistani brigadier general and founder of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute.

The problem with the Commonwealth is that it appears irrelevant to so many people. It has been unable to influence world events in any way, whether positive or negative.

Pakistan was suspended from the body after a coup led by General Pervez Musharraf. President Musharraf would like to be readmitted to the body purely for symbolic reasons - it would prove that there have been democratic developments and provide greater legitimacy. But the Commonwealth itself has no great political sway and in that sense is of no real interest to him. Pakistan has other friends in the world.

But that is not to say that the Commonwealth is doomed. People always point to the United Nations as a rival power which has stripped the Commonwealth of its reason to be. But just look at some of the problems the UN is having in terms of credibility. One of the reasons that we are seeing attacks on UN buildings and workers around the world is that increasingly it is seen as a lackey of the United States.

The Commonwealth isn't, and that is its greatest strength. But it needs to get its act together. Britain needs to distance itself from the United States, and take on a key role in steering the Commonwealth.

It is the only country in the position to do this and it should not worry about the old allegation that the Commonwealth is a relic of colonialism. That's history, and Britain needs to throw that off. The Commonwealth should do exactly what the name says - spread the wealth and forge a proper political voice with clout on the world stage.


Dr Bala Usman is from the Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training (Ceddert) in Nigeria. He tried to submit a petition to the most recent meeting asking for Britain and Australia to be suspended for breaching Commonwealth principles over their role in the Iraq war.

There is a real problem of double standards within the Commonwealth - it is one rule for some members and one rule for others. Britain and Australia launched an illegal war against Iraq - contradicting the principles of the Commonwealth's Singapore and Harare declarations - and there has been virtually no opportunity to press the two countries on the matter.

These double standards do not however render the Commonwealth redundant. It can and should be a useful forum for the English-speaking world, bringing together Africa, Asia and the Caribbean in a unique body. That is something to be celebrated.

But that is not to say it could not be improved: there does need to be more equality within the body. I for one would like to see a rotating Commonwealth figurehead rather than the position being confined to the British Queen.

The Commonwealth should be a forum - a place in which there can be debate and an exchange of ideas, maybe even a place to cut Britain down to size. No-one expects the Commonwealth to ever take on a legislative role, but it would be excellent to expand its consultative capacity.

Despite all my reservations I do want the Commonwealth to continue: I want it to be something my children and grandchildren can make use of too.


Eliza Francis is the editor of St Lucia's twice-weekly news magazine, The Star.

Commonwealth summits attract very little interest - and the issue of Zimbabwe seems very remote indeed. Nonetheless, it has started people thinking - what does it mean to be a member of the Commonwealth? What is the importance of Mr Mugabe deciding to leave the body?

For most people, being in the Commonwealth is barely something that registers. It leave the man on the street cold. It is totally unclear what we gain from membership.

In this sense, it is hard to understand why people say that Commonwealth membership is of particular use to the smaller countries as a means of expressing their opinions on the world stage.

People in St Lucia do not think of the Commonwealth when they think of organisations in which they have a voice. It is a distant body - a hangover from a time past - which means little to the majority here.


What are your thoughts on the future of the Commonwealth? Please scroll down to the form below to send us a message.

The following comments reflect the balance of opinions we have received.

I can't see any point in the Commonwealth even existing. If Blair really thinks he can criticise Zimbabwe for its poor human rights, and insists Zimbabwe should not come back to the Commonwealth while Mugabe is in power, then why is it that the UK government has got good relations with Iran, the country with the worst human right record in the world?
Sam, UK

It is not irrelevant as such when we consider such issues as good governance, but the manner in which it is dominated by white countries means it may become irrelevant just like the UN where the US and Britain are calling the shots.
Ozias Moyo, Zimbabwe

Commonwealth? What's the point - all the members seem to hate us and lecture us with the same old boring argument about colonialism so why don't we just leave them to whine about the past so we can move forward with our real friends and allies. These European and North American relationships are mutually beneficial. The Commonwealth does nothing, is nothing, and seems to cause the UK nothing but problems, so why bother?
Sandy, UK

The Commonwealth clearly is an archaic institution that serves no real purpose in the 21st century. Britain decided long ago, for good or bad, that its future lay in Europe. Thus, we should participate fully in Europe so we have an accountable democratic institution that does have relevancy to us.
John George, UK

It stands to the honour of Great Britain's quest for democracy that this body exists - nations from all corners of the world stand side by side, overcoming inequalities, faces from every race and religion and economic standpoint on the planet, stepping out of the shadow of imperialism - together with common goals. To its credit, the Commonwealth nations have been able to face the past - name it for what it is - with the kind of grace and humility seen no where else in the world - and use it as a force for good embodied with hope for the future.
J. E. Seaman, USA

We as Zimbabweans are suffering because of Mugabe's continued rule. We don't think the Commonwealth is serving its purpose. Joining such a body is unnecessary. The body has come to be a platform where former colonial power Britain and its white racist cousins bully the former colonies for their own interests. Although Mugabe is a failure in Zimbabwe it does not mean he has not done anything good for his own citizens. He brought us education, freedom, although he has also brought us poverty. The UN should be the body to oversee world affairs.

We say down with the Commonwealth and down with Mugabe.
Patrick Tsodzo, youth chairman for NGO Crisis Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe

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Yahoo News

Poor Countries Said Posing Worst Threat to Media

GENEVA (Reuters) - Some developing country leaders attending a United
Nations  summit set to declare media freedoms a universal right are
themselves persecuting independent journalists at home, a leading press
advocate said on Wednesday.

"It is largely in the poorest, least-developed nations where this repression
of information and opinion is at its most severe," Timothy Balding,
Director-General of the World Association of Newspapers, told a seminar at
the meeting.

And he said the Internet, focus of what the U.N. has dubbed the "World
Summit for the Information Society," was often the front line between
oppressive governments and reporters and editors seeking to use it to escape
official censorship.

The Internet, and the worldwide information web that it supports, was
increasingly the recourse of developing country "cyber-journalists" seeking
to gather or disseminate news suppressed by state-controlled media, Balding
added.

The summit -- and a follow-up set for Tunisia in 2005 -- was called by the
U.N. as part of an effort to help spread the benefits of information
technology and the Internet more evenly between rich and poor states.

In a final declaration on Friday, the three-day gathering is due to endorse
provisions on press freedom enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration on
Human Rights.

But Western-based press and rights organizations say the summit can do
little for ordinary people in the Third World unless their leaders stop
efforts to censor what have been dubbed as the "new media"

"Many of the principle barriers and obstacles to development of the Internet
as a platform for free expression have been erected by the very governments
who are in attendance," Balding told hundreds of journalists and officials
at a seminar.

"The biggest obstacle to a prosperous information future may be sitting next
to you in this hall."

On Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General used a pre-summit meeting to issue a
pointed and passionate plea for an end to harassment and persecution of
journalists -- just as Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe arrived in Geneva
to attend the summit.

Mugabe, criticized for abusing human rights and muzzling newspapers, radio
and television, was due to address the gathering later on Wednesday.

Balding, whose Paris-based body represents newspapers on five continents,
made no direct reference to Mugabe, or to Tunisia's President Zine
al-Abidine Ben Ali who, critics say, also enforces strict media control.

"Governments all over the world, their pens poised to sign this
declaration," he said, "are dreaming up new ways to gag and break the spirit
of those men and women who are daring to put into practice these ideas and
principles," he declared.

In some of the poorest countries "thousands of journalists -- more and more
of them cyber-reporters -- are each year persecuted, murdered, beaten,
arrested and imprisoned, often for doing no more than for questioning the
right of their governments to take information hostage and to deprive their
fellow citizens of the right to debate," Balding added.

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News24

Nigerian envoy off to Harare
10/12/2003 16:17  - (SA)

Harare - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is expected to send a
high-ranking envoy to Harare in the next two weeks, after Zimbabwe quit the
Commonwealth, a diplomat said here on Wednesday.

"Our president will send an envoy before Christmas, but when the man is
coming, I am not informed, who is coming, we don't know yet," a diplomat at
the Nigerian embassy in Harare said.

He dismissed local media reports that Obasanjo himself would head for Harare
next week.

"He will send an envoy, he did not say he is coming," said the official.

Obasanjo was last in Harare three weeks ago before he took the decision not
to invite President Robert Mugabe to the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting (CHOGM), which was held in the Nigerian capital at the weekend.

The Commonwealth decided on Sunday to prolong Zimbabwe's suspension from the
grouping of mainly former British colonies and appointed a seven-nation
committee made up of Australia, Canada, India, Jamaica, Mozambique, Nigeria
and South Africa to undertake a dialogue with Mugabe.

Mugabe said if any of them visited him, he would "welcome them in a
brotherly and friendly way as leaders of their respective nations, but not
as representatives of the Commonwealth".

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News24

Zim parliament in uproar
10/12/2003 20:31  - (SA)

Harare - Uproar broke out in Zimbabwe's parliament on Wednesday as
government and opposition MPs debated the country's withdrawal from the
Commonwealth.

Through a barrage of interjections from MPs of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change and repeated demands for order from speaker Emmerson
Mnangagwa, Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge opened debate by dismissing
criticism of issues of human rights and democracy and declaring that the
decision was taken in preference "to being treated as a lackey."

He called Australian prime minister John Howard "the butcher of Baghdad" and
Commonwealth foreign secretary-general Don McKinnon "the liar."

An enraged President Robert Mugabe made the decision on Sunday night,
immediately after he was told that the Commonwealth summit in Abuja,
Nigeria, had decided to continue indefinitely the government's suspension
from the 54-member body.

On Tuesday Mugabe's cabinet approved withdrawal from the 54-member body of
mostly former British colonies.

Both cabinet and parliamentary endorsement have to be given for the pull-out
to be legally effective, lawyers said.

Mudenge also said that Commonwealth membership brought no benefits, and said
that scholarships and preferential visas for subjects of Commonwealth
nations were "as good as dead" as "(former British prime minister Margaret)
Mrs Thatcher did away with all that."

About 100 000 Zimbabweans have fled to Britain, Australia, Canada and New
Zealand in the last four years of economic and political mayhem and secured
residence there on the strength of being Commonwealth citizens, many of them
on scholarships provided by the "club."

Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party has a comfortable majority in the 150-seat
legislature, although party officials had to broadcast orders over state
radio today to its MPs to attend parliament, in an apparent bid to avoid
previous embarrassing defeats by the MDC when ruling party MPs didn't bother
to turn up for debates.

MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube praised the Commonwealth's decision to
extend Zimbabwe's suspension, but said that Mugabe's response "shows his
determination to maintain dictatorship, violation of human rights, and
denial of people's democratic rights."

Zimbabwe was suspended in April last year, after Commonwealth election
observers reported that Mugabe's victory in a presidential ballot a month
before was the result of violent intimidation and fraud.

The Commonwealth secretariat said shortly before the Abuja summit that
Mugabe's government had done nothing since the suspension to merit having it
lifted.

The government has since attacked the Commonwealth as an "imperialist" body
controlled by "the racist white Commonwealth."

The committee recommending the suspension was openly backed by East and West
African, Caribbean and Pacific nations, as well as India.

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New Zimbabwe

Mbeki feeding off Mugabe's mess

By Charles Onyango-Obbo
10/12/03
FROM the "very concerned" feelings Commonwealth leaders are expressing over
Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's decision to quit the Club after it voted
at the just-ended Abuja summit to continue his country's suspension, you
would think Harare would really be missed.

However, it should be remembered that Mugabe has slowly been making his
country irrelevant internationally.

When a government brings down its country to a position where it has no
moral and political authority at home or in its region, and bankrupts the
economy, it becomes inconsequential in world politics.

Mugabe has made Zimbabwe largely irrelevant, and it will not really be
missed in the Commonwealth.

It is like when dictator Idi Amin got Uganda suspended from the
Commonwealth.

Despite the regular international headline-grabbing antics he would put on,
threatening to attend the Commonwealth though he was not invited, the Club
seemed to be much better off without him.

Zimbabwe reached the no-turning point when Mugabe plunged headlong into the
conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

All the countries that dug in too deep in the DRC conflict, and were unable
to pull out early, like Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Rwanda, have paid a big
political price.

The fact that their foreign intervention descended into what the UN and
other international organisations allege is an orgy of looting and plunder,
and also became a humanitarian catastrophe in which up to three million
people have died, damaged the international prestige of these countries.

Small wonder then that Uganda's application to hold next year's Commonwealth
Summit, was wrecked by the difficulty that the Museveni government rules as
a quasi-one-party regime and wants to amend the constitution to allow a
president to rule for life.

In an unusual step, the Club said Uganda can have it in 2007. It lost out to
late entrant Malta. Uganda deserved to host the Commonwealth summit, if only
as a gift for our resilience.

Hopefully, if by 2007 the government has washed its political hands clean,
it will happen.

If the Harare government has been haemorrhaging internationally for many
years, why then were respected leaders like South Africa's president Thabo
Mbeki, fighting against the exclusion of Mugabe, one might ask.

The conventional wisdom is that because South Africa has the same land
problem as Zimbabwe, by engaging Mugabe, Mbeki hopes to push Harare to
resolve the land question before it inflames the blacks in South Africa to
rise in similar fashion against their white farmers.

That, however, is a simplistic view.

Quite a few people in Africa who believe that the land situation in Zimbabwe
was unacceptable, going by what one reads in newspapers and from the
Internet, are nevertheless horrified at the violence and corruption with
which the campaign has been marked.

But most of all, the near economic collapse that has happened in Zimbabwe
partly as a result.

So, far from exciting the landless in South Africa to rise against white
farmers, the Zimbabwe land crisis has probably instead weakened the case for
a similar beat-and-seize "solution" in South Africa.

In that way, Mbeki has benefited from Mugabe's mess, and probably bought
himself more time to work on a more creative land distribution plan in South
Africa.

Secondly, the Mugabe government was the only one in the South African
Development Community (SADC) that used to confront South Africa strongly on
its appalling failure to reciprocate the access other countries give it to
their markets by opening its own.

While it is by far Africa's leading economy, South Africa also has some of
the continent's highest protectionist barriers.

Now with Zimbabwe deliquent, and largely dependent on South Africa to limp
along, Mugabe can least afford to confront Pretoria on its anti-free market
ways.

More importantly, Zimbabwe used to be the one economy in the region that was
more efficient than South Africa in agriculture, for example, and had an
independent industrial base.

The others in the region, with the exception of Angola in the oil sector,
largely thrive on South African capital and industrial supplies to run their
economies.

Zimbabwe's descent into a derelict agricultural and industrial economy, only
helps South Africa to seal its dominance in the sub-region.

Mbeki's posture mostly enables him to escape criticism that he has turned
traitor and stabbed a country that supported the anti-apartheid struggle in
the back.

It also helps Mbeki maintain credibility - and thus be able to influence -
the sections of South African society who would like some "serious action"
taken to solve their own land problems.

The pro-Mugabe position of most southern African countries therefore does
not help Zimbabwe.

It only profits its neighbours. And Mugabe's withdrawal of his country from
the Commonweath has handed his successor a quick future diplomatic victory -
using the readmission of post-Mugabe Zimbabwe into the Club as a stamp of
international approval - THE MONITOR

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Extract from  http://www.savethechildren.org.uk

Humanitarian situation

ZIMBABWE

Despite more favourable rainfall in 2003, millions of Zimbabweans continue
to face food insecurity. Poduction prospects for the 2003/4 season have not
been improved by shortages of fertilizer, seeds, fuel and agricultural
equipment spare parts. The national Grain Marketing Board has drastically
increased selling prices of maize (in some cases several times), preventing
people from buying it. Water shortages, particularly in southern areas,
remain critical for both humans and livestock. Large numbers of livestock
have died from lack of food and water or foot and mouth disease. Throughout
Zimbabwe people’s coping mechanisms have been eroded from the succession of
difficulties they have been facing, including drought, cyclone, land issues,
economic decline and HIV/AIDS. Regular means of earning alternative income
have disappeared and millions of people remain highly vulnerable. According
to a report by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries the economy is
currently in its fifth year of recession with no signs of recovery. Large
numbers of Zimbabweans have poured into South Africa in recent years. A BBC
reporter wrote on the 21st October 2003 that South Africa is now
transporting 2,000 Zimbabweans back home every month . With unemployment in
Zimbabwe estimated at an all time high of 70% many will not find work at
home and are likely to try to return to South Africa or go elsewhere. There
are approximately 100,000 displaced people inside Zimbabwe - the majority of
whom are ex farm-workers – requiring food aid assistance as well as non-food
items.h no signs of recovery. Large numbers of Zimbabweans have poured into
South Africa in recent years. A BBC reporter wrote on the 21st October 2003
that South Africa is now transporting 2,000 Zimbabweans back home every
month . With unemployment in Zimbabwe estimated at an all time high of 70%
many will not find work at home and are likely to try to return to South
Africa or go elsewhere. There are approximately 100,000 displaced people
inside Zimbabwe - the majority of whom are ex farm-workers – requiring food
aid assistance as well as non-food items.

SC(UK ) response

Food aid

Within the current political climate in Zimbabwe international agencies have
come under intense scrutiny and suspicion, particularly in relation to food
aid distributions. There have been restrictions imposed by the Zimbabwe
government on work in key areas at different times including a 7 – 8 week
suspension of all Save the Children’s activities in October/November 2002.
In 2003 Save the Children resumed food aid activities. In April/May 2003
Save the Children conducted a Household Economy Assessment Study in Binga
district. Based on the results of that study food aid distributions to
communities in Binga, beginning in 2002, will continue to March/April 2004
reaching up to 800,000 people. Save the Children is a core member of the
Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) of Zimbabwe and has influenced food
distribution methods and succeeded in getting the children of resettled
farmers included in food aid programmes. Moreover, Save the Children’s work
has made a major contribution to persuading donors to look into the broader
effects of increasing food insecurity on children’s welfare including for
instance on increased child labour, decreased school attendance and
increasing engagement in commercial sex work. uading donors to look into the
broader effects of increasing food insecurity on children’s welfare
including for instance on increased child labour, decreased school
attendance and increasing engagement in commercial sex work.

Water

92 schools participate in Save the Children’s water programme in the Zambezi
Valley. The programme focuses on practical operation and maintenance of
water points (providing more pump mechanics and minders) as well as health
and hygiene education for the children.

Reproductive Health

Save the Children has carried out research on children and young people’s
sexual health in Binga, Nyaminyami and Mutorashanga and intends to use the
findings to advocate for specific issues to be included in the reproductive
health policy currently being developed by the Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare. Save the Children has fed back results of the research to affected
communities. Some groups in Mulindi, Pashu, Chinonge, Nagangala and
Sinampande in Binga District have formed child sexual abuse committees to
deal with some of the problems highlighted therein. For example how some
traditional practices are impacting negatively on children.

Save the Children has completed seven youth friendly centres for
reproductive health advice in the district and peer education groups have
been established to help spread messages. In Chinonge one peer education
group chose to launch a fundraising campaign to pay the 2003 school fees for
some HIV/AIDS orphans who had been forced to drop out of school.
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News24

Museveni: Zim pullout 'serious'
10/12/2003 10:38  - (SA)

Kampala - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday said Zimbabwe's
decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth was "a serious matter and a
dangerous turn" for the club made up mostly of former British colonies.

Museveni said efforts were underway to reconcile the opposing positions
taken on the issue by Commonwealth states during their summit in the
Nigerian capital, Abuja.

"There is an effort to merge the two positions because this is a serious
matter, but we shall know the position in the next few days," Museveni told
a press conference in Kampala after returning from Nigeria.

"But surely these are dangerous turns for the Commonwealth," he added.

Zimbabwe pulled out of the Commonwealth on Monday, a day after delegates at
a summit in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, indefinitely prolonged its
suspension from the club's organs.

Uganda is a member of the Commonwealth.

Also on Tuesday, the state-owned New Vision newspaper criticised Mugabe and
the southern African countries that were reluctant to condemn Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe.

"Both Zimbabwe and other African nations should welcome constructive
criticism," the paper's editorial noted.

"They (African Nations) should not delude themselves that the country
(Zimbabwe) will recover just because Mugabe is readmitted to the
Commonwealth and we pretend everything is better for Zimbabwe," it added.

Museveni told the news conference that Uganda had been chosen to host the
2007 Commonwealth summit.

Uganda will not expire

"My work has been to invite the Commonwealth, but it will be hosted under a
different government not this one. Life has to continue, Uganda will not
expire," Museveni said.

Museveni declined to say whether he meant he had decided to abide by the
constitution and leave office when his second elected term ends in 2006.

Museveni's plans on this point are a constant source of debate in Uganda.

In October, the president, who first came to power at the head of an armed
rebellion in 1986, suggested he might remain in office.

"The more you talk about my staying in power, the more I may change my mind
about leaving, as it makes me wonder why you are interested in my leaving
yet you are not showing a vision for the future," said Museveni, whose
entourage has been lobbying for the two-term limit to be lifted.

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Toronto Star

      Dec. 10, 2003. 01:00 AM

      Editorial: Mugabe hurts Africa

      Robert Mugabe has done Zimbabweans no favour by quitting the
Commonwealth. Their unhappy political isolation will now be complete.

      And the manner of his leaving, after a bruising Commonwealth summit in
Abuja, Nigeria, hurts all of Africa. In the twilight of a too-long
presidency that began in 1980 at independence, Mugabe, now 79, has betrayed
not only his 12 million people, but many millions more.

      Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and the other leaders spent too much time
debating Mugabe's autocracy, and too little grappling with poverty, AIDS,
barriers to trade, and debt.

      Mugabe wasn't welcome, or present, in Abuja. He watched from a
distance and announced Zimbabwe would quit when the 54-nation club refused
to lift his suspension, because he continues to subvert democracy after
stealing last year's election, to persecute rivals like Morgan Tsvangirai,
to weaken the courts and suppress the media.

      Despite a push by South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique and other countries
to lift Zimbabwe's suspension, and Mugabe's bogus assertion that Zimbabwe is
under attack by the old "white" Commonwealth, the club avoided a fatal split
and held firm, rightly refusing to readmit Zimbabwe, or Pakistan's
discredited regime.

      To do otherwise would have betrayed the club's democratic principles,
inviting lawlessness elsewhere.

      Exclusion from the Commonwealth deprives Mugabe of legitimacy, travel
options, an international stage and trade and aid. Zimbabwe also may be
expelled from the International Monetary Fund, losing financing at a time
when jobs, food and fuel are in short supply.

      Absent direct Commonwealth pressure, Mugabe may feel freer to harass
his political foes. But he cannot hang on forever, pariah that he is. Those
who are manoeuvring to succeed him have been put on blunt notice that
democratic reform is the ticket back into the family.

      That should give Zimbabwe's democrats hope in a bleak season.

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