The Zimbabwe Situation

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

'Blood diamond' campaigners described the Kimberley Process as 'farcical'
after Zimbabwe escaped an export ban despite a massacre of miners in the
country last year.

By Sebastien Berger in Johannesburg and Peta Thornycroft
Published: 6:22PM GMT 05 Nov 2009

Human rights groups had called on the Kimberley Process, which certifies
diamonds as being conflict-free, to suspend exports from the country,
following the widely reported deaths of hundreds of people when the
Zimbabwean army took control of the Marange gem fields.

The Zimbabwean government denies a massacre took place.

The move would have dealt a major blow to President Robert Mugabe, as
members of his Zanu-PF party allegedly use the wealth of the area, in
eastern Zimbabwe, to ensure the loyalty of the military and police.

But sources inside a meeting of the Kimberley Process (KP) in Namibia said
that despite a suspension recommendation from its own working group, it
would instead send in a monitor to the area who would vet future exports. It
was not clear how the scheme would work in practice.

Sources said that Zimbabwe's position was defended most strongly by South
Africa, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Russia.

Ian Smillie, one of the architects of the Kimberley Process who resigned
earlier this year in protest at how it was working, said: "The whole thing
is farcical, irresponsible and a disgrace.

"Here we have a government that has lied repeatedly to the KP - clearly
stated in the KP report - has a tenuous grip on its diamond industry - and
that courtesy of gross human rights violations - and the regulatory body
that is supposed to assure consumers that the diamonds its certifies are
clean ignores its responsibility and sets up an open-ended tea party.

"It will turn the KP into a laughing stock and give Zimbabwe more or less
carte blanche for business as usual."

Global Witness, a campaign group, said the decision cast doubt on the
credibility of the Kimberley Process. Annie Dunnebacke, from the
organisation, said the scheme had "failed to enforce its own minimum
requirements".

Experts believe that if properly managed, the Marange deposits could be
worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year to Zimbabwe's troubled unity
government.

Kimberley Process ignores its own advice

Photo: IRIN

A handful of diamonds

JOHANNESBURG,, 5 November 2009 (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's rough diamond trade has escaped a six-month suspension by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) - an international initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds - after its own investigating team recommended earlier in 2009 that the country be temporarily barred from importing and exporting the gems.

No consensus on Zimbabwe's suspension could be reached at the annual plenary, said Annie Dunnebacke, of Global Witness - a UK-based NGO that seeks to prevent the use of natural resources to fuel conflict, and a prime mover in setting up the KPCS - who described the meeting in the Namibian coastal town of Swakopmund, as "the most disorganized plenary session ever held."

The KPCS, established in 2002, brings together governments, the diamond industry and concerned NGOs to police the trade in conflict diamonds, also known as blood diamonds. The organization has 49 members representing 75 countries, and covers about 99.8 percent of the global production of rough diamonds.

The credibility of the KPCS was on a knife edge before the annual meeting. According to one delegate, who declined to be identified, Zimbabwe's escape from suspension was ensured by its neighbours, but would not divulge which countries in the region objected to punitive measures against the country.

Southern Africa's economies are already seeing the effects of the global recession in depressed diamond sales, and any return to international boycotts against diamonds would further impact these fragile economies.

"We [civil society] are very disappointed" with the outcome, Dunnebacke told IRIN. Instead of suspension, an action plan to ensure Zimbabwe's compliance with the KPCS was called for, with the dispatch of an official to monitor the country's adherence.

In July an 11-person KPCS review team, led by Kpandel Fiya, Liberia's deputy minister of mines, visited the Chiadzwa diamond area in Marange district, Manicaland Province, bordering Mozambique in eastern Zimbabwe, and documented a litany of human rights abuses.

Are we endorsing a system that we cannot believe in anymore?

The action plan adopted in Swakopmund did not address human rights abuses or the militarization of the Marange alluvial diamond fields. "The implementation of the action plan depends on Zimbabwe showing commitment and sincerity," she pointed out.

The KPSC had been "undermined by this decision ... the KP [Kimberley Process] has to look at itself ... it is too important to fail, and that is why we have not walked away from it yet ... are we endorsing a system that we cannot believe in anymore?"

Ian Smillie, of Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), one of the architects of the certification scheme, has walked away. He resigned as civil society representative to the KPCS in June 2009, saying: "When regulators fail to regulate, the systems they were designed to protect collapse ... I feel that I can no longer in good faith contribute to a pretence that failure is success, or to the kind of debates we have been reduced to."

Military gangsters

In the KPCS review team's report, addressed to Obert Mpofu, Zimbabwe's minister of mining, Fiya said: "Sir, I was in Liberia throughout the 15 years of civil war, and I have experienced too much senseless violence in my lifetime, especially connected with diamonds. In speaking with some of these people [in Zimbabwe], minister, I had to leave the room. This has to be acknowledged, and it has to stop."

A report in June 2009 by the international watchdog, Human Rights Watch, accused Zimbabwean security forces of killing more than 200 miners in 2008 - an allegation denied by President Robert Mugabe's government - and recommended that Zimbabwe be suspended from the KPCS.

A 2009 report by PAC - Zimbabwe, Diamonds and the Wrong Side of History - said, "Zimbabwean diamonds are produced from mines that benefit political and military gangsters, and they are smuggled out of the country by the bucket load."

Another KPCS review team is expected to visit the country within the next six months.

Reclamation, Zimbabwe Plan Gem Mine on Atrocity Site

http://www.bloomberg.com

By Carli Lourens and Brian Latham

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- New Reclamation Group Ltd. plans to form a venture
with Zimbabwe to mine diamonds from a deposit that human rights groups have
said has been the site of military atrocities, a copy of the agreement
shows.

New Reclamation, a Johannesburg scrap metal company part owned by Old Mutual
Plc, will manage mining on the deposit through its at least 50 percent owned
Grandwell Holdings Ltd. in partnership with Marange Resources Ltd., a unit
of the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. Two members of the
decision making body of President Robert Mugabe's political party confirmed
the terms of the agreement, declining to be identified because it is
confidential.

Marange, as the deposit is known, was seized by the government from
Maidstone, England-based African Consolidated Resources Plc in 2006 after
gems were found. As many as 20,000 illegal miners besieged the area, also
known as Chiadzwa, and were later cleared off by the army and police. New
York-based Human Rights Watch says more than 200 were killed last year.
Zimbabwe's police say they have had no reports of atrocities. New
Reclamation and Zimbabwe's mines minister didn't return calls.

"Marange wishes to strategically partner with Grandwell, which shall provide
funding" to help mine and market diamonds, according to the July 21
agreement, which is signed by New Reclamation, ZMDC, Grandwell and Marange.

The Zimbabwe High Court on Sept. 24 confirmed the title of African
Consolidated to claims on the field. The U.K. company has said it is seeking
the return of its concession.

'Preparing to Mine'

"Reclamation is preparing to mine in our concession area," Andrew Cranswick,
the chief executive officer of African Consolidated, said in a phone
interview from Zimbabwe. "They're preparing to start mining next week."

The area allocated to New Reclamation overlaps with African Consolidated's
claim, he added.

The Kimberley Process, a global body created to curb trade in gems mined to
fund conflict, considered whether to suspend Zimbabwe as a member after a
mission visited the Southern African country in May, when it investigated
claims of diamond smuggling and related violence from Marange. It decided
today to keep Zimbabwe as a member and support its program to work toward
compliance with the group's rules.

"Zimbabwe has had more than enough time to put a halt to the human rights
abuses and smuggling at Chiadzwa," Tiseke Kasambala, Africa researcher with
Human Rights Watch said in a phone interview from Johannesburg. "The
situation there cannot be allowed to continue any longer."

Investors Deterred

Grandwell, registered in Mauritius, will provide as much as $100 million
toward mining the deposit, the agreement states, adding that the
shareholders of Reclamation will need to approve the project.

New Reclamation's Chief Executive Officer Michael Movsas, through his
personal assistant, declined to speak to Bloomberg News and was said to be
unavailable when subsequent calls were made. Calls to the office and mobile
phones of Obert Mpofu, Zimbabwe's mines minister, weren't answered while
four calls to ZMDC didn't connect.

Lynn Bolin, a Cape Town-based spokeswoman for Old Mutual, which owns 5.28
percent of New Reclamation, referred questions back to the company.

New Reclamation, southern Africa's biggest scrap metal company, sold 253
million euros ($375 million) of bonds due in 2013 in January 2006. It
processes ferrous and non-ferrous metal as well as glass, plastic and paper
waste and employs more than 2,000 people according to its Web site.

'Law Must be Upheld'

Zimbabwe, which is trying to recover from a decade-long recession, is trying
to attract foreign investment even as a dispute between Mugabe's Zimbabwe
African National Union- Patriotic Front and the Movement for Democratic
Change threatens to dismantle a coalition government set up in February
deters investors.

"We have said before that a full independent investigation is needed and
that the law must be upheld," Nelson Chamisa, an MDC spokesman, said in a
phone interview from Harare today. "The mining claims, like any dispute,
must be resolved and upheld by the country's courts."

Southern Africa Leaders Meet to Discuss Zimbabwe

By Peta Thornycroft
Southern Africa
05 November 2009

Several southern Africa leaders are meeting in Maputo to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe's inclusive government following the withdrawal from the cabinet by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and ministers from his party. The leaders of Zimbabwe's three political parties are also attending the meeting.

S. Africa's President Jacob Zuma, left, speaks with his counterparts President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, center, and President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique, Maputo, 5 Nov. 2009

The one day meeting in Maputo is a summit of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) organization on Security, Defense and Politics, commonly known as the troika - at present comprised of Mozambique, Zambia and Swaziland. Also attending are South African president Jacob Zuma, Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila, and former South African president Thabo Mbeki who facilitated the agreement which brought about the inclusive government.

Ahead of the meeting's start Tomaz Salomao, Executive secretary of SADC, told VOA in Portuguese that SADC expects to substantially solve the problems consistently faced in Zimbabwe.

Salamao said the meeting is important and will help solve the crisis in Zimbabwe. He said the three political parties have restated their commitment to the political agreement in Zimbabwe. Salamao added there is a need to determine what can end the current stalemate in the inclusive government, and that this must be done for the good of all Zimbabweans.

Mr. Tsvangirai withdrew from the cabinet three weeks ago citing unresolved issues in the accord signed more than a year ago by the leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, ZANU-PF, and the smaller faction of the MDC. He objected to what his party says are selective prosecutions, particularly against MDC legislators.

The prime minister also said that President Robert Mugabe had unilaterally appointed top civil servants such as provincial governors, the governor of the central bank and the attorney-general, apparently in defiance of an earlier SADC statement which said these positions should be jointly decided after the formation of the inclusive government.

In addition to Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai, the leader of the small faction of the MDC, Arthur Mutamabara, is in Maputo to attend the meeting.

ZANU-PF negotiator Patrick Chinamasa said last week that his party had fulfilled all conditions of the agreement, known as the Global Political Agreement.

The only daily newspaper in Harare, the pro-ZANU-PF Herald says that the MDC has not campaigned for the end of European Union and United States trade and travel restrictions against top ZANU-PF leaders and their businesses. It also says the MDC has done nothing to stop broadcasts from what it calls pirate radio stations.

The only radio and television stations in Zimbabwe are controlled by ZANU-PF.

In an apparent indication of the importance Zimbabweans attach to the summit, prices on Zimbabwe's stock exchange rose sharply Thursday. Stockbrokers in Harare said this was caused by optimism among Zimbabwe's main economic players that the SADC meeting would put the power-sharing government back on track. Prices had dropped sharply last month when Mr. Tsvangirai withdrew participation in cabinet meetings.

MDC, Zanu-PF should put differences aside to save unity govt: SADC

http://www.sabcnews.com


November 05 2009 , 5:00:00

      The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Troika says it will
push for parties in Zimbabwe to put aside their differences and save the
faltering unity government.

      The agreement enabled President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to form an inclusive
government. But now the two leaders are at odds again.

      This time, the SADC is putting its foot down, saying the leaders will
have to honour the Global Political Agreement. The Troika is however keeping
mum about details of the meeting.

Zim rivals 'committed to making unity govt work'

http://www.mg.co.za/

MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE Nov 05 2009 07:10

Zimbabwe's rival leaders remain committed to the nation's power-sharing
deal, despite a deadlock that has paralysed the unity government, a regional
official said on Wednesday ahead of a summit on the crisis.

"We're here to continue to help the Zimbabweans in their difficult journey,"
said Tomaz Salomao, secretary general of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), on the eve of the summit in Mozambique's capital, Maputo.

"One thing I can guarantee is that there is a commitment from all the
Zimbabwean parties to make the political agreement work, to make the unity
government work, given the positive results it's achieved in its nine months
of existence."

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader, cut ties
with veteran President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party in mid-October,
threatening the fragile unity government set up in February to pull Zimbabwe
out of an economic and political crisis.

Thursday's summit will bring together the rivals and deputy premier Arthur
Mutambara with leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa,
Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia.

Salomao said the leaders would hear feedback from a SADC fact-finding
mission that visited Harare last week but that the outcome of the summit
would ultimately be up to Zimbabwe's leaders.

"President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Tsvangirai, Professor Arthur
Mutambara and other Zimbabwean political actors know very well -- better
than anyone -- what is good for Zimbabweans," Salomao said.

Human rights organisations on Wednesday urged the region to take a more
proactive stance on the crisis.

"Recent reports that Zanu-PF continues to arrest and harass human rights and
civil society activists should act as a warning to the regional leaders that
Zimbabwe may slide back into violence and chaos if they do not take decisive
action," warned Georgette Gagnon of Human Rights Watch.

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa called for a team to
investigate political violence and intimidation, and for SADC to deploy a
"standing presence" in Zimbabwe until a new constitution had paved the way
for fresh elections.

"If the [unity government] can't be rescued, it will be a colossal failure
for SADC," said Sisonke Msimang, the organisation's executive director. --
AFP

Lawyers protest against judicial system

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=24525

November 5, 2009
Geoffrey Nyarota

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Members of the Zimbabwe Law Society yesterday held a meeting in
Harare on Wednesday to protest against the manner in which the country's
judiciary system is being handled.

High on the list of their grievances was the continued harassment of human
rights lawyers which has so far resulted in the arrest and detention of
several lawyers while discharging their official duties.

Harare human rights lawyer, Alex Muchadehama, is to go on trial for
allegedly trying to defeat the course of justice by attempting to secure the
release of a client from remand prison through clandestine means.

The lawyers are also complaining about the unprofessional conduct of the
Attorney General, Johannes Tomana. They say he has so far failed to protect
lawyers from harassment by the police.

They say the incidence of harassment of lawyers by the police has increased,
particularly those representing high profile personalities facing serious
charges, such as Roy Bennett, whose trial resumes on Monday.

"Lawyers are raising their displeasure against the conduct of the AG," said
Chris Mhike of the Law Society of Zimbabwe at the meeting. "There have been
many complaints against the conduct of the AG

Another lawyer, Irene Petras, who is also the Director of the Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), told the meeting that the AG's conduct left
a lot to be desired.

"There has to come a point where we say the AG is not a professional
person," said Petras.

The protest meeting took place soon after another Harare lawyer, Mordecai
Mahlangu was arrested at his Harare offices on Monday. He was accused of
obstructing the course of justice after he allegedly wrote a letter seeking
to advise the AG that his client, Peter Hitschmann, a key state witness in
Roy Bennett's trial, would not be able to testify in court because the
information that he provided to the police in his statement was obtained
under duress.

Another lawyer, who only identified himself only as Dururu, suggested that
lawyers should withdraw their free services to the High Court.

"Why can't we withdraw our free services to the State because they are
treating us as criminals. The High Court cannot function without us," he
said.

Human rights lawyer, Harrison Nkomo, who is representing Roy Bennett in his
treason trial case, said, "I find myself on the ropes."

Another lawyer, Sheila Jarvis, proposed that a parliamentary committee be
set up to investigate the operations of the AG's office and how the members
of the judiciary are remunerated.

"We should ask for a parliamentary portfolio committee to move an inquiry
into the operations of the AG's office. This has gone too far, even some
magistrates have been harassed. This committee should look into how judges
have been rewarded over the years to the extent that they have lost their
independence," said Jarvis.

The lawyers adopted a resolution to go on a strike and organise a protest
march in Harare on November 16. They also decided to write a letter of
complaint to the Minister of Justice, the AG, the Police Commissioner
General and Judge President to institute civil claims against those they say
have infringed their rights.

They said they would boycott the opening of the 2010 judicial year if their
concerns are not addressed by that time.

Trade unionist goes into hiding

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=24530

November 5, 2009

By Raymond Maingire

HARARE - Prominent farm workers' rights defender, Gertrude Hambira has been
forced to go into hiding after masked gunmen suspected to be State agents
reportedly stormed her family home in Harare's Milton Park suburb early
Wednesday morning while on the hunt for her.

Hambira, the secretary general of the General Agricultural and Plantation
Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), was due to arrive home Tuesday night but
her South African Airways flight not depart from Johannesburg because an Air
Zimbabwe plane was blocking the main runway at Harare Airport after a mishap
on the runway.

Hambira, a vocal advocate of the rights of farm workers in Zimbabwe, was
travelling back from the United States where she took part in a high profile
seminar centering on Zimbabwe's political crisis.

She only arrived in Harare on Wednesday morning.

GAPWUZ information officer Tapiwa Zivira told The Zimbabwe Times that
Hambira escaped a likely arrest or kidnap because she did not arrive on the
scheduled flight.

"There was an attempt to abduct her but fortunately she was not yet home
during the time," said Zivira.

"After her husband returned home from the airport where he had intended to
collect her, their house was stormed by three armed men who were wearing
masks.

"They broke into the house through the kitchen door and asked for her. When
they failed to find her, they harassed the husband, demanding to know her
whereabouts."

The invaders reportedly force-marched her husband throughout the house,
rummaging through every room, while searching for her.

Zivira said his organisation had every reason to suspect the unidentified
intruders were State agents.

"If they were robbers," he said, "I believe they would have proceeded to
steal something.

"But other than harassing her husband, they just took off with three cell
phones which we believe they intended to use to extract some information
about her and the organisation."

Lawyers have since been hired to assist Hambira, who remained in hiding
throughout Wednesday.

GAPWUZ is a trade union that represents the interests of farm workers. It is
an affiliate of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).

While in the United States, Hambira presented a documentary which exposes
the continued abuse of farm workers by President Robert Mugabe's militant
followers in the context of the controversial land reform programme.

"She presented a very powerful documentary on the atrocities that are being
committed by the state on farm workers," said Zivira. "She also highlighted
the continued evictions of the workers by government."

The seminar held at Syracuse University in Upstate New York centered on
current attempts by Zimbabwe's unity government to foster national healing
and reconciliation.

Speakers included National Healing and Reconciliation co-Minister, Sekai
Holland, and Zimbabwe Peace Project director, Jestina Mukoko. They made
presentations on the current situation in Zimbabwe and how the process of
healing can takeoff and still succeed.

Holland caused a stir when she arrived at the conference in the company of
two aides, one of them said to be a member of the Central Intelligence
Organisation. She refused to be interviewed by The Zimbabwe Times on this or
any other issue.

Hambira represented the labour sector in general and the farming community
in particular. Her organisation, GAPWUZ has a membership of 30 000.

Fresh farm disturbances in Zimbabwe have reportedly rendered over 4 000 farm
workers homeless since the formation of the unity government by President
Mugabe and his once bitter rivals in the two Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) parties.

More workers are still in danger of being evicted from their homes as the
current farm seizures continue.

Harare council police go on rampage

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
5 November 2009

There were running battles between council police and members of the public
at Harare's Fourth Street bus terminus on Thursday. Problems started when a
small group of council police officers went on the rampage at the terminus
looking for illegal touts, people who 'assist' bus conductors and drivers to
fill the vehicles with passengers.

Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa said: "When they arrived they
started beating people arbitrarily and without warning, which resulted in
some members of the public, the touters and commuter bus operators, fighting
back." The crowd outnumbered the officers who retreated back to the council
offices to get more manpower.

Muchemwa said two truckloads of council police, numbering about 50, returned
and ran around beating people, again randomly. He said they beat up almost
everybody in sight, including some school children and the elderly. This
incensed the public even more, resulting in the running battles, especially
from many youths who pelted the police with stones in retaliation. Several
people are said to have been injured and a number of commuter buses damaged.

Although they are supposed to target people perceived to be contravening
city by-laws, Muchemwa said the municipal police are becoming more and more
like law enforcement officers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police, and are
becoming thuggish in the manner in which they deal with the general public.
Their main targets are street vendors, foreign exchange dealers and commuter
operators.

We were not able to get a comment from the municipality.

House of Lords - Immigration: Detention and Deportation

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


      Written by The Zimbabwean
      Thursday, 05 November 2009 09:17
      House of Lords
      Immigration: Detention and Deportation
      Question for Short Debate

      Lord Best: My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Hylton for
initiating this debate and for his powerful speech. I declare my interest as
a trustee of the Phoenix Fund for Zimbabwe, set up in 2007 by the noble
Baroness, Lady Park of Monmouth, and chaired by Patrick Wintour-an expert in
this field-with the well-known David Banks as our honorary secretary. The
Phoenix Fund for Zimbabwe has set out to assist Zimbabwean refugees and
asylum seekers in the UK who wish to pursue courses of professional
development, vocational training and placements that will equip them to
participate in the rebuilding of the economy and institutions of Zimbabwe
when circumstances allow them to return home.
      The noble Lord, Lord West of Spithead, repeated a Statement on 29
October from the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration, Phil Woolas.
The Minister announced some enhancements to the package of assistance to
Zimbabweans who return voluntarily. This will aid those taking their skills
back to help rebuild the country. However, alongside the changes to the
voluntary returns package, the Minister also announced that he was
considering the position of enforced returns to Zimbabwe-an issue under
review since the Home Office deferred enforced returns to Zimbabwe in
September 2006, following a moratorium enforced through the courts.
      Research undertaken in March 2009 by the Phoenix Fund for Zimbabwe and
published in a report, Zimbabwe: Rebuilding a Nation, found:
      "The relationship between the Zimbabwean community in the UK and the
UK Border Agency is extremely tense and the high levels of suspicion and
mistrust could undermine any initiatives that are linked to return".
      The report quotes the United Kingdom Border Agency's January 2009
estimates for Zimbabweans in the UK, which suggest that there may be living
here as many as 70,000 failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers or Zimbabweans
without valid leave to remain. This figure suggests those potentially
eligible for removal to Zimbabwe could present the UKBA with a huge task,
with concomitant strain on pre-removal detention centres. If the so-called
normalisation of returns policy to Zimbabwe is pursued, I suspect there will
be prolonged legal battles in many cases.
      I detect an inconsistency between the approach of the Home Office and
the UK Borders Agency, and that of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and
the Department for International Development. The latter organisations'
approach to Zimbabwe suggests that the political reforms are not yet
sufficiently embedded for the Department for International Development to
normalise development aid. Support is restricted to humanitarian assistance
and through channels not susceptible to abuse by ZANU-PF. It would seem
premature to normalise enforced returns of vulnerable asylum seekers while
the political atmosphere remains highly charged and human rights
organisations report a resurgence in politically motivated violence.
      The Foreign and Commonwealth Office judges that it is not yet time for
the EU to consider lifting the restrictive measures-the travel ban and
assets freeze-imposed on 203 named Zimbabwean Ministers and others
associated with the abuse of human rights. This would certainly suggest that
the Home Office is acting hastily in considering it is time to normalise
enforced returns.
      The inclusive government in Zimbabwe remains fragile. Tomorrow, 5
November, a crisis summit has been convened in Maputo, Mozambique, by the
Southern African Development Community. This will try to put on the right
track the power-sharing global political agreement following the partial
withdrawal from participation by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the
Movement for Democratic Change.
      Only last week, the UN Rapporteur on Torture who had been invited to
visit Zimbabwe by Prime Minister Tsvangirai, was refused entry when he
arrived at Harare airport and sent back to South Africa. This gives some
indication of the continuing state of political confusion and volatility in
the country.
      While there has been a moratorium on enforced returns to Zimbabwe,
quite a number of Zimbabweans entered the UK on Malawian passports, even
though they have never lived in Malawi. There have been several occasions
when UKBA has attempted to carry out the enforced removal of these
individuals, often preceded by lengthy detention. There is great concern
within the Zimbabwean community in the UK for the safety of Zimbabweans sent
to Malawi by the Home Office. They have no family or friends in the country
and have never lived there. They fear they will be expelled by the Malawian
authorities as having no right of abode and returned to Zimbabwe.
      I hope the Minister will give a positive response to the comments from
my noble friend Lord Hylton. Can he also make a statement on Zimbabwe that
would help regain the confidence and co-operation of the Zimbabwean in the
UK? That co-operation is an essential precursor to a positive engagement in
preparing individuals for voluntary return to participate in rebuilding
Zimbabwe when the time is right.
      The Home Secretary said at the Royal Society of Arts on Monday:
      "The legacy problems with unreturned foreign national prisoners and
asylum seekers may have accumulated under previous administrations, but they
continued to be ignored for too long on our watch ... Like many other
countries, we struggled to contain the huge surge in migration-legal and
illegal-that emerged from countries such as Kosovo, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Sri
Lanka and Somalia".
      The legacy of neglect so described by the Home Secretary should not
now be used to justify swinging to the other extreme and implementing
draconian or inhumane policies.
      ................
      The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of
Spithead): My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Hylton, for securing
this debate. I am well aware of the interest that he takes in matters
relating to immigration detention, especially relating to families with
children, and I acknowledge the important work that he has done in this
area. I also send my best wishes and, I am sure, those of the House to the
noble Lord, Lord Avebury, and hope that he rapidly gets out of hospital; he
has done a lot in this area as well.
      I have listened carefully to the important issues that have been
raised by the noble Lord, Lord Hylton, and other noble Lords, and I will try
to deal with the comments as we go through. If I miss anything specific,
then if I am asked afterwards, I shall get back to noble Lords in writing.
      Our policy as a Government on detention is clear. Although there is a
presumption in favour of granting temporary admission, detention may be
appropriate in several circumstances. It may be appropriate in order to
effect removal, or while a person's identity and claim are being
established, which, my goodness me, is sometimes extremely difficult. I am
not sure if it was the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, or the noble Lord, Lord
Best, who talked about Malawi passports, but it is sometimes difficult and
long-winded to establish someone's identity; you have to remember that these
people are fighting not to be identified. Detention may be appropriate where
a person presents a risk of abscond-some people have done that in the past
when being held-or where an asylum application is capable of being done very
quickly, which has been touched on as well.
      We take seriously the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Best, on
Zimbabwe. The situation there, we believe, is improving under the new,
inclusive Government. We will continue to provide assistance. Perhaps I may
write to the noble Lord on the Malawi passports, because I do not know what
the position is.
      The noble Lord, Lord Roberts, spoke about the treatment of people
trying to come into our wonderful country. I think that we treat people with
respect, so I am not surprised that there are millions, if not billions, of
people who would love to be here. I do not blame them; I would rather be
here than anywhere else, because I love this country. However, we need a
system that is proportionate in handling the demand. We have to remember
always, as I have said previously, that each case, even if the person
concerned is not meant to be here, is a personal tragedy, and we have to try
to deal with it like that. In general, bearing in mind what we have to
achieve, I think that the Government do that.
      I once again take the opportunity to thank the noble Lord, Lord
Hylton, for raising an important issue-perhaps we should have had even
longer to debate it. I also thank other noble Lords for their contributions.

Radio Program Teaches Students and Citizens about Protection of Children

Over two million Zimbabwean children country-wide will benefit from a multi-media awareness campaign on child protection. Children First, in partnership with Population Services International (PSI) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), launched a media campaign on November 5, in Bulawayo featuring a weekly radio drama program. The program highlights the rights and protection of children as its centerpiece and is aired on Radio Zimbabwe.

The program includes two radio dramas. The first, in Shona, is entitled “Kuziva Mbuya Huudzwa” and focuses on creating awareness of children’s rights based on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The second, in Ndebele, “Luthando,” focuses on protection of children. Broadcast over 26 weeks, the radio drama program is complemented by workbooks and exercise packets educators can use to guide discussions with children’s groups. Children First is also providing schools with interactive CD recordings of the dramas and other educational and social support messages.

The launch in Bulawayo marks the second phase of a campaign begun in Harare in October and focuses on protection of children from all forms of abuse. The ceremony was held at Esigodini Primary School. “We are excited about this campaign, which is both fun and educational,” said Susan Kajura, Chief of Party at Children First. She said special emphasis will be given to Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC), but the dramas also target OVC caregivers, child protection committees, teachers and school development committees and children all over Zimbabwe.

USAID Health and Education Team Leader Peter Halpert also hailed the program. “We enthusiastically support the radio drama, which seeks to raise awareness among children on ways to protect themselves against abuse and what to do if it does occur.” USAID is funding the program through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which works to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on orphaned and vulnerable children.

In addition to Radio Zimbabwe listeners, program organizers plan to reach an estimated 55,000 students through “listener groups” established in 53 schools and community-based organizations in the Harare and Umzingwane Districts.

Children First is implemented by World Education/Bantwana in collaboration with John Snow, Inc. and other national and international partners. Children First is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years. For more information on USAID programs in Zimbabwe, please visit www.usaid.gov/zw.

Jonathan Moyo: A prophet of Violence

After reading Jonathan Moyo's contribution which appeared in the financial
gazette and was reproduced by the new Zimbabwe website in which he argued
that the MDC's choice of Roy Bennet as Minister of Agriculture was
treacherous, I came to the conclusion that the Professor has lost track of
his once good brain. I also realised that when desperation pushes a man to
sing the loudest for their supper they surely never realise how everyone is
looking and wondering if they are still within the confines of sanity.
Moyo's
article clearly shows how he is slowly becoming less useful to both the
academic world and Zimbabweans. Having realised that the "Pontius pilate
political card", which he has been trying to play all along after leaving
ZANU PF is not working for him, Moyo has just returned to ZANU PF and picked
up the game from where he left without taking time to notice the changes
around him. Using the Pontius pilate political card Moyo tried with little
success to rid himself of all the evils that he did whilst in ZANU PF and
the frustrations of failing to convince Zimbabweans have made him return to
his gang.

After going through his whole article, I asked myself if Jonathan is singing
to the right audience or not. If he is, why are his listeners not getting
the message and responding accordingly. Can they please give Moyo a position
and a big budget for jingles so that at least he can have some pocket money,
instead of allowing him to expose himself through his mediocre criticisms of
whatever the MDC is doing. His criticisms are not respectful of changes in
the political landscape ever since he unceremoniously left ZANU PF in 2004.
He has failed to realise that Zimbabwean politics is now in the post-Third
Chimurenga period.

I hope someone in ZANU PF will stop Moyo from continuously exposing himself
by whispering to him that this is not a time for moribund nationalism and
scatterbrains but that it is a time for sober thinking, planning,
reconstruction and remedying of what senseless and moribund and
war-vet-monopoly nationalism destroyed. His latest contribution to
Zimbabwean politics has not been helpful in this regard.

Moyo's article contained malicious statements which if not responded to,
have the capacity to cause more harm than good to Zimbabwe. I am in this
article going to select some of these statements and show how Jonathan Moyo
has remained ensnared in old history and not the present politics of our
country. In his article Moyo wrote that:

.. Is the MDC-T really serious that it can carelessly risk worsening the
plight of the suffering majority of people in the country by treatingits
proposed but unwarranted and provocative post of Deputy Minister of
Agriculture for a former Rhodesian army man called Roy Bennett as more
important than the pursuit of inter-party policies by the coalition
government to improve the livelihood and welfare of Zimbabweans?

In an attempt to appease ZANU PF, Jonathan is once again peddling the
worn-out racist card. It would be silly if not out rightly insane for anyone
to think that Roy Bennet is not a Zimbabwean but a Rhodesian. How sick can
one be to talk of Rhodesians 28 years after independence? How can someone
who aspires to be a political leader think he can mobilise people around
racism. Moyo must know that racism is as bad as tribalism.

.. For the avoidance of doubt, Bennett's permanent unsuitability to be a
member of Zimbabwe's government in any capacity has nothing to do with his
present legal circumstances in which he has been lawfully indicted by a
court of law to stand trial in the High Court of Zimbabwe after he was
lawfully charged with very serious offences for which he has been on bail
since last February.

Moyo must be thanked for answering a question many Zimbabweans have been
asking by revealing that Roy Bennett is being persecuted for being white and
nothing more. Surely, how can they sink so low? Politics must be practiced
around progressive ideas and policies not hatred of individuals. Zimbabwe is
not a country of infants who can easily be mobilised on racist ideas that
are condemned all over the world. The onus on our leaders is to rebuild
Zimbabwe that is non-racial, non-tribal, non-sexist and founded on civic
conceptions of nationhood than nativism and primordialism. Moyo is far off
the mark on this one.

.. If Prime Minister Tsvangirai pushes for Bennett to be in our Ministry
of Agriculture and succeeds, then just like the sun will rise tomorrow, it
would be a major issue in the next election because King Mzilikazi,
Lobengula along with Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi and our fallen heroes
of the Second Chimurenga would turn in their graves and inspire the
surviving comrades of the revolution and their off-springs to set this whole
country on fire. That is not a threat but a generational promise.

Reading this statement no one is in doubt that Moyo is a prophet of
violence. Again Moyo nails himself as a supporter if not the evil-person
strategising and planning violence, come every election. Why Moyo do you
worship at the altar of violence without shame, while others are trying to
heal the nation and reconcile society? By being brazenly racist Jonathan
Moyo thinks he can mobilise war veterans to the side of ZANU-PF's violent
tradition once more by casting Roy Bennett as a Rhodesian Soldier, Selous
Scout and 'Rhodie' who killed people in Mozambique and Zambia. You even
insult President Ian Khama for being born by a white woman. Is racism not a
refuge of scoundrels just like tribalism is the language of the sick-minded?
True veterans of the liberation war have risen above this simplistic
nonsense inspired by latter-day racists.

This statement should be accepted as Moyo's rare admittance that he is the
author of violence in Zimbabwe. By clearly threatening that the next
elections will be violent Moyo is selfishly pushing his personal agenda and
not being sympathetic to the people of Zimbabwe who have been killed and
brutalised in a post colonial Zimbabwe by people who think like him. ZANU PF
and Jonathan Moyo must learn that election-time is not war-time. Nowhere in
the world have the hearts of a people been won through violence.

.. Since then, the MDC-T quest has been only about posts in the Prime
Minister's office with special reference to the filling of illegal positions
in the party's parallel government structures whose civil servants earn top
up salaries ranging from US$700 to US$7,000.Parenthetically, there is new
and incontrovertible evidence that some but not yet all MDC-T Cabinet
Ministers are earning top up salaries pegged on the Kenyan cabinet salaries
reported to be around US$15,000 a month. Otherwise, and as a matter of fact,
all MDC-T Cabinet Ministers and civil servants are receiving top up salaries
and their evil pecuniary interest explains why MDC-T Cabinet Ministers who
do not agree with the disengagement decision have nevertheless succumbed to
it.

It seems Jonathan Moyo is terribly broke and this is indicated by his
laughable and repetitive reference to other people's salaries. He seems to
be personally hate by the idea of some people earning between $700-$7000--a
lie which he created and is beginning to believe as a truth, because of his
financial doldrums. It's very simple Professor, you chose to villagise
yourself and left academia where others earn more that $7000 per month for
their legitimate standing and contribution to knowledge. If we may ask you,
what happened to your position with Ford Foundation? What did you do with
your short-stint at the University of Witwatersrand? What did you do with
your short-five year's concubinage with ZANU-PF as its sin-doctor? Do not
cry for other people's blood when you messed yourself up. You must learn to
blame your self for making foolish decisions, inspired by no principles but
selfishness.

.. There is no amount of the abuse of press freedom that can justify the
rewriting of Zimbabwe's history. Bennett's hands have the blood of
Zimbabwe's
liberation fighters including that of Zimbabwean children who were in
various refugee camps in Mozambique during the liberation struggle.

It's indeed a pity that Moyo you continue to take the people of Zimbabwe for
granted. Do you think by reading history of Zimbabwe as a 'tale of white
tormentors of blacks,' you will hide your recent role in trying to
extinguish the embers of democratisation, derail the democratic train and
even authorise violence since 2000? No, history is yet to judge you.

Liberty Bhebhe is based in Machester, United Kingdom and can be contacted on
Liberty_bhebhe@yahoo.com

Mugabe is at war with the Zimbabwean people

According to the definition of Wikipedia, a civil war is a war between
factions of citizens of one country (such as in the English Civil War), or
else a dispute between two nations that were created out of one
formerly-united country."

Who's bright idea was it to call a war "civil"?

But, when we look at the situation in Zimbabwe, we must accept that Mugabe
and his ZANU PF party is at war with the Zimbabwean people.

You may disagree, but very little happens in that country without the
knowledge of Mugabe and the higher ranks of his ZANU PF party.

First of all there is the relentless land grab, now in its ninth year -
which has wrought death, destruction, a decline in produce and wholesale
hunger. Then there is the lasting effects of Operation Murambatsvina in
which an estimated 1.7 million people lost their homes, their jobs and a
foothold in the community.

Some of those victims still remain living under plastic in holes in the
ground.

Following the ZANU PF loss of the general election in March last year, we
saw an increase in the violence being practised against the winning party,
the MDC and its members and supporters. Very quickly thereafter, the
violence increased as it became apparent that Mugabe had lost the first
round of the Presidential election to challenger Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mugabe had the results re-worked so that a second round had to be enacted.
Violence increased once again, and at least 130 MDC members, activists and
supporters were killed.

Morgan Tsvangirai then pulled out of the race, allowing Mugabe to take what
he wanted all along - the presidency of Zimbabwe.

Since that time, violence in Zimbabwe has become the norm. Activists and
members are routinely abducted, tortured, interrogated and then dragged
before the courts on trumped up charges that range from writing a letter to
the Attorney General's office to banditry and violence.

Whilst some of the case before the courts have been thrown out, ZANU PF
continues to perpetrate the lie that the MDC is involved in banditry and
banditry training - now alleged to have taken place in Botswana
(subsequently disproved) and Uganda.

There is no money in Zimbabwe, very little food and corruption is clearly
rampant. An audit report last week described how the ZANU PF hierarchy has
helped themselves not only to office equipment - computers, laptop, fax
machines and the like - but minister, deputy ministers and their permanent
secretaries have also taken possession (I use the word advisedly) of
numerous motor vehicles.

Employment in Zimbabwe is a huge problem. The collapse of the economy has
led to mass company closures - and the collapse of the agricultural sector
has forced thousands of farm workers to lose their jobs. The 'new' farmers
have not seen fit to embark upon any farming or horticulture, preferring
that their farms lie dormant, fallow and unworked.

Despite the signed agreements between the two MDC factions and ZANU PF, the
people of Zimbabwe do not have the freedom of expression, nor do they have
the freedom of assembly. ZANU PF however, is allowed to print their hate
speeches daily and to broadcast them on ZBC and ZTV - without recourse or
punishment.

And despite the agreements signed last year, Mugabe continues to cling onto
power without the mandate of the people.

ZANU PF lost the election - and continue to dictate the pace and style of
government. Mugabe continues to stand by his unilateral appointments of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor and the Attorney-General.

ZANU PF continue to protect the Chiadzwa diamond fields in the Eastern
Highlands, except that the diamonds that the field produce are sold on the
black market, filling ZANU PF private coffers instead of being traded
honestly and the monies being placed in public coffers.

If the truth be told, there is enough diamonds in the fields to not only
rebuild Zimbabwe, but also to satisfy the avarice of ZANU PF - but Mugabe
wants it all and he wants it now.

Mugabe, in the form of ZANU PF and all of its associated bodies such as the
ZNA, the ZRP, the Air Force, the Prison Services, the war veterans and the
youth militia are at war with the population of Zimbabwe, each member afraid
for what a free and honest government might find upon appointment and the
ensuing prosecutions which could, conceivably, put the whole of the
hierarchy in prison for the rest of their days.

Robb WJ Ellis

The Bearded Man

http://mandebvhu.instablogs.com/entry/mugabe-is-at-war-with-the-zimbabwean-people/

Zimbabwe escapes 'blood diamonds' ban