Radio Africa
News Stories for 09 July 2010
By Alex Bell
09 July 2010
Jailed human rights activist and diamonds researcher
Farai Maguwu will remain behind bars this weekend, after a ruling on his bail
appeal was postponed until next Monday.
Maguwu, who has been imprisoned for five weeks without
trial, was denied bail last Friday. His lawyers on Monday filed an application
to appeal the High Court’s decision. The hearing was meant to be heard on
Wednesday but was delayed until Friday, with the Attorney General’s office
arguing it wasn’t ready.
On Friday, High Court Judge Mawadze Gurainesu deferred
his ruling until next week, saying he needed more time to go through the
submissions of the state and Maguwu’s defence team. The state prosecutor argued
that Maguwu must remain in custody until the investigations are completed,
saying he would ‘abscond’ if released and “interfere with investigations.” The
prosecutor also said the state needed at least another month to conduct its
investigations.
Defence lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa in turn argued that the
state is continuously denying Maguwu freedom on the same basis that the
investigations are not complete, despite no evidence of any investigations
taking place. Mtetwa said that the lack of evidence before the court was a
clear testimony that the state was “dragging its feet” in dealing with the
matter. She urged the court not to tolerate the state’s actions, and grant
Maguwu his freedom.
The rights activist is being charged with
communicating so-called ‘falsehoods’ deemed prejudicial to the state and if
found guilty faces up to 20 years behind bars. Maguwu heads the Mutare based
Centre for Research and Development (CRD) which has exposed the ongoing abuse
and corruption at the Chiadzwa diamond fields. Rights groups have been calling
for Zimbabwe’s suspension from international diamond trade over the abuses. But
the international trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process, last year decided to
allow Zimbabwe more time to fall in line with minimum trade standards.
A set of guidelines were established to reach this
goal, including the appointment of an approved monitor, to report back to
Kimberley Process members on Zimbabwe’s efforts. That monitor Abbey Chikane,
has since recommended that diamonds from Chiadzwa be given the legal
certification from the Kimberley Process to allow their sale. This despite
evidence given by Maguwu and other human rights groups that abuses are in fact
continuing.
Chikane himself has been fingered as the instigator of
Maguwu’s arrest, which happened shortly after a confidential meeting between
the two men. Maguwu has said Chikane ‘shopped’ him to the police and it is
widely believed that Maguwu’s ongoing detention is a deliberate attempt to
silence him.
By Alex Bell
09 July 2010
Pressure is continuing to mount for the immediate
release of diamond researcher Farai Maguwu, who remains in custody in Harare
more than a month since his arrest.
Maguwu is being held in hospital at Harare Remand
Prison, where he is being treated following surgery to his throat. He has been
denied bail and the ruling on a second application for his release has been
delayed until next week. He was arrested shortly after a meeting with the
Kimberley Process Monitor Abbey Chikane, where he detailed the ongoing human
rights abuses at the Chiadzwa diamond fields.
Calls for his release have been growing since his
arrest in early June and the European Union’s Parliament this week added its
voice to the calls. Groups like Amnesty International, the Southern African
Litigation Centre and the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition have all urged the
government to unconditionally and immediately release Maguwu. Another group,
Global Witness, has also called for Chikane to be suspended as the monitor to
Zimbabwe, saying his credibility is compromised.
“Maguwu’s arrest is directly related to the
information he handed in confidence to Abbey Chikane,” said Global Witness
campaigner Annie Dunnebacke said. “The whole monitoring system should be
suspended just as Zimbabwe should be suspended from international trade.”
Dunnebacke told SW Radio Africa on Friday that
Kimberley Process members also need to join the calls for Maguwu’s release,
emphasising the importance of the CRD in continuing their research at Chiadzwa.
“We need that voice to shout about rights abuses in
the diamonds fields,” Dunnebacke said. “It is crucial for the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme to uphold human rights if it is to maintain its
credibility.”
The MDC on Friday meanwhile finally called for
Maguwu’s release, saying in a statement that it “condemns the continued
persecution of human rights activist Farai Maguwu who continues to be harassed
and incarcerated at the notorious Harare Remand Prison.”
“The dramatic arrest, detention and continued
persecution of Maguwu, the director for the Centre for Research and
Development, is a major blemish on the rule of law and the reputation of the
inclusive government,” the MDC statement read.
The party added that “it is clear that Maguwu’s crime
is that he exposed illegal diamond transactions and human rights abuses by some
senior ZANU PF officials at the Chiadzwa diamond fields.”
By Lance Guma
09 July 2010
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) report
that 5 independent monitors of the constitutional outreach programme were
arrested Thursday evening in Chirumanzi and detained at Charandura Police
Station.
Karikoga Ernest Mudzingwa, Farai Agnes Tete, Rev. Clever
Valemi, Isaac Makoni, and Torevei Munhangu were part of a monitoring team
deployed in the Midlands Province to monitor ongoing public hearings meant to
shape the content of a new constitution.
Several civil society groups including the ZLHR, the
Zimbabwe Election Support Network and the Zimbabwe Peace Project Independent
Constitutional Monitoring Project came together under the banner of ‘ZZZICOMP’
to monitor what has turned out to be a chaotic outreach exercise marred by ZANU
PF intimidation.
According to the ZLHR their monitors “were detained
for an hour, whilst the police searched them, took their cellular phones, noted
down contacts, and read messages received and sent. They also searched their
wallets and took their national identity cards. This was despite the fact that
they had not preferred any charges against them.”
The lawyers’ group says a memory stick belonging to
Karikoga Ernest Mudzingwa, the ZZZICOMP Provincial Coordinator for Midlands,
was confiscated by the police and has not been returned. “After an hour the
five monitors were released on condition that they report to Gweru Rural police
station at 08:00hrs on Friday 9 July 2010,” the ZLHR said.
On Friday, they went to the police station in the
company of their lawyers. It was there that they were attended to by police
officers from the Police Internal Security Intelligence section. “The unnamed
police proceeded to profile the five and took their physical addresses. After
negotiations the police agreed to release the five into the custody of their
lawyer without any charges being levelled against them.”
Police said they were unclear about whether the
monitors needed to be accredited with the Constitutional Parliamentary
Committee or not, and said they would follow up on the issue later. Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition Regional Coordinator Dewa Mavhinga however dismissed the
police claims saying COPAC had already acknowledged the legitimate role of the
independent monitors.
By Tichaona Sibanda
9 July 2010
The MDC-T on Thursday launched an audacious rescue
mission to free an activist who was abducted by ZANU PF elements in Concession,
Mashonaland Central province.
16 year-old Makomborero Mbiri was abducted from
Msengezi farm when he was delivering party material to a ward chairman in the
heartland of ZANU PF territory. He spent almost 12 hours in captivity.
“I failed to locate the ward chairman, so I decided to
walk back home. Suddenly I was confronted by three men who wanted to know what
an MDC person was doing in their area,” Mbiri said.
“I explained that I was on a mission to distribute
outreach program material for the MDC party. This did not go down well with
them and the mood suddenly changed when they started attacking me with fists. I
tried to fight back but I didn’t stand a chance,” Mbiri added.
The scared 16 year-old was marched to a house
belonging to a retired soldier. There, he was stripped naked and interrogated
by the ex-soldier and several war veterans and youth militia who had gathered
when word went around that an MDC ‘spy’ had been captured.
“They wanted to know the MDC strategy on the outreach
program, how much Tsvangirai was paying me for the services to the party. I
simply told them I was just delivering material for the outreach program.
“I guess this infuriated them as they became abusive
and menacing and started pushing and shoving me around. The retired soldier
even threatened to kill me and throw my body in a nearby dam,” narrated Mbiri.
At one point, when he was giving up hope of being
found alive, Mbiri had the audacity to chant MDC slogans: “Chinja maitiro enyu
imimi vanhu veZANU PF, pamberi neMDC (change your ways ZANU PF people, forward
with the MDC)” to which his captors responded with a burst of laughter.
“I think they thought I was going mad, that I was
losing my mind under interrogation,” he said.
But he had enough presence of mind to find a way to
communicate with his mother and let her know of his predicament. He managed to
persuade “a good Samaritan” to lend him a phone.
This one phone call to his worried mother put into
action a rescue mission that involved several MDC-T MPs and officials, with
some of the MPs travelling during the night from Harare. On its way to search
for Mbiri, the team requested assistance from Mvuri police. All they got were
three unarmed officers.
The team, aided by the police walked through the
night, farm to farm, compound by compound, until they reached the house where
Mbiri was being held, almost 5 km from where he was abducted.
“I was asleep and I think it was around 1 am when I
heard voices shouting outside the house. When the militia guarding me opened
the door I immediately saw some policemen. Among the search party I quickly
recognised the provincial youth chairman for Mashonaland province, Tonderai
Samhu,” a relieved Mbiri said.
By Tichaona Sibanda
9 July 2010
Zimbabweans living in South Africa have been advised
not to expose themselves unnecessarily, in the face of renewed threats of
violence against foreigners.
Scores of foreigners, among them many Zimbabweans,
have started packing for their home countries amid threats from locals that
they would be attacked after the Soccer World Cup ends on Sunday.
In 2008, 62 people were killed and 150 000 displaced
in a wave of xenophobic attacks that started in Gauteng. The Global Zimbabwe
Forum that represents institutions and organisations in South Africa has
been issuing advice to Zimbabweans on how to handle themselves in the coming
months.
Luke Zunga, spokesman for the Forum said people should
not just move “blindly”, especially in areas notorious for xenophobic attacks.
“The problem with us (Zimbabweans) is that when we are
in buses or trains we speak at the top of our voices in Shona. As a precaution
people should desist from exposing themselves. They should practice self
containment,” Zunga said.
The South African government has moved fast to
reiterate that any attacks on foreigners will not be tolerated.
The authorities issued a stern warning on Thursday
that law enforcement agencies will not hesitate to act speedily and decisively
against anyone found to incite or participate in violent acts against foreign
nationals.
“I doubt if there is going to be full scale xenophobic
attacks like the ones we witnessed two years ago. The South African government
is seriously working on the matter. We have every hope they will contain the
situation just like they’ve done to contain criminal activities during the
World Cup,” Zunga added.
He said another outbreak of unrest could seriously
harm investor confidence and could have repercussions for the South African
economy.
About three million Zimbabweans are settled in South
Africa and this huge influx has led to competition for jobs, housing and
resources. 16 years after apartheid ended, millions of poor blacks are yet to
receive housing, water and electricity. This has led to violent countrywide
protests in shack settlements and poor townships, where residents are furious
at the government's inability to deliver basic services.
Friday’s Hot Seat programme this week is
replaced by an extended interview with former British diplomat to Zimbabwe,
Philip Barclay. Barclay has written a book about his time at the embassy
called, Zimbabwe. He talks about his experiences in the country, Murambatsvina,
the failure of the international community to protect the Zimbabwean people,
the elections of 2008 and the likelihood of the old guard accepting a loss in
elections planned for 2011.
In Callback on Friday George Makoni from the
Youth Alliance for Democracy tells Tererai how the youth are being used to
intimidate and influence others in the Constitutional outreach meetings, and
how the young have become apathetic towards political processes. He also talks
about some of the ZANU-PF views being forced upon the youth at Constitutional
outreach meetings.
In Letter from Zimbabwe, author Cathy Buckle
writes: "Zimbabweans have become very adept at 'making a plan' to cope
with nonexistent municipal services and then living in the safety-bubble
created around their own homes - thereby absolving the municipalities from
doing the jobs we pay them to do".
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Harare, July 9, 2010: United States colleges and universities have provided US$4.5 million
worth of scholarships to 20 disadvantaged but academically gifted Zimbabwean
students who were selected for the United States Achievers Program (USAP) in
2009.
The students were honored at a send off ceremony on
Friday witnessed by parents, students, teachers, and representatives from
business and non- governmental organizations.
U.S. Ambassador Charles Ray congratulated the students
and called on Zimbabweans to prioritize rebuilding the education sector.
“Zimbabwe used to boast the highest literacy rate in
Africa and indeed the strongest education system on the continent due to the
cultural value Zimbabweans placed on education. Sadly, that system has
suffered from the political and economic setbacks of this past decade. Rebuilding
education needs to be one of the top priorities of this nation,” said the U.S.
Ambassador.
Said Ray: “After nine months as President Barack
Obama’s representative in Zimbabwe, amid daily reports of challenges and uphill
battles, it is with hope that I view young, bright, dedicated people like
yourselves and your potential to change both my country and this country for
the better,” said the U.S. Ambassador.
USAP, an initiative of the EducationUSA Advising
Center in Zimbabwe, enrolls students every year. The 20 students were selected
from over 500 applications from Zimbabwe’s10 provinces. A group of 33 upper
sixth students were recently selected for the 2010 class after the Embassy
reviewed 1000 applications from throughout Zimbabwe. USAP assists students to
negotiate the costly college application process, covering all expenses and
providing tutorials. The U.S. colleges and universities provide the
scholarships.
Rebecca Zeigler-Mano, EducationUSA coordinator, said
the experience of USAP students studying in the United States in the past has
been extremely positive. “Academically, they have all performed extremely well,
and many have worked with professors as teaching assistants or in academic
research, especially in Math and Science fields,” said Zeigler-Mano.
“Socially, they have been engaged in, and have
spearheaded, a wide variety of initiatives – clubs, sports, music and dance
troupes, community service and leadership activities on campus. USAP
students have also returned home to Zimbabwe to make significant contributions
to positive change and development in their home communities.”
USAP has been replicated in 14 other countries around
the world. This year, U.S. colleges and universities have provided 50 students
from 11 countries with US$15.2 million worth of scholarships. The other 30
students are drawn from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Malawi, Mongolia, Nigeria,
Serbia, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
The students- Chido Matara (Berea College); Collence
Nyazenga (Haverford College); Desmond Rgwaringesu (Reed College); Dresdiana
Mavindidze (Amherst College); Elvis Rambanapasi (Quinnipiac College); Esther
Saidi (Philander Smith College); Farai Masaira (Jacobs University); Hazel
Zengeni ( MIT); Norman Chamusah (College of Wooster); Rudo Mudzi (Mount Holyoke
College); Rujeko Chinomona (Georgia College and State University); Rumbidzai
Vushe ( Smith College); Senzeni Mpofu (Yale University); Tatenda Mushonga
(University of Pennsylvania); Tawanda Chipwanya (Middlebury College); Tendai T.
T. Mudyiwa (Kalamazoo College); Thelma Chiremba (Grinnell College); Tinashe
Mubvuma (Swarthmore College); Tracy Lukwani (Mount Holyoke College) and Trust
Mandevhana (Williams College)- begin their studies in August this year. The
scholarships cover tuition and fees, room and board, books and other expenses
for four year bachelor degree studies.
There are currently over 200 Zimbabwean USAP graduates
on full scholarships in the U.S.
# # #
Issued by the U.S.
Embassy Public Affairs Section. Queries and comments should be addressed to Tim
Gerhardson, Public Affairs Officer, Tel. +263 4758800-1, Fax: +2634758802,
E-mail: hararepas@state.gov, Url: http://harare.usembassy.gov
http://londonersdiary.standard.co.uk/2010/07/zimbabwean-deputy-pm-upsets-exiles.html
London Evening Standard
Londoner's Diary
08 July 2010 12:22 PM
Ms Khupe
spoke at the Royal Commonwealth Society in
Leaders of
the vigil find it offensive that, with
“With
158,000 Zimbabweans seeking asylum from the coalition government in 2009,
Khupe’s dinner is just one more sign of how unreal the Movement for Democratic
Change elite are becoming,” writes Dennis Benton in the Zimbabwe Vigil Diary.
“Not many of
the Zimbabwean asylum seekers in the