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Zimbabwe: Government Intensifies
Crackdown on Dissent
(New York, November 1, 2006) – In reaction to a
recent wave of protests against deteriorating social and economic conditions in
the country, the Zimbabwean government has intensified its campaign to suppress
peaceful dissent, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
When
Zimbabweans engage in peaceful protest, the government responds with brutal
repression.
Georgette Gagnon, deputy Africa
director at Human Rights Watch | |
|
The 28-page report, “‘You
Will Be Thoroughly Beaten’: The Brutal Suppression of Dissent in
Zimbabwe,” reveals the repressive tactics
that the government has used against civil society activists in the past year.
Human Rights Watch has documented systematic abuses against activists, including
excessive use of force by police during protests, arbitrary arrests and
detention, and the use of torture and mistreatment by police and intelligence
officials.
“When Zimbabweans engage in peaceful protest, the
government responds with brutal repression,” said Georgette Gagnon, deputy
Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities use torture, arbitrary
arrest and detention to deter activists from engaging in their right to freely
assemble and express their views.”
Political, social and economic
conditions in Zimbabwe have deteriorated considerably in recent years. Civil
society organizations have increasingly expressed concerns at the worsening
conditions by engaging in peaceful protests and demonstrations. The government’s
response has been heavy-handed and brutal. Police have violently disrupted
peaceful protests by beating demonstrators with batons and in some cases rifle
butts.
On September 25, for example, police violently disrupted a
peaceful march by some 500 activists from the National Constitutional Assembly
in Harare. Riot police armed with batons stopped the march, asked the activists
to sit down, and proceeded to beat them one at a time with batons before
ordering them to leave. During the beatings, a number of people panicked, which
led to a stampede that injured about 24 people, seven of them seriously.
Police have also used laws such as the Public Order and Security Act
and the Miscellaneous Offences Act to justify the arbitrary arrest and detention
of hundreds of civil society activists around the country. After arrest, most of
the activists are released within hours, but some are held for days, often
without charge. Others are brought before the judicial authorities to answer
charges that, in many cases, are dismissed by the courts.
Civil
society activists who had been detained told Human Rights Watch that they were
often held in overcrowded and filthy conditions, with human waste on the floor
and blankets infested with lice. The activists have sometimes been denied legal
counsel and access to food, water and needed medical assistance.
Human
Rights Watch also documented acts of police torture and mistreatment of
activists while in detention. Police have subjected detainees to severe beatings
that involve punching, kicking and striking with batons, beatings on the soles
of the feet, repeated banging of detainees’ heads against walls, and shackling
in painful positions. Civil society activists told Human Rights Watch that
police and intelligence officers interrogated them during these beatings, and
then accused them of belonging to the opposition and trying to overthrow the
government.
“During interrogation, they beat me with baton sticks,
clenched fists and kept kicking me,” a student activist told Human Rights Watch.
“I was being beaten every night. Every night they would threaten me and say, ‘We
will kill you tonight.”
“Each night they would come and they would
strip me naked and then handcuff me with my hands between my legs so that I
would not be able to move while they beat me,” said the activist, who was
detained for four days in May by police in the northeastern town of Bindura.
“Sometimes they would be three people beating me, then two, or at times four. I
was being accused of trying to facilitate regime change and working for the
opposition.”
The report also highlights the brutal police assault of
15 trade unionists from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions at Matapi police
station in Harare on September 13 after they participated in peaceful
demonstrations to protest poor working conditions and the deteriorating economic
situation. At the police station, a group of five police officers took the
unionists in pairs to a room and proceeded to beat them with batons, and punch
and kick them. The beatings, which lasted for between 15 and 20 minutes, were so
severe that a number of the trade unionists lost consciousness. They sustained
serious injuries ranging from fractured limbs to extensive bruising, deep cuts
to the head, and perforated eardrums.
“The police torture and
mistreatment of civil society activists is not only deeply disturbing; it’s
illegal under Zimbabwean as well as international law,” Gagnon said. “The
government must immediately investigate these abuses and bring those responsible
to justice.”
Police and intelligence officers also routinely target
human rights lawyers and activists who try to expose abuses of human rights in
an effort to prevent them from doing their work. The lawyers and activists are
subjected to sustained harassment and intimidation in the form of verbal attacks
in the state-run media, and death threats over the phone by people purporting to
work for the government.
The Zimbabwean government has an obligation
to respect basic freedoms and human rights under both domestic and international
law. These rights include the rights to freedom of expression, association and
assembly, and the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment.
Human Rights Watch called upon the government of Zimbabwe
to end the practice of arbitrary arrests and detentions, and to stop the use of
excessive force by the police. The government should also investigate all
allegations of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and bring the
perpetrators to justice, Human Rights Watch said.
MDC behind plot to kill Mugabe, court
told
Zim Online
Wednesday 01 November
2006
MUTARE - The trial of an ex-soldier accused of
plotting to assassinate
President Robert Mugabe finally began on Tuesday in
Mutare city, with a
Zimbabwe army major drawing the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC) party into the matter, claiming it was behind the
plan to kill the
President.
Peter Michael Hitschmann, a soldier
in the former white government of
Rhodesia - Zimbabwe's name before
independence in 1980 - is being charged
with violating the Public Order and
Security Act (POSA that outlaws
possession of weapons for the purpose of
committing banditry, insurgency,
sabotage or terrorism.
His
trial failed to kick off on two previous occasions in the past two
weeks
after the state produced fresh weapons and ammunition as exhibits but
which
defence lawyers said were unknown to their client.
But the defence
later relented, allowing submission of the new
weaponry as exhibits to open
the way for the trial to begin before High
Court Judge Alfas
Chitakunye.
Zimbabwe army Major Israel Phiri, testifying for the
state, told a
packed courtroom that Hitschmann approached him with the
intention of
enlisting him into the Zimbabwe Freedom Movement (ZFM), a
shadowy outfit
which the state claims is out to overthrow the
government.
Phiri said Hitschmann sent a short message on his
mobile phone
requesting that the two meet in Mutare city.
"I
queried why a white man who did not want to disclose his name
wanted to see
me," Phiri told the court.
The army said he became suspicious and
immediately advised his
superiors at the Zimbabwe Defence Forces
headquarters.
Phiri said he met Hitschmann, first at Holiday Inn
hotel in the city
centre and later at Cecil Kopje game conservancy
overlooking the city, only
after his commanders had given him the go-ahead
to do so.
The army major claimed that Hitschmann told him that he
was working
for a military group aligned to the MDC and that wanted to
overthrow the
government through military means because the political wing
of the
opposition party had failed to do so through the ballot.
The MDC has denied it has a military wing or that it is related to the
ZFM.
The opposition party also says it has no intentions of removing the
government through military means.
Phiri said Hitschmann told
him that the operation would not be a
prolonged military campaign but a
"hard hitting commando like operation" to
decapitate the ruling ZANU PF
party and government by murdering Mugabe and
other key figures of his
government and party.
The major, who said he was promised US$500
per month for his
co-operation and also a Mozambican visa to enable him to
flee the country
should the assassination plot flop, said he subsequently
met Hitschmann on
several occasions during which he was told that funds to
finance the plot
would come from an unnamed source in Britain.
The trial continues tomorrow with Phiri giving more evidence for the
state.
Hitschmann was initially arrested last March together with
MDC
officials that included Mutare North legislator Giles
Mutsekwa.
The group was accused of conspiring to murder Mugabe,
businessman and
ZANU PF activist Esau Mupfumi and ZANU PF Chipinge South
legislator Enock
Porusingazi during the 21st February Movement celebrations
held in Mutare to
mark Mugabe's 82nd birthday.
The state later
dropped charges against Mutsekwa, MDC Manicaland
provincial youth chairman
Knowledge Nyamhoka, party treasurer Brian James,
activist Thando Sibanda and
four ex-policemen Peter Nzungu, Wellington
Tsuro, Jerry Maguta and Garikai
Chikutya. - ZimOnline
Farmers yearn for 'good old
days'
Zim Online
Wednesday 01 November
2006
ODZI - In this prime farming area of
Manicaland, renowned for its top
quality tobacco and wheat harvests, talk
this week among farmers centres on
the "El Nino" factor contained in the
latest weather report.
Dennis Morris, a leading tobacco merchant in
Zimbabwe, warned in a
weather forecast released at the weekend that the
development of an "El
Nino" weather condition is likely to be prevalent in
southern Africa's
rainfall patterns this season.
Zimbabwe's
farmers, especially those engaged in medium-to-large-scale
operations place
a high premium on weather forecasts such as the Dennis
Morris Report,
studying them religiously once they are released.
"Tropical Pacific
and atmospheric conditions indicate the development
of weak El Nino
conditions for the rest of 2006 into early 2007," says the
latest Dennis
Morris report.
The report says temperatures in southern Africa's
coastal areas were
warmer than normal because of this "El Nino"
development.
"El Nino" is a weather phenomenon previously blamed
for extreme
droughts and massive floods around the world.
In
1992, the "El Nino" factor brought a prolonged drought in southern
Africa,
which led to hunger and starvation in Zimbabwe, and torrential rains
in
normally mild regions around the globe.
Weather experts say the "El
Nino" factor starts with a warm current in
the Pacific Ocean, off South
America, that ultimately affects weather
patterns around the world as it
joins currents in other oceans and seas.
The Dennis Morris report
forecasts November 4-11 as the start of the
rain season.
The
report forecasts Manicaland and Mashonaland East and West
provinces, which
make up Zimbabwe's eastern and north-east regions, to
receive the bulk of
the rain - estimated at 35mm to 100 mm - while the rest
of the country is
projected to get much less.
While tobacco and wheat growers here in
Odzi, about 50 km west of the
eastern border city of Mutare await the rains
with abated breath, some of
them are worried about the extreme nature of the
"El Nino" weather patterns.
"It is obviously a good thing we'll be
finally getting a break in this
heat wave, but we're keeping our fingers
crossed the rains will not come
with floods because of this El Nino," says
Tom Holloway, a tobacco grower.
"Problems with El Nino weather are
the extremes involved, such as too
much rain that is counter-productive, or
drought which is equally terrible.
We're all hoping we won't get either," he
says.
Says the Dennis Morris report: "(There is) a greater
likelihood of
normal to above normal rainfall in eastern Zimbabwe, the
greater part of
Mozambique and most of South Africa."
The
southern part of Malawi, northern Zambia, the southern and central
parts of
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and the southern halves of
Madagascar and Mauritius are also forecast to get "normal to above normal"
rains.
While farmers in the north-eastern part of Zimbabwe
worry about
possible El Nino-induced flooding, those in the rest of the
country are
concerned whether they will receive enough rain at all this
season.
The outlook for the greater part of Zimbabwe is of a "high
probability
for normal to below normal rainfall", the report
says.
The "below normal rains" forecast extends to southeast
Angola,
northern South Africa, much of Zambia, northern Malawi, southern
Tanzania,
north-east Namibia and the other halves of Madagascar and
Mauritius.
Much of Zimbabwe has been experiencing a heat wave over
the past
fortnight, occasionally broken by light, scattered showers, raising
concerns
among a majority of the population that the country could be headed
for a
drought.
Zimbabwe is largely an agro-based country whose
economy is at the
mercy of the vagaries of the weather. As such, majorities
among its
population who are into farming one way or the other are equally
at the
mercy of the weather.
President Robert Mugabe's
government, after months of denying the
country faces shortages of the
staple maize grain due to poor harvests in
previous seasons has now begun
importing from South Africa and Zambia.
The grain imports are
taking place at a time that international donor
organisations, that in the
past have saved many Zimbabweans from starvation
through the provision or
drought relief grain, are scaling back on their
contribution in the coming
season due to budgetary constraints.
As farmers in Odzi looked
forward to rains falling this weekend, some
of them referred nostalgically
to the "good, old days" when weather patterns
were more dependable and the
start of the planting season more definite.
The changing weather
patterns underway are, however, not unique in
Zimbabwe or the region, but
are being experienced around the world while
experts in climatic changes
debate possible causes.
The release into the atmosphere of
"greenhouse gases" - carbon
dioxide, methane and other heat-trapping gases -
has been identified as one
of the main causes of increasing temperatures
around the world, also
known as global warming.
The
noxious gases released into the atmosphere are reportedly also
responsible
for increasing the size of the hole in the Ozone Layer, which
protects the
earth's atmosphere, from dangerous rays from out of space.
The
combined effects of global warming and Ozone Layer depletion, one
group of
scientists contend, helps explain the extremism and changing nature
of
weather patterns underway. There is, however, no conclusive evidence yet
to
support the assertions.
And, of course, the "El Nino" factor is
being blamed for the shifting
weather patterns.
For now, the
farmers in Odzi are eager for the rains to start falling,
minus the "El
Nino" factor. Debate on what's behind the shifting weather
patterns can wait
for the moment. - ZimOnline
Army compensates 14 shooting
victims
Zim Online
Wednesday 01 November
2006
HARARE - The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) on
Tuesday paid out hefty
sums of money to 14 people who were injured during a
mock battle drill at a
provincial agricultural show two years ago.
The 14 were injured on September 18 2004 when some soldiers fired live
ammunition during the Marondera Agricultural Show in Mashonaland East
province.
ZNA spokesman Colonel Simon Tsatsi confirmed that the
army was
compensating the victims of the shooting but refused to disclose
how much
each person was getting.
"The compensation is in
monetary terms but I can't disclose to you how
much each person got as I
don't have the figures with me right now," said
ZNA spokesman Colonel Simon
Tsatsi.
"(But) it is in line with the government's compensation
guidelines
under the ministry of Labour, Public Service and Social Welfare,"
Tsatsi
said.
Sources within the army however told ZimOnline
that the army would pay
about Z$800 000 to the victim with the severest of
injuries with the least
paid victim getting $600 000.
Tsatsi
said some of the soldiers who shot people at the show would be
subjected to
disciplinary action under the Defence Act.
The compensation of the
14 comes barely a week after the High Court
ordered the army to compensate a
woman whose husband was among three workers
at ZISCOSTEEL who were shot dead
while demonstrating for more pay about five
years ago.
Justice
Francis Bere ordered the ZNA to pay the woman over $2 million
plus interest
over the killing of her husband. - ZimOnline
Municipal police loot food for clean-up
victims
Zim Online
Wednesday 01 November
2006
HARARE - Senior Harare municipal police
officers looted food worth
over $97 000 meant for last year's clean-up
victims and suspended four
worker representatives for exposing the theft, a
council audit report
reveals.
Harare's municipal police and
soldiers were at the forefront in
demolishing city backyard cottages, shanty
towns and informal business
kiosks during the widely condemned Operation
Murambatsvina (Operation Drive
out Rubbish) that left at least 700 000
people without shelter or means of
livelihood.
A United Nations
report compiled after the demolitions said another
2.4 million people were
also indirectly affected by the exercise which
President Robert Mugabe said
was necessary to rid Zimbabwean cities of
squalor and crime.
According to the audit report, dated 17th August 2006, the municipal
police
officers helped themselves to tinned food rations meant for victims
of the
clean-up exercise during breakfast and council management meetings.
The food was donated by international aid agencies for distribution to
the
poor and homeless after the home demolition exercise.
"The
allegations contained in the anonymous letter have been proved to
be true.
The municipal police managers confessed to having consumed
Operation
Murambatsvina tinned food rations worth $97 142, 37.
"No authority
was sought for the consumption," says the report.
The four council
workers who blew the whistle on their colleagues were
however suspended
without pay, in a clear case of victimisation.
The four, G Jembe, H
Mazamnhi, M Sadomba, I Sigauke were suspended
last June and are now pursuing
legal action to be reinstated to their
positions.
Chairwoman of
the state-appointed commission running Harare Sekesai
Makwavarara was not
immediately available for comment on the matter.
The Zimbabwean
government has been reluctant to allow food aid into
the country for victims
of the clean-up exercise.
More than 30 tonnes of food donated by
the South African Council of
Churches took over a month to be handed over to
the clean-up victims because
the authorities would not timeously clear the
aid. - ZimOnline
SA police say 52 Zimbabweans arrested for armed
robbery
Zim Online
Wednesday 01 November
2006
JOHANNESBURG - South African police on
Tuesday said they had arrested
52 Zimbabweans over the past two weeks for
alleged armed robbery.
Police Superintendent Fanie Molapo told the
media yesterday that the
Zimbabwean criminals were mostly targeting
supermarkets in Johannesburg .
Molapo said a Zimbabwean was killed
by the police last Saturday after
the gang had robbed a bank and petrol
filling station in Johannesburg .
South African police have in the
past accused foreigners, particularly
Zimbabweans, of fanning violent crime
in the country.
A leading South African newspaper earlier this year
said thousands of
former Zimbabwean soldiers who are quitting the army
because of poor pay and
tough economic conditions at home were at the
forefront in perpetrating
crime in South Africa . - ZimOnline
Zimbabwe NGOs Break Off Talks With Harare On Human Rights Panel
VOA
By
Patience Rusere
Washington
31 October
2006
Under heavy pressure from civic groups, Zimbabwe's National
Association for
Non-Governmental Organizations on Tuesday pulled out of
talks with the
government and United Nations officials on the creation of a
human rights
commission.
A broad cross-section of Zimbabwean civil
society groups held a meeting
Monday in which more militant civil society
organizations urged NANGO to
sever talks with Harare on grounds that
engagement was pointless so long as
rights abuses continued.
The U.S.
based watchdog organization Human Rights Watch issued a report
Tuesday
saying the Zimbabwean government has escalated violent repression of
protests. The government dismissed the report as coming from a longstanding
Western critic.
Opponents of engagement with the government of
President Robert Mugabe
included highly influential civic organizations
including the National
Constitutional Assembly, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights and the Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition.
Such groups want to see
a clear undertaking by Harare to cease all human
rights violations before
giving a green light to talks. The decision was a
setback for the U.N.
country team, which had encouraged engagement with the
government. U.N.
officials in Zimbabwe could not be reached for comment on
the NANGO
decision.
NANGO spokesman Fambai Ngirande told reporter Patience Rusere
of VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that his organization has set conditions for
talks to
resume.
Parliamentary Panel Seeks Prosecution of Zimbabwean Trade
Minister
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
31 October
2006
The Zimbabwean parliament's committee on industry and
trade, probing alleged
top-level corruption at and around the moribund
Zimbabwe Iron and Steel
Company, will table findings of its investigation
Wednesday, sources close
to the committee said.
But the committee has
still not been able to put its hands on a report
prepared by the powerful
National Economic Conduct Inspectorate staffed by
Finance Ministry and
security staff, which is said to document corruption
all the way up to the
cabinet.
The committee report, a copy of which was obtained by VOA's
Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe, urges the full parliament to invoke its fullest
powers to its
prosecute Minister of Trade Obert Mpofu on charges that he
gave
"contradicting, false" evidence to the panel.
It was from Mpofu
that the committee first learned of the National Economic
Conduct
Inspectorate report which is said to implicate ministers, members of
parliament and top ZISCO managers said to have diverted resources of the
state-owned enterprise.
The investigation arose from the collapse of
an agreement with an Indian
steel firm to inject US$400 million into the
parastatal over 10 years. The
deal is said to have fallen apart because
Zimbabwean officials demanded
stakes in the recapitalized
company.
Called before the committee a second time, Mpofu backtracked on
his
statement and said the unnamed senior officials he had implicated were
not
personally involved in looting ZISCO but merely had ties to companies
connected with the scandal.
The parliamentary report also demands
that Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa
supply the committee with a copy of
the Economic Conduct Inspectorate report
for study and "if need be take
appropriate action with the view to curbing
corruption in the
country."
The parliamentary committee report concludes that the collapsed
deal between
ZISCO and Global Steel was "fraught with irregularities." It
alleges that
Mpofu dismissed the company's management and board and set
himself as
principal in the venture.
Some observers see the
burgeoning ZISCO scandal - "Steelgate" to Harare
media - as a test of
whether President Robert Mugabe is sincere in his
often-stated desire to
stamp out widespread official corruption. But Mr.
Mugabe has yet to break
silence on the ZISCO scandal, described by some as
the worst since
independence in 1980.
However, Transparency International Zimbabwe
Chairman Godwill Shana said
that the president's silence at this point may
be understood as Mr. Mugabe
must let the legal process take its course
before he comments publicly on
the affair.
Zanu PF retains its stranglehold on rural
areas
zimbabwejournalists.com
By Ian Nhuka in Bulawayo
Bulawayo-The ruling
Zanu PF mantain control in rural Zimbabwe by
winning 765 of the 849 wards
that were contested during the eekend poll,
held amid opposition charges of
rigging and political arassment.
The two factions of the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) won a
total of 81 wards in the elections that
were also marred by widespread voter
apathy. Independent candidates won the
remainder.
Although media reports this week said that the ruling
party had
retained its stranglehold on rural areas, they did not specify the
number of
wards each of the contesting parties had won as the Zimbabwe
Election
Commission was still compiling the data from the ward command
centres
countrywide.
Going into the elections, Zanu - PF had
won 566 wards unopposed after
opposition parties faied to field candidates
in the areas. This brings
Zanu - PF's rural councillors to 1
331.
Dozens of MDC members could not secure nomination after they
failed to
get support letters from traditional chiefs, known to be ruling
party
loyalists. In terms of the Electoral Act people wishing to run in
rural ward
elections must get support letters from their chiefs stating that
they
reside in areas they want to contest in.
The MDC estimated
that more than 300 of its prospective candidates
could not be nominated as a
result of that. The opposition party charged
just before the elections the
ruling party officials, including the Minister
of Local Government, Public
Works and Urban Development, Ignatius Chombo had
ordered traditional chiefs
not to assist MDC members wishing to obtain the
support
letters.
While the Zanu- PF and MDC continued to dominate the
political
landscape in the country, smaller opposition fared disastrously in
the
elections. Zanu Ndonga, one of the country's oldest parties failed to
win a
single
ward even in its former Chipinge stronghold, so did
Peace Action and
Freedom For All (PAFA) and United People's
Party.
Instead, three independent candidates were elected. Despite
oppisition
assertions that the elections were rigged, ZEC
pronounced the polls as free and fair.In addition to winning in rural
areas,
the ruling party also won the Kadoma mayoral election after its
candidate,
who was the incumbent, Fani Phiri polled 4614 ballots against
Jonas Ndenda
who got 2291 votes. Ndenda was fielded by the main MDC faction
that is loyal
to founding president, Morgan Tsvangirai.
Like in other areas, the
Kadoma contest was also marred with
political violence after a stoning
incident on Ndenda's home on the eve of
the elections.The MDC blamed Zanu -
PF for the attack. Zanu - PF has touted
the results as an indication that
its popularity is rising in MDC's
Matabeleland and urban strongholds. The
weekend rural elections were held
concurrently with some ward by-elections
in some urban areas such as
Victoria Falls, Chiredzi, Gwanda, Hwange Local
Board and Plumtree which
Zanu - PF won.
In Matabeleland North,
the ruling party won 84 wards while the MDC got
33. While MDC resoundingly
confirmed its its control in Binga and Nkayi
districts, Zanu - PF made some
modest progress there.
In Nkayi in Matabeleland North, MDC won 13
wards, with Zanu - PF
winning 11. However, in Matabeleland South, which
tends to side with
Zanu -PF, the ruling party took control of all the seven
rural district
councils, after capturing 80 wards. The MDC took
19.
Zimbabwe unionists seek high court ruling on
arrests
Reuters
Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:28 AM GMT
By Cris
Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe trade union leaders, accused of
holding an
illegal protest over wages, said on Monday they would go to the
Supreme
Court to challenge the constitutionality of their arrest.
A
lawyer for 31 members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
asked
a lower magistrate court to allow them to take their case to the
country's
highest court.
"The law under which they are being charged is unlawful,"
lawyer Alec
Muchadehama said. "It was passed unprocedurally and ... the
rights of the
accused to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and to
protection from
torture have been violated."
"We would like to take
the case to the Supreme Court for a ruling on
constitutional issues and for
a re-affirmation of the rule of law," he said.
Lawyers for the ZCTU say
police assaulted about a dozen unionists, including
several top leaders,
following a September 13 demonstration that was quashed
by
authorities.
Police have denied the assault charges and say the unionists
were in some
cases "heavily resisting arrest", prompting the police to apply
"minimum
force to calm the situation".
The union officials were
detained in filthy crowded cells, with flowing
sewage, and were not given
food or blankets overnight, amounting to torture,
Muchadehama
said.
They were held for three days and released on
bail.
Muchadehama said the Criminal Codification law invoked against the
union
members was rammed through by a parliament dominated by President
Robert
Mugabe's ruling party and contained unconstitutional limits on free
expression.
A number of constitutional challenges, including efforts
to overturn
Zimbabwe's tough media laws and Mugabe's seizures of white-owned
farms for
blacks, have failed in the last few years.
The magistrate
postponed the ZCTU case to December 4 to allow state
prosecutors to prepare
their arguments on the defence bid to go to the
Supreme Court and to answer
to charges of torture and inhuman treatment.
Part of the state's case
says the unionists were "carrying placards and
shouting political slogans"
while ridiculing Mugabe and members of the army
and police, a contravention
of Zimbabwe's strict security laws.
The international community has
expressed dismay over statements by Zimbabwe
leaders, including Mugabe, as
apparently condoning the reported assaults.
Mugabe accuses the ZCTU of
working with the main opposition party, but the
labour body says it is
fighting for workers hit by an economic recession,
the world's highest
inflation rate and chronic shortages of foreign
currency, fuel and
food.
Mugabe, 82, denies responsibility for Zimbabwe's woes and says his
local
opponents are being manipulated by Western powers he accuses of
sabotaging
the economy to pay him back over his forcible redistribution of
white-owned
farms among blacks.
Zimbabwe Churches Ask for Forgiveness
Christian Today, UK
Churches in
Zimbabwe have asked the country for forgiveness for their part
in the
current crisis, as they admitted that some of their own leaders have
been
"accomplices in some of the evils that have brought our nation to this
condition".
by Maria Mackay
Posted: Tuesday, October 31, 2006, 4:05
(GMT)
Churches in Zimbabwe have asked for forgiveness for their role in
the
country's current political and economic crisis and their failure to
prevent
the degeneration of Christian morals like peace, justice and
forgiveness.
The churches made the appeal to the population Sunday in a
church report in
which they asked for forgiveness for failing the nation as
it slid into what
they called "a sense of national despair and loss of
hope", reports ZWNews.
Church leaders said that principles of peace,
justice, forgiveness and
honesty had degenerated and even some church
leaders "have been accomplices
in some of the evils that have brought our
nation to this condition".
"Clearly we did not do enough as churches to
defend these values and raise
an alarm at the appropriate time," they
said.
"We confess we have failed because we have not been able to speak
with one
voice."
The report also called for a new "national vision"
while the churches
confessed that they were only now beginning to wake up to
their role in
healing six years of social political and economic
turmoil.
"In the short term, this involves engaging the government with
the purpose
of helping to end the present crisis and quickly return the
nation to some
normalcy," the report said.
The churches also appealed
to the country, which is 80 per cent Christian,
to reflect on the "dire
national situation and the toll it is having ... on
our families, the future
of our children and of our nation".
They also called for a free debate on
other related issues including the
need to reform heavy-handed security
measures, media laws and freedom of
expression.
The church leaders
also urged constitutional reforms to protect human rights
and to put into
place new checks on the power of the government and Robert
Mugabe.
"Political intolerance has unfortunately become a culture in
Zimbabwe. The
trading of insults, violence with impunity, lawlessness and
hate speech" had
become characteristic of the country's political life, they
said.
They also sharply criticised the violent seizure of land from white
farmers
which had led to "an unrelenting downward spiral and economic
meltdown".
"The whole land issue regrettably has resulted in the
emergence of a culture
of racial hatred and the alienation of people along
racial lines," the
report said.
The churches recommended the
establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation
Commission in partnership with
the churches to address the alleged abuses of
democratic and human rights
since 2000 and speed reconciliation.
Mugabe
persecuting Africans, says Masire
Business Day
Posted to the web on: 31 October 2006
Dumisani
Muleya
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harare
Correspondent
FORMER Botswana president Sir Ketumile Masire has accused
Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe of perpetrating serious "political and
economic
destruction" in his country.
Masire's criticism reflects the
policy of Botswana's president, Festus
Mogae, before his dramatic turnaround
earlier this year.
Writing about Zimbabwe in his recently published book,
Very Brave or Very
Foolish: Memoirs of an African Diplomat, Masire, one of
the region's most
respected statesman, speaks of the "persecution of many
Africans and the
destruction of the capacity of the economy to
function".
Masire retired in March 1998 after succeeding Botswana's first
post-independence leader, Sir Seretse Khama, in July 1980.
He spurred
Botswana through unprecedented economic growth and was later
deployed by the
Organisation of African Unity to investigate the Rwanda
genocide and help
resolve the Democratic Republic of Congo
conflict.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Zimbabwean
labour union leaders facing charges of
trying to launch a protest against
the worsening economic conditions sought
yesterday to have the case
scrapped.
Alec Muchadehama told a magistrate's court in Harare the law
the 30 leaders
and members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions were
alleged to have
breached violated basic constitutional
rights.
Muchadehama said he was filing an appeal in the supreme court. He
said the
charges were "too vague and not reasonably justified" in a
democratic
society. Sapa-AFP
Zimbabwe human rights row in Malawi
afrol News / The Chronicle, 30 October -
Malawi's Centre for Human Rights
and Rehabilitation (CHRR) has lashed out at
Information Minister Patricia
Kaliati for accusing c Malawi's Civil Society
Organisations (CSOs) of
"poking their nose in Zimbabwe's problems" saying
the Minister needs civic
education to understand that the issue of Zimbabwe
is a SADC problem.
CHRR Executive Director Undule Mwakasungula said this
Monday in an interview
with 'The Chronicle' in reaction to remarks made by
Minister Kaliati Friday
last week. Ms Kaliati accused civil society
organisations of intervening in
matters that she said do not concern Malawi
instead of looking at own
problems back home.
"Why concentrating on
Zimbabwe's problems when we have our own problems
here? They [Zimbabweans]
have their own media, civil society etc. The
problems of Zimbabwe are for
the people of Zimbabwe," said Minister Kaliati,
referring to the joint press
conference CHRR had in Malawi's capital
Lilongwe with a Zimbabwe civil
society body, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition,
three weeks ago.
But the
CHRR Executive Director said Monday that he was disappointed at how
the
Minister was viewing the Zimbabwe issue, which he said was a problem for
the
whole Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
"Kaliati is
mixing up things," said Mr Mwakasungula. "She needs to be civic
educated:
Human Rights issues know no border, no boundaries. It is
universal.
Zimbabwe's problem is a SADC issue. We are talking about SADC
integration;
but how can this be achieved and how can countries in the
region prosper
economically if there's no peace in other countries?" queried
Mr
Mwakasungula.
He further stressed that civil society would continue to
comment on any
issue, be it local or be it from across the borders because
human rights
were a global issue. "Just because Kaliati doesn't want to talk
about human
rights violations in Zimbabwe, doesn't mean we should all remain
quiet,"
said Mr Mwakasungula.
On a lighter note, Minister Kaliati in
her attack on civil society further
said it would not be wrong to conclude
that civil society was behind the
theft of the Mugabe signpost on the Midima
Road, which was named after the
Zimbabwean President.
CHRR and Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition three weeks ago told the press in
Lilongwe that SADC
leaders had failed the people of Zimbabwe as they
experience the most trying
times of the "collapse of the socio-economic and
political set-up" in that
country.
A renowned Lilongwe-based activist who preferred anonymity
concurred with
CHRR and dismissed Ms Kaliati's remarks as "very unfortunate"
and
contradictory as regards international relations. "The whole world has
now
become a small village. There is no way one can say what concerns
Zimbabwe
is none of our concern. If the Minister really means it, then why
did
[Malawi] President [Bingu wa] Mutharika spend time campaigning for
Taiwan's
readmission into the UN grouping? Was that not poking one's nose in
other
people's business?"
"Besides, why did the President participate
in security matters concerning
Côte d'Ivoire just recently? And why are SADC
countries concerned about
Darfur? Kaliati needs to be schooled on such
matters otherwise I think she
is contradicting Mutharika in his involvement
in matters concerning other
countries other than Malawi," said the activist,
who runs an organisation
that fights for the women's and children's
rights.
President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe government, which is receiving
heavy
criticism throughout the world for its lack of compassion for human
rights
issues, has banished private media, many civil society organisations
and all
other entities fighting for democratic principles that seem to be at
odds
with Mr Mugabe's policies.
By Kondani Magombo
©
afrol News / The Chronicle
The
ZINASU Weekly Vanguard
From: Eddie Cross
Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 6:53 AM
Subject: The
ZINASU Weekly Vanguard
This comes from the students oprganisation. We
helped with food for those
arrested last week. They are an active part of the
Broad Alliance.
Eddie
BULAWAYO STUDENTS DEMONSTRATE OVER
EXORBITANT FEES
The 25th of October 2006 sent shocks in Zimbabwe when
more than 500 students
from colleges in Bulawayo staged a peaceful march from
the city Hall to the
governor's office at Mhlahlandlela government complex.
The students were
demanding an immediate reversal and review of the current
Education Policy
which has turned all institutions of higher and tertiary
learning into
commercial business entities. Tuition fees are sky rocketing
every semester
beyond the reach of the generality of the student populace.
The march was
led by the ZINASU President, Promise Mkwananzi and the
Secretary General,
Beloved Chiweshe, who made an address to the students and
members of the
public urging them to remain resilient in demanding their
rights to
education, food, health and shelter as fundamental. The President
further
read the petition which was to be presented to the governor, which
outlined
the demands for quality and affordable education. He led the
peaceful march
to the Governor's office to submit the petition where the
overzealous state
security and police went riotous on the students leading to
the arrest of 43
students. The arrested who were detained at the Bulawayo
Central Police
station, were however remanded out of custody on free bail to
15 November
2006.
Unlawful arrest of students at Masvingo State
University
12 Students including ZINASU Vice President, Gideon Chitanga,
were on the
23rd of October 2006, arrested and detained by police at Masvingo
State
University (MASU) for holding a general meeting, which was
termed
Unsanctioned. The ZINASU Vice President was arrested for calling
and
addressing a general meeting whose agenda was to articulate on the
deepening
crisis at MASU, other state institutions and the nation as a whole.
The
meeting was then disrupted by the campus security and the state police
after
the students demanded an address from the Vice Chancellor concerning
the
short notice postponement of the scheduled SRC elections. The other
8
students including the ZINASU Vice President were later released but
the
police further detained the four aspiring candidates for the MASU
SRC
elections. The four are still being interrogated for their association
with
ZINASU. They were brought before the courts, charged with breach of
peace
and inciting public violence under the notorious Public Order and
Security
Act (POSA) and were forced to pay unjust fines for their
release.
4 suspended, 12 expelled and 1 set to
appear before a disciplinary
committee.
The neo-colonial fascist
regime continued to parade its arrogant idiocy as
it illegally suspended and
expelled 16 students in a space of three days.
The University of Zimbabwe
suspended four student leaders who included the
student union president
Tineyi Mukweva, Secretary General Xaxi Matema,
Maureen Kademaunga and
Zwelitini Viki, who are the Information and Publicity
Secretary and the
Health and Social Affairs Secretary respectively. In
Bulawayo, the union
witnessed with great shock when some of the arrested
students who are from
Hillside Teachers college and United College of
Education were expelled upon
returning to their respective or rather
irrespective institutions. The 12
expelled students, who had spent 2 days in
the Bulawayo police holding cells,
were accused of bringing the name of the
institution into disrepute by
participating in the demonstration which was
organized by
ZINASU.
Meanwhile the Harare Polytechnic College Student Representative
Council
president, Tawanda Gumbi has been called to a disciplinary hearing
over the
petition against the poor food quality. The petition was signed by
more than
600 students and this did not go down well with the principal.
Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights is providing legal assistance to all
affected
students.
Vanguard Opinion
By Washington
Katema
The visionless National Vision
Document
It's
the
Zimbabwe Manhanga and Mugabe want…
I belong to the school of
thought that 'processes must protect the content'
. In this regard, I humbly
dismiss the pro-ZANU PF national vision document
basing on the simple facts
that the process of formulating the document was
non-inclusive and
fundamentally flawed. The people, students, included were
not consulted so as
the civic society which is basically the ambassador of
the world's poor, the
voice of the voiceless and the watch-dog of the
Government. I am also going
to highlight some of the loop holes in the
national vision document as I try
to outline the tasks of a democratic
movement in eroding an authoritarian
regime.
First, democratic institutions must resist integration and guard
their
autonomy zones against the regime. In this case the Zimbabwe Council
of
Churches, Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe
Catholic
Bishops Conference have failed as they are now being used as cannon
fodder
by Mugabe. It is common knowledge that what is right with Mugabe is
wrong
with everyone, such as the total and brutal Gukurahundi which left more
than
20 000 people dead and many mass graves, Operation Murambatsvina, which
left
an unprecedented trail of destruction, the beatings of Zimbabwe Congress
of
Trade Unions leaders, an act which was condemned by all and
sundry,
Operation Sunrise, which was a clear case of legalized theft by
the
government among other cases of madness. Criticizing Mugabe is
now
sacrilegious and terms like freedom of speech has been perverted
and
criminalized. This church grouping has been swallowed by the vampire
regime
and it is also alleged that the government edited the final
'visionless'
national vision document.
It is also a public secret that
Mugabe is illegitimate because he stole the
elections of 9-10 June 2000, 30
and 31 March 2002 presidential election and
June 2005 general election. The
church grouping is now going out of its way
to legitimize the illegitimacy.
Disputing the legitimacy of authoritarian
regime is part of the tasks of any
democratic movement trying to erode
authoritarianism. Manhanga and his band
of sanctimonious followers must know
better. How are they going to raise the
cost of maintaining a dictatorship
when they are now going to bed with the
government? How are they going to
create a viable democratic movement when
they are not working with other
pro-democracy movements like Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions, National
Constitutional Assembly, Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition, the lawyers for human
rights, Women of Zimbabwe Arise,
students among others?
It is true that Mugabe is the problem and also
part of the solution, it is
true that eroding an authoritarian regime must
include construction of
democracy, it is true that good politicians are the
ones who know when to
negotiate but the rebel leader of the rebel regime has
proven beyond any
ghost of doubt that he is not committed to the
democratization processes in
Zimbabwe. Ask Jonathan Moyo and his Tsholotsho
project participants. In the
church initiative Mugabe is just buying time.
Given this the civic society
must go to the people and have the masses on
their side.
Zim faces blackouts after thieves hit grid
IOL
October 31
2006 at 11:57AM
Harare - Parts of Zimbabwe will experience more
power cuts after a
grid that receives electricity from neighbouring
Mozambique was damaged by
thieves, the national energy board said on
Tuesday.
"Thieves vandalised a grid that carries 300 megawatts from
Hydro
Cabora Bassa of Mozambique," James Maridadi, spokesperson for the
Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has said.
He said
the power utility would introduce scheduled power cuts in
western and
eastern parts of the country to ensure an even distribution of
power while
it carries out repairs costing ZIM$45-million (about
R1,3-million).
The electricity disruption should be minimal and
normal supplies to
the affected areas should resume on Friday, Maridadi
added.
Zimbabwe imports 40 percent of its power
needs: 100 megawatts a month
from the Democratic Republic of Congo, 200
megawatts from Mozambique and up
to 450 and 300 megawatts from South Africa
and Zambia respectively.
Imports are expected to stop in 2007 due
to an anticipated power
deficit across southern Africa resulting from
increased demand.
Zimbabwe's once-model economy has been on a
downturn for the past five
years, characterised by galloping inflation and
shortages of foreign
currency and basic commodities.
Power
supplies have become frequently erratic and families in the
cities are
turning to firewood for cooking and heating because of outages. -
Sapa-AFP
Mugabe camp moves against union
opponents
Mail and Guardian
Godfrey Marawanyika | Harare,
Zimbabwe
31 October 2006 04:06
Supporters of Robert Mugabe launched a move on Tuesday to oust
anti-government union leaders as a new report by a rights group slammed the
violence used to suppress opposition to the Zimbabwean
president.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has
been at the
vanguard of the opposition to Mugabe's 26-year rule for more
than a decade
and the divisions between the two sides have grown ever more
bitter.
But a new motion filed by Mugabe's own nephew in
Parliament
demands the removal of trade union leaders who try to foment
unrest against
the government and shows the 82-year-old president is now
gearing up for a
final confrontation.
Leo Mugabe, MP for
the western Makonde constituency, said in a
notice to Parliament that he
would ask Labour Minister Nicholas Goche to
dissolve the entire executive of
the ZCTU for "unethical business
practices".
The motion
was formally lodged in Parliament and is now expected
to be debated later
this week.
The lawmaker said a government inquiry had exposed
gross
mismanagement and abuse of funds by ZCTU officials, adding that "a
new-look
ZCTU" was needed.
"The new-look ZCTU should
concentrate on its core business of
representing workers rather than
stayaways that have failed to address
bread-and-butter issues," Leo Mugabe
said.
While legislation is on the statute books to allow the
government to dismiss the ZCTU executive, Mugabe has never before sought to
invoke the power.
Under the stewardship of the man who
went on to become leader of
the opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, the ZCTU
first proved itself a thorn in
the side of Mugabe with a series of mass
street rallies in the late 1990s.
More recently, the
government has invoked the Public Order Act
to prevent any "unauthorised"
rallies and has shown a willingness to clamp
down hard on those who refuse
to toe the line.
A mass rally organised by the ZCTU last
month was stopped in its
tracks by the security forces who rounded up dozens
of organisers, including
ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chibebe and
president Lovemore Matombo.
Allegations that the unionists
were subsequently brutally beaten
were detailed in a report released on
Tuesday by the New York-based Human
Rights Watch, which also claimed the use
of torture and arbitrary arrest was
on the rise.
"When
Zimbabweans engage in peaceful protest, the government
responds with brutal
repression," said the group's deputy Africa director
Georgette
Gagnon.
"The authorities use torture, arbitrary arrest and
detention to
deter activists from engaging in their right to freely assemble
and express
their views."
A doctor, Reginald Machaba
Hove, who examined some of those
arrested told the report's authors he was
shocked by the extent of their
injuries at the hands of the security
services.
"I have never seen anything like this before. They
were denied
medical access for more than 24 hours. The beating was so
callous and hard,"
he said.
The government trashed the
report, saying it was part of a
campaign by the West to tarnish Zimbabwe's
image.
"They have been saying that for the past six years and
as
government we don't give a damn about it," said Junior Information
Minister
Paul Mangwana.
Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe's
independence from Britain in
1980, has been unapologetic about the use of
force against those who stage
unauthorised
demonstrations.
"When the police say move, move. If you don't
move, you invite
the police to use force," he said of September's
protests.
While it was one of Africa's best-performing
countries in the
first decade after independence, Zimbabwe has since seen
its inflation rate
rocket to a world-record high and about 80% of its people
are unemployed.
A controversial land-reform programme, which
saw thousands of
white farmers evicted, and contentious parliamentary polls
led to the
European Union and United States imposing a travel embargo on
Mugabe and his
inner circle. -- Sapa-AFP
Human Rights Watch Honors Zimbabwean Lawyer
(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 30 October 2006 Human Rights Watch press
release:
(New
York, October 30, 2006) - Human Rights Watch will give its highest
recognition to Arnold Tsunga, a courageous Zimbabwean human rights lawyer
and activist whose work has highlighted the deteriorating state of human
rights in Zimbabwe, on November 2.
Tsunga is the executive director
of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, a
leading human rights organization
that provides legal representation to
victims of human rights abuses,
including human rights defenders who are
often arrested and detained in
Zimbabwe. Human Rights Watch has worked
closely with Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights and Tsunga in documenting
human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and
bringing them to the attention of the
international
community.
"Arnold Tsunga provides a voice to those silenced by
repression in
Zimbabwe," said Tiseke Kasambala, researcher with Human Rights
Watch's
Africa division. "He has shown extraordinary courage and commitment
to human
rights in the face of severe persecution by the government of
Zimbabwe."
A high-profile defender of the rule of law in Zimbabwe, Tsunga
has often
spoken out against government abuses at great personal risk. He
has been the
victim of numerous attacks, arrests and death
threats.
In January 2006, Tsunga and five others were arrested and
charged with
operating a broadcasting service without a license, even though
the law
under which they were charged did not apply in their case. The
charges
appear to be yet another attempt by the government to intimidate and
harass
Tsunga and his colleagues. Tsunga has also been the subject of
several
vitriolic verbal attacks in the state-run media.
In March
2002, Tsunga was seized at gunpoint by soldiers, detained for
several hours
and then assaulted in front of onlookers. In September of the
same year, he
was unlawfully detained and threatened with a gun when he
visited a police
station in the town of Chimanimani to represent a client
who had been
abducted by government intelligence officers.
In the past six years, the
government of Zimbabwe has increasingly turned to
repressive and, at times,
violent means to suppress criticism from the
opposition and civil society.
Independent media outlets have been closed
down and opposition political
parties have been stifled. Police and other
state-sponsored agents routinely
intimidate, attack and torture government
critics, including members of
civil society organizations, human rights
lawyers, journalists and trade
unionists. At the same time, the police have
used repressive laws to silence
critical or dissenting voices within civil
society. Human rights abuses
continue to take place with impunity; few
perpetrators are brought to
justice.
The continuing erosion of human rights in Zimbabwe was
highlighted in 2005
by the government's brutal campaign of mass evictions
and demolitions, which
began in May and, according to the United Nations,
deprived 700,000 men,
women and children throughout the country of their
homes, their livelihoods,
or both.
Tsunga and Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights have worked tirelessly to get
justice for the victims of the
evictions in the domestic courts and at other
regional
proceedings.
On December 5, 2005, Human Rights Watch and Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human
Rights, together with four other local and international
organizations,
successfully pressed for an unprecedented resolution on
Zimbabwe at the
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. The
resolution - the first
to be released by the commission on Zimbabwe -
expressed its concern over
the deterioration of human rights in the country,
and alarm at the
violations of rights resulting from the
evictions.
"Through their fearless defense of human rights, Arnold Tsunga
and his
colleagues at Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights bring hope for
justice to
countless victims of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe," said
Kasambala.
To read the December 2005 Human Rights Watch report, "Evicted
and Forsaken:
Internally Displaced Persons in the Aftermath of Operation
Murambatsvina,"
please visit:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/12/01/zimbab12111.htm
Inflation and corruption must be eliminated
IOL
October
31 2006 at 04:23PM
Harare - Inflation and corruption are
chronic diseases in
crisis-ridden Zimbabwe and their causes must be
eliminated, the country's
central bank governor was quoted as saying on
Tuesday.
Gideon Gono, who has been trying to halt Zimbabwe's
economic slide
since he took over the reins of the central bank in 2003,
rejected critics
who accuse him of only tackling the symptoms of inflation,
now the highest
in the world at 1 023 per cent.
"Inflation and
corruption have become the two major chronic diseases
in our national
economy but you cannot prevent or fight any disease without
tackling its
causes," the Reserve Bank governor said in comments carried by
the official
Herald newspaper.
Gono has implemented a host of
measures in his bid to control
inflation, some of them unpopular. He has
maintained the government's
control over foreign exchange rates, leading
critics to complain that the
Zimbabwe dollar is massively
overvalued.
Earlier this month he closed down the country's 16
money transfer
agencies (MTAs), accusing them of fuelling the parallel
market. The move
sent thousands of Zimbabweans who depend on overseas
remittances into a
panic.
Gono, speaking at a graduation
ceremony for nurses in Harare, said he
had to eliminate the causes and treat
the symptoms of inflation and
corruption just like a medical doctor, the
Herald reported.
"Obviously, the deep structural, policy and
institutional rigidities
in our economy need to be addressed honestly and
fully and (as) part of the
important challenge there is need for profound
political, business, labour
and social sector goodwill across the nation,"
he said.
The central bank chief recently complained that his recent
policy
decisions had made him so unpopular that some of his former friends
now
wished him dead. - Sapa-dpa
ANC youth leader's praise of Mugabe branded an insult to
Zimbabweans
By Lance Guma
31 October 2006
African National Congress Youth League president Fikile Mbalula has
been
told to spend some time in rural Zimbabwe and not some five star hotel,
before opening his mouth in praise of Robert Mugabe. The comments were made
by Patricia de Lille the leader of the opposition Independent Democrats (ID)
in South Africa. She was responding to remarks by the youth leader who told
an ANC rally in South Africa that Mugabe was 'doing good work,' and 'we love
him for redistributing the wealth and land to the people.' Lille said the
comments were an insult to the many Zimbabweans who have had to suffer under
Mugabe's tyranny.
The ID sent out a statement saying they
'would like to advise Mbalula
to visit Zimbabwe and stay in the rural areas
and not a five star hotel - if
there are still any left in the country - to
witness the hardship
Zimbabweans are going through every day under Mugabe's
unpredictable regime.'
De Lille added, 'With inflation out of control in
Zimbabwe and many millions
unemployed, Mbalula must explain what wealth he
is talking about.Or is he
talking about South Africa's wealth, which we are
sharing with thousands of
Zimbabweans who have fled their country for
greener pastures?'
De Lille told Newsreel in an interview that if
Mugabe was 'doing good'
then 'tens of thousands of Zimbabweans would not
have emigrated to Europe,
or anywhere else in the world.' She says innocent
Zimbabweans are risking
their lives every night by swimming across the
crocodile infested Limpopo
River trying to get into South Africa. Zimbabwe,
which previously was
regarded as the breadbasket of Africa, now had a large
part of the
population facing starvation. De Lille added. 'The Independent
Democrats do
recognize the role Mugabe played in the struggle, but all this
is lost in
the face of his recent actions.'
SW
Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Botswana condemned over mass deportations of hapless Zimbabweans
October 31, 2006
By Savious Kwinika (CAJ)
Botswana
condemned over mass deportations of hapless Zimbabweans
By Jimmy
Phelans CAJ News Reporter PRETORIA: THE Zimbabwe Exiles Forum
(ZEF) has
implored the Botswana government in particular and Southern Africa
Developmemt Community (SADC) leaders in general to deal with the root causes
of the Zimbabwean crisis rather than to deport Zimbabweans. The condemnation
comes a week after the Botswana government had deported well over 6000
Zimbabwean asylum seekers/refugees recently rounded up by the local security
agents. In a press statement made available to CAJ News this
afternoon(Tuesday),the Pretoria based lawyers for human rights said it was
deeply disturbed by fresh reports of mass arrests and deportations of
Zimbabweans seeking political refuge in Botswana. A new wave of arrests
commenced on 23 October 2006, dubbed by the Botswana authorities as a
crackdown on all illegal immigrants. ZEF said what was most worrying and
dehumanising was that the mass arrests were targetted at the Zimbabwe
population. "The campaign apparently targeted Zimbabweans, according to
media reports, raising deep concerns of discrimination against Zimbabweans,"
said Gabriel Shumba, the Executive Director of ZEF. "As a watchdog for the
recognition, protection and promotion of the human rights of Zimbabweans in
exile, ZEF is dismayed by the failure of governments in the SADC region to
acknowledge the Zimbabwe crisis. "These continued deportations show a
complete disregard for the protection of Zimbabweans fleeing from political
violence, torture and persecution at home. "The arrests are indiscriminate
thereby victimizing Zimbabweans with genuine asylum-seeking agenda. It
appears the only criteria is that if you are Zimbabwean you will be
deported. " For some Zimbabweans, it is like a death sentence, as they
originally escaped death in Zimbabwe,"added Shumba. He called on the region
and the international community to acknowledge that the situation in
Zimbabwe had reached fever-pitch ,and said the situation needed address
before it explodes-CAJ News.
SA police smuggles human contraband
October 31, 2006
By Savious Kwinika (CAJ)
SA police smuggles human
contraband
By Tsepo LivomboCAJ News Reporter MUSINA/BEITBRIDGE:THE
South African
Police Service (SAPS) is being accused of smuggling hundreds
of Zimbabwe's
socio-economic and political victims into the country in a
corrupt move
widely believed is aimed at subsidizing their poor salaries,
CAJ News
established. Allegations against the South African police, whom the
public
accuse of receiving bribes were at a large scale and this prompted
lawyers
for human rights to institute own investigations.In several
incidents, it
emerged that the illegal immigrants were given the greenlight
to enter South
Africa once they have paid an average of between R100-to-R200
respectively
to the SAPS officers on duty.Further allegations against the SA
police were
that they target some haulage truck drivers, private vehicles
and bus
drivers from whom they demand some money from the illegal immigrants
in
order to be granted safety and avoid deportation. In an interview with
CAJ
News yesterday, a SAPS captain at Musina borderpost, who requested
anonymity
told the news agency that there were no such allegations of police
corruption raised by members of the public.The police officer defended the
state arguing that any reported of police corruption SAPS would have acted
accordingly. The SAPS captain told CAJ News that because of the complexity
involving corruption issues, people rarely reported to the superiors. "When
reports are made to us, we take action," said the SAPS captain, who asked to
remain anonymous. The smuggled Zimbabweans, are being asked to pay the
police officers a third of their salaries to avoid deportation, a claim the
SA police could not confirm by the time of going to press. This reporter
recently witnessed several Zimbabweans and a Malawian national arrested for
not having proper documents to enter into South Africa legally. The four
were quickly loaded into a van by two policemen. The van was driven to
Musina purpotedly for detention at the holding centre before deportation.
Subsequently investigations proved that the police were paid by the border
jumpers to faciltate their free passage to a safe point beyond Musina. In
another episode at Beitbridge, a woman was arrested for trying to smuggle
tobacco. Instead of surrendering the contraband to the customs for
evaluation, the two policemen loaded the loot into their van and the woman
paid R300 for her freedom. Cross border drivers from Zimbabwe confirmed
that the South African Police Service officers were now specialists in
demanding bribes. "At times you find these policemen asking silly questions
so as to find fault in your vehicle yet the intention wil be to solicit for
a bribe. "To avoid unnecessary delays we just part with a small bribe but
these days they are demanding high amounts like R100 plus," said a truck
driver. Asked to comment on corruption allegations a South Africa Police
Captainat beitbridge said because of the complexity involving corruption
issues, people rarely reported to the superiors. "When reports are made to
us, we take action," said the Captain-CAJ News.
The complicity of our
neighbour
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
For a long time now,
ordinary Zimbabweans have had a legitimate
expectation that South Africa
will use its leverage as the biggest political
and economic power in Sub
Saharan Africa to support the realization of the
democratic ideals of the
people of Zimbabwe and help resolve the crippling
poverty and socio-economic
breakdown gripping the nation.
While Pretoria has played a direct
role in places like Lesotho and
others as far as DRC, Ivory Cost, Sudan and
so on, South Africa's attitude
towards the crisis gripping its northern
neighbor has been characterized
more by an unintelligible stance, officially
defined as quite diplomacy
which in practice camouflages the reality of
Pretoria's subtle support for
the Mugabe regime.
For the role
played by, not just the South African government and its
public institutions
but also South African private capital can not be
described as anything less
than a complicity relationship with the regime of
Robert
Mugabe.
The people of Zimbabwe thus feel understandably let down by
their one
key neighbour who could have the greatest influence on the present
crisis.
Details coming out of the recent Sisulu Commission of enquiry into
the SABC
only add on to this feeling of great betrayal. It has emerged from
the
Sisulu Commission that the SABC, acting on the instructions of its
managing
director, Dr Snuki Zikala, blacklisted certain civil society voices
on
Zimbabwe because of particular views they hold on the crisis. Zikalala is
the Managing Director, SABC News and Current Affairs and a former ANC
political commissar.
Among those banned from the station is
Arch Bishop Pius Ncube of the
Roman Catholic Church, Mail and Guardian
Publisher Trevor Ncube, Elinor
Sisulu, the Media manager for the Crisis
Coalition South Africa office and
political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki, young
brother to Thabo, who is a strong
critic of Mugabe's policies.
This is a serious scandal if one considers the fact that the SABC as a
public broadcaster has an obligation to provide the public with a balanced
view on the crisis in Zimbabwe. Zikalala justifies banning Ncube by saying,
Trevor Ncube has his newspapers which he uses to attack Mugabe everyday and
why should I give him space on my broadcaster.
He thinks Elinor and
Moeletsi Mbeki are removed and misinformed on
Zimbabwe. And he hasnâ?Tt had
the courage to tell anyone why Pius Ncube
should not be allowed to comment
on Zimbabwe. Whatever Zikalala says it
doesnâ?Tt take a nuclear physicist to
see that his agenda is to
systematically marginalize voices critical of
Mugabeâ?Ts policies from the
SABC.Â
This becomes the latest in
a series of evidence confirming how the
SABC is violating journalism's
cardinal principle of giving professional and
unbiased coverage and instead
acting as a solidarity broadcaster for
Mugabe's regime. The SABCs coverage
of Zimbabwe's 2005 parliamentary
elections immediately springs back to
mind.
The broadcaster had a team of 59 journalists in the country
whose
coverage of the elections was nothing less than a public relations
mission
for Mugabe and his regime. When Zimbabweans were dismissing the
elections as
predetermined citing serious distortions of the playing field
in favour of
the ruling party, the SABCâ?Ts main anchor Hope Zinde shocked
Zimbabweans by
declaring, within a matter of a few hours of checking into
Harareâ?Ts
Sheraton Hotel, that the conditions were conducive for free and
fair
elections.
The first thing that I have to say, she said in her
report, is that
this is a very peaceful country, contrary to many reports
out there,
especially in South Africa and some western media.
Zinde
was saying all this after being in the country for just a few
hours and in
the face of records of serious intimidation and violations
recorded by local
and international monitors.
People also remember Zikalalaâ?Ts
interview with Mugabe just after the
elections where he proved to be a fan
of the despised dictator. It was an
embarrassing show. Zikalala behaved like
a shy schoolboy and helpfully
avoided confronting Mugabe with any difficulty
questions. No questions were
asked on the serious violations of the SADC
Protocol on elections recorded
by various local and international observers.
Issues of equal opportunities
for all parties to access state media,
independence of the Judiciary and
impartiality of the electoral
institutions, the draconian acts that
seriuously curtailed political space,
violence and intimidation,
politicization of food distribution, banning and
disruption of opposition
meetings, attack and forced closure of independent
press and so on. None of
this was important to Zikalala. At the end of the
interview, Zikalala even
compliments Mugabe saying, was a very peaceful
country and we have seen the
economic turnaround ourselves. What peace was
that and which economic
turnaround?
For the SABC to take such a
partisan stance is the most disgraceful
thing a public broadcaster that
holds itself in high regard can ever do. To
have on this very late hour, the
likes of the SABC being part of the band
wagon playing smoke and mirrors and
deceiving the world on the reality of
the situation in Zimbabwe today is not
just extremely unfortunate but also
the most dishonorable thing. If the
matter at stake were a sporting match
this maybe would have been just silly.
However in this case this shameful
conduct cannot be anything less than
tragic because the crisis in Zimbabwe
is now a humanitarian emergency in
which millions of innocent lives are at
stake and .
Under
Mugabe's dictatorship people have been reduced to a nation of
foraging
paupers stripped of any dignity. Mothers have to endure the pain of
seeing
their children wailing of hunger and not knowing what to do. Workers
can
barely go through a week on a minimum wage. Communities have to cope
without
basics like water and electricity. The sick can not get drugs. The
vast
majority of the population is now destitute and just waiting for god.
And
what is revolting is that people have all this piled on them and are
told
not to complain. At gunpoint!
Recently the world saw shocking
images of Mugabe's police brutalizing
workers who dared to raise their
voices. For simply exercising their
democratic right to peacefully march in
protest against unbearable levels of
poverty, demanding an end to harassment
of informal traders and calling for
access to ARVs, ZCTU workers were
brutalized by Mugabe's running dogs.
Footage from the march shows Zimbabwe
Republic Police details mercilessly
pounding arrested workers with baton
sticks like donkeys. The images are so
barbaric that they invoke memories of
colonial era state barbarism.
Testimonies from the arrested workers tell of
unrelenting beatings and
torture within cells. The ZCTU secretary general
Wellington Chibhebhe was
beaten until he lost consciousness. The Vice
President Lucia Matibenga burst
an eardrum from repeated clapping and
pictures show her whole body bruised
and blackened from beatings. Many
others including the ZCTU President
Lovemore Matombo got broken limbs. If
the thuggish behavior of the police
was shocking, even more outrageous was
to hear Mugabe audaciously condoning
these callous acts.
This
is the point history must record; the impunity and
well-documented cruelty
of the Zimbabwe Republic Police has blessings from
Mugabe himself. This just
goes to show that Mugabe's exhausted regime owes
its survival to force and
coercion. Violence has become the regimeâ?Ts first
instinct and in its
exhausted mentality, the regime stupidly believes that
torturing the
messengers will somehow destroy the message.
This is the reality
that Zikalala and his ilk do not want the world to
see. It has become the
habit of the regime to brutally thwart any protest.
Mothers have been beaten
and locked up for handing out roses on the streets
and peacefully demanding
justice. Student activists have been detained and
tortured at maximum
prisons for defending the right to education. Civil
society activists are
harassed and frustrated left right and center.
Whatever doctoring people
like Zikalala can do, the truth of the matter is
that the voices of protest
as recently expressed by the ZCTU and other brave
activists resonate deep
within the hearts of millions of Zimbabweans. The
peace that Zikalala and
the likes of Hope Zinde preach to the world is in
reality a tense silence
maintained through guns, baton sticks and the threat
of things
worse.
The SABC's shameful stance on Zimbabwe must be understood as
consistent to Pretoriaâ?Ts own deplorable foreign policy on Zimbabwe. The
South African government observer missions to Zimbabweâ?Ts disputed
elections since 2000 have been the quickest to declare a free and fair
verdict and dismiss irregularities raised by other local and international
observers. To this day the South African government has failed to live up to
its international responsibility on Zimbabwe refusing to acknowledge the
full extent of the crisis in Zimbabwe. At the same time, South Africa has
been the first to frustrate efforts to bring Zimbabwe on the agenda of
multi-lateral foras. Recently Mbeki deflected responsibilities from his
shoulders and misled the world by alleging that Mkapa was facilitating a
dialogue initiative which turned out to be fictitious.
What one
does not understand is why Mbeki fails to act positively on
Zimbabwe when it
is clear that the degeneration of Zimbabwe has an adverse
social impact on
South Africa and will ultimately have severe consequences
for regional
stability. Already South Africa is seriously inundated with
thousands of
Zimbabwean political and economic refugees escaping the crisis.
These poor
victims of the Zimbabwe crisis are not even regard as refugees
who deserve
protection under international law but just as illegal
immigrants, who are
hunted down like criminals, detained in the most
deplorable conditions and
deported back to Zimbabwe.
In the face of such shameful conduct
from Pretoria, an urgent task
therefore lies on the shoulders of progressive
minded South Africans to
extend a hand of solidarity to the people of
Zimbabwe. Unequivocal positions
taken so far by COSATU, South African Social
Movements and recently the
Progressive Youth Alliance in support of the
democratic struggle in Zimbabwe
need the support of the wider South African
population. With ruling elites
extending unprincipled solidarity to each
other the only hope and effective
counter is principled people to people
solidarity. The South African public
must call their government and public
institutions like the SABC to account
for their disgraceful collusion with
oppression in Zimbabwe.
At this hour of greatest need there is
nothing more unhelpful to the
cause of democracy and social justice in
Zimbabwe than this connivance from
South Africa. Despite all these odds,
Zimbabweans retain the deepest
conviction that justice will ultimately
prevail over brutal repression
because history itself is always on the side
of justice. Always. And at the
end, Zimbabweans will remember not just the
deeds of their oppressors but
also the complicity of their
neighbours.
Uhuru! Freedom! Rusununguko! Nkululeko!
Onward with the struggle comrades! We shall overcome!
Briggs Bomba is a
Zimbabwean activist; he can be reached on
briggsbomba@yahoo.com