The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
Back to Index
Back to the Top
Back to Index
JAG SITREP 17th September 2002

KAROI
Andy and Sharon Kockott abandoned their farm today after four days of
relentless pressure from local war veterans and the farm labour. After
spending the night without electricity, and only the water left in the
cisterns, they finally decided the situation was untenable. They were
accompanied off the farm by several local farmers for security.

Another farmer in the area is still barricaded in his farm.


MARONDERA
Peter Baker of Rocklands farm was approached by Mrs Monica Chinamasa,
with a letter signed by the Lands Committee and the local DA authorising
her to take over 432ha of the property, including the most fertile area
of the farm and all the farm buildings. The farm received a Section 5 in
July, but has not received a Section 8. He was informed that as long as
he allowed her to carry out a paprika growing exercise, he might be
allowed to remain on the farm until the Section 8 came through (and was
assured that it was on its way).

This follows on the heels of a similar incident in Karoi last week,
where Alan Parsons of Spring Farm was approached by a group of Lands
Committee 'officials' claiming the 'other section' of the farm on the
behalf of Mrs Nurse Murevanemwe. Mrs Murevanemwe claims to be a member
of the 'central committee', and when he refused to vacate the farm,
promised to return once the new Lands Act bill has been passed.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION
The WHO food distribution programme is looking for additional small and
medium size lorries and drivers to assist in the delivery of essential
supplies to rural areas. Some of these will be sourced from JAG, and it
is a good opportunity for those farmers currently off their farms who
have such rigs to earn good money. If you are interested in taking part
in this scheme, please fill in the following form, and either return it
to justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw or bring it into the offices. For
more details, call James on 091 317 264 from 09h00 tomorrow morning.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Registered Owner:
Contact Person:
Address (physical):
Phone No:
Cell no:
E-mail:

VEHICLE DETAILS

(A) Rigids
  Lorry:
    Make:
    Model:
    Reg no:
    Tonnage:
    Bulk sides (Y/N)
  Trailer:
    Make:
    Model:
    Reg no:
    Tonnage:
    Bulk sides (Y/N)

(B) Articulated
  Horse/Tractor:
    Make:
    Model:
    Reg no:
    Drive axles (1 / 2):
    Cab type (day / sleep):
  Trailer:
    Make:
    Model:
    Reg no:
    Tonnage:
    Bulk sides (Y/N)
    Axles(single / double):

(C) Driver
  With driver/self driven:
  Valid passport holder (Y / N):
  My operating/hauling preference would be for:
    1.Source to depot (Y / N):
    2.Depot to recipient (Y / N):
    3.Either and both (Y / N):
    Internally within a province (specify):
    Within a radius of x km of the x post office (specify):

(D) When not operating, the vehicle usually overnights at:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT

THE JAG TEAM

Hotlines:
    (011) 205374       Please call if you need advice or are
        (011) 863354       in trouble - we're here to help
            (091) 317264

_______________________________________________
Justice for Agriculture mailing list
To subscribe/unsubscribe: Please write to jag-list-admin@mango.zw
SITREP 16th September 2002

KAROI

There are still two farmers barricaded into their homesteads in the
Karoi/Tengwe area. Andy Kockott, after having achieved a peaceful
resolution with his labour yesterday, is today once more under siege as
the war veterans who had abandoned his farm have returned to incite
trouble. He and his wife are currently locked into the house, and the
electricity and water supplies to the house have been cut off from the
outside. The labour have renewed their demands for retrenchment
packages, notwithstanding the lack of a Section 8 order on the farm.

Another farmer, Tom High, is also currently prevented from leaving his
property, and although the besieging group have not resorted to
violence, he has not been allowed to leave the premises since Friday
afternoon. The other cases of barricading in this area have been
dissipated without violence.

Neighbours have confirmed that Zebra Downs Farm, belonging to Chris
Bishop, is being systematically looted by the fifty settlers who are
resident on the farm. The grain store was broken into last week, and
some ten tonnes of maize destined as food for the labourers was stolen.
Both the farm houses have been moved into by war veterans, as has the
farm workshop complex, and there are reports some of the remaining 150
cattle on the farm being sold off. Chris Bishop has not received a
Section 8 order, but has been unable to return to his farm for over a
week.

CONCESSION

CHIREDZI

The thirteen farmers arrested in this area last week and over the
weekend were brought before a magistrate today. The ZRP presented a case
that they had failed to apply for an extension to their Section 8
orders. The magistrate found that this was not a viable charge, and
ordered that they be released, whereupon the ZRP announced that were
this done, the farmers would be immediately returned to prison. The
court recessed for lunch to allow the ZRP to consolidate and present
another charge, but when they failed to do so, the prisoners were
released. For two days there were between 21 and 24 people cramped into
a cell measuring 4m by 6m, and there were insufficient blankets for them
too keep warm, despite the crowding. This is a classic case of
harassment, since the arrest was on a spurious charge, and they were
released without bail shortly thereafter.

MATABELELAND

A farmer in the Bembesi District was arrested today whilst attending a
Lands Committee meeting. Neil Fletcher, of Zimbile Farm, was taken from
the meeting to prison, although no charges were proffered at the time.
He is currently on bail from a previous arrest in connection with a
Section 8 order, the conditions of which allowed him back on the farm,
and remanded him until the 7th of November. No further details are known
at this time.


THE JAG TEAM
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Help Zimbabwe's media stand up to a tyrant
         Anna Husarska Los Angeles Times  Tuesday, September 17, 2002



Mugabe's muzzle

The Harare studios of the only Zimbabwean privately owned radio station,
Voice of the People, were destroyed Aug. 29 by an explosion. The police say
the perpetrators of the crime, in which there were no casualties, are
unknown but that they will be found and punished.
.
Are we to assume that those who act against the independent media in
Zimbabwe will be finally brought to justice? Well, so says the minister of
home affairs, Comrade Kembo Mohadi, who, according to the government
mouthpiece, the Herald, announced that "no stone would be left unturned" in
the search for "these terrorists trying to induce fear into this nation."
.
The turning of the stones was probably delayed, though, because President
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who has imposed laws limiting freedom of
expression, was in Johannesburg at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, as was his minister of information, Jonathan Moyo, known for
his stated hatred of independent journalists.
.
The attack against the Voice of the People is the fourth against an
independent news outfit in the last three years: In 2000, 2001 and 2002 the
offices and printing house of the privately owned Daily News newspaper were
bombed. It is not known who carried out the newspaper explosions.
.
The VOP's premises were raided in July by members of the police who, armed
with a search warrant, confiscated files and 133 tapes. They said they were
looking for a transmitter.
.
There was no transmitter because the VOP does not transmit; it only prepares
programs - two hours daily, in the two local languages, Shona and Ndebele -
and sends them out of the country. Then they are broadcast from Radio
Netherlands' transmitter in Madagascar.
.
I learned about this from one of the VOP's journalists, whom I met last year
in Harare, the capital. She wanted to hear about the experiences of
independent media in other dictatorial countries in order to improve the
operation of the VOP. She was interested in the clandestine Radio
Solidarity, which broadcast in Poland when the country was under martial
law, but after listening to my explanations she said with regret: "We could
not do that; this would be illegal here. We need to do things in a legal
way. Otherwise we put our security at risk."
.
That "security" is now smoldering in the ruins of a small white building in
Milton Park, a Harare suburb.
.
With its programming about human rights, AIDS and social conflicts, the VOP
was a thorn in the side of the government, which in published reports has
called it "nothing short of a criminal and terrorist group." In rural areas
where the Daily News and the English-language weeklies are not available or
are not understood, the VOP was the only independent source of information.
The raid in July was a warning. The attack Aug. 29 means there is no room
for free radio in Mugabe's Zimbabwe.
.
Without waiting for Mugabe's new, self-described "war cabinet" to celebrate
getting its adversary off the air, the outside world should prevent the VOP
from going silent. There are a few days' worth of broadcasts accumulated and
some rebroadcasts are planned, but the losses - virtually everything - must
be replaced.
.
When that other declared enemy of the free media, Slobodan Milosevic, waged
a war against his own journalists, the victims found immediate support from
abroad. Sarajevo's daily Oslobodjenje was given newsprint even while its
offices were being shelled. Belgrade's radio B-92 was carried by other
broadcasters when its offices were taken over. The Banja Luka daily in
Bosnia, Nezavisne Novine, was offered grants after its editor lost both legs
to a car bomb. And the Pristina daily Koha Ditore was helped to temporarily
resettle in Macedonia after its offices and equipment were destroyed in
Kosovo. Now all those media are thriving in their respective countries, and
Milosevic is answering for his deeds in The Hague.
.
If independent media are not helped to stand up to the dictator, Zimbabweans
will be left with only government-sanctioned mouthpieces to read, watch and
listen to. Condemning Zimbabweans to such propaganda would have long-term
effects on the prospects of the country's return to democracy.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

Leader Page

      Why doesn't Mugabe see the contradiction?

      9/16/02 8:08:17 AM (GMT +2)



      It is to state the obvious to say that, for generations to come,
Zimbabweans will live to rue the day President Mugabe, driven by the fear of
losing power, panicked into sanctioning vagabonds masquerading as war
veterans to invade white commercial farms.

      Always preoccupied with his own political self-preservation and driven
in all his actions by a gritty determination to hold on to power at any cost
as opposed to using what is in the nation's best interests as his main guide
in every decision he takes, Mugabe saw the destabilisation of white farmers
as one of the major ways of forestalling his political demise.

      Lost on him were the tragic consequences of hounding the farmers out
of their properties with regard to the country's economy in general and
national food security in particular.

      Although it has been said before, many people would say this fact can
never be emphasised enough: Food shortages would never have been as severe
as they now are - and getting worse each day - if commercial farm operations
had not been first disrupted by the State-sponsored violence and, finally,
paralysed when the farmers were officially ordered off the land last month.

      In taking what to any right-thinking person was misguided retributive
action against the white commercial farmers, the myopic view of those in
government was that they were being made to pay dearly for their foolhardy
action in openly showing support for the opposition.

      But, as ought to have become quite obvious to the government for some
time already by now, the ill-conceived move has turned out to be more
injurious to the people whose welfare it purports to want to promote than it
has been to the evicted farmers themselves. It has been a classical case of
killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

      Some people will say that, although the perception at the beginning
was that Mugabe hastily embarked on that ruinous programme to ensure his
political survival by creating a political climate so hostile to the
opposition it was practically impossible for it to penetrate the
countryside, that perception eventually changed when outsiders began to
support him.

      There was, for instance, that widely publicised demonstration outside
the venue of the United Nations conference on racism in Durban last
September in support of Mugabe's land-grab by a group of black Americans
wearing T-shirts with his portrait and the words: "Mugabe is right! Free the
land!"

      The reaction here at home was generally dismissive. The consensus was
that they had been hired by the government's United States public relations
consultants specifically to project a false image of it as a popular regime.

      But, while Zimbabweans were certainly not fooled, the same cannot be
said about the international community. Quite a few leaders must have been
persuaded into believing it was a genuine land reform programme. That is
especially so considering Mugabe himself was nowhere near that conference,
having flown north to be with his friend Muammar Gaddafi for the duration of
that conference.

      Then, to our dismay and utter disbelief, one after the other our
neighbours started speaking openly in in support of Mugabe's land seizures.
While the slavish support from the dim-witted Namibian leader was
predictable and, therefore, inconsequential, the same can't be said of the
words of support from Malawi's Bakili Muluzi, Zambia's Levy Mwanawasa, who
openly praised Mugabe's action when he opened the Zimbabwe International
Trade Fair, and Mozambique's Joaquim Chissano, who did the same when he
opened the Harare Agricultural Show.

      Their support was taken seriously internationally and had the
unfortunate effect of emboldening Mugabe to continue in his tragic resolve
to complete the total destruction of commercial farming in Zimbabwe. But, as
is now obvious, Chissano and Mwanawasa were not sincere in their support.
They were like a man secretly in love with a friend's wife cheering him on
when he beats her up so she can run away only to end up in his own eagerly
awaiting arms. It is amazing that Mugabe does not see that Zimbabwe's loss,
in terms of farmers, is Mozambique and Zambia's gain. While we are chasing
them away, they are luring and welcoming them with open arms.

      Why doesn't Mugabe see this obvious contradiction in the actions of
his "friends": urging him on as he chases away white farmers while warmly
welcoming them into their own countries? Through their actions, Mugabe's
"friends" could well be telling him: "You are a fool."
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News
      State surrenders impounded food

      9/16/02 8:42:09 AM (GMT +2)


      Staff Reporter

      THE government last Thursday released the United Nations food which
was impounded by the police last week from a storehouse in Harare.

      Yesterday a UN official, who refused to be named, confirmed the police
had returned the food after consulting officials from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.

      The official said: "The government has done the right thing and saved
its face from further international embarrassment and condemnation, after
impounding goods from an organisation that has always served its people even
in difficult times.

      "It is common knowledge in international law that the UN has
international privileges and is immune to such actions as the Zimbabwean
police recently engaged in."

      On Tuesday, the UN wrote a formal letter of complaint to the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, arguing that the police raid on a UN storehouse in
Harare last Saturday was in violation of the UN's immunity and privileges as
an international organisation with no political ambitions.

      In the letter, the UN had advised the government to release the food
urgently and settle the matter amicably. Dr Stan Mudenge, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, could not be reached for comment as he was in New York
attending the UN General Assembly with President Mugabe.

      The government's climbdown came after revelations that the UN had
threatened to withdraw its support to facilitate President Mugabe's trip to
the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

      Mugabe, senior government and Zanu PF officials have been slapped with
travel bans to the United States, European Union member countries and
Switzerland for alleged gross violations of human rights.

      The police last Saturday raided a Harare house where the UN stores
food for its workers, and confiscated wheat, maize-meal and sugar, accusing
the organisation of engaging in food hoarding.

      The confiscated food was taken to the Grain Marketing Board silos,
apparently for distribution as relief aid by the government
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

Leader Page

      There is nothing Western about the rule of law

      9/16/02 8:09:13 AM (GMT +2)



      In the last two years the crisis in Zimbabwe has entered the realms of
catastrophe. The tragedy is both manifested and perpetuated by the State's
apparent preoccupation with undermining the rule of law.

      Indeed, both the local and international communities have complained
about the failure of the State to uphold the rule of law. The State argues
that the rule of law is a "Western concept" being peddled by the Western
states or "Western puppets" hostile to its position. At other times, it
points out that it is upholding the rule of law because everything it does
is in terms of the law and it is a government appointed by the majority.

      The rule of law is by no means easy to define, but it is undoubtedly a
fundamental principle in any democratic society. In simple terms, the rule
of law represents a principle of constraint upon the uninhibited exercise of
public power. It supports the idea that in a democratic society, law is
supreme and people should not be subject to the whims of the rulers.

      The question is whether the State has been exercising power in a
reasonable way and if the law is considered to be supreme by the rulers.
Also, have the laws been applied fairly across all sections of society?

      One of the principal tenets of the rule of law is the concept of
equality. The idea is that all people, from holders of high office to the
poor in the most remote place, are equal before one set of laws administered
by the courts.

      In other words, like cases must be treated alike over both time and
space. One limitation of the rule of law is that "equality" refers not to
the substance of the laws, but to the enforcement and application of the
laws. For example, the rule of law prevents politically or gender-biased
application/enforcement of laws, but does not necessarily bar the enactment
of laws that discriminate on the grounds of politics or gender. That
limitation is, however, cured by the existence of the Bill of Rights in the
Constitution which includes the fundamental rights and prevents the
enactment of laws that discriminate of the grounds of political affiliation
or gender.

      The problem in Zimbabwe is that the law enforcement authorities and
the State seem to have a greater propensity to apply laws to people who are
perceived to be in the opposition.

      Quite clearly both sides of the political divide have committed
offences in the last couple of years and if laws have to be applied, it must
actually be seen to be a fair process.
      When a ruling party person contravenes the law it appears he is
treated with kid gloves, but when a person perceived to be in the opposition
commits a similar act, the law comes crushing down on them like a tonne of
concrete.

      Many tyrants do not observe the rule of law in its proper, wider
sense. Many times they attempt to define the rule of law in a very limited
sense by simply enacting a plethora of laws and acting strictly in terms of
those laws.

      In true literal interpretation of the term "rule of law", they simply
argue that they are doing everything according to the law and they are,
therefore, upholding the supremacy of the law.

      Those laws can be the harshest there can be and yet they still claim
to be acting in terms of the rule of law. That is wrong because properly
understood, the rule of law demands more than formal compliance with the
rules in a legal system. It includes wider values and respect for the
democratic traditions that separate the Executive from the Judiciary and
Parliament.

      The rule of law is just but one of the principles in a democracy,
respect for the constitutional Bill of Rights being equally significant.

      An important process that is central to the observance of the rule of
law is judicial review. It enables the courts to control the exercise of
State power. The courts check the legality of decisions of public officials
and prevent the abuse of power. The
      Executive and public officials cannot be trusted to respect the law's
constraints in making decisions. It is, therefore, a vital requirement of
the rule of law that there be an independent Judiciary that is able to
effectively check the actions of the public authorities.

      As observed in an earlier contribution, the independence of the
Judiciary has been severely undermined by constant interference of the
Executive.

      Additionally, it is important that the judgments of the courts must be
respected, even if they go against the government. There are cases in which
the decisions of the courts have been held in contempt by public officials.
In an earlier contribution, it was noted that the Executive arm of the State
has openly defied or threatened to defy some court judgments. This not only
undermines the independence of the Judiciary, but also the maintenance of
the rule of law.

      Respect for judicial judgments is at the core of the rule of law. At
other times the Executive can enact retrospective legislation in order to
circumvent or nullify the judgments of the courts that it does not wish to
obey. Such actions are inconsistent with the rule of law, which demands
certainty of legal rules and principle that rules must be prospective and
not otherwise.

      The question that must be asked is: how many times has the Executive
used Parliament to enact retrospective legislation to attempt to legitimise
previous illegal actions?

      The exercise of discretion is important in the discharge of public
duties. Ministers and public officials are vested with vast powers and
discretion in order to perform their functions. The rule of law requires
that such powers and discretion must be exercised in a reasonable way. At
the point that they exceed what is reasonable they must be kept in check by
the courts. Equality of all people before the law is a vital tenet in any
democracy. There is nothing "Western" or "non-indigenous" about the
principle of equality before the law. All people are entitled to protection
of the law.

      The rule of law is not simply an exercise of enacting legislation and
formally complying with it. Anyone, even despots, can do that. The rule of
law requires respect for democratic traditions and that includes observance
of fundamental freedoms. If nothing else, it is a legacy worth leaving. But
are we doing that in Zimbabwe?

      History, my sisters and brothers, may never forgive us.

      As we walk along the path to freedom, I will share with you the words
of my favourite writer, Paolo Coehlo who, in The Pilgrimage, gives good
counsel. He says: "When you are walking towards an objective, it is very
important to pay attention to the road.

      "It is the road that teaches us the best way to get there, and the
road enriches us as we walk its length."

      e-mail: Alex.Magaisa@warwick.ac.uk
Back to the Top
Back to Index
PRESS STATEMENT BY MR COLIN CLOETE, PRESIDENT
COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION

In the light of current events taking place on commercial farms in Zimbabwe,
the Commercial Farmers' Union wishes to place on record that what is
happening on the ground is at complete variance with stated Government
policy.  Indeed, His Excellency the President of Zimbabwe, Mr Robert Mugabe'
s Statement at many International Fora, that of one man one farm and that no
man shall be dispossessed of all of his land, is simply not being adhered
to.

In the last ten days we have seen farmers with Section 8 Orders (and in some
cases, where farmers have not even received such Orders) regardless of
whether they are single farm owners or not, being forcibly and unlawfully
evicted from their homes and in some instances, with as little as five or
six hours notice to leave.  Furthermore, these farmers are threatened that
anything they leave behind will be forfeit to the State.  This again is
quite unlawful.

Many of these farmers have signed undertakings with the relevant
authorities, offering sub-divisions of their farms, or other properties, in
compliance with Government policy.  This has not stopped farmers from being
evicted or, in some cases, incarcerated.

Despite some farmers having Court Orders allowing them to continue living in
their homes and, in fact, a recent High Court ruling was obtained which
precludes eviction before cases are heard and judgments passed, it is of
deep concern to me that this practice continues unabated.

As farmers we reiterate that we support a fair and transparent Land Reform
Programme and call on our Government to ensure that the set-down policy is
implemented and adhered to forthwith, lest we precipitate poor plantings and
reduced production for this new season.

COLIN B CLOETE
PRESIDENT
COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION OF ZIMBABWE
17 September 2002




----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
DISCLAIMER:
Unless specifically stated that this is a Commercial Farmers' Union
communique, or that it is being issued or forwarded to you by the sender in
an official CFU capacity, the opinions contained therein are private.
Private messages also include those sent on behalf of any organisation not
directly affiliated to the Union.  The CFU does not accept any legal
responsibility for private messages and opinions held by the sender and
transmitted over its local area network to other CFU network users and/or to
external addressees.

Back to the Top
Back to Index
Press Release
(On behalf of Justice For Agriculture)

Chinamasa's wife takes over farm

The wife of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Patrick
Chinamasa, Mrs. Monica Chinamasa has joined the list of prominent
personalities who are illegally taking over prime farms.

In the latest incident, Mrs. Chinamasa arrived on Peter Baker's
Marondera-based Rockland Farm last week Friday in possession of a letter
from the Lands Committee dated 28 July 2002, and signed by the District
Administrator.

The letter authorised Mrs. Chinamasa to take up 432ha of the property, which
comprises the homestead, all the buildings, and the most productive fields.

The farm, which was issued with a preliminary notice (section 5) in July,
does not have a compulsory notice of acquisition (section 8) order.

Mrs. Chinamasa insisted that she be allowed to live in the cottage in order
to enable her to grow her paprika. This would be until such time when the
owner received his section 8, which she was confident was on its way.

Her husband, Minister Chinamasa was recently in the news threatening to sue
South Africa's Business Day newspaper fro publishing an article in which it
stated that the Minister had been allocated Lot 1 of Mirror 2 in Chipinge,
as well as Nyamazura 1 in Mutare.

P and M Chinamasa were allocated a 99-year lease on Nyamazura 1 farm in
Mutare, which is 257 hectares on the Dongo list of 1998. The title against
the name clearly states Attorney General, Government of Zimbabwe that was
Chinamasa's previous position.

Chinamasa's sister is also said to have arrived on a Hurungwe farm and
identified herself to the owner as the Minister's sibling.

Chinamasa heads the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry
driving the attempt to legalise the currently illegal land grab.

New amendments to the Land Acquisition Act are being 'fast tracked' through
Parliament without due regard to Parliamentary standing orders or to the
Zimbabwean Constitution. The fact that these amendments are being made is
recognition that there have been violations in the implementation of the
land acquisition processes.

Ends
(17 September 2002)

For more info, please contact Jenni Williams
Mobile (+263) 91 300456 or 11213 885 or on email jennipr@mweb.co.zw
Or Fax (+2639) 63978 or (+2634) 703829 Office email: prnews@mweb.co.zw
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

Feature

      Poverty's victims are vulnerable to exploitation

      9/17/02 9:24:27 AM (GMT +2)



      Poverty often opens the way to sexual exploitation, slavery and child
abuse.

      The Zimbabwe crisis, classified internationally as second to
Afghanistan, has led to a scramble for survival contrivances that require
communities to monitor themselves constantly for the nation to avoid serious
cultural ruptures and distortions.

      Uneven social and power relations worsen as the desperation deepens,
pushing women and children, as the first casualties, onto the frontline of
abuse. As the space for subsistence outlets shrinks, sex and slavery thrive.

      Hunger strips a society of its dignity and esteem, distorts cultures
and edges people out of the generic human gentility necessary to maintain
their values. High unemployment mixed with hopelessness help drive African
men to fake authority and turn onto the vulnerable persons nearest to them -
women and girl children.

      In the slums of Epworth, Hatcliffe Extension, Porta Farm in Harare and
other high-density areas in the cities, the girl child is said to be in
trouble. There is an erroneous feeling that girls can work out a simple plan
to get food and mitigate the desperation at home.

      In such situations, transactional sex to access preferential treatment
when sourcing supplies and services becomes an option, albeit a dangerous
one.

      Men, women, boys and girls, the majority of "discouraged" job seekers
and displaced farm workers and school leavers, now live along river banks
and mountain slopes or try their luck down derelict mines in search of gold
dust. It is equally a dangerous expedition as the disused mineshafts have
claimed 60 lives already this year.

      Using technology far from an improvement of the ancient Egyptian gold
miners, as one analyst put it, or perhaps a more recent term, Stone Age
scavengers, there has been an unprecedented boom, driven by hunger, in the
search for a life.

      On river banks, one finds mostly women and children, scanning the sand
for the alluvial gold, using wooden bowls to separate particles to fill up
the barrel of a pen.

      The entire landscape around the Great Dyke area, along the Bulawayo
Road from Kadoma, past Kwekwe, around the Boterekwa Hills in Shurugwi, up
north-east in Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe, in parts of Zvishavane and Masvingo
has been occupied by bands of mostly barefoot villagers, scavenging for
chrome and gold.

      Others have trekked to the nearest growth point, town and city to
crowd with distant relatives. With rampant graduate unemployment already
with us, young men and women, many with impressive academic qualifications,
are unable to secure jobs, even as gardeners and housemaids.

      Those without extended family support end up in the streets. Tafataona
Mahoso, the head of the school of journalism at Harare Polytechnic, knows
about some of them, resident in the streets close to State House. He has
spoken to them and understands the stuff they are made of.

      Aimless wayfarers and nomads have become an industry. Scavenging takes
many forms: some turn to religion just to extort spiritual offerings; others
seize parking lots demanding coins from motorists; pimps do a roaring
business with desperate girls; the adventurous become gigolos and sex
queens; and the elderly openly plead for solace during the day.

      Scavengers have become the eye of the storm gathering anger on the
horizon, a storm that could unleash greater turmoil than already exists.

      For that reason, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was right in observing
that: "The total emasculation of the people's political power has been
complemented by another strategy to reduce the majority of the population
economically to the level of Stone Age scavengers available for manipulation
and abuse by Mugabe and his cronies." In a climate of extreme food
shortages, who can claim to have escaped from being reduced to a
hunter-gatherer? A scavenger?

      Family values and the sense of community connected-ness have suffered
significantly following such a radical shift in lifestyle. In such
circumstances, women and girl children radiate as the soft targets for
abuse.

      "With the current humanitarian operation in southern Africa going to
scale, there is an urgent need to address the issue of sexual exploitation
and abuse," says Hamish Young, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef)
regional child protection advisor. "The issue is of even greater importance
and urgency when set against the underlying crisis of HIV/Aids."

      Aid agencies have put in place a plan of action to develop an
environment free of such vices in humanitarian crises. The current crisis is
regarded as the litmus test for the success of the plan, says Young. The
Unicef plan, however, targets mainly aid workers.

      It does not extend itself to the more complicated relations within
communities where Zimbabwe's growing under-class will be forced to work as
near slaves, either for food or for starvation wages unless they give in to
sex, forced marriages and other dehumanising demands.

      The government is determined to ban the opposition from getting access
to these people, especially in the rural areas.

      The fear is that the hungry could provide a fertile area for an
uprising the State could fail to suppress. A tight network of Central
Intelligence Organisation operatives, a trained militia and war veterans is
already in place to deal with opposition overtures into the countryside.

      Zengeza MP Tafadzwa Musekiwa realised the extent of the official
paranoia when government supporters refused him permission to bury his
father in Chivhu.

      Those who attempted to register for the rural elections have numerous
tales to tell about the new moves to deny them political space.

      While Zanu PF could have unfettered access to all villages, the party
believes that denying the MDC the same provides security for Mugabe. Open
meetings could embarrass the Zanu PF leadership, especially when it fails to
provide answers to hunger and starvation.

      With limited options, the government has launched a vicious
information war directed at hungry hearts and minds. It seems the real
battleground is on the waverer, although Zanu PF identified the location of
that political waverer.

      A popular perception within the MDC is that fence-sitters live in the
rural areas; Zanu PF says it sees them in towns and cities.

      But daily, both urban and rural Zimbabweans discuss their predicament.
The government is aware of that debate, hence the jitters and insecurity
which compel Mugabe to plead for recognition at every international meeting
he attends today.

      The government may win a few battles here and there, not the
information war. The size of the enemy is frightening - queues, the media,
civil society, justice, the judiciary, the MDC and the world.

      Never expect anybody to respect you when you are naked
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

      Blackie out on bail

      9/17/02 9:21:04 AM (GMT +2)


      Court Reporter

      FORMER High Court judge, Justice Fergus Blackie, arrested on Friday
last week on allegations of obstructing or defeating the course of justice,
was released on $10 000 bail yesterday by a Harare Magistrate's Court.

      Blackie, 65, who retired from the bench in July, is facing charges of
defeating or obstructing the course of justice or breaching the Prevention
of Corruption Act after he allegedly "unprocedurally handled" the appeal of
a woman who stole $500 000 from her employer.

      Provincial magistrate Lilian Kudya remanded Justice Blackie to 18
November and ordered him to surrender his travel documents and report once
every Wednesday to the CID special investigations unit.

      The former judge's lawyer, Advocate Firoz Girach, complained that his
client was denied access to legal representation upon his arrest and to his
family and friends during his detention at Matapi Police Station in Mbare.
As a result, Justice Blackie who suffers from hypertension, was unable to
take his medication, Advocate Girach said.

      "Notwithstanding no less than three requests made by the accused to
three different persons in order to make a phone call, he was denied this
right," Advocate Girach said.
      "Nobody knew where he was. It was only subsequent to an application
made to the High Court for the production of the accused person that his
legal practitioners were able to have access to him on Saturday. On Friday
my client was not fed at all whilst in custody at Matapi."

      The State, led by Stephen Musona said some time in February this year,
Justice Blackie, then a High Court judge, was allocated an appeal matter
together with Justice Rita Makarau and judgment in the matter was reserved
after submissions by the State and the convicted woman's lawyer.

      Between 12 February and 26 June, Justice Blackie allegedly wrote a
judgment and sent it for typing and for handing down on 26 June without
Justice Makarau's concurrence.

      As a result, Tara White's appeal was allowed and the sentence imposed
on her set aside, the State alleged.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

      24 farmers freed as charges are dropped

      9/17/02 9:18:23 AM (GMT +2)


      From Energy Bara in Masvingo

      TWENTY-FOUR white commercial farmers arrested in Chiredzi for
allegedly defying a government order to vacate their properties acquired for
resettlement were released yesterday after their charges were dropped before
plea.

      They were allowed to return to their farms and continue their
business.

      Officials from the Attorney General (AG)'s Office yesterday refused to
place them on remand, arguing that they had no case to answer.

      Of the 14 farmers arrested on Friday, 11 spent the weekend in police
cells, while three were released on Saturday on medical grounds.

      Ten farmers arrested yesterday only spent hours at Chiredzi Police
Station
      before their release.

      Stephen Schwarer, the farmers' co-ordinator, told The Daily News
yesterday that all 24 farmers were released without being charged.

      Schwarer said: "All the farmers have been released and the charges
dropped. The farmers have been allowed to return to their properties".

      Officials from the AG's Office yesterday said the farmers had no case
to answer because they were not properly served with eviction notices under
Section 8 of the Land Acquisition Act.

      Before their release, there was high tension in Chiredzi and the
surrounding areas as police mounted roadblocks.

      The police claimed they were hunting for 16 more commercial farmers
who had refused to comply with the government order. Police in Chiredzi
yesterday confirmed the release of the farmers, but refused to give details.

      Meanwhile, the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) has expressed concern
over the illegal arrests and harassment of the farmers.

      CFU regional spokesman Mike Clark said: "This is ridiculous. The
police had refused to release the farmers after the AG's Office had declined
to prosecute them. This is shocking because the arrests are illegal."
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

      Zanu PF terror Top Six arrested

      9/17/02 9:16:27 AM (GMT +2)


      By Pedzisai Ruhanya Chief Reporter

      ZANU PF's so-called Top Six gang and six of their alleged accomplices
were arrested by armed police in Chinhoyi and Raffingora on Saturday over
allegations of extorting money from commercial farmers, assault and robbery.

      Chinhoyi magistrate Wilfred Chipato yesterday remanded the 12 to 30
September. Seven of them were denied bail, while the rest were granted $5
000 bail each.
      The State alleges that the 12 were involved in theft by false
pretences, alternatively extortion, robbery and assault.

      Among the group are Josphat Chiweshe, Elias Saidi, Robert Sikanyika
and Dominic Chiweshe. It could not be established who among them was granted
or denied bail.
      Tapuwa Muchineripi, one of their lawyers, said yesterday: "The 12 were
arrested by the police on charges of robbery, assault and extortion against
commercial farmers in the surrounding areas.''

      Residents of Chinhoyi and journalists have been saying a
well-organised and apparently well-funded group of Zanu PF supporters has
been involved in many incidents of political violence in Mashonaland West
Province.

      The group has reportedly harassed commercial farmers and suspected MDC
supporters.

      They had declared the province a no-go area for opposition supporters
and were allegedly engaged in political violence each time there was an
election in the province.
      In Chinhoyi they were allegedly involved in the burning of copies of
The Daily News in the run-up to both the 2000 parliamentary and 2002
presidential elections, while the MDC said the group attacked its supporters
campaigning for the impending Hurungwe West parliamentary by-election.

      Ironically, the arrest of the so-called Top Six came during the
weekend when the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) held a congress in
Masvingo where reporters from Mashonaland West asked the union to protect
them against harassment by this group.

      It was resolved at the congress that the ZUJ executive should petition
Augustine Chihuri, the Police Commissioner, to investigate and prosecute the
Zanu PF supporters for harassing journalists.

      The reporters complained that the group summoned journalists from both
the private and public media each time a report unfavourable to them or Zanu
PF was published.

      "At times they would not allow you to talk to certain government
officials without their clearance," a reporter who refused to be identified
said. "They would tell you to follow the Zanu PF protocol before talking to
their bosses.

      ''The police in the province have on several occasions refused to act
against them because they are very powerful,''.

      The reporters pleaded with ZUJ to assign reporters from other
provinces, particularly those in Harare to write stories about the
activities of the Zanu PF supporters, saying if they wrote the stories they
would be attacked, with no chance of redress from the justice system.

      The journalists noted that the group had become so powerful that even
their financiers could be summoned for failing to meet their demands.

      "As journalists in Mashonaland West province, we feel that it is not
fair to operate under these harsh circumstances," said another reporter.
"Why should people who are not our superiors tell us how we should operate?"
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

Leader Page

      It's time to pull the plug on Mugabe

      9/17/02 9:26:45 AM (GMT +2)



      RECENTLY, President Mugabe and his finance and energy bosses flew yet
again to Libya to beg Muammar Gaddafi to bail out a bankrupt Zimbabwe.


      This, despite the recent failure to meet payment obligations due
against a $360 million fuel import deal for the supply of 100 000 tonnes of
oil products per month Gaddafi extended last year.

      It also comes just as Zimbabwe's electricity utility has announced
that all companies must pay their bills in foreign currency so that it can
pay back the money it owes to the regional Southern Africa Power Pool. The
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) owes more than US$24 million
(Z$1,32 billion) to the Pool for imports.

      The Financial Gazette reports that Zesa fears that major regional
power companies could cut Harare off unless outstanding electricity accounts
are settled.

      The long overdue "big switch-off" of Mugabe's regime is now likely to
be triggered for commercial reasons by regional suppliers.

      Hydro de Cahora Bassa of Mozambique, which at the end of June was owed
US$12 million, according to public documents held by The Financial Gazette,
has threatened to reduce supplies by 50 megawatts progressively for each
week that Zimbabwe fails to honour its payment obligations.

      From April last year, there has been a demand that South Africa and
other neighbours do just that - progressively turn off the fuel taps and
switch off electricity supplies to Zimbabwe against stipulated demands that
Mugabe improve his human rights and economic management.

      Now that the New Economic Plan for Africa's Development (Nepad)'s peer
review, the African Union (AU) and the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD) endorsement are in place, and the Nigeria/South Africa
misplaced search for a unity government has patently failed, Zimbabwe's
neighbours are beholden to act to protect the interests of Zimbabwean
citizens.

      Will South African President Thabo Mbeki and company quietly let their
power authorities do the job for them?

      The trick is to persuade Libya that Zimbabwe, without a democratic
election to install a legitimate government, is unbankable.

      The sudden demise of commercial farming will bury what remains of the
modern economy and with it the tax base and exports to provide education and
health and to pay for energy imports.

      Today, it is not black farmers who are gaining land. It is party
hangers-on, many now with a record of human abuses and enjoying a
Presidential pardon.

      And there is no effective support to help them be productive.

      Ironically, current reports are that "settlers" under the A1 and A2
models have not heeded calls to take up their pieces of land ahead of the
deadline.

      Threats that they would lose their pieces of land by the expiry of the
deadline have largely been ignored.

      Moreover, some 1 100 VIPs are listed to gain farms; that is about a
third of the commercial farms grabbed by the Mugabe regime.

      Very few of them will attempt to make a success of farming. An
official from the Ministry of Agriculture recently said: "The government has
to start the process again because most of those allocated land have not
moved onto their plots." A bigger restart is needed that can only follow a
democratic election and the existence of a legitimate government.
Zimbabweans everywhere have a term for the current land reform programme.

      It is jambanja, which means confusion, a nonsense! In late 2001, a
United Nations Development Programme technical team noted that "the current
scope of the fast-track resettlement is not implementable on a sustainable
basis".

      In particular, it noted that there is "no present basis for optimism
on the part of settlers about their future leading them to form viable
community organisations aimed at ensuring the sustainability of new
settlements".

      As a result, most Zimbabweans are not celebrating the confused,
partisan, overnight access to more and better land.
      They are mourning the destruction of a fine country and a modern
economy and of their jobs.

      Instead, they have to tend to and then bury the 750 000 HIV-infected
family members and friends who are becoming Aids cases as officially
instigated genocide causes starvation and so denies them the "wellness"
needed to keep healthy and productive for many more years.

      Gaddafi must be told that, to protect his historical position, he must
avoid being linked to Africa's Stalin/ Pol Pot counterpart.

      This fact is highlighted by Kofi Annan's Special Envoy, James Morris,
being in Harare to investigate political interference in food distribution.

      About six million Zimbabweans, almost half the population, face
starvation.
      Morris described the situation as "the worst humanitarian crisis in
the world today".

      Now is the time for the "big switch-off" of all external moral,
political and economic support to Mugabe.

      Without it there will be no implementation of Nepad, the AU will
flounder, and the WSSD will not deliver the foundation of global security -
"sustainable people".

Back to the Top
Back to Index
Guardian

Farmer Sentenced In Zimbabwe Death

Tuesday September 17, 2002 7:30 PM


HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - A white farmer convicted of murder for running over
a black settler occupying part of his land was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years
in prison.

The farmer, Philip Bezuidenhout, was the second person convicted of murder
in more than two years of political violence that has left about 200 people
dead. Most of the violence has been blamed on the black squatters and the
ruling party.

Bezuidenhout, 52, pleaded innocent to murdering Fabian Mapenzauswa, saying
he accidentally ran over the man with his truck in July 2001 in the eastern
district of Odzi, 150 miles east of Harare.

Mapenzauswa was one of thousands of blacks who occupied white-owned farm
land over the last two years, demanding the government seize the land and
marking out plots for themselves.

High Court Judge Ben Hlatshwayo convicted Bezuidenhout of murder Monday.

In sentencing Bezuidenhout on Tuesday, Hlatshwayo said he did not impose the
death penalty because Bezuidenhout was affected by ``agitation and anguish''
when he drove his truck at the settler after the government seized his farm
under its land redistribution program.

``This court is not bound to impose a death sentence and in the
circumstances considers it inappropriate to do so,'' Hlatshwayo said.
``(Bezuidenhout) must consider himself very lucky.''

Bezuidenhout appeared in court Tuesday barefoot in prison garb and in
handcuffs. He was not allowed to confer with his family, but gestured to
them before the sentence was announced, drawing a finger across his throat
in expectation of receiving a death sentence.

Zimbabwe has been wracked by more than two years of political and economic
turmoil, marked by a violent crackdown against the opposition and government
efforts to seize 5,000 white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks.

The only other person convicted of murder was a black militant sentenced to
death for killing a policeman sent to investigate violence on a white-owned
farm in early 2000. The sentence is under appeal.

Since then, 11 white farmers and nearly 200 blacks, mostly opposition
supporters, have been killed.

A so-called ruling party ``warlord'' accused of a string of assaults and
killings in the Mberengwa district of southern Zimbabwe was released from
custody last year on grounds there was a lack of evidence against him,
according to human rights groups.

Prosecutors, citing inadequate witness statements, also dropped murder
charges against militants accused in the March 2000 shooting death of David
Stevens, the first white farmer killed during the land seizures.

Independent human rights groups have repeatedly accused the government and
police of ignoring reports of violence and rights violations and enforcing
what they call ``selective justice'' against critics and opponents of
President Robert Mugabe's regime.

Efforts to reach police spokesman Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Attorney Eric Matinenga said prosecutors failed to show the farmer planned
to kill the settler and even if he had driven carelessly no ``moral guilt''
had been proven in the case and a fine would have been justified.

In one recent case, a truck driver convicted of careless driving in the
deaths of three people was fined $3.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Bank of England

News Release - Financial Sanctions: Zimbabwe

17 September 2002

With the publication of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1643/2002 in the
Official Journal of the European Communities on 14 September 2002, the
financial sanctions regime against various individual members of the
Government of Zimbabwe has again been extended.

The Bank of England, on behalf of HM Treasury, therefore announces that all
funds, other financial assets and economic resources belonging to the
persons listed below must be frozen. No funds, other financial assets and
economic resources are to be made available directly or indirectly to or for
the benefit of them. Financial institutions must check whether they maintain
any account for the individuals named below and, if so, they should freeze
the accounts and report the accounts and amounts frozen to the Bank of
England.

The following individuals have been added to the list of those subject to
the sanctions regime:

1. CHARUMBIRA, Fortune, Deputy Minister for Local Government, Public Works
and National Housing, born 10.6.1962

2. MACHAYA, Jaison, Deputy Minister for Mines and Mining Development, born
13.6.1952

3. MANYONDA, Kenneth, Deputy Minister for Industry and International Trade,
born 10.8.1934

4. MARUMAHOKO, Reuben, Deputy Minister for Energy and Power Development,
born 4.4.1948

5. MIDZI, Amos Bernard Muvenga, Minister for Energy and Power Development,
born 4.7.1952

6. MUTIWEKUZIVA, Kenneth, Deputy Minister, Small and Medium Enterprises
Development, born 27.5.1948

7. RUSERE, Tinos, Deputy Minister for Rural Resources and Water Development,
born 10.5.1945

In addition to this, further identifying information has been included in
relation to the following individuals who were already subject to the
sanctions regime and whose funds, other financial assets and economic
resources are already frozen:

1. BUKA, Flora (born 25.2.1968) Minister of State for Land Reform Programme
(former Minister of State in Vice President Muzenda's Office)

2. MALINGA, Joshua (Deputy-Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged),
Politburo Deputy Secretary, born 28.4.1944

3. MANGWANA, Paul (born 10.8.1961) Minister of State for Enterprises and
Parastatals (former Deputy Minister, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs)

4. MANGWENDE, Witness, Minister for Transport and Communications (former
Deputy-Secretary for Administration), born 15.10.1946

5. MASUKU, Angeline, (Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged Person's
Welfare), Politburo Secretary, born 14.10.1936

6. MOHADI, Kembo, (born 15.11.1949), Minister for Home Affairs (former
Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing)

7. MUCHENA, Olivia (born 18.8.1946), Minister of State for Information and
Publicity (former Minister of State in Vice-President Miska's Office)

8. MUGABE, Sabina, (born 14.10.1934), Politburo Senior Committee Member

9. MURERWA, Herbert, (born 31.7.1941), Minister for Finance and Economic
Development (former Minister for Industry and International Trade)

10. MUZENDA, Tsitsi, Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 28.10.1922

11. NKOMO, John, (born 22.8.1934), Special Affairs in the President's Office
(former Home Affairs Minister)

12. NYONI, Sithembiso, (born 20.9.1949), Minister of Small and Medium
Enterprises Development (former Minister of State, Informal Sector)

13. PARIRENYATWA, David, (born 2.8.1950), Minister, Health and Child Welfare
(former Deputy Minister)

14. SIKHOSANA, Absolom (Secretary for Youth Affairs), Politburo Secretary

15. TAWENGWA, Solomon (Deputy-Secretary for Finance) Politburo Deputy
Secretary, born 15.6.1940

Using the additional identifying information financial institutions should
again check whether they maintain any account for the individuals and, if
so, they should freeze the accounts and report accounts and amounts frozen
to the Bank of England.

Note to Editors

The European Council imposed sanctions against various individual members of
the Government of Zimbabwe and various persons associated with them on 21
February 2002 (Council Regulation (EC) 310/2002). The list of persons,
bodies and entities complied pursuant to that Regulation was first extended
on 25 July 2002 by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1345/2002.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
BBC
 
Tuesday, 17 September, 2002, 15:00 GMT 16:00 UK
Zimbabwe land laws to be tightened
White-owned farm
The government wants to redistribute white farms
Parliament is expected on Tuesday to start debating measures to toughen Zimbabwe's land laws.

Amendments published in the government gazette on Friday will make it easier for the government to seize land by cutting the time for farmers to vacate farms and increasing fines for defying eviction orders.

Black farmers
Poor black families want land to farm

The ruling Zanu-PF party has a majority in parliament and the Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, has said normal parliamentary procedures will be suspended to enable debate, according to the French news agency AFP.

On the same day, the high court sentenced a white farmer to 15 years in prison after he was found guilty of the murder of a black man settled on his farm under the land distribution programme.

Fivefold increase in fines

The new measures to be debated include a major reduction in the amount of time given to farmers to leave their land if they are issued with new eviction orders.

This will cut the period from 90 to seven days and will apply only to those who have had earlier eviction orders overturned by the courts.

There will also be increases in fines for farmers who defy government eviction orders and stay on their farms.

White farmer
Farmers have faced eviction and arrest

The fines will go up from 20,000 Zimbabwean dollars ($363) to 100,000 ($1,815).

The High Court judge said Farmer Phillip Bezuidenhout, 52, was spared the death penalty "by a whisker" because he found extenuating circumstances.

The former should "consider himself a very lucky man indeed", said the judge. The judge in the case decided that the defendant had deliberately killed a black man who had gone to his farm to inspect land given to him under the redistribution programme.

The convicted man had pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of culpable homicide, saying that the man had been killed in a traffic accident.

Back to the Top
Back to Index
The Hartford Courant

Zimbabwe's Mugabe Is No Hero
September 17, 2002


New York City Councilman Charles Barron had promised "to bring mother Africa
to the hall in which she belongs," but he could have done far better than
holding a reception last week for visiting Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe at the ornate City Hall in lower Manhattan. Leaders from a dozen
African countries, from Botswana to South Africa, would have been far more
deserving of the honor.

He is an autocrat and human rights abuser. By terrorizing white farmers who
have lived in Zimbabwe for generations, he has brought starvation to his
country. After Mr. Mugabe helped to liberate Zimbabwe from white minority
rule, he pledged to turn the newly independent country into a showcase of
racial harmony and democracy. That pledge was honored for several years, but
was ignored as Mr. Mugabe turned more dictatorial.

One of his professed goals is to redistribute land so that poor black
farmers can have a fair share. That is just, but it must be done equitably.

That's not Mr. Mugabe's way. Instead, the man who has run his country since
1980 has let his thuggish supporters burn farms and force the farmers off
their lands and homes at gunpoint. Mugabe thugs also have targeted black
dissidents in cities and rural areas. Opposition leaders have been jailed or
have disappeared. Newspapers that dare take issue with the government's
policy have been bombed or banned. Judges have been intimidated.

No wonder that Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Council Speaker Gifford Miller and
many other council members and city officials steered clear of the event.

Just as Africa needed to rid itself of colonialism, it needs to get rid of
the last of the lawless strongmen, of which Mr. Mugabe is one.

His embrace by Mr. Barron and a few others, to shouts of "Mugabe is right,"
was embarrassing for the city and an insult to the thousands of black and
white victims of Mugabe's oppressive rule.

Back to the Top
Back to Index
Sydney Morning Herald

Land-grab bug bites Zimbabwe neighbour
September 17 2002





South Africa plans to redistribute about 30 per cent of land owned by white
commercial farmers by 2015 and will expropriate farms where necessary, a
Johannesburg newspaper has reported.

The Business Report has quoted the director-general of land affairs,
Gilingwe Mayende, as saying the Government would not apply the
willing-seller, willing-buyer concept in its drive to address the problem of
landlessness among the black majority.

"We do have a target of redistributing 30 per cent of all agricultural land
in the country by the year 2015," Mr Mayende said.

The Government is under pressure to speed up the land redistribution
program, since militants in neighbouring Zimbabwe, including veterans of the
country's liberation war, started driving white farmers off their land in
2000.

South Africa has repeatedly said it will not tolerate illegal land grabs,
but fears of Zimbabwe-style land seizures have helped put the rand under
pressure in foreign exchange markets.


Unlike Zimbabwe, where the Government has ordered about 2900 white farmers
to quit their land without compensation, South Africa is buying white-owned
land for its redistribution scheme.

Mr Mayende said white farmers were being co-operative, but could do more to
speed up the process.

"As you can imagine, the events from across our borders probably have played
a role here," he said. "There is still a sense that many have this instinct
of wanting to resist ... If the process of negotiations fail irrevocably,
then we have the option of invoking the right of the state to expropriate
land in the public interest."

The Government has so far avoided taking the expropriation route, with only
one known case since 1994.

More than 3.5 million blacks were driven from their homes, many at gunpoint,
during the 46 years of apartheid rule that ended with Nelson Mandela's
election as president in 1994.

Mr Mayende said that while the legacy of apartheid had to be reversed
swiftly, there was no case for Zimbabwe-style land grabs.

"We do not share the view that the Zimbabwe phenomenon poses the kind of
threat that might see something similar taking place in this country.

"From the reports we have received, the process of forcible land acquisition
in Zimbabwe has been led by the state. The Government of our country is not
going to lead a land-grabbing exercise."
Back to the Top
Back to Index
UNfoundation


ZIMBABWE: IMF May Suspend Country's Membership
Zimbabwe's membership in the International Monetary Fund may be revoked
because the country has fallen more than 18 months behind on $155 million in
repayments due to the fund.

The IMF has already begun the process of suspending Zimbabwe.  The fund's
board "recognized the deteriorated economic situation in Zimbabwe, including
a looming food crisis," according to a statement, but "urged the authorities
to adopt and implement necessary policy measures to restore economic and
financial stability."

Only four nations have been thrown out of the IMF:  Iraq, Liberia, Sudan and
Somalia (Washington Post, Sept. 17).
Back to the Top
Back to Index
MSNBC

Zimbabwe tables bill to tighten land seizures



HARARE, Sept. 17 - The Zimbabwean government tabled a bill in parliament on
Tuesday which would allow the eviction within days of white farmers accused
of using ''legal loopholes'' to hang on to land targeted for redistribution
to blacks.
       Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa tabled the bill and immediately
referred it to the parliamentary legal committee with a notice that
parliament would suspend its normal debating procedures on Wednesday to
consider the proposed changes.
       The bill's proposed amendments to the land acquisition laws,
published by the government on Friday, would allow the government to
re-issue any eviction notices previously rendered invalid by the High Court.
       The bill says farmers who are reissued with an eviction order --
called Section 8 -- after the expiry of the initial 90-day notice would have
only seven days to vacate the land.
       ''This bill will amend the...act...in the light of certain
difficulties that have become apparent in implementing its provisions
connected with the acquisition of agricultural land required for
agricultural purposes,'' said a government notice issued as part the bill
when was published on Friday.
       The Land Acquisition Amendment Bill, amending the 1992 Land
Acquisition Act, would also raise the fine for resisting an eviction order
to Z$100,000 ($1,818) from Z$20,000.
       President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party has a comfortable
majority in Zimbabwe's 150-member parliament to pass the bill, controlling
92 seats to the opposition's 56 seats. Two seats are vacant due to recent
deaths.

COURT RULINGS
       Mugabe ordered 2,900 commercial farmers to quit their land without
compensation by August 8 under a controversial programme to seize
white-owned farms and hand them over to the largely landless black majority.
       But some 2,500 farmers have defied the initial orders, and police
have charged more than 300 of them, says the farmers' group Justice for
Agriculture.
       Last month the High Court ruled in a judgment in favour of a white
farmer that his mortgaged farm could not be taken for resettlement because
the state had not properly informed the mortgage lender.
       Since that ruling, the High Court has also cancelled about 60 other
eviction orders for different reasons.
       Industry officials had said the mortgage ruling could pave the way
for similar court appeals by other farmers, but the government notice said
the amendments would overcome this legal loophole.
       Zimbabwe has been in crisis since pro-government militants, led by
veterans of the 1970s liberation war, began invading white-owned farms in
early 2000.
       Mugabe, in power since the former Rhodesia gained independence from
Britain in 1980, says his land drive is aimed at correcting colonial
injustice, which left 70 percent of the country's best land in the hands of
white farmers.
       The white farmers say they support land reforms but are opposed to
the government's methods.
       The 78-year-old Mugabe has warned white farmers to cooperate with his
land reforms, leave the country or face jail.
       Mugabe's critics say his land seizures have exacerbated a food crisis
affecting nearly half the country's 12.65 million people. The government
blames the food shortages solely on the drought.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
News24

Bar concerned about Zim judge

Johannesburg - The General Council of the Bar of South Africa on Tuesday
expressed concern over the arrest and detention on Friday of a retired
Zimbabwe judge.

Fergus Blackie (65), who clashed with a government minister two months ago,
was released on bail on Monday after spending three days in jail.

Harare magistrate Lillian Kudya granted Blackie ZD10 000 (R1 800) bail and
ordered him to reappear on November 18 on allegations of attempting to
defeat the course of justice.

The charge stems from a ruling by Blackie in which he overturned a
conviction imposed on a white woman found guilty of theft.

It was the first time in the country's history that a judge had been
arrested. He was arrested last Friday and was prevented from seeing his
lawyers for 32 hours.

Bar spokesperson Elize van den Heever said it had since been necessary for
Blackie's family to institute habeas corpus proceedings to secure his safety
and production before a court.

"This development mirrors the sudden arrest and detention of the chairman
and secretary of the Zimbabwe Law Society in July," she said.

In both incidents there were police raids, seizure of leading members of the
Zimbabwe legal community, and thereafter reference to possible criminal
charges.

Van den Heever said it also followed steps taken over the past year against
the judiciary resulting in seven resignations, and in relation to which the
Chief Justice of South Africa last year expressed serious concern.

At a world Bar gathering in Edinburgh in July, advocates and barristers from
Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and South
Africa reiterated their solidarity with Zimbabwe's legal profession in its
endeavours to provide access to the courts and to serve the rule of law, she
said.

"This latest development is being taken up urgently by the GCB with the UN
Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Lawyers and the Judiciary, Dato'
Param Cumaraswamy, the Human Rights Committee of the International Bar
Association, and Bar organisations around the world," Van den Heever said.

Back to the Top
Back to Index