WOZA has been organising marches to highlight issues regularly
Zim Online
Wed 15 February 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe experienced an
almost twofold increase in political
violence and human rights violations
last year despite President Robert
Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party
facing a clearly diminishing threat from
the bickering main opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.
A total of 4 200 cases
of human rights violations including four
murders and four rapes were
recorded in 2005 compared to 2 711 such cases
recorded the previous year,
the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum (ZHRF) said in
its latest report on rights
violations in the country made available to
ZimOnline
yesterday.
The ZHRF said in the report: "In terms of the frequency
of all
violations, 2005 is the worst year since we began publishing our
monthly
reports ..and 2005 is markedly worse than 2004 . it was also seen
that
displacements, unlawful arrests and detentions increased markedly
during
2005."
The ZHRF is the biggest coalition
of pro-democracy and human rights
groups in the country. It regularly issues
reports on the state of human
rights in the southern African nation that is
facing its worst ever
political and economic crisis.
The rights
coalition said most of the political violence and human
rights abuses
happened in the aftermath of the March 2005 parliamentary poll
in acts of
retribution, which started in April and blamed on supporters of
Mugabe and
ZANU PF.
There were human rights violations on a mass scale after
the
government began its controversial urban clean-up campaign in May that
the
United Nations in an earlier and separate report said left at least 700
000
people without homes or means of livelihood after police demolished
shantytowns and informal business kiosks.
University of
Zimbabwe political commentator, Lovemore Madhuku, said
the fact that
political violence and human rights abuses could be on the
rise even as the
government appeared not under as much a potent threat from
the MDC as
before, only served to confirm that coercion was Mugabe and ZANU
PF's weapon
of choice to win and retain power.
"The report confirms what we
have always said that the ruling party
thrives on violence," said Madhuku,
who is also the leader of the National
Constitutional Assembly that
campaigns for a new and democratic constitution
for Zimbabwe.
Giving details on some of the cases of political violence, the ZHRF
said in
its report that the four people murdered in 2005 are Gift Chimbandi
of
Mazowe in Mashonaland Central, Febby Muchacha of Beatrice Mashonaland
East,
Abraham Moffat of Hurungwe in Mashonaland West and war veteran Godwin
Ganda
from Marondera in Mashonaland East.
The three Mashonaland provinces
are considered ZANU PF strongholds
where the MDC is virtually
banned.
Political violence and human rights abuses have been on the
rise since
the emergence of the MDC in 1999 to become the biggest threat
ever to Mugabe
and ZANU PF's iron-fist rule. Most of the violence has been
blamed on
militant supporters of Mugabe and his ruling party. They deny the
charge.
With the MDC clearly weakened after a damaging split over
how to
unseat Mugabe and ZANU PF, political analysts had expected violence
to at
least decline. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 15 February 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's Supreme Court
on Tuesday dismissed opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai's application
seeking the country's highest court
to take over hearing his petition
against President Robert Mugabe's 2002
re-election victory.
Tsvangirai, who lost to Mugabe by about 400 000 ballots in the
presidential
poll condemned by Western observers and southern African
parliamentarians as
flawed, had claimed before the court that his right to
protection of the law
was being breached because the High Court had
inordinately delayed in
hearing and determining the petition filed about
three months after the
March 2002 vote.
Zimbabwe's Constitution guarantees litigants the
right to protection
of the law and to a fair hearing within reasonable
time.
The opposition leader, who until his Movement for Democratic
Change
party split late last year looked the most likely to unseat Mugabe,
had also
claimed that because of the way the High Court had handled his
matter, he no
longer had confidence that he would receive justice from the
court and had
prayed on the Supreme Court to hear his petition against
Mugabe's victory.
Ordinarily, the Supreme Court is not a court of
first instance unless
it is in constitutional matters.
Supreme
Court Judge Luke Malaba in a judgment read by his colleague,
Wilson Sandura,
ruled that Tsvangirai's rights had not been breached and
that the opposition
leader's fears that he would not get justice from the
High Court were
unfounded despite that court having delayed in setting down
the election
petition for hearing.
It was not possible to immediately get
comment yesterday from
Tsvangirai or his lawyers as to their next course of
action.
Tsvangirai, who has refused to recognise Mugabe as the
legitimately
elected President of Zimbabwe, wants the 2002 poll result
nullified saying
Mugabe used violence and outright fraud to cheat him of
victory.
But the opposition leader faces an uphill task convincing
a bench that
is packed with Mugabe loyalists to nullify the controversial
poll result and
order a fresh ballot. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 15 February 2006
HARARE
- Zimbabwean police yesterday arrested 192 mostly women
anti-government
demonstrators in Harare while prosecutors in the city of
Bulawayo charged
three women activists under the country's tough security
law for organising
anti-President Robert Mugabe protests in the city.
The about 192
women and a few men arrested in Harare had not been
charged by late last
night with their lawyers saying they expected them to
spend the night at
Harare Central police station known for its filthy cells.
There are five
breastfeeding babies also detained with their mothers.
"We have 192
women we have counted so far and five breastfeeding
babies among the group
(detained at Harare central)," said the Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights'
Otto Saki, who is one of the lawyers assisting the
women.
Saki
said the women, arrested when they demonstrated outside
Parliament, had not
yet been charged but said he expected them to be charged
under the
Miscellaneous Offences Act.
In Zimbabwe's second largest city of
Bulawayo, state prosecutors
charged the three leaders of the Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) activist
group, Jenny Williams, Magodonga Mahlangu and
Emely Mpofu with breaching the
tough Public Order and Security Act (POSA)
when they allegedly organised
members public marches in the city demanding
Mugabe to resign.
The three women were arrested earlier this week
on Monday while
marching together with a group of other protesters numbering
about 500
people and which included other WOZA members and students from the
National
University of Science and Technology.
The police also
managed to arrest 176 of the protesters as they
marched across Bulawayo
demanding Mugabe to step down saying he had ruined
Zimbabwe's once vibrant
economy.
The state is however charging the rest of the protesters
with a lesser
charge of obstructing traffic. All the Bulawayo protesters,
including the
three WOZA leaders, were released on Tuesday with the state
saying it would
proceed by way of summons. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 15 February 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwean police are using
Israeli-made anti-riot water
cannon trucks - acquired in 2002 to crush
anticipated opposition-led
anti-government protests - to ferry water to
Chikurubi police camp in Harare
which is battling persistent water
problems.
With the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party in a
state of near paralysis, after an acrimonious fall-out last year,
the police
appear to have now converted the "underutilised" water cannon
trucks to
bowsers to supply Chikurubi with water.
The camp,
like most suburbs in Harare, has experienced persistent
water shortages over
the past few months.
"We have been facing serious water problems in
the camp and the
authorities thought it worthwhile to use some of the trucks
to ferry water
for residents since they can carry large volumes," said a
senior police
officer at the camp, who did not want to be
named.
While police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena admitted that
Chikurubi was
facing water problems, he would not confirm or deny whether
the
Israeli-manufactured water cannon trucks were being used to ferry water
to
the camp.
Bvudzijena would only say: "Yes the camp is facing
water problems but
what gives you the thought that we do not have other
transport resources for
that?"
The trucks were acquired in 2002
as the government prepared to crush
mass protests that the then vibrant and
powerful MDC was threatening to
call.
But the MDC is no longer
seen as the same potent force that it was a
few months ago after
disagreement among its top leaders over how to unseat
Mugabe split the
opposition party into two rival camps that political
experts say neither
have the capacity nor the spirit to confront Mugabe's
well oiled military in
the streets. - ZimOnline
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the
United Nations]
|
WOZA has been organising marches to highlight issues regularly |
JOHANNESBURG, 14 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - More
than 400 women have been arrested for protesting against high prices and
unemployment over the past two days in Zimbabwe, after inflation shot past 600
percent.
Over 240 were arrested in the capital, Harare, on Tuesday for
participating in a march led by the activist organisation, Women of Zimbabwe
Arise (WOZA), held annually on St Valentine's Day. The organisation's lawyer was
also arrested when he intervened, according to WOZA.
Another 181
participants of a WOZA-led march in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, were
arrested on Monday and remained in detention overnight.
"This year's
theme is bread and roses [inspired by the 'Bread and Roses' strike by American
women textile workers in 1912]," said Jenni Williams, national coordinator of
WOZA, who was among those arrested on Monday. "The bread stands for the need for
affordable food, and the roses represent the need to be dignified and the call
for social justice."
Police have largely treated WOZA protests as
illegal 'political' gatherings. In two years of demonstrations, about 900 WOZA
activists have now been arrested for breaching the Public Order and Security Act
(POSA), which prohibits public gatherings without police
clearance.
According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ), a
watchdog body, the Central Statistical Office's latest consumer survey indicated
that the monthly cost of living, including non-food items, for a family of five
rocketed to more than Zim $21 million (about US $211) in January, up from Zim
$17.5 million (US $176) in December 2005.
The average monthly salary of a
public servant is US $121, despite a 231 percent increase in government salaries
announced last month.
"The cost of accommodation, fuel and the hike in
government salaries announced last month have all impacted on the cost of
living," said CCZ's Henry Musongwe. The annual rate of inflation is now 613.2
percent, close to the all-time high of 622 percent reached in January
2004.
Basics like the cost of accommodation, commuting and school fees
can now set a family back by Zim $12 million (US $121) a month, while food can
drain almost Zim $8 million (US $81) from a family's monthly expenditure.
"The average salary of the lowest-paid government employee - a cleaner -
has been hiked up from Zim $5 million to Zim $7 million (US $50 to $70), which
has prompted shops to hike prices, making them [food items] even more
unaffordable," added Musongwe.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of a severe
economic crisis and facing serious food shortages as a result of recurring poor
harvests and the government's fast-track land redistribution programme, which
began in 2000 and has disrupted agricultural production and slashed export
earnings.
The government blames unofficial sanctions by western
governments for the economic crisis.
[ENDS]
African News Dimension
Tuesday, 14 February 2006, 6 hours, 56 minutes and
26 seconds ago.
By Nothando Zainab Migogo
Johannesburg(A.N.D) Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights have come
down on
the Zimbabwean police for human rights violations in conducting
yesterdays
arrests of female protesters and their infants.
Following the
arrests of at least 181 women, some carrying babies on
their backs, the
Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) have issued a
press release
condemning the arrests.
The women, belonging to the human rights
group Women of Zimbabwe Arise
(WOZA), were dispersing from a peaceful march
when they were arrested and
charged with contravening section 24 of the
Public Order and Security Act
for "participating in an unsanctioned
procession".
According to the press release, the arrested
women were held in an
open police courtyard and "exposed to heavy rains and
the harsh elements"
for hours before being moved to holding
cells.
The ZLHR has described the treatment received by the
detainees as
"inhuman and degrading", disregarding "basic fundamental rights
that are due
to all human beings" and in contravention of the Constitution
of Zimbabwe as
well as the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners
(1990).
Fourteen infants have also been arrested with their
mothers. According
to ZLHR, there is no indication that the authorities
followed the proper
procedure which states that "no female detainee who is
breastfeeding a baby
shall be detained without the authority of the Officer
Commanding the
Province, who must examine each case and decide on the
necessity of
detention".
The ZLHR has called on the
Zimbabwean Ministry of Home Affairs as well
as the Zimbabwe Republic Police
to acknowledge, with respect to these
pre-trial detentions, that Liberty is
the rule, to which detention must be
the exception; Respect the right of
accused persons to be promptly informed
of reasons for arrest and detention,
and of any charges against oneself;
Acknowledge and respect the right of the
detained to access to and
assistance of a lawyer; To take heed that in the
performance of their duty,
law enforcement officials shall respect and
protect human dignity and
maintain and uphold the human rights of all
persons; Acknowledge and respect
the rights of the human rights detainees to
assemble, associate and freely
express their opinions without
hindrance.
AND Africa
African News Dimension
Tuesday, 14 February 2006, 7 hours, 50 minutes and 54
seconds ago.
By Tagu Mkwenyani
A new political party
has been formed in the western provinces of
Zimbabwe.
A new
political party has been formed in the western provinces of
Zimbabwe. The
Patriotic Union of Matabeleland, (PUMA) is expected to
formally announce its
agenda early in March.
At the moment, officials remain tight-lipped
over their political
intentions citing security concerns. The new political
outfit, fronted by a
group of civic leaders and political activists from
Matabeleland and
Midlands provinces, is set to represent the interests of
the provinces which
have remained largely undeveloped. Ndebele speaking
people are the majority
of the inhabitants of the region. President Robert
Mugabe, a Zezuru heads a
cabinet dominated by ministers from his tribe,
fuelling disgruntlement from
politicians from other tribes. Among a host of
nagging problems in
Matabeleland, water remains critically short and plans
by the Zanu PF
government to undertake the Zambezi Matabeleland Water
project have not
succeeded.
Former Zimbabwe Teachers
Association Leader (Zimta) leader, Leonard
Nkala, is reported to have set up
a 45-member executive committee, which
will spearhead the launch of PUMA.
Former Zanu-PF Bulawayo spokesperson,
Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni, who is the party's
interim secretary general, said they
were also working on the establishment
of external wings, one focusing on
Southern Africa, and another on the rest
of the world. "We are currently
working on setting up our structures, but
everything would be complete on
time for the official launch.
Some of our members are drawn from the ruling party, as well as both
factions of the MDC. The interest from the diaspora is also very
overwhelming," said Ndiweni. A source in the party said PUMA's promoters
felt that they could capitalise on the fact that people in the area still
had fresh memories of an 80's crack military operation code named
Gukurahundi. The operation conducted by the Zimbabwe's North Korean trained
Fifth Brigade, left an estimated 20 000 civilians dead as soldiers sniff out
a few dissidents who operated in the area. Up to now survivors of the
operation have not been compensated and this remains a major source of
disgruntlement. Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) draws the bulwark of its support from this region.
Officials of PUMA have in the past few weeks held meetings with students at
universities and teachers colleges.
The new party joins the
fray at a a time when MDC is threatened with a
split.
The Australian
Gavin du Venage and Jan
Raath
February 15, 2006
ZIMBABWE says a lack of enemies is behind its
decision to fire 10,000
soldiers, or a quarter of its army, but insiders say
fear of a coup by
junior officers is behind the bloodletting.
The
private Zimbabwean weekly Financial Gazette, a publication generally
favourable to the Government, reported in its latest edition that 10,000
troops had been let go in the past year.
A health catastrophe also
looms in Zimbabwe as other government services
such as garbage collection
fall apart, causing a wave of cholera.
The outbreak of disease follows
President Robert Mugabe's notorious
"Operation Sweep Out The Filth" in June,
in which police destroy up to
700,000 shantytown homes along with drainage
systems and drinking wells.
The effect of such changes, the overloading
of sewerage systems and a
chronic shortage of fuel for refuse carts is now
being felt, with cholera,
previously rare in Zimbabwe, sweeping the
country.
The state-controlled Daily Herald newspaper reported
this week that five
people had died of cholera in Epworth and another 20
were being treated in a
tent encampment there. They were believed to have
drunk infected water at a
wedding.
The Health Ministry announced a
further eight deaths in the Kwekwe and Gokwe
districts in central
Zimbabwe.
Twenty-seven people are now reported to have died of cholera
across the
country in the past four weeks - eight of them in Harare. At
least another
250 victims nationwide are being treated for the
disease.
"The Government says it is nothing unusual, that we have seen
cholera
outbreaks in Harare before," said Peter Iliff, the secretary of
Zimbabwe
Doctors for Human Rights.
"They're wrong. It's in the
heartland now. Before, cases in Harare were
traced to people who had brought
the disease with them from neighbouring
countries like Mozambique and
Malawi. Now it's home-grown.
"There is transmission inside the city now.
There is going to be a lot of
cholera," Dr Iliff said.
The Government
reacted to the outbreaks of cholera in Harare by shutting the
main township
market near the city centre and relocating it to other
townships where there
is no provision for lavatories or water. Police have
also banned street fish
and meat vendors.
The health menace posed by the swamp of human waste in
the townships is
compounded by mountains of uncollected rubbish in the city,
including one
outside the gates of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the
Sacred Heart.
The report on the nation's dwindling army, which has not
been backed up by
any other official government source, comes at a time of
growing restiveness
in the lower ranks of the army.
Soldiers earn
less than $US20 ($27) a month and are deserting in ever
greater numbers,
often taking their weapons with them, according to local
sources.
The
army has been a pillar of support for Mr Mugabe, whose agricultural
reforms
have led to a disastrous decline in the once thriving economy.
Purges
over the past five years have removed many officers suspected of
sympathising with Mugabe opponents.
In contrast, senior army officers
have done well, particularly from
Zimbabwe's military incursion into the
Congo to help put down a rebellion in
1998 in exchange for diamond and
minerals concessions.
The scaling down of manpower is unlikely to weaken
the army itself. Recent
imports of Chinese weaponry indicates the military
will rely on smaller,
elite units consisting of trusted Mugabe
supporters.
Additional reporting: The Times
African News Dimension
Tuesday, 14 February 2006, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 2
seconds ago.
By Elias Wilson
ZIMBABWE's ambassador to
South Africa Mr Simon Khaya Moyo has once
again lodged a complaint with the
South Africa Broadcasting Corporation
(SABC) over its constant negative
reference to Harare in its news bulletins
Mr Khaya Moyo in a letter
to SABC Africa head of News, said the
negative reference to Zimbabwe was
most astounding as the obsession with
Harare had gone too far to be
understood by those who subscribed to the
notion that journalism was a noble
profession. "Of late there is hardly a
news bulletin from your esteemed
channel without negative reference to
Zimbabwe, "The agenda is difficult to
comprehend. I have personally received
numerous calls from within and
outside South Africa questioning the
objectivity of your news on Zimbabwe.
For instance because of incessant
rains, a number of SADC countries have
experienced outbreaks of cholera, but
from your news point of view it is
Zimbabwe in the dock," said Mr Khaya
Moyo, Mr Moyo said the challenges
facing Zimbabwe were as a result of its
bilateral disagreements with
Britain, regarding the implementation of the
Land Reform Programme, after
the colonial power reneged on its obligations
under the Lancaster House
Constitutional Agreement. "Zimbabwe is a proud
member of SADC, the African
Union, the NonAligned Movement, the United
Nations and enjoys cordial
relations with all progressive states the world
over," Mr Moyo said. "There
are a lot of good things happening in Zimbabwe
and with abundant rainfall
this season, after four years of drought, the
economy is poised for a
dramatic turnaround," In the past, Mr Moyo, has
challenged the South African
media to refrain from being biased in its
coverage of issues affecting
Zimbabwe.
A..N.D Zimbabwe
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Anna Chibamu
issue date
:2006-Feb-14
MASHONALAND Central governor, Ephraim Masawi, has clashed
with war veterans
in the province after ordering local authorities to evict
people who
occupied farmhouses at the height of land occupations because the
properties
were reserved for clinics and schools.
But the ex-fighters,
who spearheaded the occupations in February 2 000 and
say have no problem
leaving if everything is done above board, have vowed to
stay put on the
homesteads until top politicians (names supplied) have also
moved out. The
government recently declared, all farmhouses and agricultural
equipment left
on farms by former owners during the land reform programme,
State
property.
Masawi, who is also the ruling Zanu PF national deputy secretary
for
information and publicity, last week ordered rural district councils in
the
province to evict settlers occupying farmhouses that the government
wants to
convert into health centres and schools.
He said the initial
arrangement was that the war veterans would occupy the
houses only as
caretakers, and would move out once the properties were
required for State
use.
The former freedom fighters occupied the homesteads at the height of
land
occupations and remained there, but without offer letters. When they
were
finally given the offer letters, Masawi said, the understanding was
that the
occupiers would not be "sole" owners of the farmhouses, which he
said
belonged to the State.
Masawi told the meeting in Mazowe that the
homesteads were needed to
accommodate workers at farm schools and clinics
situated on the concerned
farms.
"Civil servants need decent
accommodation, yet some individuals are using
government property on farms
as weekend homes.
The war veterans have been staying in the houses since the
days of land
occu-pations, but the government now wants to turn them into
clinics and
satellite schools to serve new farmers," the governor
said.
"The issue has been discussed several times and now it's time to take
appropriate action.
"We want transparency in all our activities in this
province. what do we
mean talking of development without focusing on
education and health
matters?" he asked.
Masawi said people resisting
orders to leave the farmhouses were
counter-productive as their
intransigence meant that the infrastructure
could not be put to good
use.
However, war veterans' chairman for Mazowe district, Taketwo Mabhota,
said
his colleagues were ready to leave the houses on condition every other
person occupying State homesteads moved out as well.
"We have never
refused to move out of these houses, but we want everyone who
is occupying
the houses to move out including politicians. The houses should
be occupied
by the relevant people we all know (civil servants)," the war
veteran leader
said.
Meanwhile, Mazowe Rural District Council forcibly evicted war veterans
from
farmhouses at Lowdale and Dunberry farms they had occupied since 2
000.
When farm invasions occurred, people occupied farmhouses and grabbed
property such as farm equipment, until the government restored sanity by
declaring all such assets State property.
In Mazowe, clinics have been
set up at Montgomery, Ardura, Darvaar; Donje,
Watchfield and Dunbury farms,
but members of staff have no accommodation.
The issue of new land occupations
has also courted the ire of Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe governor, Gideon
Gono.
In his quarterly monetary review policy, the central bank chief called
for
law and order on farms, warning government that new invasions would
affect
production.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Feb-14
OVER
120 illegal foreign currency dealers and touts were arrested at
Road-Port
bus station in Harare in a police raid at the weekend.
Harare police
spokesperson, Inspector Loveless Rupere, told this newspaper
that 122 people
were arrested on Saturday during a routine operation to get
rid of touts and
illegal foreign currency dealers at the terminus.
Rupere said the police
recovered about Z$570 million, 1 800 Botswana pulas,
210 South African
rands, US$6 and 2 000 Zambian kwachas as well as three
vehicles they
impounded from the suspects.
He said some of the people arrested were
questioned and released, 56 were
fined under the Miscellaneous Offences Act
while 30 others were detained for
further questioning.
"We had been
monitoring some cars that would be parked at the bus terminus
daily and we
realised that illicit activities where being carried out in the
vehicles.
The idea was to ensure that there is peace and tranquility at Road
Port,"
Rupere said. Last year, the government launched Operation
Murambatsvina/Restore Order not only to rid cities and towns of illegal
structures, but also to flush out foreign currency black market dealers
among other crimes that had become prevalent in Zimbabwe.
Since the crash
of the Zimbabwe dollar in November 1997, the country has
seen an upsurge in
foreign currency parallel market with US$1 now pegged at
between $150 000
and $170 000.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Gideon Gono, when he assumed
office in
2004, introduced a number of measures to end the black market,
among them,
the introduction of the foreign currency auction system,
abandoned last
year.
This was a departure from a fixed exchange rate
system that had operated
between 2001 and 2003. The foreign exchange system
was further liberalised
last year in line with the objective to attain a
single economy served by
one exchange rate.
Under the tradable foreign
currency balances system (TFCBS), 70 percent
receipts are freely tradable in
the foreign exchange market at a
market-determined exchange rate.
The
remaining 30 percent of export receipts is sold to the RBZ at the
official
exchange rate, meant to adjust from time to time, in line with
balanced
economic fundamentals. At commencement of the TFCBS on October 24
2005, the
market established an interbank exchange rate of $60 000 to the
US$1. This
represented a depreciation of 131 percent from the last
established auction
exchange rate of $26 000 against the greenback.
The 12 months period to
December 31, 2005 saw foreign exchange inflows into
the formal market
amounting to US$1,70 billion compared to a total of
US$1,71 billion in 2004,
representing a decline of 0,46 percent.
Despite Gono's strenuous efforts, the
black market hasn't gone away, with
analysts now calling for teamwork to rid
the country of the illegal
practice.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2006-Feb-14
POLICE have arrested 355 people
including street kids in Harare in an
operation targeting criminals in the
Central Business District (CBD)
code-named Valentine while 169 were nabbed
in Bulawayo when demonstrating
against high tuition fees and soaring prices
of basic commodities.
In an interview with The Daily Mirror, Harare police
spokesperson Inspector
Loveless Rupere said: "The Central Business District
is abound with unlawful
activities and the trend is anticipated to rise
because of the Valentine
Week."
Rupere said illegal vending, gambling,
dealings in foreign currency, street
garaging, fuel vending and activities
of street kids have been classified as
crimes of concern.
"These are some
of the vice that are occurring in the city and as the police
we are going to
carry out a sweep of all offenders," he added.
Rupere said the move was meant
to ensure "the smooth running of business" in
the CBD.
In respect to
street kids, Rupere said they would soon be referred to
selected homes by
the department of social welfare.
He said during the operation, the police
would also invoke the Health Act by
arresting those who sell foodstuffs
without licences.
"We would also want to invoke the Health Act by arresting
those who sell
foodstuffs without licences and in the open. Such activities
are bound to
promote the outbreak of diseases like cholera," he
said.
Rupere appealed to the public to join the police in the war against
illegal
activities by not buying anything from the black market.
The
majority of those arrested yesterday had committed offences including
vending, touting, obstruction of justice, dangerous parking and conduct
likely to breach peace.
Notable among those arrested yesterday was a
manager of Fairmeal (Pvt) (Ltd)
Tonderai Nyangombe.
Nyangombe was
arrested after the firm, based at the National Railways of
Zimbabwe (NRZ),
was found selling pork and chicken without a licence.
The police said
Shepherd Shayamano owned the company.
The police confiscated 20kgs of chicken
and 30kgs of pork worth $9,6 million
and $7,8 million respectively from
Fairmeal.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the police in Bulawayo yesterday
arrested
169 people in the country's second largest city.
According to
our Bulawayo correspondent those arrested included students
from the
Bulawayo Polytechnic and National University of Science and
Technology
(NUST)-who were demonstrating against the recent hike in tuition
fees by
government.
Police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka confirmed the arrests
saying: "I can
confirm that 169 people were arrested this afternoon
(yesterday) in
Bulawayo. They were unlawfully gathered and police are
investigating the
reasons behind the meetings."
Some of those arrested
were allegedly protesting against the soaring prices
of basic
commodities.
On Saturday police arrested 122 suspected foreign currency
dealers at
Roadport and recovered more than $555 million and three vehicles
in
connection with the offence.
Of those arrested, 30 are still in police
custody and will appear in court
soon.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Feb-14
EXPERTS in land tenure and
reform will meet in the capital on Thursday to
review Zimbabwe's land reform
programme embarked on by the government in
2000 to address the question of
inequitable land distribution.
Organised by the African Institute for
Agrarian Studies, the policy review
dialogue is expected to facilitate the
development of clearer mechanisms of
framing and designing of policy both
within government and among different
non-government stakeholders working in
agrarian reforms.
It will also seek to develop a greater understanding and
articulation of the
subject through consultations with all
stakeholders.Invited to attend
include relevant government officials,
Members of Parliament, Non
Governmental Organisation involved in land,
gender and research.
"It is expected that at the end of the process of
consultation, a more
concise policy brief will be put together which shall
be made available to
all stakeholders, including government, for
consideration," the institute's
executive director, Sam Moyo,
said.
Another expectation is that the dialogue will set a platform for
broader,
but empirical discussion on outstanding land and agrarian reform
issues.
As of January last year, more than 155 000 families had been
resettled
nationwide under the land reform programme, with about 140 866
beneficiaries
having been resettled under the A1 or villagisation farming
scheme while
some 14 500 families have been settled under the A2 or
commercial farming
scheme.
A number of land audits carried out by the
government have revealed multiple
farm ownership, double allocations and
underutilisation of land. That issue
is currently being attended to by the
relevant authorities.
Violet Gonda
14 February 2006
Zimbabwe
has been put in the spotlight again. Jenni Williams, the
coordinator of the
pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and Arnold
Tsunga, Director of
the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, are among four
people nominated for
the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders for
2006 (MEA).The jury
of human rights organizations which announced the award
on Tuesday said they
decided to start publicly announcing the leading
candidates as they are all
in an urgent need of protection.
In a statement, the group said
Jennifer Williams continues to organise
and lead peaceful protests against
the ongoing erosion of human rights in
Zimbabwe, in spite of having been
arrested and beaten by the police. She is
one of the 181 activists arrested
on Monday for handing out Valentines roses
in Bulawayo. All were released by
a Bulawayo magistrate on Tuesday.
On Arnold Tsunga, the statement
said that he represents victims of
human rights abuses and campaigns for
greater respect for human rights. He
has repeatedly denounced the
undemocratic system of justice in Zimbabwe. He
has also been threatened,
detained, and is constantly harassed.
The other two nominees are
Akbar Ganji from Iran, who is in prison for
having expressed publicly his
views on the need for democratic reforms and
having denounced state crimes.
He has been tortured and ill-treated. Lastly,
Golden Misabiko from the
Democratic Republic of Congo, whohas denounced
human rights violations in
his country for the past 20 years, was tortured
in 2001 and had to flee the
country in 2002 due to death threats. He
returned to the DRC in 2005. Since
then he has been detained several times
and constantly
harassed.
The final MEA laureate is expected to be announced at a
conference in
the Carter Centre in Atlanta, USA in May. The four candidates
were carefully
selected by ten human rights organisations that constituted
the jury. They
were Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights
First,
International Federation for Human Rights, World Organization Against
Torture, International Commission of Jurists, German Diakonie, International
Service for Human Rights, International Alert and HURIDOCS.The award was
named after Martin Ennals, an influential figure in the modern human rights
movement who died in 1991. He was the first Secretary-General of Amnesty
International and the driving force behind many other
organisations.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
African governments view China as a
more cooperative partner than the West.
By Vivienne Walt, FORTUNE
February
14, 2006: 1:14 PM EST
NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - China, the world's
second-largest energy consumer, now
imports about 28 percent of its oil and
gas from sub-Saharan Africa,
compared with about 15 percent for the
U.S.
In the past few years, China's leading energy companies -- Sinopec,
China
National Petroleum Corp., and CNOOC -- have inked oil contracts from
Equatorial Guinea to Algeria to Angola. Chinese President Hu Jintao's
African trips have included pocket-sized Gabon, whose 1.4 million people
could fit into a corner of Shanghai but which has more than two billion
barrels of oil reserves. When China's Foreign Minister, Li Zhaoxing, toured
the region in January, he spent several days in Nigeria.
"We haven't
been totally invaded by China yet, but it will come," says
Iheanyi Ohiaeri,
head of business development for Nigeria's National
Petroleum Corp. "I get
calls and e-mails daily from Beijing, from people
looking to buy
oil."
The calls are being answered, in part because African governments
view China
as a more cooperative partner than the West. China has refused to
back
regular Western rebukes of African corruption and human-rights abuses
and
last year used its permanent seat on the UN Security Council to block
genocide charges against Sudan -- source of about 7 percent of China's
oil -- for the massacres in Darfur.
"The U.S. will talk to you about
governance, about efficiency, about
security, about the environment," says
Mustafa Bello, head of the Nigerian
Investment Promotion Commission, who has
visited China seven times. "The
Chinese just ask, 'How do we procure this
license?'"
China has become the biggest foreign investor in Zimbabwe,
where President
Robert Mugabe's policies have beggared the country and left
millions
homeless. Zimbabwe doesn't have oil, but it is the world's
second-largest
exporter of platinum, a key import for China's auto
industry.
Chinese radio-jamming devices block Zimbabwe's dissident
broadcasts, and
Chinese workers built Mugabe's new $9 million home,
featuring a blue-tiled
roof donated by the Chinese government. While Western
politicians railed
against Mugabe last year for flattening entire
shantytowns, China was
supplying him with fighter jets and troop carriers
worth about $240 million,
in exchange for imports of gold and
tobacco.
China has also agreed to sell armaments to Nigeria -- $251
million worth of
Chinese fighter jets, financed by China's Exim Bank -- and
satellite
technology provided by defense contractor Norinco. "If China
wanted to go
out and develop Europe, it would be impossible," says Dai Adi,
a Chinese
journalist in Lagos who moved from Beijing in 2001. "But here they
can."
The next hot spot may be Angola, where offshore oil could transform
the
country from one of Africa's poorest to one of its richest. In late
2004,
while International Monetary Fund officials were berating Angola for
corrupt
oil dealings, China gave the government $2 billion in credit to
repair
railway tracks bombed in the country's long civil war and to
construct new
office buildings in the capital -- all using Chinese
contractors. The timing
was flawless: When French oil company Total applied
to renew its license on
a large oil-production block, Angola refused,
handing it instead to Sinopec,
with which it then formed a joint venture to
bid on other oilfields.
China, however, faces its own challenges in
Africa. Tony Chukweke, head of
Nigeria's Department of Petroleum Resources,
admits that he often finds it
difficult to negotiate with Chinese companies,
since each detail requires
approval from officials in Beijing. "It is very,
very slow," he says. "They
go back and forth. And when they come back,
sometimes you find it is not
what you agreed to." Chukweke, who worked for
years as a Shell geophysicist
in London, prefers negotiating with Western
oil companies: "Exxon comes in
with clear mandates," he says. "We can
negotiate within those mandates."
Still, China's intense energy needs
make it an alluring partner. Nigeria's
oil-business development manager
Ohiaeri points out that his government can
pressure China far more than it
can Western governments. "They are desperate
for our resources," he notes.
That symbiotic relationship continues to grow,
and with each passing day --
and each new deal -- China's role in the region
deepens.
[
This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 14 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - Internally displaced
persons (IDPs)
remain a problem in Southern Africa, despite the resolution
of many of the
conflicts that forced people to flee their
homes.
According to a summit paper produced after the Regional Seminar on
Internal
Displacement in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Region,
held in Botswana late last year, more than 10 percent of the world's
internally displaced persons (IDPs) are in SADC member
states.
Although many people continue to be forced from their homes due
to factors
such as natural disasters or to make way for development
projects, there is
a distinct lack of specific data on IDPs in the SADC
region.
Seminar participants agreed that IDPs faced inequities in
accessing
international humanitarian relief and protection. "Unlike
refugees, there
was no established international regime to ensure their
protection," the
report noted.
"Nonetheless, it was evident that the
causes of internal displacement in the
SADC region were diverse and
interrelated. For example, it was pointed out
that displacement had been a
defining feature of colonialism in Southern
Africa, particularly in the case
of South Africa under the apartheid regime.
It was noted that the
contemporary effects of colonial displacement policies
have not yet been
fully acknowledged or addressed," the report said.
IDPs often became
refugees when effective national protection and assistance
were not
available, while returning refugees who came home to insecurity and
a lack
of sustainable solutions often became internally displaced, according
to
Walter Kalin, Representative of the UN Secretary-General, who noted that
IDPs and refugees frequently faced similar risks and their plights could be
interconnected.
Ebrima Camara, Regional Representative of UNHCR, the
UN refugee agency,
noted that the agency was in the process of elaborating
its commitment to
supporting displaced persons. Specifically, the High
Commissioner for
Refugees had offered UNHCR's leadership in three key areas:
protection, camp
coordination and emergency shelter.
Armed conflict
was highlighted as a major cause of displacement in the
post-colonial era.
Civil wars in Angola, Mozambique and the Democratic
Republic of Congo
sparked massive displacement crises and generated
thousands of new IDPs,
"even as other IDPs were making the difficult journey
home".
"Human
rights violations and political violence also fostered internal
displacement, in many cases targeted along ethnic or religious lines," the
paper observed.
Natural disasters have also caused widespread
internal displacement in the
SADC region, for example, cyclones in
Madagascar, floods in Mozambique and
volcanic eruptions like Karthala in the
Comoros, prompting sudden mass
movements to avoid danger.
"Moreover,
the ongoing drought in Southern Africa has forced people from
their homes by
fostering persistent food insecurity," the report commented.
The impact of
natural disasters could have been mitigated through early
warning and
disaster-preparedness systems, but in many cases these measures
were often
either non-existent or failed to function properly.
Development-induced
displacement was another factor influencing population
movements.
"Mining-induced displacement ... was one of the most
under-reported causes
of displacement in Africa, and one that was likely to
increase, as mineral
extraction remained a key economic driver in the SADC
region," the report
remarked.
The displacement of the San people, or 'Bushmen', from the
Central Kalahari
Game Reserve, allegedly to open the park to diamond mining,
was one such
example.
Urban renewal schemes also contributed to
internal displacement, with the
government of Zimbabwe's recent Operation
'Murambatsvina' (Drive Out Filth)
cited as being of particular
concern.
While a government had the right to renew and develop decaying
urban
environments, "it was essential to carry out such projects in
accordance
with internationally accepted standards upholding the rights of
those at
risk of displacement".
A report by the UN
Secretary-General's Special Envoy, Anna Tibaijuka, noted
that Operation
Murambatsvina was conducted in an "unplanned and over-zealous
manner which
... unleashed chaos and untold human suffering" on the 700,000
people left
homeless or without livelihoods.
It was recommended that SADC governments
"address the root causes of
internal displacement" in order to "mitigate the
conditions that leave
populations vulnerable to displacement by promoting
reconciliation and
peace-building activities ... pursuing rights-based
development strategies
and addressing food insecurity in the SADC
region".
States had to facilitate humanitarian access to IDPs and improve
data
collection on internal displacement. "Governments, academic
institutions and
international agencies should collaborate to improve
methods to gather,
analyse and disseminate data on the conditions and needs
of IDPs," the paper
suggested.
The complex question of when
displacement ends also had to be addressed. For
example, many of those
displaced during Angola's decades of war have chosen
to settle in areas of
displacement rather than return to their areas of
origin.
Increased
efforts to tackle the specific needs of IDPs with "heightened
vulnerability", such as women and children, were urgently needed, as was the
inclusion of IDPs in comprehensive HIV/AIDS programmes.