New Zimbabwe
IBA calls for International Criminal Court trial for
Mugabe
By Terry Leonard
Last updated: 12/11/2004 00:15:20
THE
International Bar Association accused Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe
of a
long list of atrocities and said Friday that the International Criminal
Court should bring him to justice since African nations had failed to do
so.
Mark Ellis, the IBA executive director, said there was
well-documented and
staggering evidence that Mugabe's government has
committed murder, torture,
rape, abduction and enslavement.
Officials
at the Zimbabwe presidency and communications ministry were not
available
for comment. But Mugabe has accused Britain and other Western
countries of
unfair criticism of his country's record on human rights and
democracy.
The attack on Mugabe's regime was contained in a six-page
IBA supplement on
the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe published
Friday in South
Africa's weekly Mail and Guardian and Zimbabwe's weekend
Independent
newspapers. Zimbabwe's only independent daily was shut down by
the
government in defiance of court orders.
Zimbabwe's descent into
this unimaginable chaos is the result of the
perverse policies of its
president, Ellis said in the lead article.
``His systematic oppression of
an increasingly impoverished people and his
government's widespread policy
of subverting the press, the rule of law and
human rights are a desperate
and brutal attempt to retain political power at
all costs,'' he
wrote.
Ellis said other inhumane acts by Mugabe's government include the
systematic
policy of denying food aid to anyone who is not a member of his
ruling
ZANU-PF party.
He said Mugabe should be held accountable by
the International Criminal
Court, based in The Hague, Netherlands. Even
though Zimbabwe has not
ratified the court, he said a post-Mugabe government
could request an
investigation and indictment.
He said an
investigation by the court would counter what he called the
``woeful
response to Mugabe's crimes'' by many African nations.
Ellis also singled
out the policy of the African Group at the United
Nations, led by South
Africa, to block resolutions deploring Zimbabwe's
human rights
record.
``Those who have been victimized by Mugabe deserve better,'' he
wrote.
Richard Goldstone, a retired South African Constitutional Court
Justice and
U.N. special prosecutor for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia,
said that,
unfortunately, Western criticism of state-sponsored violence and
torture are
seen as an anti-African campaign.
Beatrice Mtetwa, a
Zimbabwean human rights lawyer, and Kevin Laue, the
former chairman of
Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights, said they expect
state-sponsored
violence to escalate as the country nears parliamentary
elections in
March.
Laue said the independence of the press and judiciary has all but
been
destroyed and the peaceful activities of the opposition party violently
curtailed.
``The result has been an endless stream of torture
victims, destined to
become a flood as the election draws nearer,'' he
wrote.
AP
Amnesty International
Zimbabwe: NGO law is an outrageous attack on human
rights
Amnesty International is outraged at the enactment yesterday (9
December
2004) of a new law in Zimbabwe which bans foreign human rights
organisations
from working in the country, and could be used to close down
local human
rights groups.
Kolawole Olaniyan, Director of Amnesty
International's Africa Program, said:
"The law is a direct attack on
human rights in Zimbabwe and should be
immediately repealed."
The
Non-governmental Organisations Act (NGO Act) specifically targets
organisations that "promote and protect human rights." It also gives the
government sweeping powers to interfere with the operations of any NGO in
Zimbabwe through a government-appointed NGO Council.
Under the Act,
Zimbabwean NGOs are prohibited from receiving any foreign
funding to engage
in human rights work.
Kolawole Olaniyan continued:
"Preventing
local NGOs from receiving foreign funding for human rights work
would
effectively mean the end of many vital human rights projects, as there
is so
little local funding available.
"The Act is a disaster for victims of
human rights violations and human
rights defenders. It is wholly
inconsistent with Zimbabwe's obligations
under international human rights
law. We have grave fears that those
organizations that have done most to
raise awareness of the human rights
situation in Zimbabwe will now be
targeted for closure."
Amnesty International believes that the
legislation will be applied
selectively, as has been the case with other
repressive legislation
introduced over the last four years. The Media
Information Commission,
established by the 2002 Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act
(AIPPA), has already been used to severely repress
independent media in
Zimbabwe.
Kolawole Olaniyan
continued:
"If the NGO Act is enforced across the board, tens of
thousands of people
being assisted by NGO programs could
suffer.
"Reputable and dedicated human rights organisations in Zimbabwe
provide
vital medical and psychological care, and legal advice, to victims
of human
rights violations. Most victims have nowhere else to turn in a
country where
unemployment is above 70 per cent and the health service has
been severely
eroded."
The NGO Act replaces the Private Voluntary
Organizations (PVO) Act, itself a
very repressive law introduced during the
colonial period.
On 9 December 2004 the Parliament of Zimbabwe also
enacted the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission Act and the Criminal Law
Codification and Reform Act,
both of which also contain clauses that violate
internationally recognised
human rights.
Amnesty International is
calling for the immediate repeal of the NGO Act.
Any legislation governing
the operation of NGOs must be consistent with
Zimbabwe's human rights
obligations.
ZTA Fails tourist industry
The Zimbabwe Tourist Authority has helped in
the demise of Zimbabwe's once
thriving tourist industry. With a more selfish
and political agenda they
have been dancing down the wrong path. A thriving
tourist industry can only
thrive when those who work with tourists can
function properly. These are
the safari companies, hotels and other
businesses who have dealt with
tourists over the years. Within these
organisations are the experts who
could put things right and know how to do
proper marketing. Well ZTA what
went wrong? The first thing you did was to
get control of the tourist
industry and employ useless and incompetitent
staff. Step no two is milk the
tourist companies with levies. After weakening
these companies you then
start passing laws and producing lots of paperwork
to stifle the tourist
companies. Over the years you have been one of the
tourist industries worst
enemies. Instead of dealing with the real issues
that have chased tourists
away, you in your confused state go on expensive
trips over seas and waste
money in dismal marketing. Even with the negative
perception that Zimbabwe
has, the ZTA could do better. First of all get rid
of the expensive visa
fees. Once a tourist enters the country he has to eat,
drink, sleep and do
things ie they will then spend money. High visa fees
discourage people from
even looking at this country. Secondly push for a
reduction in parks fees.
Tourists will only pay so much to enter a park and
we are competing with
other parks in africa. Being cheaper you will undercut
other parks in the
region, which often have better game and facilities
anyway. Push for better
border facilities and reliable fuel supplies to
encourage regional tourists
to enter. Try getting Gideon to bring the
official rate in line with the
black market, so they get a good deal from the
banks. Zimbabwe is expensive
at times. The list could go on - however also
try to face the truth about
Zimbabwe. Until there are some major political
changes, whatever you do to
try and spice up Zimbabwes image will not work.
Yes ZTA the people living
outside Zimbabwe are well informed. My question to
ZTA is, if we did so well
without a ZTA before, why must we have you
now?
Concerned Citizen
From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 10 December
It's war in
Zimbabwe
Godwin Gandu
The new Zanu PF leadership has
thrown down the gauntlet to the Zimbabwean
War Veterans' Association and
warned them not to "behave like renegades or
anarchists". The assertion that
they will brook no challenge to their
authority comes two days after the war
veterans pledged to stand by their
suspended leader, Jabulani Sibanda, in
open defiance of President Robert
Mugabe's appeal for unity at the Zanu PF
congress last week. Sibanda and six
provincial chairpersons were suspended
after attending a meeting in the
Tsholotsho district in the Matabeleland
province to drum up support for
Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa's
failed bid for one of the Zanu PF
vice-presidential berths. Zanu PF deputy
secretary for the commissariat Dr
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told the Mail and
Guardian: "War veterans are products of
the military wing of the party in
power. Genuine war veterans would respect
the directives of their party
leadership." In equally combative mood,
Sibanda hit back: "There are people
within the top echelons of the party who
would want to use the war veterans
as their tools. They want to give orders
on how we should think, what we
should do and what we should say and we are
saying its wrong."
A
war of words has also erupted over the legal status of party structures.
Two
weeks ago Mugabe told party leaders in Bulawayo that he would revamp the
War
Veterans' Association, whom he accused of "running a parallel agenda".
But
Sibanda is emphatic: "We are a separate entity." This is not the first
time
the war veterans have publicly taken on Mugabe, who is the association's
patron. In a show of bravado in August 1997 war veterans booed Mugabe during
the Heroes Day commemoration at the national shrine. They demanded
gratuities and compensation for their participation in the liberation war.
War veterans' leader at the time, Chenjerai Hunzvi, led members in a charge
on Mugabe's state house residence, forcing him to back down and release over
Z$2 billion to their cause. The unbudgeted expenditure precipitated a
decline in the Zimbabwean currency. Analysts predict that the discontent in
the party will escalate in the run-up to the Primaries - where Zanu-PF will
elect their candidates for next year's elections - that are expected to be
held soon.
Party insiders who commented on condition of anonymity
told the Mail &
Guardian that delegates whose chairpersons were
suspended were not happy
with the way the nomination process for the Zanu PF
top leadership was
conducted. "Provinces were bullied into voting for
[Joyce] Mujuru; it was
guided democracy." University of Zimbabwe academic
Brian Raftopolous said:
"It's a difficult period for the party; it was
shaken by the succession
issue. Mugabe might have to inject politicians from
the disgruntled
provinces, particularly Midlands and Masvingo, into his
Cabinet as a policy
of appeasement." One Cabinet member who could make way
in such a strategy is
Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo, who has been
fingered as the chief
mover behind the Tsholotsho gathering that cost the
provincial leaders their
jobs. Moyo's political future was this week still
in the balance. Last week
Mugabe lashed out at his former spin doctor,
describing his constituency as
representing "bad" and "evil". He has been
removed from the party's Central
Committee and is no longer eligible to
stand on the party ticket in his
Tsholotsho constituency.
But
party insiders are still wary of Moyo: "He still has the potential to
plot
against our president." They point out that even though he has taken a
knock
from the fallout around the succession battle he has not shown any
remorse
for hosting the controversial meeting. "All the chairpersons,
including
[Justice Minister] Chinamasa, apologised, but Moyo still wants to
sound
intelligent and deny any wrongdoing. "He leaked confidential Politburo
[the
party's administrative organ] minutes to the Sunday News editor in a
bid to
exonerate himself." Sources said Mugabe dispatched his press
secretary,
George Charamba, to reprimand the editor. Moyo's fate will be
discussed by
the Zanu-PF Politburo next week.
From SW Radio Africa, 9 December
Shamu
With Jonathan Moyo
being sidelined, Webster Shamu is now being tipped as the
man most likely to
become the next Minister of Information and Publicity.
Currently he's the
Minister of Policy Implementation in the President's
Office and was once the
former editor of The People's Voice, the official
mouthpiece of Zanu PF.
According to one report a Zanu PF insider is alleged
to have said: "Shamu is
most likely to take over the information portfolio.
Moyo is already out and
some of the officials in the department of
information have already been
seconded to Shamu's ministry. That guy (Moyo)
is definitely out." Would
Shamu be a better Information Minister for
Zimbabwe? It doesn't look likely.
In the last election this MP for Chegutu
defeated his challenger Mr. Matibe,
but only after orchestrating an
extremely violent campaign. Zanu PF mobs
imposed no-go areas and were
responsible for numerous assaults. Mr Matibe's
wife and mother were both
accosted by gangs and threatened with death and
mutilation, as were the
families of many opposition candidates. Webster
Shamu is also a man who is
on the gravy train. He's making a fortune after
being given a hunting
concession and there are many questions being asked
about the illegal
activities involved in various hunting scams. Shamu's
business partner in
this venture is Charles Davy, whose daughter Chelsy is
currently dating
Britain's Prince Harry.
From The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 December
Bullied legal system key
to Mugabe's power
By Michael Pelly
Robert Mugabe has held
on to power by driving judges from office, corrupting
others and subverting
the entire legal system, an international committee of
barristers says.
Supporters of the Zimbabwean Government have been granted
land at nominal
rents and promoted above more senior colleagues, while
sensitive political
cases are handled by Mugabe sympathisers. Some
magistrates and prosecutors
"face not only psychological and physical
intimidation and threats of
violence, but actual violence and attacks on
their family and property", the
International Council of Advocates and
Barristers said. The judicial system
"has become profoundly compromised over
the past four years", the council
said in its report - The State of Justice
in Zimbabwe. "It has ceased to be
independent and impartial. The legal
culture has been subverted for
political ends There are lawyers and judges
who have been able to maintain
their integrity and independence, but they
have often been under great
pressure."
Even the Attorney-General, Bharat Patel - whose role is
more akin to a
Director of Public Prosecutions in Australia - conceded
politics was a
factor in the appointment of judges. A visit to Mr Patel's
office convinced
the council he was "under immense pressure from his
political masters". The
council team, which visited Harare in April,
included representatives from
England and Wales, Ireland, South Africa and
Glenn Martin, SC, the president
of the Queensland Bar Association. It said
the interference began after the
Government published a list of 1471
white-owned farms in 1997. Two years
later, the Administrative Court
declared the notices invalid and in 2000 the
Supreme Court ruled the
Government had failed to follow the correct
procedures for acquisition. In
the past three years four Supreme Court
judges have been replaced following
withering criticism from the government.
In March 2001, the former deputy
Justice Minister, Godfrey Chidyausiku, was
appointed Chief Justice - a month
after accusing the then chief justice,
Anthony Gubbay, of "bias in favour of
white farmers". Six months later he
was listed as the owner of 895 hectares
of farmland in Mazoe. Two of the
other appointees have been given more than
1800 hectares.
The council also recorded the arrest of two judges,
one of whom found the
Justice Minister guilty of contempt in his last case
before retirement. Last
year, a serving High Court judge was arrested in
chambers after handing down
a series of anti-Government decisions. The
charges in both cases were later
withdrawn. At the lower end of the justice
system, magistrates have also
been under attack. In August 2002, one was
dragged out of his courtroom by
Zanu PF supporters after he granted bail to
two officials from the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Another
was stabbed. There are
now 59 vacancies for magistrates' posts and a backlog
of more than 60,000
cases. The council found the judiciary was attacked "to
frustrate the proper
workings of democracy and to hold on to power. It seems
clear they would not
have held on to power otherwise."
Daily News online edition
Protesters knock at Khaya Moyo*s
gate
Date: 11-Dec, 2004
PRETORIA - A
demonstration against human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe nearly turned nasty
when angry protesters tried to pull down the
gate to the main entrance at
the country's embassy here on Friday.
Amnesty
International South Africa and the World Alliance for
Citizen Participation
(CIVICUS) who co-ordinated the demonstration as the
world commemorated the
International Human Rights Day however managed to
restrain the
protesters.
The protesters were angered by Zimbabwean
ambassador to South
Africa, Simon Khaya Moyo's failure to come and receive a
petition they
wanted to hand over to him.
Amnesty
International campaigns co-ordinator, Joseph Dube said
the demo had achieved
its objectives despite Moyo's failure to turn up.
"We
have sent the petition to President Mugabe himself in Harare
and we are
going to continue lobbying until the situation improves in
Zimbabwe," said
Dube.
He said yesterday's demonstration was part of a
wider campaign
by the civic society in the region to show their solidarity
with the people
of Zimbabwe and assist in the normalisation of the situation
in that
country.
The petition calls on Mugabe and his
ruling Zanu PF to commit
themselves publicly to end the violence and human
rights abuses.
"Your Excellency, we remain committed to
the struggle for human
rights for all people in Zimbabwe and urge you to
make a personal and public
commitment, and to take concrete action to end
violence and abuses in
Zimbabwe and bring the guilty to justice," read part
of the petition.
The petition also calls on the
government to repeal repressive
laws such as the Public Order and Security
Act which curtail people's basic
rights.
Daily News online edition
Election crucial as badge of
legitimacy
Date: 11-Dec, 2004
THERE have been
elections recently in a number of countries. The most
controversial was in
the Ukraine, a former Soviet republic. The opposition
fought a relentless
struggle to overturn what they believed was the
fraudulent election of a
candidate of the ruling party.
The Supreme Court, although
supposedly beholden to the old regime,
backed the opposition's rejection of
the election results. By last week, new
elections had been scheduled for 26
December.
Previously, elections in another former Soviet
republic, Georgia, had
ended dramatically, with the incumbent president,
Edward Shevadnadze, forced
to flee the country after the opposition rejected
the election results.
Nobody called the outcome in the Ukraine
or Georgia the result of
"people power", as they did in the Phillipines when
the basically apolitical
Corazon Aquino came to power, after widespread
demonstrations against the
old, corrupt regime of Ferdinand
Marcos.
There were elections in Namibia, where the
Ovambo-dominated Swapo of
Sam Nujoma won an expected landslide victory.
Things were different in
Mozambique, where the opposition Renamo, as
stubborn as ever, charged the
poll was rigged in favour of the ruling party,
Frelimo, the party which
brought independence in 1975.
Ghana held parliamentary and presidential elections, won handsomely by
the
ruling party and the incumbent president.
John Kufuor had won
for the first time in 2000 against the party led
by Jerry Rawlings, the
two-time coup leader whose brash style was not very
popular with the
people.
Next March, all things being equal, it will be Zanu
PF's turn to seek
this badge of legitimacy. This is what elections ought to
symbolise,
although many critics of Zanu PF would insist that this party is
contemptuous of any Western-style brand of democracy.
In
most of these elections, ordinary citizens seemed more acutely
aware of
their power than ever before. The gospel of free and fair elections
as a
barometer of true democracy and the ruling party's popularity seems to
have
been accepted at last as a prerequisite for democratic rule.
In
that respect, if the MDC feels that the new electoral laws,
endorsed so
enthusiastically by Zanu PF, do not go far enough to guarantee a
free and
fair election, then they should not take part.
We know there
has been much debate on this subject - to boycott or not
to boycott.
Certainly, if the new electoral laws do not conform to the
guidelines set
out by the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) - and
so far, they
don't seem to - then there is no sense in the MDC believing
that
participation would make any difference to the outcome.
Zanu PF
ought to be aware that a boycott by the MDC would rob the
victor of any
legitimacy.
Most analysts believe Zanu PF is past caring what
the rest of the
world thinks of its actions, because the party is no longer
faithful to the
principles which underpinned the struggle - to give the
people their
unfettered freedom and restore their dignity as human
beings.
Zanu PF is now focused, almost insanely, on retaining
power at all
costs. Such insanity can only lead to a horrendous
climax.
If the party's' leadership still retains even a modicum
of interest in
the future of this country, then they will not lead us down
that path.
International Bar Association
Date: 10 December 2004
|
| Title: IBA Publishes Newspaper Feature on Violations in Zimbabwe
|
| Zimbabwe Bans NGOs on Eve of
International Human Rights Day |
|
In an
unprecedented move in the 57-year history of the International Bar Association (IBA), the IBA’s Human Rights Institute has placed an
eight-page supplement in two national newspapers. The purpose of the supplement
is to mark today’s International Human Rights Day, and to bring further focus to
the worsening situation in
Zimbabwe.
The supplement
will appear in South
Africa’s Mail & Guardian and
Zimbabwe’s Independent. The supplement gives a
voice to some of the leading human rights defenders in
Zimbabwe and
includes analysis from some of the most prominent human rights figures from
neighbouring South
Africa, Asia,
Europe and
America. The
content puts in stark relief the continuing and calculated stripping of
universal human rights from the people of
Zimbabwe
‘The enactment by the Zimbabwean regime of
the Non-governmental Organisations Bill, on the eve of International Human
Rights Day, shows utter contempt for human rights,’ says
Mark Ellis, IBA Executive Director. ‘We are deeply concerned for the people of
Zimbabwe given their Government’s resolve to deprive
them of fundamental freedoms.’
The supplement
focuses on such serious violations as systematic and organised torture, rape,
slavery, and other acts of political violence. It contains disturbing images of
brutality and injustice. However, most photographs were too graphic for
publication.
ENDS
[The
supplement is a pdf of 1 meg - if you want a copy let me know - Barbara]
For further comment please
contact:
Romana
St
Matthew - Daniel
Press Office
International Bar
Association
271
Regent Street
London W1B 2AQ, United
Kingdom
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7629
1206
Fax: + 44 (0)20 7409
0456 E-mail:
romana.daniel@int-bar.org |
| ...Ends...
|
Zim Online
JAILED MERCENARY MOURNS OF 'WATERLESS HELL' AT
CHIKURUBI
Sat 11 December 2004
CHIKURUBI - Jailed mercenary leader Simon
Mann yesterday told a delegation
of lawyers that visited Chikurubi Maximum
Prison just outside Harare that
the infamous jail was a "waterless
hell."
Some members of a Zimbabwe Law Society (ZLS) team that
toured the
country's prisons yesterday as part of activities to mark the
International
Human Rights Day said the former British special trooper told
of how the
small cells were frequently without water making them a hell in
Zimbabwe's
sweltering summer heat.
"Mann said there were
persistent water shortages in the cells
resulting in the prisons being a
hell to the inmates," said a lawyer who did
not want to be named because of
an earlier undertaking by the lawyers not to
speak to the Press about the
prison visit.
Mann is incarcerated at Chikurubi for seven years
after being
convicted by a Harare court of attempting to acquire weapons
illegally from
state-run Zimbabwe Defence Industries.
The
weapons were allegedly to be used to topple the government of
Equatorial
Guinea. But Mann and 65 of his associates say they wanted the
arms to
protect mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to
the ZSL lawyers other prisoners, most of them looking
sick and poorly fed,
also spoke of tough living conditions at the
penitentiary without enough
food, drinking or bathing water.
Another lawyer said: "The
prisoners are crowded and they complained of
insufficient and unbalanced
diet.
Actually, the prison cells I visited are not human inhabitable.
They
are a health time bomb. Most prisoners looked unhealthy probably
because of
their diet and lack of access to medical treatment."
Unconfirmed reports say about five prisoners die every day at
Chikurubi
because of poor conditions and lack of food.
The Supreme Court
reserved judgment earlier this year on an
application filed by Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions secretary general
Wellington Chibhebhe in which the
trade union leader wanted the court to
declare conditions in Zimbabwe's
prisons as inhabitable and a violation of
inmates' right to proper
sanitation.
Overcrowding and lack of resources have combined to
turn Zimbabwe's
prisons into death traps where inmates are often released
before completing
their sentences because they are too sick and are already
dying. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
ANALYSIS: Mugabe schemes to win back international
acceptance
Sat 11 December 2004
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's
exhortations this week for a
violence-free election next year reflected more
his burning desire to regain
international acceptance than a willingness to
stage a peaceful and
democratic poll, analysts said yesterday.
With his ruling ZANU PF party assured of victory as the opposition
looks
more weakened, Mugabe's new anti-violence stance was a strategy to woo
the
international community to endorse his party's victory in March 2005,
they
said.
University of Zimbabwe (UZ) political scientist Eldred
Masungure said:
"The situation demands this kind of exhortation from
President Mugabe. ZANU
PF is secure and confident of winning next year's
polls without violence."
He added: "In the past two major polls in
2000 and 2002 respectively,
violence served its purposes, helping ZANU PF to
win the elections.
"The other second point is that President Mugabe
and ZANU PF
desperately need international respect. President Mugabe's call
for a
violence-free election seems to be a strategy to gain entry into the
international community."
Mugabe, who is accused by critics of
using violence and downright
fraud to win elections, told Zimbabweans during
his state of the nation
address on Thursday that his government was going to
ensure that the poll
was not "marred by violence from whatever
quarter."
Political commentator and UZ mathematics lecturer Heneri
Dzinotyiwei
said the call by Mugabe, the first time the ZANU PF leader has
called for
peaceful elections in the last four years, could see a reduction
in violence
next year.
But Dzinotyiwei warned there was still
too much tension in the country
and there could still be violence especially
in urban areas where the MDC
was still much stronger.
He said:
"There might be no much violence next year till after the
polls but there
are still other fundamental issues on the ground that have
not been
addressed. There is still tension (that could break out into
violence.)"
According to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum
(ZHRF), which monitors
political violence and human rights abuses in the
country, tension is rising
in Zimbabwe ahead of the critical 2005 general
election.
The ZHRF, which is a coalition of 17 of the biggest human
rights and
pro-democracy civic groups in the country, blames most of the
violence on
militant supporters of Mugabe and his ZANU PF
party.
Masunungure said the prevailing mood in ZANU PF was that the
party
could cruise to a comfortable victory next year without the need to
use
violence to coerce Zimbabweans to return it into office.
A
raft of tough laws has almost crippled the MDC. Under government
security
laws, the opposition party cannot hold political meetings without
police
clearance. The main opposition party is virtually banned on
Zimbabwe's sole
radio and television stations, both owned and controlled by
the
state.
At the same time, the government has banned the country's
largest
daily paper, the Daily News, which was sympathetic to the
MDC.
Because of the apparently feeble challenge the MDC was likely
to offer
ZANU PF compared to previous elections, political violence was
likely to be
greatly reduced next year, a factor Mugabe was banking would
work to his
advantage in his efforts to re-engage the international
community, Masungure
said. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Protesters besiege Zimbabwe's embassy
Sat 11 December
2004
PRETORIA - About 100 Zimbabwean and South African nationals yesterday
protested at the Zimbabwean embassy in Pretoria against human rights
violations by President Robert Mugabe and his government.
The
demonstration was part of protests at Zimbabwe's embassies in
southern
Africa organised by human rights activists in the region to mark
the
International Human Rights Day and to highlight growing human rights
abuses
by the Harare government.
More and bigger protests are planned at
Zimbabwean embassies next
February, human rights activists told
ZimOnline.
In Pretoria, the peaceful demonstration nearly turned
nasty when angry
protesters, bitter that ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo refused
to come out and
receive their petition, tried to pull down the gate at the
main entrance
into the embassy.
"I am however excited at the
fact that we were able to come here and
send a message to the Zimbabwean
government. We were able to show solidarity
with the people of Zimbabwe. I
think that was one of the achievements," said
Dube.
An official
with Amnesty International's South African office, which
was co-ordinating
the protests, Joseph Dube said they had sent the petition
to Mugabe by
courier.
"I am however excited at the fact that we were able to
come here and
send a message to the Zimbabwean government. We were able to
show solidarity
with the people Zimbabwe," Dube said.
According
to reports from Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique, there were
also protests at
Harare's embassies there. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
FEATURE: Without well-wishers, we could have been dead by now,
say AIDS
patients
Sat 11 December 2004
BULAWAYO - For Lucy Ncube,
World AIDS Day commemorated here last week was
just another
day.
The 35-year-old mother of three spent the day, commemorated
worldwide
on December 1, hungry and writhing in pain on the floor of her mud
hut at
Trenance squatter camp about eight kilometers from Bulawayo's central
business district.
Ncube has been bed-ridden for the past two
years. Her immediate
relatives and neighbours at the camp know that she is
living with HIV/AIDS
but no one says it openly.
As has become
the norm in Zimbabwe when talking about people living
with HIV/AIDS, "Lucy
is just sick."
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 13.3 million women have
been diagnosed
with HIV and 57 percent of the known HIV-infected population
is female.
However, fear and ignorance have combined to form a
formidable barrier
to tackling the epidemic in the country.
Many people delay treatment for opportunistic infections because of
fear of
stigmatisation. Bureaucracy in the disbursement of funds has also
worsened
the plight of those living with AIDS.
Ncube is no longer worried
about what people say.
"All what I want is something to eat, a
comfortable place to sleep and
some pills to ease my pain. I have been sick
for too long to worry," she
says as she struggles to sit up.
Ncube usually has a plate of sadza and boiled vegetables as her only
meal
but sometimes things become really nasty and she goes for days without
eating anything other than a plate of watery porridge without
sugar.
Ncube is one of the many people who are living with AIDS at
Trenance
squatter camp.
Residents at the camp complain that
AIDS organisations around Bulawayo
have not given enough attention to their
plight.
The organisations however maintain that it is not prudent
to run
programmes at the camp because the squatters are illegal and can be
moved
anytime by local authorities.
AIDS organisations also
said the funds they were allocated were only
for those who have been
HIV-tested and have certificates to prove they
tested positive.
"The funds we have at the moment are not enough to cater for everyone
who is
HIV positive but we are somehow trying to reach out to them. As it
is, we
have put in place a medical assistance facility for those who can
prove they
are HIV positive," said a National AIDS Council official last
Saturday.
He added: "We are making sure they get treated even
if they don't have
the money for treatment. Again it is very difficult to
assist these settlers
because they are illegally settled at the
camp."
But the squatters insist the government and civic society
should help
them all the same regardless of whether they are staying at the
camp legally
or illegally.
As Dumezweni Nkala, who lives at the
camp with his family, puts it:
"We are Zimbabweans like everyone else. That
is why we vote. Why is it that
the issue of our legality is only arising now
when we have been allowed to
vote in the past?"
According to
Nkala, it was difficult for relatives, most of whom did
not have enough
money to feed their own families to look after sick
relatives at the camp
because of the ever rising cots of drugs and food.
He said: "Taking
care of the terminally-ill in the filthy conditions
that prevail at the camp
is difficult. Hygiene is being compromised by the
lack of running
water."
The several hundreds of families at the squatter camp
depend on the
dirty Umguza river a stone's throw away from the camp for
bathing and
drinking water while the small bush nearby serves as the
toilet.
Sandile Mthethwa, who has lived at Trenance for the last
three years
summed up the tough test of endurance at the camp. "Life is
tough here. Our
relatives are themselves struggling to feed their own
families to be able to
help us. Without well-wishers, many of us could have
been dead by now," she
said. - ZimOnline
Courier Mail, Brisbane
Sponsors ditch Zimbabwe cricket
From
correspondents in Harare
11dec04
ZIMBABWE Cricket union has lost two of
its three major sponsors and another
will shortly hold talks about their
future commitments.
The Japanese automaker Nissan completed its current
contract after the final
match of the England tour in Bulawayo on Sunday and
is not renewing, sources
said.
Nissan had been supplying about 70
cars at heavy discounts for use by
executives, officials, coaches and other
staff.
Bata Shoe company, the biggest in Zimbabwe, withdrew all
sponsorship about a
month ago. It had been supplying equipment and clothing,
some of it imported
from Pakistan.
Managing director Edwin Duthie
said the main reason was "because I could
hardly spend so much money on
cricket while at the same time laying off
workers."
He added:
"However, I did become concerned about the performance of the
present
Zimbabwe team. We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the
national
side over the years but I'm afraid there seems to be little hope of
real
improvement soon. It's a matter of credibility for us."
Simon Hamilton,
chief executive of Old Mutual, a leading finance house here,
said he would
be having talks with Zimbabwe Cricket in the next few weeks.
"I am not
able to say anything about my approach to those talks. They are
necessary
because our three-year contract with Zimbabwe Cricket concludes in
February
or March," he said.
He confirmed that Old Mutual had spent more than $US1
million ($1.32
million) in support of Zimbabwe cricket since
2000.
The Old Mutual sponsorship relates notably to Test
matches.
Zimbabwe were suspended from Test cricket after two crushing
defeats at home
to Sri Lanka in May, but are due to return to the five-day
game in January
with a series away to fellow strugglers
Bangladesh.
Talks are also due soon over the sponsorship of the Zimbabwe
cricket
academy, the establishment and construction of which were mainly
funded by a
foreign exchange bureau, CFX, which has since supported
it.
Manager Kevin Butler said: "Discussions about future sponsorship are
on the
table. Our contract is up for renewal soon." He was not prepared to
say
whether his attitude to renewal would be negative or
positive.
The England tour was not covered for South Africa and Zimbabwe
TV viewers,
for the first time in years, resulting in considerable loss of
income. And
losses owed to unplayed Tests against Australia and England are
believed to
have exceeded $US600,000 ($794,700).
Zimbabwe opposition says victim of rights abuses
10 Dec 2004 17:01:54
GMT
Source: Reuters
By Stella Mapenzauswa
HARARE, Dec
10 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition on Friday accused
President Robert
Mugabe's government of failing to stop political violence
against its
supporters in 2004 and said free polls could not take place in
such a
climate of fear.
In a report to mark International Human Rights Day the
main opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) chronicled what it said
were human
rights abuses perpetrated against scores of its supporters and
officials
since the start of the year.
"Although the figures show an
improvement on previous years, the very fact
that human rights abuses
continue to be perpetrated on such a large scale
emphasises the appalling
decay of governance standards in Zimbabwe," MDC
spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi
said in a statement.
"This decay precludes a free and fair elections from
taking place."
The MDC blames the attacks on supporters of Mugabe's
ruling ZANU-PF party,
graduates of a controversial youth national training
programme, state
security agents and veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s
independence war.
In one such incident, the MDC said a 53-year old
activist was killed in the
northeastern Shamva district during a
door-to-door attack on opposition
supporters in January.
Three MDC
women were reportedly abducted and subsequently raped on a farm in
eastern
Zimbabwe by war veterans while another opposition activist was
killed on the
same property.
"The report is an indictment of the activities of the
current government and
underlines how political oppression in Zimbabwe
remains a pervasive force,"
Nyathi said.
He said the Zimbabwean
political landscape "ensures the maintenance of an
environment in which
arbitrary arrest and violent attacks continue be the
government's only
response to the people's growing desire for freedom."
Nyathi said seven
MDC legislators, 53 party officials and hundreds of
activists had been
victims of "arbitrary arrest, intimidation, beatings or
torture".
Mugabe's government denies that its supporters have carried
out attacks on
opposition supporters, and in turn accuses the MDC of
fuelling the political
violence which has plagued the country over the past
four years.
Police also reject charges that they have taken a partisan
stance in favour
of ZANU-PF when handling cases of political
violence.
On Friday about 20 Zimbabwe rights lawyers held a demonstration
decrying
what they said was a lack of freedom of expression in the country,
and also
slammed the passing by parliament, in which ZANU-PF enjoys a wide
majority,
of an NGO bill banning foreign rights groups from working in
Zimbabwe.
Cambridge News
'Homeless' woman has to leave hospital bed
Published on
10 December 2004
A FRAIL middleaged woman was in tears as she was evicted
from a hospital
bed - because she claims she has nowhere else to
go.
Sonia Rossouw, 53, was pushed in a wheelchair by a nurse to a
waiting taxi
which had been ordered by officials at West Suffolk Hospital,
Bury St
Edmunds, to take her to her sister's temporary home in
Newmarket.
Mrs Rossouw, a British citizen who has lived in Zimbabwe for
most of her
life, came to Britain in October for treatment to a fractured
thigh bone.
She was disabled as a result of being accidentally shot in
the head during
the "liberation war" in Zimbabwe in the 1970s and suffered a
fall earlier
this year.
Her sister, Vikki Winter, 50, who is renting
part of a cottage in
Newmarket's Bury Road, said the British High Commission
in Zimbabwe had
suggested that she should get a one-way ticket to Britain
for treatment and
stay here.
Now she wants to stay in this country
because of the volatile situation in
Zimbabwe.
But council housing
officials have said they have no obligation to provide
her with
accommodation and she should return to the African state.
Mrs Winter, a
Zimbabwe citizen who is in Britain thanks to a settlement visa
with her
British husband, said:
"Zimbabwe is not a safe place for British
citizens. The Government
consistently refers to them as 'enemies of the
state'.
"My sister's life was under threat."
Mrs Winter said that
there was no room for her sister in the part of the
cottage where she is
staying.
Mrs Rossouw was unable to get up the stairs and the only two
rooms
downstairs are a small kitchen and a tiny dining area.
She said
that her sister had been served with an "accelerated discharge
order" by the
hospital which had ordered a taxi to take her to Newmarket.
Mrs Rossouw
said: "It has been an ordeal for me. I just can't figure it out.
I'm a
British citizen and they won't house me."
A spokeswoman for the hospital
said that Mrs Rossouw had left hospital of
her own accord and was discharged
into the care of her sister.
The spokeswoman said: "After many
discussions with Mrs Rossouw, her sister
and social services we gave Mrs
Rossouw a reasonable period in which to find
herself
accommodation."
Sally Rode, a spokeswoman for Forest Heath District
Council said: "It is not
that we don't want to help, but legally we are not
allowed to.
"We understand she has a home in Zimbabwe and should return
there.
"An alternative could be for her to claim asylum and/or benefits
and if she
is successful she could contact us again."
New Zimbabwe
Lucky Dube's 'nightmarish' Zimbabwe tour ends in
riots
By Showbiz Editor
Last updated: 12/10/2004 22:19:33
SOUTH
African reggae legend Lucky Dube's management have been talking about
their
"nightmarish" tour of Zimbabwe which ended in violent scenes in
Bulawayo
last weekend.
"I have never in my entire showbiz life seen anything like
it," Dube's tour
manager Lenah Mochoele told New Zimbabwe.com by telephone
from South Africa.
Dube and his band left South Africa by bus on Thursday
because they "thought
it would be fun", Mochoele said. But once they arrived
at the Zimbabwe
border with South Africa, the fun evaporated.
"We
arrived in Beitbridge on Thursday afternoon and then they wouldn't let
us go
through with our equipment. We had travelled with our keyboards and
guitars,
and then some corrupt officials told us to pay something like £6500
so they
can let us go through," she said.
"The stand-off continued until about
1am the next day and we had to return
the South African side where we booked
a hotel in Musina.
"We woke-up the next day and went straight to the
border, and then started
the process all over again. The promoter was there
and she tried to organise
for us to clear the instruments. We only crossed
the border on Friday at 5pm
rushing to a 11pm show in
Harare!"
Mochoele says they only arrived at the City Sports Centre in
Harare at
around 0130am on Saturday, and found a disillusioned crowd. Scores
of other
fans had left the venue.
"The promoter was so disorganised
it wasn't funny," she said.
Dube interrupted his show to tell the crowd
of their nightmarish trip.
"An officer at the border asked me why my
passport had a stamp into London
and no stamp for coming out of London,"
Dube told the crowd of about 400
people. ". . . And imagine being sent back
to South Africa because your
passport has 80 pages when the officer expects
100 and South African
officials saying it's the right passport! That's what
our life is all about
and you will accept that we were born to
suffer."
When they got to Bulawayo on Saturday, Mochoele said there had
been no
pre-show publicity and they had to parade through the streets of
Bulawayo
from the town centre to the townships.
"There was no sound
and our engineers had to start the whole process, and
then there was this
instrument and that instrument that were unavailable. At
11pm, the show had
not started. Many people just stood outside and refused
to get in the hall.
There were no curtain raisers and around midnight we
were told to start the
show. So we performed two hours flat and then all
hell broke loose," said
Mochoele.
Hundreds of people rioted, hurling beer cans and chairs on the
stage
prompting the intervention of riot police.
News24
Aus wants Bennett freed
10/12/2004 14:11 -
(SA)
Sydney - Australia called on Friday for the release of a
Zimbabwean
opposition politician jailed for manhandling a government
minister, saying
the case showed President Robert Mugabe's "flagrant
disregard for democratic
principles".
Foreign minister Alexander
Downer said the incarceration of opposition MP
Roy Bennett, for pushing
Zimbabwe's justice minister during a heated
parliamentary debate last May,
was part of a persecution campaign against
the outspoken white
lawmaker.
Downer said Bennett's offence should have attracted a maximum
penalty
equivalent to $22 under Zimbabwean law but instead he was imprisoned
for 12
months by a government-dominated parliamentary
committee.
"This incident follows four years of relentless political
persecution of Mr
Bennett," Downer said in a statement. "During this time,
he has been
arrested, assaulted and evicted from his home.
"His wife
has been held hostage, two men who worked for Mr Bennett have been
murdered
by members of the security forces and two young female workers have
been
raped."
Downer said Mugabe had publicly threatened Bennett and encouraged
supporters
of his ruling Zanu-PF party to force him from his
constituency.
"Mugabe's flagrant disregard for democratic principles and
the rule of law
has brought only hardship and suffering to the people of
Zimbabwe," Downer
said.
"The Australian government demands the
immediate release of Mr Bennett and
an end to all further persecution
against him, his family, friends, workers
and colleagues."
Zimbabwe
was suspended from the 54-nation Commonwealth in March 2002 after
Mugabe was
re-elected in polls widely condemned as fraudulent.
MDC
PRESS
10
December 2004
MDC
PUBLISHES A REPORT DETAILING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN 2004
International Human Rights Day is both a
time for celebrating the progress made since the UN General Assembly adopted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as for reflecting on the
challenges that lie ahead to ensure that the human rights and fundamental
freedoms of all people are realised and protected.
These challenges, in the context of
Zimbabwe,
are immense and it is the struggle to restore peoples’ rights and freedoms and
create a new beginning that defines the current crisis in
Zimbabwe.
The desire for freedom, equality, dignity,
social justice and self-determination guided and drove the liberation agenda in
Zimbabwe,
yet nearly a quarter of a century after achieving independence we are still
struggling to realise our basic freedoms. The people now desire a new
Zimbabwe in
which our dreams will become a reality.
To mark Human Rights Day the
MDC has published a report which
details the human rights abuses experienced by
MDC officials and supporters since 1 January 2004. The report underlines
just how out of sink the
Zimbabwe
government is with the ideals of the African Renaissance and the collective
efforts of the international community to build a universal culture of human
rights.
The demands of the people of
Zimbabwe,
like others who live under the yoke of repression, are not unreasonable; they
simply wish to see a restoration of their basic rights.
The report is an indictment of the
activities of the current government and underlines how political oppression in
Zimbabwe
remains a pervasive force. An egregious legislative framework that deliberately
curtails civil and political liberties, combined with the predatory and coercive
nature of the political landscape, ensures the maintenance of an environment in
which arbitrary arrest and violent attacks continue be the government’s only
response to the people’s growing desire for freedom.
These instruments are becoming increasingly
blunt due to pressure from the people, but, as the report illustrates, these
instruments retain a cutting edge.
The report also exposes the bankruptcy of
the government’s claims that the political environment in
Zimbabwe
is in line with what is expected under the SADC
protocol on elections.
Thus far in 2004 7
MDC MPs, 53 party officials and
hundreds of party activists have been the victims of arbitrary arrest,
intimidation, beatings or torture. Although the figures show an improvement on
previous years, the very fact that human rights abuses continue to be
perpetrated on such a large scale emphasises the appalling decay of governance
standards in
Zimbabwe.
At present this decay precludes a free and
fair election from taking place. The people desire an election but not under the
current conditions.
The government needs to take urgent steps
to end political violence and punish those guilty of perpetrating human rights
abuses. This would represent a significant confidence building measure and would
go some way towards creating an environment in which a genuine election could
take place.
Paul
Themba Nyathi
Secretary
for Information and Publicity
Click here for Violence Report 2004