 |
International civil societies and the UN had distributed radios in rural areas, but the Zimbabwe Government and war veterans are now confiscating them. Mugabe declared a ban on all television satellite dishes last week.
Full Beeld report
Zim police seeks 'evidence' against Biti
IOL
June
17 2008 at 09:50AM
Harare - Zimbabwean police have searched the
home and computer of the
opposition's number two leader, who is facing a
treason charge ahead of a
June 27 presidential run-off, his lawyer
said.
Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the Movement for Democratic
Change
opposition, was due in court on Monday, but police were likely to
delay the
appearance, said Lewis Uriri.
"Police searched his
home and they spent the last three hours going
through his laptop," said
Uriri, who was present during the searches.
"It is highly unlikely
they will bring him to court on Tuesday."
Officers took nothing
away from the house in Harare and left the
computer there, he
said.
Uriri said police may ask the court to allow them to hold
Biti
longer. He had not yet been officially charged.
Police are
legally allowed to hold suspects for 48 hours, and Biti is
already beyond
that limit after having been arrested on Thursday.
His lawyer was
also planning to ask the High Court to declare further
detention of Biti
unlawful, he said.
Police arrested Biti minutes after he arrived
back in Zimbabwe from a
long stay in South Africa.
At first
they refused to reveal his whereabouts but a court ordered
authorities to
produce him on Saturday. The lawyer said afterwards that Biti
had been
interrogated continuously for 24 hours after his arrest.
Authorities have said they plan to charge Biti for allegedly authoring
a
document said to have contained details of a plot to rig the
election.
He is also accused of "communicating and publishing false
information
prejudicial to the state" for proclaiming victory for his party
in the first
round of March 29 polls ahead of official results.
The treason charge carries a potential death penalty.
The
opposition has accused authorities of harassment and "thuggish
tactics" to
prevent them from campaigning ahead of the run-off, when MDC
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai will be seeking to end President Robert Mugabe's
28-year
rule.
Police have detained Tsvangirai five times over the past
couple weeks
and have seized two MDC campaign buses, though one has since
been returned.
Violence has also mounted in the approach to the
election, and the MDC
says more than 60 of its supporters have been killed
in a campaign of
intimidation.
Mugabe blames the opposition for
the upsurge in violence, but the UN
has said the president's supporters are
responsible for the bulk of it.
Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the
March first round, but with an
official vote total just short of an outright
majority. - Sapa-AFP
This article was originally published on
page 5 of The Star on June
17, 2008
Cases of Systematic Violent Assault and Torture Overwhelm Health Professionals
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights
17 June 2008
ZADHR is deeply concerned
about the continuing violent trauma being
inflicted on the Zimbabwean
population. The escalation in numbers and
severity of cases of systematic
violent assault and torture during May was
of a scale which threatened to,
and for brief periods did, overwhelm the
capacity of health workers to
respond. Both first line casualty officers and
specialists, especially
surgeons and anaesthetists, to whom patients were
referred had great
difficulty in adequately managing the burden of serious
physical
trauma.
ZADHR commends the efforts of health professionals in Zimbabwe
who continue
to provide the highest possible quality of health care to
victims of
violence under extremely difficult circumstances.
In
addition to individuals with significant physical injuries, members of
ZADHR
saw over 300 displaced patients with medical conditions such as
pneumonia or
asthma, or psychiatric diagnoses, in particular anxiety and
depression, and
many with chronic conditions such as diabetes whose
medication had been lost
or destroyed when the patients were violently
forced, by arson or the
immediate probability of injury or death, from their
homes.
It is
certain that a far greater number of patients will have been attended
to by
other members of the health professions, especially nurses, but will
never
have been near a doctor. Psychiatric and social problems may result in
an
even greater burden on health care workers than the frequently
complicated
but relatively clearcut diagnoses such as fractures.
One thousand and
seven patients were seen during the month of May. 119
patients sustained
fractures, more than 50 of which were recorded as
confirmed on x ray. The
remainder were clinical diagnoses, either with
clinically evident physical
distortion or with the broken ends of bone
protruding through an external
wound (?compound fracture?). 36 patients had
fractures of the ulna (the inner
or medial bone of the forearm), 27 of the
radius (the outer or lateral bone
of the forearm). Of these 13 had fractures
of both radius and ulna, 4 had
fractures of the ulna bones of both arms, and
one patient had both radius
bones broken. Seventeen further cases of
fractured ?wrist?, ?forearm? or
?elbow? were recorded.
Most of these fractures will have been sustained
in attempts to defend the
face and upper body from violent blows with a
weapon such as a heavy stick
or iron bar. As evidence for the sustained
severity of the violence of many
of the assaults there were several cases of
multiple fractures to different
areas of the body, for example one patient
with fractures of the left ulna,
right radius and a metatarsal (small bone of
the foot), and another with a
patella (knee cap) and bilateral ulna
fractures. Three patients had skull
fractures and 9 had broken ribs. Two of
these cases had multiple rib
fractures associated with haemothorax (bleeding
into the space between the
lungs and the chest wall, probably caused by
penetration of the broken end
of a rib, which can be rapidly
fatal).
Forty five cases of fractures of the small bones of the hands
(31) or feet
(12), both hands (1), or both hands and feet (1) were recorded.
Many
patients sustained fractures to several bones, again witness to
the
sustained brutality of the assaults, and consistent with reports of
hands
and feet being pounded by a pestle (mutswi) in a mortar
(duri).
At least two pregnant women, one 24 and the other 32 weeks
gestation, were
systematically beaten on the back and buttocks, resulting in
extensive
lacerations, bruising and haematoma formation. They were among the
312 cases
classified as having severe soft tissue injury. This category
includes
widespread severe bruising, haematoma (collection of blood)
formation,
necrosis (tissue death), sepsis (infection, usually where there is
extensive
skin loss or abscess formation in a haematoma), or deep and
extensive
lacerations (cuts or wounds).
One patient, beaten
extensively on the shoulders, back, buttocks and thighs,
was also struck in
the face and suffered a leak of vitreous humour (the
transparent gel-like
substance behind the lens of the eye) resulting in
blindness.
There
have been reports of over 53 violent deaths up to the end of May
2008.
However although post-mortem examinations are legally mandatory in
such
cases, few are being undertaken and therefore cases are only
rarely
confirmed by doctors. However 7 of these deaths occurred in
hospital
following admission for injuries sustained during violent assault or
torture
and a further three did have post-mortem examinations. One confirmed
a
broken neck as the cause of death. A second died as a result of
intracranial
haemorrhage (bleeding inside the head) with extensive facial
injury
indicative of having been beaten on the head. The second died as a
result of
probable acute renal failure secondary to extensive myolysis
(destruction of
muscle) and soft tissue necrosis with evidence of falanga and
widespread
whipping type injuries. In the third case, the body was found
several days
after abduction, and although it was partially decomposed, the
detailed
post-mortem which was carried out did not reveal evidence of beating
or
torture. The estimated time of death (nearer to the time of abduction
rather
than when the body was found) and the witnessed method of abduction in
which
the head was forcibly extended, the face covered and, with the victim
prone,
several attackers putting their weight on his back, are consistent
with
death due to asphyxia.
There has been a gross surge in both the
quantity and severity of injury.
Fracture cases alone increased three-fold in
number from April to May. These
documented cases speak for themselves in
terms of the urgency of the need to
stop the violence which is sweeping large
areas of the country. ZADHR
reiterates its call on all parties to cease the
use of assault and torture
intimidation, victimisation or retribution. In
addition to cessation of
violence there are other urgent needs for affected
individuals including
shelter, food and water for internally displaced
persons and mental and
physical rehabilitation for victims of violent
trauma.
_____
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human
Rights
6th Floor, Beverly Court, 100 Nelson Mandela Ave
PO Box CY 2415,
Causeway
Harare
Tel: 708118, 251468
Fax: 705641
Cell: 0912260380
Attacks On Families And Abductions On the Rise
SW Radio Africa
(London)
17 June 2008
Posted to the web 17 June 2008
Alex
Bell
As the date of the election run-off draws ever closer, it
appears as if Zanu
PF's reign of terror is continuing to escalate, with a
growing number of
reports of violence, abductions and attacks on families of
activists and MDC
officials.
The whereabouts of the wife of MDC Mayor
in Harare, Emmanuel Chiroto remain
unknown after she and the couple's four
year old son were seized by a group
of armed men at Chiroto's house in
Hatcliffe on Monday night. The child was
found dumped outside a police
station on Tuesday morning, but there has been
no word from Chiroto's wife or
her abductors.
In a separate incident, a local organiser for the
Combined Harare Resident's
Association was abducted by a mob of Zanu PF
militia on Tuesday afternoon
and is being held at the militia base in
Sunningdale. The attack came less
than twenty four hours after the woman's
adult son and daughter were
abducted from their Sunningdale home on Monday
evening. The pair managed to
escape during the night.
The attacks are
the most recent in a string of incidents targeting the
families of activists
and MDC officials. Almost two weeks ago, the
78-year-old grandmother of MDC
spokesman Nelson Chamisa, along with his
mother and young brother were
severely assaulted when armed soldiers raided
their rural homestead in Gutu.
The family of MDC MP elect for Mbare in
Harare Piniel Denga, was also
attacked by a group of Zanu-PF supporters at
Daybroke resettlement scheme in
Chivhu. Several nephews and nieces were
force-marched from the family
homestead to a torture camp at a place called
Chipisa.
A few days
before, Zanu PF thugs in Harare South set on fire a house
belonging to the
councilor for ward 1. The councilor, his pregnant wife and
their 6-year-old
son were all at home at the time of the attack. The 6-year
old died in the
blaze and the pregnant wife died on her way to hospital,
while the councilor
survived. Over the weekend police in Hatfield were said
to be refusing to
assist the family in compiling a report, which was also
needed to secure a
burial order. Harare South Zanu PF MP Hubert Nyanhongo
was blamed for the
attack.
Meanwhile, the abductions have continued throughout the country,
with the
news emerging that at least three teachers in the Manicaland area
have been
abducted since Friday. Tabani Moyo from the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition
said the teachers, including a local primary school headmaster,
were bundled
into Zanu PF branded vehicles and hauled away in separate
attacks.
Sources on the ground in Harare have told Newsreel with obvious
fear that
the situation is becoming out of hand and dangerous. Moyo said
the
atrocities being committed are becoming as brutal as those committed in
2000
and 2001.
Moyo said: "It is clear that Mugabe's party is not
interested in the
election and that it only wants a certain outcome. Mugabe
is sending out a
clear statement."
'They looted my body like I was dead'
Women are being targeted with rape and
beatings to intimidate opponents of
Robert Mugabe ahead of the run-off vote
on June 27, say campaigners
Sophie Shaw in
Harare
guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday June 17 2008
Robert Mugabe is
accused of extending his efforts to retain power forcibly
by targeting women.
Among thousands of reported cases of violence, his
militias have allegedly
raped, beaten and made homeless three MDC supporters
in a Harare suburb,
while members of the non-violent Women of Zimbabwe
Arise! (Woza) movement are
in their third week of detention.
Of the three raped women now receiving
treatment in a Harare clinic, one is
too broken by her experience to talk.
She lies silently in her bed, her eyes
darting nervously around the room, the
covers pulled up to her neck.
But her two fellow-victims, Liza Mwaramba
and Yvonne Chipowera, are eager to
tell their story. For Shona women,
traditionally submissive, they are
remarkably direct and open. They also
demonstrate an astonishing physical
and emotional resilience by laughing and
joking about what they have been
through.
"They came to my house on
June 8," says Liza. "They said I was an MDC
supporter. I was wearing my party
T-shirt and I was about to go to a rally.
They burned down my house and took
all my things. I ran away and hid. But
the next day they came back to rape
me. I knew some of them as local Zanu-PF
members. But some others were from
another area.
"They kicked my breasts, which are still badly swollen.
They took me to a
graveyard and raped me again. When I was trying to stop
them, they took a
hot wire and burned my hand. They looted my body like I was
dead. They took
my ID card and all my money."
No card, no
vote
Yvonne's experience was similar, but her assault was sustained during a
long
night at a detention centre run by Zanu-PF.
"They came to my
place at 8pm on June 9. I was with my baby. They told me to
surrender all my
MDC regalia and cards. They wanted my ID card."
Stealing identity cards
has become standard practice for Zanu-PF militias.
Without ID, opposition
supporters will be prevented from voting on June 27.
"They took me to
their base," says Yvonne. "One guy raped me on the way.
They poured cold
water on me all night, so I was freezing. They beat me over
and over again
with rods. They beat my genitals, legs, back, buttocks and
head. They called
me names. They said I was a dog because I
supported
Tsvangirai."
Yvonne's body is covered with deep bruises,
which remain painful a week
after the attack. But she discovered more
hardship after being released:
"When I got home I found they had taken
everything from my house and they
had destroyed it right down to the
ground."
Epworth, where the three women live, is a poor suburb of Harare.
Houses are
roughly built of breezeblock and muddy cement. Most lack drainage
or
electricity. The area is named after the Lancashire birthplace of
John
Wesley, and Methodist missionaries still operate here. It is a
natural
heartland for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC).
HIV fears
Until June, Zanu-PF was content to ignore
urban areas - which form only 20%
of parliamentary constituencies - believing
it could win simply by
dominating the rural vote.
But it is now clear
that Robert Mugabe cannot count on his traditional
supporters, who have grown
weary of relentless economic decline and hunger.
So Zanu-PF is bussing
militias into urban areas to terrorise MDC voters and
deter them from turning
out to vote in the presidential run-off.
In Zimbabwe, where at least
one-quarter of young men are infected with HIV,
the consequences of rape are
potentially lethal. The women, who were all
confident of their negative
status, are waiting for the results of HIV
tests.
"I am stressed
especially about the rape," says Yvonne angrily. "I have
contracted an STD
from the rape. I wish God would take them all. Mugabe is a
pig. I wish he
would die."
Liza is more fearful than angry: "I am stressed because I
have two children.
They poisoned my husband and he is in the ground since
2006. Maybe I am HIV
positive now because of these guys. Who will look after
my children if I get
Aids? To be raped is like death."
On the other
side of Harare, members of Woza have now been held for three
weeks in the
notorious Chikurubi jail.
"We marched on May 28," says Annie Sibanda, a
spokeswoman for Woza. "The
plan was to march from the UN office to the
Zambian embassy. We handed in a
petition at the UN office calling for action
to end the violence and for a
peaceful, free and fair
election.
"Fourteen of us we were arrested in central Harare. Our members
are just
ordinary Zimbabwean women - housewives, mothers. The riot police
beat our
driver a few times and beat one of our members. Two passersby
intervened and
asked the police to stop beating the woman, but the police
just arrested
them too."
'Kenya-style violence'
The 14
women were charged with holding an illegal demonstration with the
intent to
promote violence.
Sibanda considers this a laughable charge because Woza
is rigorously
pacifist and proud that it has operated for five years without
recourse to
violence. But the prosecution repeated the claim that Woza was a
violent
group as a pretext for denying bail to the women.
"They
accused Woza of organising Kenyan-style violence," says Sibanda.
"It's
disgusting that we've been locked up and not the people who are
beating,
burning, murdering and raping."
Twelve of the women have now
been released. But two - Jeni Williams and
Magodonga Mahlangu - are still in
Chikurubi prison and now face much more
serious charges: publishing false
statements prejudicial to the state and
causing disaffection among the police
and defence forces.
The latter charge, which carries a maximum 20-year
sentence, relates to no
more than a statement in a Woza newsletter that "the
uniformed forces must
realise that there is no peace while violence
continues".
Sibanda understands that it must appear crazy to demonstrate
in Zimbabwe
while death squads loyal to Robert Mugabe are active.
But
she is unrepentant. "Woza was formed in 2003 to show the world
that
Zimbabweans do not just roll over. We wanted to demonstrate our courage
and
to show that Zimbabweans are still dignified and outraged by
what's
happening.
"We heard that they wanted to arrest the leadership
and hold them, because
they knew that Woza was capable of organising mass
protests. We take it as
quite an honour that they are threatened by our
ability to mobilise people.
"But they have not appreciated that Woza is a
60,000-strong national
movement that will not be deterred because two people
are in prison."
Sophie Shaw is a pseudonym.
Kenyan PM Describes Country As Africa's 'Eyesore'
SW Radio Africa
(London)
17 June 2008
Posted to the web 17 June 2008
Tererai
Karimakwenda
As the youth militia, police and soldiers in Zimbabwe
continued their
violent campaign of abductions, torture and assaults just one
week before
the crucial election, the Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga on
Tuesday
spoke out against fellow African leaders for remaining silent on the
abuses.
Speaking on a trip to Washington, Odinga is quoted as saying:
"Zimbabwe is
an eyesore on the African continent ... an example of how not to
do it. I'm
sad that so many heads of state in Africa have remained quiet when
disaster
is looming in Zimbabwe,"
Odinga added that the South
African government needed to speak out strongly
against Mugabe and impunity
in Zimbabwe.
Last week 40 prominent African leaders, including former
heads of state,
Nobel Laureates, famous musicians and former top UN officials
issued a
public letter calling on the Zimbabwe government to end the violence
and
conduct peaceful elections. Notably the list of signatories did not
include
any current African leaders.
Odinga made the comments in a
discussion run by the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies in
Washington. Just last week he blasted the Zimbabwe
authorities during a visit
to Cape Town, and he said that he had been
"declared enemy number one in
Zimbabwe" since then.
But this did not stop Odinga from pointing out the
truth. He reportedly
said: "African leaders should be able to stand up and
say what is happening
in Zimbabwe is unacceptable".
Mutambara to appeal to regional bloc
Yahoo News
Tue Jun 17, 12:02 PM ET
HARARE (AFP) - A leader of a faction of
Zimbabwe's main opposition facing
charges for a written attack on President
Robert Mugabe plans to petition
the SADC regional body over the case, his
lawyer said Tuesday.
Arthur Mutambara, who heads a rebel faction of
the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), appeared before an Harare court
Tuesday, 10 days ahead of the
country's presidential run-off
election.
His lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa was set to apply to remove his bail
conditions
but the prosecutor in the case failed to turn up.
"We gave
notice today to challenge the case and appeal to SADC (Southern
African
Development Community) on the basis that it breaches one of the
SADC
guidelines on elections which provides for the right to freedom
of
expression," Mtetwa told AFP.
They would also file a complaint with
the SADC, a 14-nation regional bloc,
for "discrimination by the state media",
said Mtetwa.
Mtetwa argued that state media "gives some political leaders
airtime to
launch the most scurrilous attacks on other people to the extent
of inciting
hatred while denying other politicians the platform to express
themselves."
Mutambara was arrested and detained for two days last month
over an article
he wrote in April for the country's only independent Sunday
paper, The
Standard.
The article accused Mugabe, who faces MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai in the
June 27 run-off poll, of running down the country's
economy and his security
forces of abuses.
Mutambara was granted bail
with stringent conditions including presenting
himself once every week to the
police and surrendering title deeds to his
Harare home.
The
prosecution said the article was prejudicial to the state and
undermined
public confidence in the security forces.
The editor of the
newspaper was also arrested but later released on bail in
connection with the
same article.
Run-off election results won't be withheld -- ZANU-PF
http://www.hararetribune.com
By Tawanda Takavarasha |
Harare Tribune News | Tuesday, June 17, 2008
14:03
news@hararetribune.com
Zimbabwe, Harare --Despite the massive violence in Zimbabwe
against
supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC),
Zimbabwe's Minister of Rural Housing, Emmerson Mnangagwa, on a brief
visit
to Maputo on Tuesday, claimed that the conditions in the country
are
conducive to hold a second round in the presidential election on 27
June.
Mnangagwa was in Maputo in his capacity as Secretary for
Legal Affairs
of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF, and he spoke to reporters after
an audience
with President Armando Guebuza.
Recent reports
indicate Mnangagwa is poised to be nominated by Robert
Mugabe as his
successor in the event that ZANU-PF wins the June 27 election.
Mugabe intends
to win another six year term, but due to his advanced age, he
will opt for
early retirement and give the reins of power to Mnangagwa.
In
Maputo, Mnangwagwa boasted that the second round would take place
on the date
announced and ZANU-PF had no intention of delaying it. He
predicted that the
ZANU-PF candidate Robert Mugabe would win with "an
overwhelming
majority".
In reality, Mugabe is trailing. MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai won the
first round with 47.9 per cent of the vote to just 43.2
per cent for Mugabe,
according to highly contested official results. The MDC
has insisted that in
fact it won outright on the first round, and the figures
were adjusted
downwards.
In an apparent admission that ZANU-PF
had forced ZEC to delay the
release of the March 29 election, Mnangagwa
promised that the results from
the second round would be announced speedily -
unlike the first round, where
theZimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) delayed
for five weeks before
announcing the results.
As for the
violence, Mnangagwa shrugged it off as "deceitful MDC
propaganda" with the
intention of confusing the electorate. He alleged that
the MDC carries out
acts of violence under cover of night and then blames
them on
ZANU-PF.
This story flies in the face of every credible account of
the
violence, which lays the blame squarely at the door of ZANU supporters
(such
as members of the ZANU youth militia, and self-styled "war veterans"
-
though many are too young to have taken part in Zimbabwe's liberation
war).
Mnangagwa denied that the repeated detentions of Tsvangirai
(five
times last week) were any kind of harassment or intimidation. He
claimed
that the MDC was using cars without proper number plates, and the
police
therefore had to stop them.
Tsvangirai "likes being
arrested", claimed Mnangagwa, allegedly
because this is way of grabbing the
world's attention.
Mnangagwa is one of Mugabe's key
lieutenants, running the campaign for
the second round. He was accompanied to
Maputo by Defence Minister Sidney
Sekeramayi, and the head of the
intelligence service, Happyton Bonyongwe.
By sheer coincidence,
Mozambican civil society organisations were also
discussing Zimbabwe on
Tuesday. The Zimbabwean and Kenyan election
experiences came under analysis
at a seminar organised by the Electoral
Observatory, a coalition of several
of the country's religious groups and
NGOs, which organised the largest
contingent of observers at the 2004
general elections.
Speaking
on Zimbabwe was Fernando Goncalves, editor of the independent
weekly
"Savana", who lived for many years in Zimbabwe. He declared that all
the
information reaching Maputo suggested "that there are no conditions for
free,
fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe".
Among the clear
indications of this were the harassment of Tsvangirai
and the arrest of MDC
General Secretary Tendai Biti on treason charges.
Goncalves had no
doubt that the force largely responsible for the
crisis was ZANU-PF.
"Violence does not allow free and fair elections", he
stressed. "The violence
is on a large scale, and it is now spreading from
the rural to the urban
areas".
He thought prospects for the second round were bleak. "You
would have
to be very naïve to believe that things will change so radically
in the few
days left so as to produce free and fair elections, that will be
accepted by
the Zimbabwean people and by the international
community".
Goncalves accused the Zimbabwean government of
flagrantly violating
its obligations as a member of the African Union (AU)
and of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC), but that other
members of these
organisations were by and large keeping quiet. "What is the
attitude of SADC
and the AU when one of their members deliberately violates
the principles
they are supposed to defend?", he asked.
A fair Zimbabwe poll is not enough
Financial Times
By Kofi
Annan
Published: June 17 2008 19:36 | Last updated: June 17 2008
19:36
Zimbabwe is in freefall. This is a crisis that affects us all, and
not just
its people, whose fate is on our conscience. For those of us who
believe
governments have a responsibility to protect their citizens, it is a
moment
that imposes a special challenge and one we must not
ignore.
Zimbabwe's economic meltdown is having tragic consequences both
inside the
country and in the southern Africa sub-region. The recent
suspension by the
government of the work of aid agencies will only make the
already desperate
plight of millions within Zimbabwe even worse. This is a
picture of need
that we Africans had hoped to put behind us.
But it is
not just an internal crisis. It spreads far beyond Zimbabwe's
borders.
Thousands of people have fled Zimbabwe to escape attacks or
imprisonment.
Many more have been forced to seek work in neighbouring
countries to try to
feed their families. The collapse of the Zimbabwean
economy is having a
serious impact on the whole region.
What is also worrying is that the
crisis plays into the hands of those
outside Africa who claim that the
continent's problems are beyond solution
and that additional development aid
and assistance will simply be wasted or
stolen. The report of the African
Progress Panel, published on Tuesday,
showed how false a claim this is. It
detailed how, away from the headlines,
democratic government and respect for
the rule of law and human rights are
spreading across Africa.
It is
grossly unfair to make any single country a litmus test for a
whole
continent. But there is no doubt that what we are seeing in Zimbabwe
is
tarnishing the reputation of Africa as a whole in the eyes of both
friends
and critics.
Zimbabwe is, of course, a nation with a proud
history. Its struggle for
independence was a story that inspired pride across
the continent. Its new
leaders, and Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, in
particular, gave all of
us confidence in African achievement. And, in turn,
Mr Mugabe unstintingly
gave sanctuary and support to the aspirations of
others, not least the brave
freedom fighters of South Africa.
Our
pride in this history is now tested. But instead of simple condemnation,
we
owe its people something in return for their historic example. The debt
we
owe is to make our best efforts to help Zimbabweans find their own
stability,
their own solution.
Zimbabwe faces a second ballot in its election of a
president. Neither
candidate gained the required majority on the first round.
The constitution
requires a run-off, and this is now scheduled for June 27.
It comes as no
surprise, in the cauldron of this contest where there is so
much at stake,
to hear claims and counter-claims of voter intimidation, of
targeted
killings of party officials and of the political use of food aid. It
is a
bleak bulletin and has raised questions of whether there is any hope for
a
fair vote and outcome.
But Zimbabweans have a proud tradition of
democracy. They are not easily
cowed. Already, there are credible reports
that violence and intimidation
against certain sections of society, intended
to prevent them from
exercising their democratic rights, are having the
opposite effect.
Zimbabweans are determined to have their voices heard and
their votes
counted.
But if this is true, we must do everything in our
power to help make polling
day free and fair. We must insist on the
deployment of the greatest number
of election monitors, on their freedom of
movement, on zero tolerance for
violence and intimidation.
The
repeated arrest of Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the Movement
for
Democratic Change, and other senior MDC colleagues is preventing
the
opposition from campaigning and is a serious barrier to free and
fair
elections. The government must prevent such infringements of liberty.
The
role of government is to protect everyone.
If the government,
which many claim to be the author of violence, cannot
ensure a fair vote,
Africa must hold it accountable. The victor of an unfair
vote must be under
no illusions: he will neither have the legitimacy to
govern, nor receive the
support of the international community.
Zimbabwe's pain, however, cannot
be relieved simply by a fair vote,
essential as that is. The country's future
will depend upon the collective
will of all its citizens, and not just those
who claim an election success.
It is for this reason that the interests of
Zimbabweans also now require
efforts to move beyond division to
reconciliation.
Even as the nation prepares for election, its leaders
must, without delay,
negotiate a compact that will survive the election,
whoever is the winner.
This compact must provide for agreement on a smooth
transition and effective
governance arrangements supported by all
Zimbabweans. It should respect the
eventual vote, but just as importantly
anticipate the need for leaders from
both sides to come together to build
Zimbabwe's future.
This process - of cross-party negotiations on the
elements of
reconciliation - requires our support just as much as our
insistence on the
creation of the conditions for a fair election. The
responsibility to
protect Zimbabwe's people thus demands action on two
fronts. Both are urgent
and neither is easy nor assured: an election free of
intimidation; and a
compact of reconciliation from its leaders which
guarantees Zimbabwe's
future.
The writer is a member of The Elders www.theelders.org and chair of the
Africa
Progress Panel www.africaprogresspanel.org. From
1997 to 2006, he
served as secretary-general of the United Nations
Open letter calls for free, fair Zimbabwe election
SABC
June 17,
2008, 09:45
The Nelson Mandela Foundation has signed an open letter for
Zimbabwe's
presidential run-off election next Friday to be free and
fair.
Foundation Chief Executive Officer Achmat Dangor says they are
profoundly
concerned about the situation in Zimbabwe. The open letter calls
for an end
to the intimidation, harassment and violence in that
country.
It says there should be sufficient independent electoral
observers to
monitor the election and to verify its results. African
leaders,
organisations and individuals who've already endorsed the letter,
include
Kofi Anan, Benjamin Mkapa, Festus Mogae, Graca Machel, Desmond Tutu
and
Zwelinzima Vavi.
Only brute force will move Mugabe
The Zimbabwean
Tuesday,
17 June 2008 09:26
I thought Adam Hibib did an excellent piece on the
op-ed page last
week, reminding us all that President Thabo Mbeki's patient
encouragement of
Robert Mugabe over the years has at least gotten us to the
point where we
know, for sure, that the MDC won the March parliamentary
elections and,
second that Mbeki is the only African leader able to get
through Mad Bob's
door, writes Peter Bruce, editor of Business Day,
Johannesburg.
The point is whether it matters. The whole world and
probably most
Zimbabweans believe that Mbeki has taken sides with Mugabe.
It's no surprise
that ever time one of us locals suggest we do something
about Zimbabwe, one
of the buffoons masquerading as an "adviser" to Mbeki
will ask someting
like: "What? Do you want us to invade them?"
Well,
No Mr Bufoon, that would be wrong. Mainly because our defence
force has been
so run down the Zimbabweans would probably beat us. But the
man you're
advising needs to remember what country he is president of. Its
South Africa.
That means his job is to look after SA's reputation and
interests
first.
How holding Mugabe's hand helps South Africa is beond me. What
Mbeki
should have said ages ago, and could profitably say today is, "we in
South
Africa are apalled at the behaviour of the Government of Zimbabwe and
we
would like to offer any help we can to restore peace to our
neighbour".
Then, with South Africa's reputation restored, we could
play a
meaningful role in a broad international diplomatic (and even
military)
effort to get a democratically elected government in place in
Harare.
Anything else is just so much rubbish. Nothing will move Mugabe and
his
cronies, except brute force.
Not now and not ever.
Mugabe's Dictatorship Reaches Alarming Levels Ahead of Poll
Zimbabwe Gazette
By Lee Shungu, on June 16 2008
20:50
Zimbabwe's eighty-four year old president
Robert Mugabe, who has
been in power since 1980 is clearly indicating he is
a power hungry tyrant.
He says no-one and nothing will remove him from
power, whilst incidents of
politically motivated violence perpetrated by his
ruling ZANU PF party
reaches alarming levels ahead of this month's
presidential poll.
Mugabe continues to vow he will not step
down to let main
opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai rule the country even
if defeated
through the ballot, and is prepared for war, if the later
wins.
Information at hand reveals the youth militia and
uniformed
forces continue murder, assault and intimidate opposition party
supporters
across the country ahead of the June 27 presidential election
run-off
election.
A source says over the weekend in rural
Goto, Wedza, ZANU PF
supporters caused mayhem at the shopping centre in the
area, as they
launched a clampdown on MDC supporters in the
area.
"I stay in Harare and had visited St.Annes Goto, which
is my
home area. At first, I heard rumors from relatives and friends that
ZANU PF
militants were beating up people in my village."
"I happened to have witnessed it all that very same day I
arrived there this
past weekend. It is pathetic and scary too. People were
beaten up like stray
animals," he said.
As the election date nears, Mugabe has
intensified his violent
campaign which has entered urban areas, especially
in the capital, Harare.
During the weekend, Mugabe said his
party is prepared to fight
to defend the country if "we lose it the same way
it was lost" by our
ancestors.
"Those who seek to
undermine the land reform programme, itself
the bedrock of Zimbabwean
politics from time immemorial, seeks and gets
war," he
emphasised.
The source said at the shopping centre, there is
a shop owned by
a well-known MDC party member. When the militia reached
there, they asked
for the shop owner and were told he was not
around.
"The militia started singing 'propaganda songs'
whilst they
destroyed everything inside."
"They also
beat up the wife of the shop caretaker seriously
injuring
her."
"They fired a couple of gun shots in the air whilst still
inside
the shop, resulting in each and every civilian at the business centre
scurrying for cover and eventually disappearing in all directions," he
said.
According to the MDC, more than 66 of its supporters
have been
killed in ZANU PF sponsored violence.
Recently,
forty prominent Africans asked Mugabe for assurances
the 27 June
Presidential election run-off will be free and fair
The
United Nations envoy, Haile Menkerios was also expected in
the country
yesterday as many nations and leaders continue to pressure
Mugabe to stop
human rights abuses.
The gang later on ransacked the whole
place where they piled up
everything they could find, including
property.
"They simply set alight the clothes and property in
the shop,
and the whole building caught up fire and was completely
destroyed," said
the source.
With a number of ZANU PF
bases now set in and around the capital
city, there has been numerous
incidents of the notorious youth militia
intimidating
residents.
Many residents are currently being forced to
attend ZANU PF
rallies, usually at night, or face the
'consequences.'
According to an eyewitness, in the area
of Whitecliff, the
police had to be called in to intervene after war
veterans and the militia
caused havoc and terror.
"The police
had to order the ZANU PF gang to stop the terror,
which they unleashed more
than a fortnight ago."
"For instance, the gang moves door by
door calling for anyone
who is more than 12 years of age to attend evening
rallies."
"They order residents out of their houses, of which
if one
refuses, they will come back to deal with them," she
said.
The eyewitness said she has never been terrified in her
life.
"At one house, they came around midnight and assaulted
two boys
(around 16 years of age) who had not shown up for a
rally."
"They cut each of the boys' fingers and warned them
they should
comply with their orders because they are 'above the law'," she
added.
The police is not acting in any way to stop the
murders and
violence caused by the ruling party. In turn, Mugabe accuses the
MDC of
unleashing violence.
Other places where political
violence and intimidation has been
strongly reported entail Mbare, Glen
View, Kuwadzana, Harare's uptown
suburbs, Chitungwiza and Ruwa.
How Mugabe clings to power
Ottawa Citizen
Harry Sterling, Citizen
Special
Published: Tuesday, June 17, 2008
A country's military is supposed
to defend a nation's sovereignty and the
security of its citizens. But in
Zimbabwe the army is carrying out a reign
of terror against the civilian
population.
The reason is simple. President Robert Mugabe has given the
army the task of
eliminating any chance that Zimbabwe's opposition party,
the Movement for
Democratic Change, MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, could win
the country's
June 27 presidential run-off vote.
The tactics being
utilized are scarcely concealed. The army, along with the
pro-Mugabe police,
is physically intimidating and attacking MDC members and
their
supporters.
London-based Human Rights Watch says it has already
documented more then
three dozen deaths and in excess of 2,000 injuries
inflicted upon MDC
supporters at the hands of the army, police, and members
of Mr. Mugabe's
ZANU-PF party. The MDC says the total is actually much
higher with almost
double slain, countless beaten up and hundreds
missing.
Anyone who doubts the willingness of the army to brutalize and kill
its own
people to maintain President Mugabe in power has to remember that
almost all
the military's top leaders were once members of ZANU's guerrilla
forces
during the 1970s insurgency against the white minority government of
then
Rhodesia.
Their loyalty to Mr. Mugabe was vividly demonstrated
when Mr. Mugabe sent
the infamous Fifth Brigade into Matabele-land during
1983-87 to quell an
alleged plot by his political rival, Joshua Nkomo,
leader of the ZAPU
guerrilla movement. Close to 5,000 were butchered by the
pro-Mugabe army.
While Mr. Nkomo was respected by many countries --
including Canada -- as a
relatively moderate and open-minded leader, Mr.
Mugabe was regarded as much
more rigid, mistrustful of others and prepared
to use violence with little
or no compunction. His guerrilla leaders were
similarly inclined. (On one
occasion ZANU militants stationed in a sanctuary
in Lusaka, Zambia, even
turned on each other, slaughtering their
rivals.)
The army's leaders stand to lose personally if Mr. Mugabe
doesn't win on
June 27. To ensure army personnel had no doubts concerning
where the
military's ultimate allegiance lies, the head of the army
pointedly told
army personnel to quit unless they voted for Mr. Mugabe on
June 27.
Human Rights Watch and others have called upon African leaders
to intervene
to stop the current reign of terror, including the 15-member
Southern
African Development Community, which had appointed South African
President
Thabo Mbeki to mediate between Mr. Mugabe and the opposition. But
Mr. Mbeki
has been unable (or unwilling) to persuade Mr. Mugabe to end his
harassment
and attacks against the MDC.
Like many African leaders,
President Mbeki is reluctant to face up to the
reality of what has been
going on in next-door Zimbabwe where the economy is
close to total collapse.
Such leaders still remember Mr. Mugabe's long
struggle against white rule,
and their own bitter memories of the
white-dominated colonial period in
Africa have made them hesitant to deal
forcefully with a leader they once
highly respected
Nevertheless, such reluctance clearly comes at a price
for Zimbabwe's
neighbours, particularly those, like South Africa, who've
been inundated
with millions of Zimbabwean refugees fleeing their country's
violence and
economic turmoil. This has unleashed widespread violence in
South African
cities with South African blacks attacking the "foreigners"
now blamed for
taking away jobs from local people or accused of other
alleged sins.
What is now at stake is thus not merely President Mugabe's
blatant violation
of human rights in Zimbabwe and his attempts to thwart the
democratic
process there, but also the very stability of an entire region of
southern
Africa.
African leaders confront a very unpalatable reality.
Even if President
Mugabe is able to retain power June 27 through the use of
violence and
terror tactics the continuing deterioration of the situation in
Zimbabwe is
likely to release yet another flood of refugees into
neighbouring countries
already burdened by their own serious socio-economic
problems.
Is the risk of such a regional catastrophe and the
unpredictable chaos it
could unleash in neighbouring countries worth the
cost of remaining silent
over President Mugabe's depredations in Zimbabwe?
It's time African leaders
face up to the ugly reality they now confront by
their inaction over
Zimbabwe.
Harry Sterling, a former diplomat, is an
Ottawa-based commentator. While
serving in Africa he had close contacts with
Zimbabwe's guerrilla movements.
Election observers as waste of time
The Zimbabwean
Tuesday, 17 June 2008 09:07
ELECTION observers representing the
Southern African Development
Community have started fanning out across
Zimbabwe in anticipation of the
presidential run off election scheduled for
two weeks' time, says The
Weekender, Johannesburg in an
editorial.
The odds are that they are wasting their time.
Political, social and
economic conditions in the country have deteriorated
to such an extent in
recent weeks, it is doubtful many of them will be able
to take up their
posts - if polling stations can be set up at
all.
Vast parts of the country have been taken over by gangs
consisting of
youth militias and so-called war veterans, aided by the police
and the
military. These gangs have been campaigning aggressively for Robert
Mugabe
and intimidating anybody perceived to favour opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Zanu (PF) has ejected nongovernmental organisations
that were
providing food aid to starving villagers in rural areas, and
independent
media have been denied access. Senior commanders of the police
and army have
stated in no uncertain terms that they will not accept any
outcome other
than a victory for Mugabe - who polled fewer votes than
Tsvangirai in the
first round.
All of this leaves little room
for any conclusion other than that the
June 27 election will be an even
bigger farce than the first round of
elections, which was marred by
widespread allegations of intimidation and
vote-rigging in favour of the
incumbent, as has become the pattern in
Zimbabwean elections in recent
years. Yet the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) has little
option but to stick to the campaign
trail, no matter how badly the odds are
stacked against it, and in spite of
real threats to the physical wellbeing
of its leaders.
The alternative would be to hand the election to
Mugabe on a platter
and ensure several more years of authoritarian rule in
spite of the fact
that the MDC now has a majority in Parliament. But wait.
Another option has
been put on the table, one that is sure to be tempting to
opposition leaders
and supporters alike because it promises respite from
unbearable state
repression and hope that the civil war that has been
threatened if
Tsvangirai wins can be avoided. That option is power
sharing.
The MDC is coming under intense pressure to agree to the
abandonment
of the democratic process in favour of a negotiated
solution.
This would result in the formation of a coalition
government along the
lines of that which has been running Kenya since a
disputed election there
led to political and ethnic violence. Such an
outcome implies Mugabe would
stay on as president with reduced executive
powers and Tsvangirai be
appointed to a newly created prime ministerial
position.
President Thabo Mbeki is reported to be particularly
keen on the
coalition concept and it is not difficult to understand why - he
has nailed
his colours to the mast by refusing to take a hard line against
Mugabe.
Bringing the parties back from the brink would allow him to use the
words
"quiet diplomacy" and "vindication" in the same sentence once again
without
evoking howls of derision.
However, the MDC is
apparently balking at the prospect of rewarding
Mugabe's tyrannical
behaviour by entrenching him in power, and
understandably so. The Zimbabwean
state is so firmly in Zanu (PF)'s ruthless
grip, it is hard to see how
Tsvangirai and the MDC could exercise any sort
of real power under such an
arrangement.
Unless Mugabe can be persuaded to step down and allow
the few doves
that have survived among Zanu (PF)'s leadership to work with
the MDC as
equal partners in a government of national unity - intended to
prepare the
way for proper elections - the power-sharing concept is doomed
to fail as it
would amount to delaying the inevitable. As bad as things are
in Zimbabwe
now, keeping the lid on a simmering pot risks a build-up of
pressure that
could lead to an explosion.
President Tsvangirai embarks on second leg of his victory tour
The Zimbabwean
Tuesday, 17 June 2008 14:41
President Morgan
Tsvangirai's victory tour ahead of the 27 June
presidential run-off has been
a huge success despite harassment, arrests,
intimidation and impounding of
campaign vehicles by the police, Zanu PF
thugs and state security
agents.
The first leg of the tour has seen President Tsvangirai
visiting
Matebeleland North and South and Bulawayo provinces where huge
crowds have
come out to meet the president.
Thousands of people have
come out to meet the president who has during
his campaign come up with a
strategy of meeting people in the streets, homes
and buses.
However,
despite the campaign's success, there have been cancellation
of several
rallies that had been lined up in areas such Chinotimba in
Victoria Falls,
Hwange, Binga and Lupane by the police.
In further attempts to stifle
the campaign by closing the MDC's
political space, the police in Lupane also
impounded a vehicle that the
president was using in his campaign tours in the
province.
But continuing with his campaign last week, President
Tsvangirai
launched a new campaign strategy at the party's headquarters;
Harvest House
in Harare at he unveiled two new buses that would be used by
his campaign
team during their tour to across the country.
The
Harare central business district was brought to a stand still as
people
filled the streets to get a sight of the buses and
President
Tsvangirai.
However, within 48 hours of the launch, the
police in Gweru, Midlands
province, had impounded the two buses.
President Tsvangirai riding in one of the buses had on Thursday
received
rousing welcome from thousands of people in towns such as Norton,
Chegutu,
Kadoma, Redcliff and Kwekwe.
One of the buses has since been returned
but Zanu PF has mobilised
about 200 youths to torch the bus. Since the launch
of his campaign, the
president has been arrested five times. He was arrested
in Lupane,
Umzingwane, Kwekwe, Gweru and Shurugwi as the Zanu PF regime steps
up its
efforts to frustrate the people of Zimbabwe from meeting
President
Tsvangirai.
But the ordinary people of Zimbabwe have
formulated a way of meeting
their president ahead of the 27 June
elections.
The people of Zimbabwe have shown that they have a great
desire to see
President Tsvangirai and discuss with him the challenges that
they are
facing.
The second leg of the President Morgan Tsvangirai's
victory tour will
see him going to Mashonaland West, Central and East
provinces. He will also
visit Manicaland and Masvingo provinces before
winding up his tour next week
Tsvangirai Takes Campaign to 'Hotbed' of Political Violence
SW
Radio Africa (London)
17 June 2008
Posted to the web 17 June
2008
Tichaona Sibanda
MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai will
this week visit the three politically
charged provinces of Mashonaland West,
Central and East in the second leg of
his election campaign for the June 27th
presidential run-off.
The provinces, all former strongholds of the
Zanu-PF party until the March
29th elections, have borne the brunt of
retributive violence against MDC
activists, who overwhelmingly voted for
Tsvangirai in the first round poll.
He will also visit Manicaland and
Masvingo provinces before winding up his
tour next week
An
elections officer with the party, Donald Chirunga disclosed during
a
strategic meeting over the weekend that 80 percent of MDC activists
in
Mashonaland East had been displaced, while 50 percent had fled
Mashonaland
Central Province. Another 30 percent had been forced to flee
from
Mashonaland West Province.
Out of the 70 MDC activists killed so
far countrywide in the state sponsored
violence, almost 50 have been from the
three provinces. The first leg of the
tour has seen Tsvangirai visiting
Matebeleland North and South and Bulawayo
provinces where huge crowds have
come out to meet him.
Tsvangirai's spokesman George Sibotshiwe confirmed
the MDC leader's
itinerary for the three provinces but would not specify
exactly when they
would be in each province, fearing for their
safety.
The MDC said despite the harassment, arrests, intimidation and
impounding of
campaign vehicles by the police, Zanu PF thugs and state
security agents
Tsvangirai's campaign, ahead of next week's presidential
run-off has been a
huge success. Since the launch of his campaign, the
president has been
arrested five times. He was arrested in Lupane,
Umzingwane, Kwekwe, Gweru
and Shurugwi as the Zanu PF regime stepped up its
efforts to frustrate the
electorate from meeting Tsvangirai.
In a
statement on Tuesday, the MDC said: 'Thousands of people have come out
to
meet the president who has during his campaign come up with a strategy
of
meeting people in the streets, homes and buses. However, despite
the
campaign's success, there have been cancellations by the police of
several
rallies that had been lined up in areas such Chinotimba in Victoria
Falls,
Hwange, Binga and Lupane.'
IFJ says Zimbabwe's media under pressure
Afrique en ligne
Dakar,
Senegal - Zimbabwe's media are operating under tremendous pressure
from
state and security agents, as well as non-state actors like youth
militia,
ZANU PF supporters and war veterans, the International Federation
of
Journalists (IFJ) said in a report received by PANA Monday.
From 8 to 13
June, IFJ Africa office, based here, along with Southern Africa
Edi tors'
Forum, Southern Africa Journalists Association (SAJA), the Media
Institute
of Southern Africa (MISA), Regional Office and the Accra-based
Network of
African Freedom of Expression Organisations sent a "fact-finding
mission" to
Zimbabwe.
"Almost all those interviewed, especially freelance
journalists, tell of
harrowi ng and saddening stories of arrests, beatings
and intimidation," the
mission stated in the report.
"Zimbabwean
journalists face a difficult operating environment in which they
are not
only expected to be licensed by a government-appointed Media and
Information
Commission (MIC), but have to brave political violence and the
challenges of
afailing economy."
"Those journalists working for the state media live in
fear of being fired
or su spended for not showing sufficient enthusiasm for
the reporting and
coverage of the party in power."
The mission
further pointed out that "the state media is under severe
control by the
party in power as an exclusive campaign tool."
Dakar -
16/06/2008
Pana
Zimbabwe Government's Theft of Children's Aid Is "Unconscionable"
Media-Newswire
Washington -- Humanitarian aid intended for hungry
Zimbabwean children was
looted by military and police forces June 6 and
distributed to government
party members as part of what U.S. officials have
described as the
government's control of food as a weapon to discourage
support for President
Robert Mugabe's political
opposition.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington -- Humanitarian
aid intended for hungry
Zimbabwean children was looted by military and police
forces June 6 and
distributed to government party members as part of what
U.S. officials have
described as the government's control of food as a weapon
to discourage
support for President Robert Mugabe's political
opposition.
U.S. Agency for International Development ( USAID )
Administrator Henrietta
Ford described the action as "unconscionable" in a
June 12 statement. "It
is unacceptable for the Government of Zimbabwe to
steal food from hungry
children," she said.
USAID said Zimbabwe's
governor of Manicaland directed the military and
police to hijack the truck
carrying 20 metric tons of U.S. food assistance
destined for schoolchildren
and give it to supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF
party who had gathered for a
political rally in Mutare District.
"Given the existing food insecurity
and widespread violence that has
recently spread throughout the country, this
event is another affront to the
people of Zimbabwe and the humanitarian
organizations working to assist
vulnerable Zimbabweans," Fore said. "It also
represents an orchestrated
theft of U.S. government property. Those
responsible should be brought to
justice."
MUGABE REGIME TAKING "AWFUL
STRIDES TO MAINTAIN ITS POWER"
Opposition leader Tendai Biti was
charged with treason ahead of the runoff
vote, a crime that carries the death
penalty.At the State Department, deputy
spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said June
12 that the Mugabe government "is
taking tremendous and frankly just awful
strides to maintain its power." By
denying food to children, the regime has
"lowered the bar to a level that we
rarely see" in terms of the abuse of its
own citizens.
U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee had told reporters
June 6 that as
the June 27 presidential runoff election approaches,
government officials
have been using food aid as a weapon against the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change ( MDC ) party by providing
assistance to MDC members only
if they surrender their identification cards,
thereby forfeiting their right
to vote in the June 27 presidential runoff
election.
"The only way you can access food is give up your right to
vote. It's a very
well-orchestrated campaign," McGee said.
Gallegos
called on the government to "immediately reinstate permission for
all aid
agencies" to resume badly needed food and other assistance. "Failure
to do so
constitutes the government of Zimbabwe in complicity in the
assault,
suffering and deaths of innocent citizens."
The State Department also
condemned the Mugabe government's arrest of MDC
Secretary-General Tendai Biti
after his arrival from South Africa.
"This is another example of their
concerted effort to ensure that the
opposition party cannot campaign
effectively," Gallegos said. The United
States is continuing to note the
abuses and consult with parties in the
region, he said.
"The world is
taking note. And if this government does not allow a free and
fair runoff,
they will have to pay in some way, shape or form in the end.
And they will be
held accountable," Gallegos said.
The full text of the USAID statement on
food aid and a transcript of
Ambassador McGee's briefing are available on
America.gov.
Africa must speak out for Zimbabwe
Business Daily Africa, Nairobi
Written by Laila Macharia
June 18, 2008: First
was a decades-long slide into economic decay from
one of Africa's most
promising countries to a mere shell of its former self.
Next came
an election where results were not announced for weeks
before a run-off was
mysteriously declared. Then followed brutal violence
against citizens and
harassment of opposition leaders.
Scores are internally displaced
with millions on the move to
neighbouring countries. The atmosphere of
intimidation has observers already
saying that a free and fair election is
entirely impossible.
One would think that for Africans, many having
suffered repressive
regimes, the Zimbabwe tragedy would be easy to rally
around. But Africa
seems eerily silent.
South Africa, which
bears the brunt of refugees, hems and haws. The
African Union shrugs. Even
Kenya, no stranger to post-election violence,
appears willing to let Zimbabwe
languish.
Familiar frenzy
How to explain this quizzical
indifference? It appears that Africans
have been swept again into that
familiar frenzy that emerges whenever the
spectre of colonialism is
raised.
Since there is no love lost between Mugabe and many Western
regimes,
many feel it is better to side with a dictator against our own than
be seen
to agree with Westerners who oppose him. Especially if he was a
freedom
fighter.
This is especially a syndrome of countries that
have recently emerged
from colonialism who refer to apartheid 'legacy issues'
constantly. True,
colonialism was a blight across Africa and myriads of other
nations.
But a sharp difference of opinion is developing. On one
side are the
old political elite whose frame of reference for politics
remains
colonialism and who use it to explain most of our
problems.
On the other is a new generation who feel the
'sovereignty' argument
is often a decoy that uses the rhetoric of racism and
neo-colonialism to
deflect scrutiny from the current governing class and our
own shortcomings
as citizens.
When whipped up into an
anti-colonialist frenzy, one is too busy to
ask hard questions of one's own
leaders. The indignities suffered today by
Zimbabwe, under black rule for
almost 30 years, have little to do with the
British. It is time for the
voting public there and throughout Africa to
re-examine what might be the
true roots of their poverty today.
Once freed of this strange
obsession with small islands far away,
Africans might start holding their
current leaders to account.
laila.macharia@gmail.comThis
e-mail address is being protected from
spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled
to view it
JAG open letter forum - No. 540 - Dated 16 June 2008
Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the
subject
line.
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1.
Ben Freeth - Open Letter to diplomatic community
Thank you for your
concern regarding the situation on Mount Carmell Farm.
As you are aware we
live in the Chegutu district and as Mike Campbell and
Mike Campbell P/L were
the first to go to the SADC Tribunal where we got
protection from eviction
and imprisonment for still being on the farm in
December last year.
We
went back to the tribunal in March where various other farmers also got
legal
protection. We went again last month but unfortunately we had our
main
hearing deferred to 16 July because the Zim government was not ready
with its
papers.
We have had various recent warning threats through various
sources that we
will be forcibly removed from the farm at night this weekend
through the
organisation of Webster Shamu [Minister of policy implementation]
and an
unnamed "General". There is to be another all night pungwe on
Saturday
night [14 June] organised to be on Mount Carmel Farm which all our
workers
are compelled to go to. We fear for their safety. I assume the
illegal
jambanja [eviction] is planned to take place then too.
We are
not taking this threat lightly in the light of some of the things
going on
around us.
While we were away in Windhoek 18 people from Thistle farm [5
farms away to
the south west] were badly beaten up for allegedly not having
voted for
Mugabe. Bruce Campbell [my wife's brother] managed to get a number
of them
to hospital that night. Some of them had broken arms and legs and
many of
their houses have been burnt down. There is an army chap living in
the
owners' house.
On Pilmuir farm there were another ten former farm
workers families who were
evicted [4 farms away to the North East]. On Ijapo
farm, [6 farms away to
the West], a girl was beaten to death. On Petra and
Sablehome farms [5
farms away to the West] 4 farm workers were beaten and
whipped horribly with
barbed wire last week by a large group of ZANU youth.
On Impofhoe [5 farms
to the North east] 14 farm workers - mostly women - were
beaten for not
attending a ZANU rally last week too.
There are many
other horrible happenings all around us too but we only hear
of some of
them.
Last week there was a ZANU rally on the next door farm which all
our
workers had to go to so all work stopped. The workers were told that
if
they did not vote for Mugabe they would come door to door and shoot
people
one by one.
There is another compulsory ZANU meeting going on
today. They were all
informed that they had to attend the pungwe on Mount
Carmel on Saturday
night [14 June].
I just heard that Gilbert Moyo who
was involved in evicting 6 SADC protected
farmers from their homes early last
month in Chegutu district as well as
beating up the Rogers and looting homes
etc. is back out of custody in the
forefront of the intimidation campaign
going on at the moment in Chegutu...
Any actions that you can take to get
observers and your staff alerted to
what is going on here, especially for 14
June, would be most appreciated.
If they are watching then my experience is
that the intimidators tend
to back off for a while.
We fear that the
violence at the current time is nothing to what will be
unleashed in the post
election period. We desperately need your help and we
know that if you care
enough you can give it.
All the very best and may God bless
you,
Ben Freeth.
Tel. 0912 241477 freeth@bsatt.com
Directions to Mount
Carmel farm:
1. Take Bulawayo road from Harare to Chegutu.
2. Turn right
onto main Chegutu/ Chinhoyi road.
3. After 10 km turn right along Madzongwe
Road.
4. After 8 km turn left onto Mount Carmel
Farm.
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2.
J L Robinson - Sins of the fathers
Dear JAG,
The Tienie Marten's
and Brian Maguti story is simply a case of "the sins of
the
father..."
Zanu might think that they are immune to the global influence, but
the
Maguti story is just a repetition of the young Gonos, Chihuris
or
Karamanziras being deported from Australia for "the sins of their
fathers."
The electronic media has fast forwarded bush telegraph and the
whole world
knows the sins of the fathers - it is now actually sickening to
see what
these unholy fathers are up to.
These fathers need to come out of
denial - neither murdering, nor torturing
nor starving nor raping their own
kith and kin - or causing others to do it,
will be of any assistance to
them.
These fathers still seem to think that their Mugabe Brand Name is a
world
best, but it has truly failed now and is well past its sell by date -
some
84 years on.
Even Thabo is copping a bit of fall out for his
adherence to the Mugabe
Brand.
J.L.
Robinson.
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3.
Joan Marsh
Dear JAG,
I hope that Craig Dunlop's letter gets to
Lord Tebitt as it expresses what
so many of us
feel.
Thanks.
Joan
Marsh
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4.
Gerry Whitehead - Zimbabwe is a Nazi horror story in the 21st
Century!!!!
Dear JAG,
When Nazism took hold in 1941 and countries
around Germany began to fall to
these evil forces, resistance started very
slowly, but eventually grew into
the Allied forces which beat and destroyed
the Nazi machine completely and
punished those responsible for genocide and
crimes against humanity.
Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia was one of those allies and
played its part in
destroying the Nazi machine. Many black and white airmen,
sailors and
soldiers died in that massive struggle against what seemed to be
an
unbeatable foe.
How can the International communities now stand by and
watch as defenceless
people get mowed down by the very same kind of Nazism in
Zimbabwe???
The Mugabe regime is doing the very same thing it did in the
1980's against
Joshua Nkomo's Ndebele people; it massacred thousands of
people including
women and children to soften them up for an agreement
towards a Government
of National unity headed by Robert Mugabe. Absolutely
nothing has been done
about the genocide perpetrated against this once strong
tribe.
Now again, there is talk of a government of National Unity headed
again by
Robert Mugabe, and some countries are actually prepared to throw us
to these
wolves, especially South Africa headed by President
Mbeki.
This move will never stop the fight for true democracy, because
the evil
will continue as it did after the Government of National Unity was
formed in
the 80's.
Mugabe is threatening war if Morgan Tsvangirai
wins the elections; he has
been at war against his own defenceless people
since the 80's, and further
more he will continue this war, because, just as
after the referendum held
in 1999 when he was first opposed, he punished the
white and black
population to the detriment of the country as a whole, he
will continue to
punish his people.
These latest elections come no
where near being democratic or free and fair,
the population is now terrified
and you cannot have a true reflection of the
peoples will under these
conditions.
THE PEOPLE OF ALL TRIBES AND CREEDS CALL ON THE INTERNATIONAL
AND SADC
COMMUNITIES TO INTERVENE AND FORM A TRANSITIONAL GOVERNING BODY TO
BRING
ABOUT LAW AND ORDER AND A FREE AND FAIR ELECTION.
Gerry
Whitehead
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5.
Cathy Buckle - To stay safe, stay quiet
Dear JAG,
Every time the
man insulted and complained in his ugly, raised voice, I
could feel droplets
of his spit on my neck. He was standing so close behind
me that I felt
distinctly uncomfortable. There must have been about twenty
of us waiting in
the queue at the supermarket but no one commented or said a
word about the
abusive tirade. The owners of this sort of behaviour are well
known to us all
and to stay safe we stay quiet. "Hey Manager," he shouted,
"someone send for
the manager. Why must I wait like this? I don't expect to
have to wait." The
more the man ranted the quieter it got in the shop. Two
security guards
standing at the exit doors did not come forward, instead
they retreated out
of sight and the shower of spit on my neck increased.
"Hey, bring more
tellers! Come on, I'm tired of waiting. Hey, you, how much
is that chocolate?
No, not the local one, the imported one. What about the
newspaper, the
imported one? How much? Hey, hurry up."
The owner of the abusive
behaviour was a man of perhaps thirty. His head was
shaven and he wore a
thick gold chain around his neck. In his hand, on
obvious display, he flicked
a thick bundle of money. Under his loose,
open-necked shirt we could all see
the T shirt he wore with the face of Mr.
Mugabe on it.
This is the
face of Zimbabwe a fortnight before elections: one man silences
twenty. We
see but we stay quiet.
Two men arrived on foot at a farm this week and
they were carrying Zanu PF
posters. As they began putting up the posters on
the walls of outbuildings a
worker tried to object - this is private property
after all. "You are not
allowed to complain," came the response. "Or maybe
you are MDC?" The worker
did not respond and the posters of Mr. Mugabe were
plastered on the walls of
private property.
This is the face of
Zimbabwe where election observers have begun arriving
but are only allowed to
watch from 8 am to 5pm.
A friend was at the hospital when the latest
victim of political violence
arrived. The victim was in his early sixties and
accused of being an MDC
supporter. Both his arms and one leg were broken, his
skull was fractured
and the injuries too severe to be treated at the local
hospital.
This is the face of Zimbabwe where only 400 election observers
will watch 12
million Zimbabweans on the 27th of June. 400 election observers
to watch
9231 polling stations. One observer for every 23 polling stations -
it is a
mockery, an insult to a tired, broken, hungry and frightened
population. Is
this really the best Africa can do? Until next time, love
cathy, Copyright
cathy buckle 14th June 2008.
www.cathybuckle.com
My books: "African
Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available in South Africa
from: books@clarkesbooks.co.za and in the
UK from:
orders@africabookcentre.com To
subscribe/unsubscribe to this newsletter,
please write to: cbuckle@mango.zw
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6.
Ben & Jenny Norton
Dear JAG,
Please could this be printed
somewhere.
I read the news every evening with a heavy heart. With all
the infighting
why is it impossible for Mr. Makoni to be brought in as
President and brave
Mr. Tsvangirai as chairman. I feel absolutely sure that
this move would suit
everybody. He has said that he is still ZANU PF but at
the same time
realizes that this country must be brought back to the rule of
LAW, and in
doing this the ex white and Black farmers who had their farms
confiscated
would have the choice of compensation or return to their farms.
I am sure
that there are many competent white and Black farmers that could do
better
than some of our frustrated settlers or Big Wigs who are using the
farms for
a week end breaks. We realize that there are a number of black
business men
who have bought their farms quite legally and are farming them
very well, or
should I say as well as necessary ingredients become
available.
We fully realize that there are many ex farmers who through
age or many
other reasons would not take up the option of returning to their
old farms,
and these farms could be used for settling interested black
farmers who with
help could become very productive.
I feel very sure
that there are many people who have seen very productive
small farms being
worked by black people who are working hard and
productively and helping the
economy.
Surely if Makoni became our next president the rest of the world
would pour
money into this country to get it back onto its feet again. There
are many
countries that are far more densely populated than Zimbabwe and are
managing
to get on with life without the problems that we are being faced
with.
Zimbabweans both black and white are industrious good people. Let
them get
on with their lives and make Zimbabwe once again the Pearl of
Africa.
Thank you
Ben
Norton
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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.
MPs protest SA role in Zim
News24
17/06/2008 18:04 -
(SA)
Michael Hamlyn
Cape Town - A series of attacks on the
government's policy on Zimbabwe were
made in Parliament on Tuesday as MPs
voted on the various budgets allocated
to the different ministerial
departments.
African Christian Democratic Party leader, Kenneth Meshoe,
opposed the
budget of the presidency blaming a failure of the president's
policy of
quiet diplomacy for the fact that Zimbabweans were being "tortured
and
burned alive".
He called President Robert Mugabe "an old man
initiating war in his own
country".
Joe Seremane, for the Democratic
Alliance, opposed the budget of Foreign
Affairs for failing to live up to its
human rights commitment in Zimbabwe.
He also blamed its policy of "dilly
dallying and denial syndrome" for the
outburst of xenophobic violence earlier
this year.
Pieter Mulder, the leader of the Freedom Front Plus, said that
the
department has boosted Mugabe by insisting that there is no crisis in
that
country.
However Motsoko Pheko from the Pan Africanist Congress
leapt to the defence
of the president stating that Zimbabwe was right not to
allow any
colonialist power to lecture it on democracy - especially when
considering
the record of America and Britain in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.
Once Upon a Bloody Journey in Beloved Zimbabwe
OhMyNews
When will freedom come?
Masimba Biriwasha
Published 2008-06-18 02:04 (KST)
Once, traveling in
ragged Zimbabwe
-- heartbroken, head pounding
As if a thousand madmen had
run amok
All fuelled by propaganda's machinery
I saw a drunken
fight,
Two men sprawled and kicking
Each other on the
ground
head-bashing, and blood-gushing
Next to a bus filled to the
hilt
Now I was sober like daylight
And couldn't make why the country
had been dragged
Into a cesspit
When I saw the first man rise
up
Spitting blood, a crack above his eye
With his tongue lolled out, he
screamed:
"When will freedom come?"
Around, people shook heads in
agreement
And in that moment, I saw the whole of Zimbabwe
From Mutare
to Victoria Falls
Draped in the people's blood.
Of all the things on
that journey
That's all I can still recall
A country torn apart,
and
its people soaked in blood
Like the two drunks fighting to
death
Over a political slogan
Maybe that senseless fight
Was the
beginning of tearing
Down the walls that divided us.
E Guinea prosecutors demand 30 years for British mercenary
Monsters and Critics
Jun 17, 2008, 18:27 GMT
Nairobi/Malabo - Prosecutors
in Equatorial Guinea Tuesday demanded British
mercenary Simon Mann serve 30
years imprisonment as his trial for plotting a
2004 coup in which the son of
former British prime minister Margaret
Thatcher was also implicated got
underway.
Mann, who was extradited from Zimbabwe in January to face trial
in the tiny
West African nation, has admitted he was involved in the plot to
overthrow
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, but claims he was not the brains
behind it.
'We've reached a conclusion that Simon Mann was used as an
instrument, but
there were material and intellectual authors behind it that
financed the
operation,' Obiang told Britain's Channel 4 news.
Obiang
has accused an unnamed former British cabinet minister, the
Spanish
government and Lebanese-British oil tycoon Eli Calil - believed to be
the
man referred to as 'Smelly' in Mann's prison notes - of masterminding
the
attempt to seize control of the oil-rich country.
Mann, a former
SAS officer and pupil at Britain's prestigious Eton College,
was arrested in
Zimbabwe four years ago along with 69 others when they
attempted to pick up a
shipment of arms.
He served four years in Zimbabwe before being
extradited to Equatorial
Guinea, where he has been held in Malabo's notorious
Black Beach prison.
Many of Mann's co-conspirators are already serving
jail sentences.
South African arms dealer Nick du Toit is amongst that
group, although
Amnesty International claimed that the trial convicting him
was flawed.
Ponciano Mbomio Nvo, Mann's former defence lawyer who was
stripped of his
right to practise last week, told British daily The Times
that he believed
the trial would be rigged.
The former Spanish colony
has been accused of human rights' abuses and
Transparency International lists
it as one of the world's most corrupt
states.
The BBC said that a
verdict was expected as early as Thursday.
Mann earlier named Sir Mark
Thatcher as one of his co-conspirators.
Thatcher still maintains he
believed he was financing an air ambulance
company in West
Africa.
However, he was fined 500,000 dollars and given a four-year
suspended
sentence in South Africa in 2005 for his part in the
coup.
Prosecutors in Mann's trial named Thatcher as a co-organizer of the
coup,
the BBC reported.