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Zimbabwe Police Arrest Some 200 Trade Union Protesters
Copyright © 2003, Dow Jones Newswires
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)--At least 200 trade union
activists were
arrested Wednesday for participating in protests against
soaring prices and
high taxes in the latest crackdown on
dissent.
Police blamed white factory owners for supporting the
protests called
for by the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions, the country's
100,000 member
umbrella body of trade union organizations.
In
the capital Harare, leaders of the ZCTU were arrested along with
49
supporters marching through the downtown area.
Scores of riot
police in combat fatigues patrolled the capital
wielding batons, tear gas and
riot guns and were seen loading those arrested
onto trucks.
Elsewhere in the country, at least 41 trade unionists were arrested
in
Zimbabwe's second-largest city of Bulawayo, and 100 were arrested in
the
eastern border city of Mutare.
Several others were arrested
in the towns of Chinhoyi, Gweru and
Masvingo, said John Mawire, a lawyer for
the ZCTU.
Those arrested had violated the sweeping Public Order and
Security
Act, said police Assistant Commissioner Wayne
Bvudzijena.
Mawire said he expected they would be held in police
cells overnight
and brought to court Thursday.
Under the Public
Order and Security Act, all public gatherings must be
approved in advance by
authorities, and Bvudzijena said the trade
union -which represents some
100,000 workers -didn't seek permission for the
march.
The
charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in jail under the
new security
laws, which critics say are the latest example of President
Robert Mugabe's
efforts to hold onto power.
Meanwhile, Bvudzijena blamed some white
factory owners for
facilitating the protest action.
"Investigations have revealed some white factory owners have closed
their
work places and urged their employees to go and demonstrate," he told
state
radio.
One trade unionist was injured when riot police suppressed a
protest
in Gweru, said Mlamleli Sibanda, a union spokesperson.
The extent of the protester's injury was not immediately known.
In
Harare, despite the trade union's call for workers to take to the
streets to
protest the country's crumbling economy, only several dozen
turned out, all
of whom were promptly arrested.
In June, opposition-led street
protests were crushed before they
started by a massive show of military and
police force.
"There will come a time when people have to react,"
ZTCU President
Lovemore Matombo told the Associated Press, speaking from his
cellular phone
while being arrested. "People are saying enough is
enough."
The opposition-alligned trade unions blame Mugabe for
plunging the
economy into its worst crisis, with 70% unemployment and acute
shortages of
food, gasoline and medicine.
A state program to
seize thousands of white-owned farms for
redistribution to blacks has
crippled the agriculture-based economy in the
past three years.
Inflation has soared to 420%.
Mugabe's government has in recent
years stepped up its crackdown on
the opposition. The opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai has been charged
with treason, and last month the country's
only independent daily newspaper,
The Daily News, was shut down by the
government.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1: Who Is The Weakest Link?
YOU ARE THE WEAKEST LINK**.GOODBYE!
( To
be read to the uniquely sarcastic tones of Anne Robinson)
What a
miserable bunch you are! It seems you all want to achieve an
ultimate goal,
yet when the going gets tough, some of you lose the plot and
seek naïve and
simplistic answers to complex questions, thus ducking the
best interests of
the team effort. The result, team, is that you have
failed to bank even one
tangible asset that will stand you in good stead
for the final round - not
even your pride!
What a pathetic excuse you are; allowing a minority of
malcontents, self
serving tycoons and bought puppets to erode your values,
and, in their own
interests, pass over on vital questions, which inevitably
have to be
answered if the whole team is to enjoy success. What is it that
makes some
of you desert the values that made you successful in the first
place? Have
you been so successful and comfortable, that your perception of
what is
right and wrong has become a factor of compromise, and not, of what
is
morally and legally correct? For those team members who are copulating
with
the axis of evil, do you really believe a "conditional" return
to
normality; will auger well for long-term peace and stability? It is
your
naivety or complicity that will destroy the efforts of your team, and
not
the questions that will be asked.
What a bunch we are, team;
We
have leaders who believe that the rights of all commercial farmers
must
upheld, we have others who have already `forgotten' that there are
4000
commercial farmers in the country, and not, `less than a
1000'.
The same leaders ask only that law and order be restored and
the
constitutional rights of all Zimbabweans be upheld; the others
have
concluded that both people and their rights are expendable if a `deal'
is
to be reached;
Some leaders have nothing to offer other than to
represent their community,
the others, shower themselves with praise, for
their ability to negotiate
with murderers and extortionists;
Whilst
the majority bonds together in times of distress, others deal with
the
murderers and extortionists and profit from the demise of their
fellow
Zimbabweans;
Two sportsmen give up their international careers
and wear black armbands
to mourn the death of democracy in their country, the
others, line up for
their pay, wearing black armbands to mourn the passing of
a perpetrator of
the death of democracy in Zimbabwe.
Where will it all
end, team? It seems there are three types of players in
this game. Those that
make things happen, those that wait for things to
happen, and those that do
not know what has happened! Who of you are real
players? Who of you are
rotten to the core; who of you should be shown the
door?
In the next
critical round, the stakes will be tripled and the total added
to final
victory. You should now select your team to maximize the moral
high ground
that you hold, stand resolutely on the line between good and
evil, and above
all, cast off the pimps and messenger boys that have
weakened you throughout.
THEY ARE THE WEAKEST LINKS - Make sure it is they,
THAT LEAVE ****.WITH
NOTHING!.
Dave Joubert
6th October ,
2003
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2:
I find is refreshingly constructive that so many people are voicing
their
opinions on John Kinnaird's letters. I seems the general consensus is
that
Zimbabweans have brought about their own downfall by being individuals
and
not standing up for themselves or each other.
There is an
important lesson here which is calling out loud - yet remaining
deafeningly
silent.
There was one contribution over the past few days, submitted by
"Black
Zimbabwean" who continued to beat the Black vs White drum - Get over
it!
Until we unite as ONE nation, there will always be a divide. Prior
to
Independence I seldom recall someone stating they were a White Rhodesian
or
a Black Rhodesian - they were Rhodesian! - and trust me I know many
black
skinned people who were proud to call themselves Rhodesians!! Those
days
are gone we can learn from our past - but not just the mistakes,
the
achievements and successes as well - unite as One Nation and move
forward,
forget the chip on your shoulder, get over it - and it doesn't
matter
whether you live in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, Australia, the UK or Zambia -
there
will be laws and rules which you agree with and disagree with - but
they
must be just and the Rule of Law must be upheld!
Well done John -
you have displayed yourself as a leader, with the courage
of your convictions
and the guts to stand tall - call and they will
follow!
Regards,
Pam
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
3: Re Open Letter Forum No. 155 dated 01 October 2003
I have just read
letter no 4 from the OPEN LETTER FORUM dated Wednesday
1st
October.
There was no name attached to the letter, what a cheek to
call us farmers
apathetic and accepting of our situation, when, whoever he
is, sits back
somewhere, safe and sound - gleaning information of his
homeland.
What are you doing outside the borders of this country,
criticizing us who
have stayed, and lost almost everything? Let me just point
out to you that
all the farmers I know, that have been chased off their
farms, some having
been beaten and suffered untold humiliation, have made a
plan, and are
doing something about their plight, going into all kinds of
different
spheres to make ends meet and send their children to Private
Schools to
give to them the best they can.
You mention that the laws
of the Country must be upheld to protect the
Nations citizens - what laws,
which citizens? Get real and come out of your
comfort zone!!
Bev
Bekker
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
4: Re Open Letters Forum No. 157 dated 04 September
Dear Sirs
Each
time I read the Open Letters Forum, something contained in in makes my
blood
boil, and I find I am too angry to write a coherent letter in reply.
I am a
so-called "townie", and for some farmers (ex-farmers, whatever..) to
ask me
(collectively) 'what have YOU lost in this mess we are in?' shows
just how
narrow minded and selfish we have become! We used to have a
small,
successful, family-run, agriculture-based company in a small farming
town.
As long back as 1999, when at least 80% of the farmers were still
on their
land, still farming, and still making a living, we were left with no
choice
but to close up shop - the money just wasn't coming in anymore;
which
farmer in their right mind would be buying capital items (the nature of
our
business) at this time? So we very quietly closed shop. It may not
have
been violent, we did not have rabid militia screaming at our windows,
we
did not get beaten up; but we lost EVERYTHING (or does it only count
if
these things DO happen to you?). Did we blame the farmers for this
(after
all, it was directly due to their non-support of our business
which
'forced' us to close)? No! We got on with our lives, and made a plan.
We
are not the only ones, there are thousands of us who have had to do
this;
maybe even more than the number of farmers who have lost their
livelihoods,
too. Who knows? Who cares? So what? Why doesn't everyone on
the Blaming
Bandwagon realise who the real Baddies are in this
situation?
New
Businesswoman
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
5: Re Open Letters Forum No. 157 dated 04 September
Dear Sirs
By
far the most coherent and sensible contribution to this forum in a long
time
has been that from Michael Chingoka. He has hit the nail right on the
head!
Print it out and read it each time you want to start ripping out each
other's
throats - the only people really happy when they read this forum
are ZANU
(PF)!
Carol
O'Neill-Williams
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
MSNBC
Zimbabwe union plans protest over taxes, prices
HARARE, Oct.
7 — Zimbabwe's main labour union on Tuesday called for a march
to protest
against high taxes and rising prices of basic commodities as the
country
grapples with its worst political and economic crisis
since
independence.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
and the main opposition
Movement for Democratic Change have over the past
year led a number of
strikes against President Robert Mugabe's government,
which they say has
mismanaged the country since independence from Britain in
1980.
Mugabe denies the charges and accuses opponents of trying to
destroy
the country's economy.
''We are holding a protest (march)
tomorrow (Wednesday) against high
taxation and the high cost of basic
commodities,'' ZCTU secretary-general
Wellington Chibebe said. ''We are
demanding that the government reduces
taxes and we are also saying there has
to be sanity in the level of
prices,'' he added.
Chibebe said
workers should report to work on Wednesday and then
assemble for the march in
the capital Harare.
Zimbabwe is grappling with acute shortages of
foreign currency, food
and fuel. Unemployment currently stands at over 70
percent and inflation is
nearly 430 percent, one of the highest in the
world.
Prices of basic food stuffs have soared since the government
relaxed
price controls earlier this year to snuffle out a thriving black
market.
Mugabe, 79, has accused local and international opponents
of
sabotaging Zimbabwe's economy to punish his government for its seizure
of
white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
Business Day
Zimbabweans favour
change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
HARARE
- A majority of Zimbabweans favour a change in the country's
political scene
and think that talks between the country's two main
political parties would
be the solution to the country's woes, according to
a new poll.
Eighty
percent of the respondents said the ruling Zanu-PF of President
Robert Mugabe
and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) should
resume talks
that stalled last year.
"High on the list of people's expectations is
successful dialogue between
the two major political parties," said the
independent Mass Public Opinion
Institute which conducted the poll of 1,351
people.
Talks between the two parties broke down in May last year after a
draft
agenda had been drawn up.
In recent months, regional political
leaders and local clergy have been
trying to get the two sides back to the
negotiating table, but formal talks
have not resumed yet.
The poll
also showed that nearly 70 percent of people favour a transitional
government
that could organise a re-run of last year's disputed presidential
elections,
while just over half said Mugabe should retire immediately.
Those polled
were in both urban areas and the countryside, which is a
traditional ruling
party stronghold.
Slightly more than half of the respondents were of the
opinion that a
government of national unity might help the country out of its
economic and
political problems.
"The thinking among the respondents
appears to be that a government of
national unity will bring genuine peace,
law and order as well as social and
economic development," said the
institute.
Zimbabwe is in an economic and political crisis which has seen
inflation
rising to a walloping 427 percent in August, and unemployment
levels of
around 70 percent.
The opposition has rejected Mugabe's
re-election in last year's presidential
elections alleging
fraud.
AFP
The Star
Zimbabwe slips into 'Zairisation'
October 8,
2003
By Allister Sparks
Zimbabwe today presents the
visitor with a surreal picture. Here is a
country where the filling stations
have no fuel but the traffic keeps
moving; where the banks have no money but
people are carrying bags of it to
the supermarkets; where the economy has
collapsed but the stock market is
booming; and where millions are starving
while a few grow filthy rich.
At first glance things still look
surprisingly normal. There are more
potholes in the roads but few other
visible signs of disintegration since my
last visit here six months ago.
However, scratch beneath that facade and you
find that the formal economy has
collapsed. Zimbabwe has become one big
black market.
To the
extent that the country is still functioning, it is doing so by
consuming
itself. It is asset-stripping itself and feeding off the
proceeds - a process
one diplomatic observer describes as "Zairisation", a
reference to the
plunder and descent into ruin of Mobutu Sese Seko's Zaire.
The
statistics beggar the mind - 700% inflation, an official exchange
rate of
Zim$55 to the US dollar compared with Zim$6 000 on the parallel
market. A
trip to the supermarket for everyday groceries will cost you
around Zim$30
000 (about R250), and a restaurant bill Zim$75 000 (R630),
while a loaf of
bread is Zim$1 000 (R8,40).
All of which has to be paid for in
Zim$500 bills or the newly printed
1 000-dollar note, which is worth just R2
at black market rates. This is why
shoppers have to carry huge bags of money
with them, like Germans in the
days of the Weimar Republic.
It
is also why the banks have run out of money. Prices have increased
fourfold
in the past year, so there is not enough money in circulation and
the Reserve
Bank does not have enough foreign exchange to print more.
Going to
your bank can mean standing in a queue all day and then
perhaps being able to
withdraw only Zim$5 000 - enough for five loaves of
bread. So people are not
banking their money and retailers won't accept
cheques or credit cards.
Everyone is hoarding cash, which has been declared
illegal but continues
nonetheless because there is no alternative.
All this has made
Zimbabwe a huckster's paradise. Senior members of
the ruling Zanu-PF party
can get permission to buy hard currency from the
Reserve Bank at the official
exchange rate of Zim$55 to the US dollar -
which they can then exchange on
the black market for Zim$6 000.
They can fly to South Africa, buy a
luxury car for R500 000, pay
import duty at the official rate of Zim$55 to
the US dollar, and sell the
car in Harare for Zim$200-million - making a cool
R2-million profit.
Nor is it only the ruling elite who are making
these fortunes. Anyone
with access to foreign exchange, including some white
businessmen, can do
likewise.
Their only problem is what to do
with the money. It's no good banking
it at 15% interest in the face of 700%
inflation. Which is why there is a
stock market boom. And a building boom.
The hucksters are buying businesses
and building luxury mansions like
Mugabe's own retirement palace.
The impact of all this on the
ruling elite is varied. Some would like
the pork-barrel days to continue for
ever. Others know they cannot and would
like to legitimise their ill-gotten
gains while they still can. This is
causing tensions within
Zanu-PF.
Part of the problem is that no one knows whether President
Mugabe
intends to retire or not. He has indicated that he does and has called
for
Zanu-PF to discuss the succession - but last week he disbanded a
party
subcommittee formed to do just that, saying it was causing
dissension.
Those who think he will announce his retirement at
the Zanu-PF
conference in December say he is unwell (there are rumours of
prostate
cancer), that he is feeling the years of pressure and that he would
like to
retire with dignity and be remembered as a great African liberator
who freed
his people and gave them back their land.
But he is
also fearful of losing the immunity from prosecution that
goes with the
presidency and finding himself before the International Court
of Justice one
day charged, like Slobodan Milosovic, with crimes
against
humanity.
Ideally, Mugabe would like Zanu-PF to continue
governing Zimbabwe with
someone he trusts succeeding him as president. The
speaker, Emmerson
Mnangagwa, would be his preferred choice. But Mnangagwa is
unpopular and
other challengers are emerging.
Meanwhile, there
can be no automatic succession to the presidency
without a constitutional
amendment. That would require the agreement of the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), which has a blocking third
in parliament and will
agree to nothing without the promise of an early
election.
To
this end informal "talks about talks" are taking place between
Zanu-PF and
the MDC, though no secret agreement has been reached as some SA
newspapers
have said.
These informal talks are at two levels. One involves
bishops
representing the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Evangelical
Commission of
Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference, who are
shuttling
between the leaders of the two parties trying to put together an
agenda for
formal negotiations.
One-on-one talks are also taking
place between Zanu-PF's Minister of
Justice, Patrick Chinamaso, and the MDC's
secretary-general, Professor
Welshman Ncube. They are discussing possible
common ground on a new
constitution, and I understand they have made
considerable progress.
But the two toughest issues have not yet
been raised - amnesty for
Mugabe, and a set of transitional arrangements to
ensure that a future
election is free and fair.
This is the
MDC's bottom line, without which it will not endorse any
agreement. It wants
iron-clad guarantees that there will be a new and clean
voters roll to
replace the existing rigged one; that the police and military
will be
replaced by genuinely independent electoral officers; that
free
electioneering is ensured countrywide; that an independent media
commission
ensures fair access to all branches of the media; that
political
intimidation will cease; and that the notorious War Veterans
Association and
Youth Militia are disbanded.
The MDC will not
participate in a government of national unity, which
Zanu-PF wants and
Pretoria apparently favours.
The MDC is adamant that it will not risk
losing credibility among its
own supporters by accepting a minority role in a
Zanu-PF government and
having to share responsibility for disastrous policies
which it cannot
change.
It wants Zanu-PF to remain in power in
the run-up to a new election,
but with a joint Transitional National Council
to ensure that the
transitional arrangements are strictly adhered to during a
campaign of no
more than six months.
Formal talks may begin
within weeks, but they will be difficult and
the outcome uncertain. If they
fail and Mugabe remains in power, then
Zimbabwe will continue on the
"Zairisation" road.
If Mugabe goes, then however cleverly he may
try to arrange his exit,
I believe Zanu-PF will split and disintegrate and
real transformation will
come. But that, too, will be difficult because so
much damage has already
been done.
The Mercury
Zimbabwe homes sell in US dollars
October 8,
2003
Harare: A glance through advertisements in Zimbabwe's
state-run daily
newspaper The Herald shows it is now common for prices of
houses and flats
for sale or lease to be quoted in US dollars.
Cars are similarly being sold in US dollars or British pounds.
Firms changing hands are also being sold for foreign currency, while
petrol
and diesel, which are in short supply, are also bought with
US
dollars.
Although it is illegal to trade goods or services in
a foreign
currency, unofficial dollarisation is becoming the trend as people
seek
stability for their investments in a volatile economy, economists
say.
"It comes about because of lack of stability of our exchange
rate,
lack of stability in our own economy," said economist John
Robertson.
While the government has fixed the exchange rate of the
Zimbabwe
dollar at 800 to the greenback, the US currency is not available on
the
official market. On the parallel market, one US dollar fetches up to 6
000
Zimbabwe dollars.
An economist with a leading insurance
firm in Harare said asset prices
had been distorted by the hyperinflation
environment in which the country
was operating.
Zimbabwe's
annual inflation, which stood at 31.7% five years ago, had
galloped to 426.6%
by last month. By asking for payment in a foreign
currency, people were
trying to "get more value" in a currency that was
stable, said a financial
expert from a Harare discount house.
A real estate agent said most
buyers of properties with foreign
currency were Zimbabweans who were now
working in Britain, the US, South
Africa and Botswana.
Economists
forecast that unless the rate of inflation and the foreign
exchange market
stabilised, unofficial dollarisation would grow. - Sapa-AP
Comment from ZWNEWS, 8 October
Coping
By Michael Hartnack
Getting by each day in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe means
learning to cope in a
strange country. It is a land where people have lost
all faith in financial
institutions, where ordinary citizens are constantly
exposed to arrest while
the powerful may commit grand larceny, where
shortages are a way of life,
and where a new valuable skill is making a tank
of fuel last three weeks. It
can be done. It is just another of the coping
mechanisms for one daily
problem after another – and carrying on as if all
these hardships were
natural everyday events.
As Zimbabweans, we
just accept things, as soldiers do at a war front,
however weird they seem to
people arriving for the first time - as we accept
the continual deaths of our
workmates and friends from AIDS, and the
continual emigration. Somehow or
other children are got to school, despite
the transport crisis. At 5 a.m. men
may be seen cycling or walking to work
in far-off industrial sites. A shop
assistant said to me recently that his
children's generation will grow up
hardly knowing the taste of meat - many
if not most parents can only afford
vegetables. Previous generations took
for granted this was a country where
protein was as plentiful as sunshine,
and they would have some form of beef
stew twice a day - lunch and supper.
Ideally, a home needs an
electric hot plate, a gas burner and a
wood/charcoal braai so there is always
a means of cooking whatever source of
domestic energy suddenly gets cut off.
When it was possible to buy fresh
milk my family saved the 2 litre
containers, washed them out, and filled
them with water, so week-long dry
taps would not leave us without means of
flushing and washing (while we drank
the bathroom geysers). Preparing for a
hoped-for rainy season, we had a
painter repair our rusting gates and
gutters – and saved a great deal by
purchasing the materials in January,
since when they have more than
quadrupled in price. The painter was,
however, extremely unhappy to be paid
by cheque. Like most ordinary people,
he no longer believes in the financial
institutions and the system of
exchange on which national economies are
founded. Many families survive only
on remittances received from the three
million expatriates, which they
change on the black market at seven times the
official rate. We are fast
coming to the point where some underground form of
currency will be
invented - match boxes or cowrie shells, or perhaps bottles
of liquor.
We resign ourselves to carrying risks without insurance.
Premiums are
sky-high and any paper value put on possessions will be obsolete
within
weeks, because inflation tops 426 percent on the most conservative
estimate.
Many routine things expose citizens to arrest and prosecution -
such as
buying bread and other staples on the black market, even though there
is no
alternative. It is an offence, for example, to carry petrol in a
container
but with most trade taking place "under the counter", and
vehicles
constantly running on empty, it is impossible to avoid doing so.
Journalists
from The Daily News, the independent newspaper silenced in
September by the
regime, were charged last week for merely for carrying on
their profession.
At the same time the industrious, ordinary citizen has no
redress for wrongs
which an outsider would think were a punishable crime. Yet
people with
influence may commit grand larceny, assault, demanding money with
menaces,
robbery, and even murder, and police say, "It is a political matter.
There
are sensitive (i.e. politically powerful) personalities involved. We
cannot
interfere."
Zimbabweans have factored this and much else
into their thinking, such as
the danger of getting the more virulent forms of
skin cancer from the
tropical sun, or malaria. It goes with the new style of
economy motoring:
getting the engine revolutions gently up to 1500 then
keeping steadily at
that, driving at 50-60 kph at the side of the road like
the proverbial old
lady in a 1950 Morris Minor. It makes a tankful of petrol
last three weeks.
The Mercedes Benzes roar past on the crown of the road
while the commuter
minibuses overtake inside, on the verge. A citizen may be
stopped at any
time by persons in uniform, subjected to a search and told
there is a fee
for this "service" - unfortunately there is no receipt book,
so he must just
hand over the money. Anything he is carrying, from a copy of
an
"unpatriotic" newspaper to sugar and cooking oil, may be confiscated.
The
citizen either gives it up or submits to being detained indefinitely. In
an
age of sky-scrapers and dazzling technology, ploughing with oxen no
longer
seems archaic, but a "sensible application of intermediate
technology". Rich
and poor are wider apart than before. It is a narrow little
society, and a
hazardous one, but many of us believe it is still possible to
rescue it. In
the final analysis, we belong here. It's home.
Globe and Mail, Canada
Ottawa asked to back indictment of
Mugabe
By OLIVER MOORE
Globe and Mail Update
The federal government
was asked Wednesday to approve a genocide indictment
against Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe, a case that could be the first
real test of Canada's
Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.
A team of lawyers has used the
act to craft a wide-ranging indictment that
accuses Mr. Mugabe of committing
genocide through the deprivation of food.
But it will come into force only if
Justice Minister Martin Cauchon approves
it.
Alliance MP Keith Martin, who
has made several trips to Zimbabwe among 20 to
Africa, said that he is
optimistic that the federal government will give the
indictment the legal
force it needs, pointing to a recent statement by
Foreign Minister Bill
Graham that such an indictment is “a option to
consider.”
“In order for it
to work, the Minister of Justice has to simply say that
this indictment, or
one like it, will be used against Mr. Mugabe if he sets
foot in Canada or if
he's extradited to Canada,” Mr. Martin told
globeandmail.com, adding: “We'll
see whether or not our foreign policy has
some muscle or whether its just a
lot of hot air. We've given the government
the path, the question is whether
they choose to take it or not.”
Mr. Martin said that the former guerrilla
leader, who took power in 1980,
has a vicious track record dating back
through most of his long rule. The
indictment cites “not only the use of food
as a weapon, but the abduction of
children into the paramilitary training
programs, use of children to commit
atrocities, including torture, rape and
murder, the use of rape as a tool of
terror, gang rape. The murder of
civilians.”
“Here you have one leader, one regime, committing genocide in his
own
country,” he said. “If we don't do anything, a lot of people are going
to
die ... If we don't do something about Zimbabwe, then our law is just
a
piece of paper.”
Zimbabwe teetered to the point of collapse after Mr.
Mugabe dispatched his
youth brigades to take over white farms in the name of
decolonization and
black emancipation. Mr. Mugabe appeared blind to the
widespread problems
this caused, even as the economy crashed and the nation
had to import food.
He insists that external opponents are racists and that
internal opponents
are the puppets left over from British imperialism. His
actions have split
the Commonwealth and led to sanctions by the United States
and the European
Union.
Mr. Martin said Wednesday that the point of the
indictment is to hamper Mr.
Mugabe's ability to move internationally, and
hopefully to break the logjam
the issue has caused at the
Commonwealth.
“The hope is that other countries will do the same thing so he
becomes boxed
in,” he said. “So if he wants to go on his shopping sprees to
Paris or
London, they will have a similar indictment and that they will serve
it to
him if he winds up on their shores. On the other hand, they could
arrest him
and deport him if they chose to do, along the lines of what
happened to
Pinochet.”
stuff.co.nz
The target should be Mr Mugabe
08 October 2003
News
that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe does not favour former New
Zealand
foreign affairs minister Don McKinnon having a second term as
Commonwealth
secretary-general should be seen as a significant endorsement
of Mr
McKinnon's leadership of the 54-nation body, The Dominion Post writes
in an
editorial.
This is one of those cases where if Mr Mugabe approved of
Mr McKinnon, then
other Commonwealth countries would really have to worry
about whether the
secretary-general was up to the task.
The
Commonwealth is often accused of being nothing more than a
toothless
anachronism, a colonial hangover and an excuse for former British
colonies
to host a sports extravaganza every four years at which Australia
sweeps up
a new set of gold medals. When the Commonwealth takes on the role
of
sanctioning countries, as it has by suspending both Pakistan and
Zimbabwe,
there is sometimes a feeling that it is a meaningless gesture. But
as Mr
Mugabe's wrath reveals, far from being meaningless, his country's
suspension
and his own exclusion from the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting, are
punishments that are hurting.
The next Chogm is due to be
held in Abuja, Nigeria, in early December. It
had been expected that at that
meeting Mr McKinnon's second four-year term
in the top role would be
approved. But it seems that Mr Mugabe, with the
support of 16 other African
nations, is trying to put up an alternate
candidate.
As yet, none has
emerged and Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff is
expressing confidence that
even if someone should put their hand up, and
there is a suggestion that a
former Sri Lankan foreign minister might be
interested in the job, he would
not win majority support. Mr McKinnon's
proposed second term was backed by
Pacific states at the recent Pacific
Islands Forum in Auckland and it is hard
to see why Caribbean nations would
not support him ahead of a Mugabe
candidate.
It would certainly be a shocking reflection on the
Commonwealth if someone
who was effectively a Mugabe candidate could oust Mr
McKinnon. It is not Mr
McKinnon's fault that Zimbabwe is suspended. The blame
lies firmly with Mr
Mugabe and his henchmen who have left the world aghast as
Zimbabwe continues
to become a deeper and deeper basket case, plagued by
human rights abuses,
food shortages, high unemployment and the shameful
expulsion of white
farmers from their land. Far from criticising Mr McKinnon
for extending
Zimbabwe's suspension, the Commonwealth and other international
forums could
stand accused of not doing enough to support the regime change
in Harare
that many Zimbabweans desperately seek, and which could end up
being their
only lifeline.
It will be unfortunate if the Commonwealth
splits along ethnic lines,
pitting African countries against the rest.
Loyalty is a worthy concept and,
as an early independence leader, Mr Mugabe
once inspired loyalty. He
deserves it no longer. African nations' best
interests do not lie in
protecting a failing and abusive regime, out of some
misguided historical
loyalty to Mr Mugabe. The issue is not Mr McKinnon's
ability to manage the
Commonwealth, it is Mr Mugabe's ability to manage
Zimbabwe. The wrong man is
being targeted here.
IOL
Mugabe's would-be successor waits in wings
October 08
2003 at 04:46AM
By Basildon Peta
The race to
succeed President Robert Mugabe is gathering momentum, with
Zimbabwe's
military supremo, General Vitalis Zvinavashe, set to quit his
post in two
months' time. He will possibly line himself up to succeed Mugabe
if the
79-year-old leader decides to retire.
Politicians in Zimbabwe's largest
political province, Masvingo, from where
Zvinavashe hails, say that although
he is being coy about his plans, his
main wish is to fill the void created by
the recent death of vice-president
Simon Muzenda.
Muzenda also hailed
from Masvingo, and was the kingmaker in the province.
By taking over
Muzenda's role, Zvinavashe sees himself being able to achieve
greater things
- even having a go at the presidency, Masvingo
politicians
believe.
Zvinavashe, who has been head of both the
Zimbabwe National Army and the air
force, unsettled Zimbabwe's body politics
earlier this year when he declared
that Zimbabwe was in crisis and
politicians needed to do something urgently
to reverse the slide. His
statements fuelled speculation that the army might
be contemplating a
takeover.
Zvinavashe, who rarely gives interviews, has not publicly made
his plans
known after quitting the army.
Political analyst Lovemore
Madhuku said Zvinavashe might see his position in
the army as a springboard
for an effective role in politics.
.. This article was
originally published on page 3 of The Star on October
08, 2003
Friends of the Daily News
http://www.daily-news.co.za/
Associated
Newspapers of Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd
Press Release
October 9,
2003
The Daily News has found a new home on the world-wide -web.
The web edition
of the Daily News formerly published from a Zimbabwean
domain
www.dailynews.co.zw will be
re-launched in the next two weeks on the new
domain- www.daily-news.co.za.
The move
has been inspired by our unwavering commitment to serve the
millions of
people who read The Daily News every day. Our core commitment is
to keeping
the people of Zimbabwe informed about important national issues
and also
provide entertaining as well as educational material on a variety
of
issues that may be of interest to our readers.
We have had to accept
that Zimbabwean laws do not permit us to base this
operation in our country
of origin but we are also open to the opportunities
that other countries
whose laws are less hostile to a free press provide. We
have therefore taken
the decision to externalize our publishing operation
and operate from where
it is legal for us to do so whilst we await the
conclusion of our case in the
Zimbabwean courts.
The internet is a media which is almost impossible
for the nation state to
control through legal instruments because in order to
exercise jurisdiction
over publishers there must be the co-operation of the
host country. Quite
clearly when the Zimbabwean government enacted the Access
to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act which has been used to stop
the
publication of the
Zimbabwean print edition of The Daily News they
did not fully consider the
technological advancements that enable publishers
to reach their audiences
from beyond the physical boundaries of
Zimbabwe.
There is a general consensus amongst democratic nations
that few, if any
obstacles should be placed in the path of free expression
and the internet
has emerged as one of the most effective vehicles for free
expression.
Democratic governments only interfere with Internet usage
when such
interference is clearly in the public interest as has been the case
with
crimes committed through the net such as pedophilia and terrorism. This
will
challenge governments like are own which have laws that are hostile to
free
expression to remove these laws from their statute
books.
We will continue the fight to get the Daily News back on the
streets of
Zimbabwe where we can serve the greater portion of our
established
readership. This is because access to the internet in Zimbabwe
remains the
preserve of a privileged few who constitute less than one percent
of the
total population.
Currently, although our readers can
access the new site, only the
interactive features on the site are operative.
Since our operation in
Zimbabwe was shut down our readers continue to submit
letters to the editor
and humorous anecdotes on Zimbabwean issues. Readers
are also participating
in polls
on key Zimbabwean issues, the results
of which are published on the web. The
readers, or ‘Friends of The Daily
News' are the ones who have kept the site
going whilst our editorial team
prepares to re-launch what we believe will
become the premier site for news
and information on Zimbabwe. The enthusiasm
of our readers has been
remarkable. We have counted an impressive total of
90,000 hits since the new
site was etsablished and our promise to readers is
that we will soon be back
to continue telling the Zimbabwean story “Like it
is”.
Friends of the Daily News
Mugabe's reign of terror
On
the 18th April 1980 Zimbabwe gained its independence under what
some would
call reasonably free and fair elections with promises of
International
recognition and support, ending an era as the west proclaimed
of racial
discrimination.
The reality was that over the next 23 years
Robert Mugabe's grip on
power along with his calculated and systematic
presidential decrees,
political instability, incompetence, nepotism and
corruption. All
ingredients to the political, economic and social disastrous
state, Zimbabwe
finds it self in today. With increased indignation towards
all, along with
tribal and insidious racial-prejudice never far from Mugabe's
mind or lips.
As his warnings in his rhetoric have consistently attested to
both locally
and internationally. The mass genocide against the predominantly
black
population escalates without sufficient condemnation or action from
African
countries, The European Union and the United Nations. The notorious
North
Korean trained 5th Brigade, under Mugabe's orders, and led by
Emmerson
Mnangagwa and Perence Shiri, massacred over 20,000 of innocent men,
women
and children in 1982 under the pretext of crushing a coup by former
forces
of Joshua Nkomo.
The methodical imprisonment,
abduction, torture or eliminated of those
perceived to be opponents of the
repressive state continues unabated.
Bishops, pastors and judges are beaten
and thrown into prisons on an
arbitrary basis as the police deny them their
civil rights and liberties.
Yet as defiant as Zimbabwe's brave cricketers
Henry Olonga and Andy Flower
the cry for freedom rings out across a hostile
land, gathering support and
momentum. The formation of the Movement for
Democratic (MDC) on 11th
September 1999 under the leadership of President
Morgan Tsvangirai former
Secretary General of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) heralded in a
desperate desire for change supported by the
majority Zimbabweans. For a
newly formed political party, the MDC won 57 of
the 120 elected seats on
24th & 25th June 2001 in Parliamentary elections
where at least 35 people
were murdered, mostly from MDC. Whilst Mugabe
dithered and finally set a
long awaited date for presidential elections due
on 9th & 10th March 2002.
The reality was he needed time to
reduce polling stations in urban
areas and increase them in rural areas where
the state had greater control.
Villages were forced to stand behind their
chiefs or headman during
balloting watched by the armed forces. With
so-called youth militia or
(green bombers) as they are referred to, akin to
Hitler's (brown shirts),
armed forces and the notorious Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO)
distributed to the four corners of Zimbabwe along with
Mugabe's all
important pre-prepared ''ghost vote''. The scene was set for a
one sided
brutal campaign, disenfranchising most of the population, the
result an
illegitimate and antagonistic president. The sword of Damocles
constantly
hanging over the heads of agricultural sector. Farmers and farm
workers
alike tortured, illegally imprisoned and killed. Where demands were
once
meet for local consumption along with increased exports to other
African
countries and abroad. Where once fenced wildlife reserves with
abundant
herds, which brought in the much-needed tourism industry along with
foreign
currency creating jobs for the local people. The instability and
the
death-knell to the economy was inevitable, as Mugabe became
increasingly
desperate. The deadline for 4500 commercial farmers to leave
their land was
8th August 2002 by no coincidence the 8th August 1963 was the
formation of
Zanu.
It is beyond comprehension that Mugabe's
failed land scheme has left
thousands of productive farms now desolate, used
as torture camps or taken
over by his cronies. Farm workers persecuted and
forced off the land too,
leaving tens of thousands homeless starving and
denied food or assistance
from the government. With mass poverty and
deprivation the humanitarian
crises continues to spiral out of control with a
third of the adult
population having aids. The credibility and values of
President Thabo
Mbeki's inspirational promotion of the New Partnership for
African
Development (NEPAD) must be called into serious contention. On the
26th
March 2002, 15 African heads of State meet in Nigeria purporting to
endorse
a draft document. Committing their countries to uphold principles
of
democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, a
transparent
government and eradication of corruption to list but a few. Why
than have so
many African countries signed up to NEPAD endorsed the Mugabe
regime.
By Albert Weidemann
Business Day
UN warns of deepening Zimbabwe food
crisis
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
HARARE
- The food crisis in Zimbabwe is worsening, with a majority of the
country's
districts having exhausted their food stocks, according to a UN
report
received.
"According to reports from 58 districts in August 2003, food is
becoming
scarce, harvest stocks have been exhausted in a majority of
districts and
over half report a deteriorating food situation," the report
said.
The report comes a week after the UN's food agency warned that only
a
quarter of its appeal for funds to feed millions of starving people
in
southern Africa, most of them in Zimbabwe, had been met.
An
estimated 5.5 million Zimbabweans will require emergency food aid by
early
next year, out of a regional total of 6.5 million.
According to the UN
humanitarian situation report families in several
districts of Zimbabwe have
taken to selling household goods to make ends
meet, while others have
resorted to eating wild fruit usually given to
livestock.
There are
also reports of critical water shortages in the drought-ravaged
southern
Matabeland province.
It said that in the Matabeland district of Gwanda
"80 percent of the
families visited have lost their livestock through deaths
related to lack of
pastures, water scarcity or foot and mouth
disease."
According to the report the state-run Grain Marketing Board
(GMB) does not
have enough food to feed people in the country's most populous
province of
Manicaland, in eastern Zimbabwe.
"The province requires
about 27,000 metric tonnes per month, but GMB is
expecting to receive about
10,500 metric tonnes for the entire year."
The famine in Zimbabwe has
been blamed on a combination of drought and what
critics say is a poorly
managed land reform programme launched by President
Robert Mugabe, which has
seen former white-owned commercial farms seized and
handed over to new black
farmers.
AFP
New Zealand Herald
Editorial: McKinnon will survive Africa
clique
09.10.2003
Over the past couple of years, Africa's
leaders have demonstrated a new
resolve to act collectively on the
international stage. The African Union,
in large part a product of South
Africa's emergence from apartheid-induced
isolation, has been developed as a
vehicle for joint action. Hand in hand
has come the New Partnership for
Africa's Development, which seeks to
extricate the continent from crippling
underdevelopment by cultivating
relationships with highly industrialised
countries. Such initiatives mean
that the Commonwealth occupies a less
significant place in the scheme of
things for Africa's 16 member countries.
Not worthy, perhaps, of meriting
sober attention unless it dances to the
African beat.
The Commonwealth's downgraded status, and the creed of
collectivity, surely
underpin African support for a Zimbabwean-inspired bid
to unseat Don
McKinnon, the Commonwealth Secretary-General. Mr McKinnon is
accused of
being biased against the regime of President Robert Mugabe. In
particular,
he is said to have taken it upon himself to extend the one-year
suspension
of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth until at least the heads of
government
meeting in Nigeria in December.
The suspension had been due
to expire in March. At that time, a troika of
Commonwealth leaders could not
decide how to proceed. Australia's John
Howard argued that nothing had
happened to justify a change, while South
Africa's Thabo Mbeki and Nigeria's
Olusequn Obasanjo urged an immediate end
to the suspension. The appropriate
compromise, and one broadly supported
throughout the Commonwealth, was that
the status quo apply until the
leaders' meeting.
That gathering
should, at the very least, maintain the suspension. The
sanction was the
minimum credible response to the situation in Zimbabwe.
Indeed, the
Commonwealth should have delivered more, given Mr Mugabe's abuse
of
fundamental tenets of human rights and democracy. His fraudulent
re-election,
the trigger for suspension, has been accompanied by the
Government-backed
eviction of white farmers from their land, the silencing
of the independent
media, and control of the Judiciary. Added to that is
gross economic
mismanagement. Zimbabwe was once Africa's breadbasket; now
millions face
famine, inflation is rampant, and unemployment is more than 60
per
cent.
It is nonsense for Nigeria and South Africa to claim that matters
in
Zimbabwe have improved sufficiently to warrant the suspension being
lifted.
In fact, according to Britain's Foreign Office, the situation
has
deteriorated this year. Land invasions and intimidation are continuing,
as
is an almost certainly trumped-up treason case against Opposition
leader
Morgan Tsvingarai.
African leaders clearly feel the
collectivist impulse demands that they
stand shoulder to shoulder with Mr
Mugabe. Disagreement would dilute their
ability to advance the continent's
cause. In reality, they are opening
themselves to ridicule. The essential
values of the Commonwealth, which they
are so willing to spurn, are shared by
the vast majority of the
industrialised nations they see as their saviours.
Indeed, the United States
and the European Union have taken stronger stands
against Mr Mugabe's
despotic rule than the Commonwealth.
Mr McKinnon
deserves a second term as Commonwealth Secretary-General. He has
helped to
restore democracy to Fiji. And if there has been no progress in
Zimbabwe, his
hands have been tied by the African leaders' foolish throwing
down of the
gauntlet. Their bid to unseat him will surely come to nought.
The damage they
are inflicting on the Commonwealth is, however, less easy to
dismiss.
Government Reportedly Investigating 'The Standard' And 'Zimbabwe
Independent'
Newspapers
International Press Institute
(Vienna)
DOCUMENT
October 6, 2003
Posted to the web October 8,
2003
Vienna
The following is an IPI letter to President Robert
Mugabe:
His Excellency President Robert Mugabe Office of the President
Causeway,
Harare Zimbabwe Fax: (+ 263 4) 728 799 / 708 820 / 734
644
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the
global network of editors,
leading journalists and media executives, condemns
the latest attempts by
the Zimbabwean government to intimidate and harass the
independent media.
According to reports in the British Independent
newspaper and the electronic
news agency AllAfrica Global Media, the
Zimbabwean government is now
investigating the Sunday newspaper The Standard
as well as the Zimbabwe
Independent with a view to possibly closing them in
the future.
On 5 October, an article by Caiphas Chimhete in The Standard
quoted
Tafataona Mahoso, the head of the state Media and Information
Commission, at
an official launch, as saying, "Oh, you are from The Standard.
We will be
coming for you; we will be writing to you soon." In a reference to
a gossip
column in the newspaper, which has upset the government on a number
of
occasions, Mahoso said, "You are writing lies, carrying stories
with
initials as by-lines."
At the same venue, Junior Information
Minister Jonathan Moyo described the
two newspapers as "the running dogs of
capitalism". In a further reference,
he said, "Really, we should shut these
papers down because they are trash,
they injure our national interest". Moyo
then went on to state that the
VOA's news broadcasting station, which is
beamed into Zimbabwe from outside
the country, "faces death".
The
attacks on the two newspapers come only weeks after the 11 September
closure
of The Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday for apparently
breaching the
procedures of the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act
(AIPPA).
In relation to this incident, five Daily News directors and 15
journalists
have apparently been charged with breaking Zimbabwe's media
laws.
In addition to the aggressive comments of members of the
government, the
officially sanctioned Sunday Mail has also accused The
Standard of planning
to publish a daily edition of the newspaper by employing
members of the
closed Daily News.
IPI is deeply concerned by the
statements of Mahoso and Moyo because they
once again show the government's
deep seated resentment of the independent
media in Zimbabwe. Moreover, it
also reveals the government's continuing
desire to close all newspapers which
offer criticism and to stifle all forms
of legitimate dissent in the
country.
Furthermore, IPI also wishes to point out that government
comments which
raise "the national interest" as a justification for the
repression of the
media are little more than a self-serving pretence. By
claiming to act in
the "national interest" the government is actually guilty
of seeking to
protect its own narrow self-interests rather than those of the
country as a
whole.
IPI believes that the independent media have an
absolute right to comment on
the events in Zimbabwe. Through its failure to
allow the dissemination of
information in all its various forms, including
comment and opinion, the
present government is reinforcing the overwhelming
impression that it is
deeply intolerant of criticism and is prepared to
contort the rule of law in
order to close down media organisations and
persecute journalists.
In view of the above, IPI calls on the Zimbabwean
government to refrain from
harassing and intimidating the media and to
introduce a media policy in
Zimbabwe which is in accordance with Article 19
of the United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which gives
everyone the right to
"hold opinions without interference and to seek,
receive and impart
information and ideas through any media. ."
We
thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
BACKGROUND:
Zimbabwe was placed on the IPI Watch List on
20 October 2001. In its press
release IPI said, "[It] is deeply concerned at
attempts to extinguish press
freedom in the country against a background of
government support for this
activity and reluctance to prosecute offenders,
restrictions imposed, or
contemplated, by the government on the media, and
the breakdown of the rule
of law."
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Similar
appeals can be sent to:
His Excellency President Robert Mugabe Office of
the President Causeway,
Harare Zimbabwe Fax: + 263 4 728 799 / 708 820 / 734
644
Corruption Increasing, Says Transparency International
UN
Integrated Regional Information Networks
October 8, 2003
Posted to the
web October 8, 2003
Johannesburg
Angola and Zimbabwe are the two
Southern African countries that faired the
worst in Transparency
International's (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI)
for 2003.
The
CPI charts the level of corruption in 133 countries and ranks them
according
to a CPI score based on perceptions of the degree of corruption,
ranging from
10 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt), by business people,
academics and
risk analysts.
Angola and Zimbabwe faired worst in the rankings, with CPI
scores of 1.8 and
2.3 respectively, followed by Zambia (2.5), Madagascar
(2.6), Mozambique
(2.7) and Malawi (2.8).
Botswana was the
best-performing country in the region, with a CPI score of
5.7 out of 10.
Namibia followed with a score of 4.7, while South Africa
scored
4.4.
Globally, TI said, "seven out of 10 countries score less than 5 out
of a
clean score of 10, while five out of 10 developing countries score less
than
3 out of 10".
Angola joined countries such as Nigeria and
Indonesia, where "corruption is
perceived to be pervasive", said the report,
which was released on Tuesday.
Zimbabwe joined countries such as
Argentina and Israel as "noteworthy
examples of a worsening" situation with
regard to corruption.
The 2003 CPI "demonstrates that it is not only poor
countries where
corruption thrives," said Laurence Cockcroft, a member of
TI's international
board, in a statement. "Levels of corruption are
worryingly high in European
countries such as Greece and Italy, and in
potentially wealthy oil-rich
countries such as ... Angola."
"To turn
around this situation, so that ordinary people share in the oil
wealth of
their country, TI is campaigning, along with other NGOs, for
international
oil companies to publish what they pay to governments and
state oil
companies. This will enable citizens and civil society
organisations in
countries such as Nigeria, Angola, Iraq, Indonesia and
Kazakhstan to have a
clearer picture of state revenues," said Cockcroft.
Citizens of countries
like Angola could then "call their governments to
account where the state
budget is not used to improve scarce public
resources, but instead disappears
on expensive vanity projects or into the
secret offshore bank accounts of
politicians and public officials".
conservatives.com (see paragraph 5)
Ancram vows battle for
referendum on EU Constitition
Conservatives will fight "tooth
and nail" to halt the new EU
constitution, Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael
Ancram has vowed. As
negotiations continued over the text of the new
document, he accused the
Government of "throwing in the towel".
Mr Ancram appealed to Conservative Party activists to work to protect
British
national "pride" which had been undermined by Labour. Addressing the
annual
conference in Blackpool, he renewed calls for a referendum on
the
constitution and announced a petition campaign. He explained, "we will
fight
this damaging constitution with everything we've got. For a start
the
British people have the right to say yes or no in a referendum. Other
EU
countries are having referendums to decide. What is wrong with the
British
people that we cannot be trusted to decide. We will promote a
petition to
Parliament requiring a referendum because even this Prime
Minister cannot
ignore forever the collective voice of the British
people."
Mr Blair had already "thrown in the towel" in the
negotiations and
would not protect British interests, he said. The Swedes, by
voting against
the single currency, had proved that nothing was inevitable in
Europe. "We
believe in Britain and that means fighting for Britain and that
means
opposing the European constitution", he said. "I don't know about you
but I
am tired of this Government trying to make me ashamed of being British.
I am
fed up with seeing our history rewritten, of Labour ministers
apologising
for our past. I have one burning ambition. I want to be proud of
my country
again."
The foreign policy of a future Conservative
government would "give
Britain back its pride. I am sick and tired of a
government that mocks our
traditions, our culture, our currency and even our
very Britishness." The
Government was "capitulating" to those who wanted to
build a "single
European state", he said. "We want to make the European Union
work. We don't
want a tired old Europe, a prisoner of its own bureaucracy,
living in a haze
of ingrained anti-Americanism. We want a new Europe of
democracies, ready to
serve the ideals of a new generation, working together
in a spirit of new
enterprise. A Europe where power flows upwards from nation
states and their
peoples and not downwards from Brussels and its remote
elites."
Labour's foreign policy had been "a shameful catalogue of
abandonment,
betrayal, sell-out, dishonesty and total breach of trust". The
people of
Zimbabwe and Burma had been "abandoned" despite promises of action
and the
people of Gibraltar betrayed" over "a secret deal to share
sovereignty with
Spain". He added, "I have seen the horrors of Mugabe's
Zimbabwe. We will not
go down the appeasement road of 'quiet diplomacy'. We
will not let up until
Mugabe, his financial backers and his whole brutal
regime are gone and gone
forever."
A Conservative Government
would put national interest at the heart of
its policy and would be "true to
our friends and true to our word", he said.
Stronger ties would be built with
the Commonwealth and the relationship with
the US made "healthier", Mr Ancram
said, attacking "the anti-American
machinations" of the French to undermine
NATO.