IOL
March 13 2007 at 04:35AM
By Peta Thornycroft
Zimbabwe
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, 54, can hardly see out
of his eyes, and
could neither eat nor speak hours after he was arrested and
then beaten by
Zimbabwe police.
He is in a lice-infested, urine-soaked cell at a
police station in
Borrowdale, Harare - a five-minute drive from President
Robert Mugabe's
opulent Chinese-styled mansion.
Veteran
protester and lawyer Lovemore Madhuku, 40, is lying in agony
in the
government's Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare - with a broken wrist
and
extensive bruises after policemen beat him to a pulp.
Arthur
Mutambara, 39, Zimbabwe's other main opposition leader, has not
been seen by
his lawyer or his family since he was detained early on Sunday
when he tried
to drive through a police roadblock to attend a prayer rally
in the
Highfield township, south-west of the city centre.
Many families
are in the same boat. Their loved ones are also
incarcerated in Harare's
filthy police stations, having been detained after
several brutal street
battles.
Throughout Sunday night and Monday,
lawyers, families and political
and human rights activists tried to find out
where about 100 people who had
attended the rally were being
held.
"They move them around on purpose, split them up, and lie to
us so we
don't find them," said opposition MP Priscilla
Misihairabwe-Mushonga.
Lawyers in Harare, battling judicial delays,
were trying to get a writ
of habeas corpus out of the Harare High Court on
Monday to ensure that none
of their clients had been killed.
"So far we have seen none of them," said Harrison Nkomo.
"We are
very worried."
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena gave a long
interview to state
journalists after the rally was blocked by hundreds of
riot policemen,
claiming that about 200 youths from the opposition Movement
for Democratic
Change had attacked the police and injured three of
them.
"The three police officers were attacked by an unruly mob of
some 200
MDC thugs who were using children as shields," he said, explaining
why
police had shot dead Gift Tandare, an MDC activist.
A
fellow activist saw Tandare shot. "They had been firing at us for a
long
time and throwing teargas and trying to stop us from getting to the
rally.
"We were very angry, why not be angry at this cruel
regime? We were
picking up the teargas and throwing it back at
them.
"We charged them and then they fired. We saw he was dead, but
we
couldn't get in to pick up his body, so the police took it."
Tsvangirai who helped form the MDC in 2000, has been charged, tried
and
acquitted of treason, and been arrested several times.
There have
been numerous assassination attempts against him.
This article
was originally published on page 1 of Pretoria News on
March 13,
2007
The Scotsman
JANE FIELDS IN HARARE
POLICE in Zimbabwe tried to kill Morgan
Tsvangirai, the country's main
opposition leader, his party claimed
yesterday.
He was arrested on Sunday in the impoverished Highfield
township in the
capital, Harare, where he had gone for a prayer rally.
Dozens of other
members of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were
also held.
Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, the MDC's secretary for international
affairs, said
Mr Tsvangirai had been so badly beaten that police had rushed
him to
hospital in the early hours of yesterday morning. He is reported to
have
fainted three times while police were beating him.
He had "a
very deep wound" to his head and was having difficulty eating and
"could
hardly talk", Prof Mukonoweshuro told The Scotsman.
He said the attacks
to Mr Tsvangirai's head showed police clearly "wanted to
kill"
him.
Mr Tsvangirai's wife Susan was allowed to take him food at 6am and
had
confirmed her husband's injuries, he said.
The MDC leader later
was released from hospital and returned to a police
station.
Many
other opposition figures were also reportedly assaulted. Lovemore
Madhuku,
the chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly, had his hand
broken in
two places, according to Prof Mukonoweshuro. Arthur Mutambara, a
rival
opposition leader, was also arrested and his whereabouts was still
unknown
yesterday afternoon. There were fears that several top officials had
been
taken to Goromonzi, a notorious torture centre.
Police said Mr Tsvangirai
and his colleagues had been arrested because they
had "incited people to
engage in violence".
Rioting broke out in Highfield after Sunday's
arrests, and one man was shot
dead by police. He was named as Gift Tandare,
a married father of three.
Three police officers were said to have been
injured and state media claimed
rampaging MDC supporters had used children
as human shields. A car carrying
reporters from the state-controlled Herald
newspaper was stoned by a gang of
youths.
Trouble spread to the
nearby suburb of Waterfalls, where youths stormed a
vehicle owned by the
state bus company and allegedly stole mobile phones.
One pregnant woman was
so frightened that she is reported to have
miscarried.
Tensions
remained high in Harare yesterday. Armed riot police manned First
Street,
the main shopping artery.
The Save Zimbabwe Campaign - the organiser of
Sunday's rally - said that it
was "utterly shocked at the heavy-handed
manner in which police quashed what
was meant to be a peaceful prayer
session". A spokesman said: "The death of
Tandare, arrests and torture of
Save Zimbabwe Campaign activists open yet
another sad chapter in the
country's unfolding history. It is unfortunate
that precious lives continue
to be lost for the furtherance of selfish
political
interests."
Meanwhile, Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, appears to
have shelved
plans to postpone the country's presidential elections until
2010.
They are due next year, but Mr Mugabe, 83, had said he wanted them
pushed
back so they coincided with parliamentary polls. There was huge
resistance
to his plans, not only from the MDC but also from his ruling
party's
officials who are rumoured to be growing tired of their
leader.
In a surprise announcement, he said he was now willing for
presidential
elections to be held in 2008. He still wants to stand for
re-election.
The Telegraph
By Peta
Thorneycroft in Harare
Last Updated: 3:38am GMT
13/03/2007
Zimbabwe police threatened the "standards
used in war" against
activists, saying a "war situation" existed in the
country after violent
weekend clashes, a lawyer told the Harare high court
yesterday.
Irene Petros, speaking at an emergency hearing over the
arrest of
Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, and 100 other activists,
said
police had issued the threat after she had unsuccessfully attempted to
see
some of the arrested, many of whom had sustained serious
injuries.
One woman, Grace Kwinjeh, was described as having had
"her right ear
nearly severed from her head," while she was in police
custody.
Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic
Change, was
reported to have been badly injured, and was unable to eat or
speak.
Judge Chinembiri Bhunu ordered medical attention for Mr
Tsvangirai and
the others and told police to allow them access to their
lawyers.
Mr Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara, the president of the
other faction of
the divided MDC, and the activists were arrested on Sunday
when they tried
to attend a prayer rally in a poor Harare township on
Sunday. One man was
killed when police opened fire.
The Times
March 13, 2007
Mugabe lashes out as
conditions worsen in Zimbabwe
Even public prayer is now a political offence
in Zimbabwe. A rally called by
church, opposition and civic groups to pray
for an end to Zimbabwe's
deepening political and economic crisis was
thwarted by police riot squads,
who shot and beat those taking part. Dozens
of opposition figures were
arrested, including Morgan Tsvangirai, head of
the Movement for Democratic
Change. Many were beaten and allegedly tortured
in police custody; Mr
Tsvangirai is reported to be in "bad shape" after
passing out three times.
Far from being ashamed of such police brutality,
the Mugabe Government
appears keen to publicise the torture: the beaten men
were put on parade at
the police station to intimidate Mr Mugabe's
courageous opponents.
They have not been intimidated, however. "Our just,
legitimate and peaceful
struggle will not cease," a member of the Save
Zimbabwe Campaign said. They
must be prepared for repression, however. The
worse things grow, the more
the elderly dictator fears that the tipping
point is approaching when even
his closest party cronies and the apparatus
of repression will turn against
him. His tactic, common to all tyrants who
fear a loss of control, is to
redouble repression and step up arbitrary
intimidation in order to cower
those struggling simply to survive. The
crackdown on the MDC and other open
opposition groups is aimed just as much
at wavering police recruits, angry
civil servants, pampered "veterans" who
can no longer be insulated from the
country's economic collapse and even
stalwarts of Zanu (PF), whose support
he still needs to maintain himself in
power.
Delusion, however, now appears to be the leit-motiv of Mr Mugabe's
rule. As
the country burns under an inflation rate of 1,700 per cent - the
highest in
the world - and 80 per cent unemployment, the 83-year-old leader
fiddles
with constitutional niceties, looking at ways to prolong his term
until 2010
and expressing his humble willingness to serve again "if asked".
Zimba-bweans unable to find work or feed their families must wonder why he
bothers with this charade. No one is under any illusion that Mr Mugabe is
anything other than a vindictive tyrant, determined to remain in power for
life. For him, a voluntary surrender of power is unthinkable.
The
weekend attacks on the Opposition have been condemned by Britain as
"violent
and unwarranted". Washington has echoed this, citing "brutal and
unwarranted" actions against people exercising democratic rights. But, as
usual, there has been embarrassed silence from Zimbabwe's neighbours. And as
Ghana's President Kufuor begins a state visit to London to celebrate 50
years of independence, the African Union, whose presidency Ghana holds this
year, has said nothing about the terrible record of Zimbabwe, also a former
British colony, since independence.
Mr Mugabe relishes criticism in
the West to bolster his claims that British
colonialism is to blame for his
country's ills, but condemnation by fellow
Africans, especially by South
Africa, may dent his puffed-up amour-propre.
Zimbabwe is no longer a member
of the Commonwealth. But as the other 53
members celebrate Commonwealth Day,
they should not ignore its suffering.
The Save Zimbabwe Campaign needs help,
before it, and the country, are
suffocated by a monstrous tyranny.
Leader
Tuesday March 13, 2007
The
Guardian
Predicting the end of Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe has
always been a
risky business. The end has been nigh for at least seven
years, but Mr
Mugabe has outfoxed friend and foe alike. But the reaction of
riot police on
Sunday to a small prayer meeting organised in Harare by
opposition, church
and civic groups was predictable. One protester was shot
dead and dozens of
opposition activists were beaten, some say tortured, in
custody. Among them
was Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for
Democratic Change, who
was yesterday reported to have been taken to hospital
with head wounds.
It is clear that the crisis engulfing the country is
accelerating. But this
has more to do with raging inflation than an
opposition which is itself
badly divided. Once one of the richest countries
in Africa, Zimbabwe holds
the record for having the world's
fastest-shrinking peace-time economy,
according to the International Crisis
Group (ICG), whose report provides a
sensible plan for transition. The
economy has diminished by 40% since 1998,
unemployment has swollen by 80%,
and inflation is expected to reach over
4,000% by the end of the
year.
There are reports of disaffection in the junior ranks of the police
and
army, who complain about being paid less than the hired hands dispatched
to
beat up opposition groups. There are problems for Mr Mugabe too within
Zanu-PF, where his plan to extend his mandate, which was due to expire in
2008 to 2010, met unprecedented resistance at December's annual conference.
On Sunday Mr Mugabe was quoted as saying that he would go back to his
original plan and contest the election in 2008 "if the party says
so".
It may not. There are three factions inside Zanu-PF: a loyalist
group still
prepared to back the 83-year-old president and two groups under
the
leadership of a presidential aspirant, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and a retired
general, Solomon Mujuru, who is the husband of Vice-President Joyce Mujuru.
They both want Mr Mugabe to stand down next year, so that their party can
maintain political control.
It is not written in stone that
Zimbabwe's sufferings are destined to
continue, once Mr Mugabe is told that
enough is enough. Here the analogy
with the last days of Mobutu's reign in
Zaire, made this month by the ICG,
is not strictly accurate. Zimbabwe's
infrastructure, though in a state of
total collapse, still exists. So do its
housing and farms. It has a
potentially large source of foreign currency
from expat Zimbabweans, and a
post-Mugabe regime could benefit from a
windfall of foreign aid. But he has
to go first, and the sooner the
better.
The Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT
13/03/2007
If Margaret Beckett has uttered anything of
note on the subject of
Zimbabwe since she began her undistinguished tenure
at the Foreign Office,
it has escaped our attention. Even the beating up of
Morgan Tsvangirai,
leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
and the shooting
dead of one of his supporters during an attempt to hold a
political rally on
Sunday, have failed to elicit any words of condemnation
from our Trappist
Foreign Secretary. Given this country's moral
responsibility as the former
colonial power, such silence is
unforgivable.
So, too, is the refusal of South Africa's President
Thabo Mbeki to use
his political leverage with Robert Mugabe to try to halt
the political and
economic catastrophe that is engulfing Zimbabwe. Mr Mbeki
plays down the
scale of the crisis in that benighted country and claims that
the only
reason there is concern in the West is that "a handful of white
people died
and white people were deprived of their property".
Such racist nonsense is offensive and wrong. The overwhelming majority
of
those suffering because of Mr Mugabe's unhinged policies are black. The
country's economic collapse - inflation running at 1,800 per cent,
unemployment at 80 per cent - hits black people hardest. The crisis in the
health and education services also bears down heaviest on the black
population.
In the past five years, the infant mortality rate
has almost doubled.
Famine is now a real threat in a country that was once
the envy of Africa.
Most of this wretchedness can be traced to the
systematic destruction of
commercial agriculture through the seizure of
white-owned farms, which has
destroyed the country's biggest export earner
and sent the economy into a
tail spin.
Mr Mbeki should not be
allowed to get away with his lethal
complacency. The British Government must
exert the maximum political
pressure on South Africa to show some
leadership. For reasons of
self-interest, if nothing else, the republic
cannot continue to stand idly
by while a cataclysm engulfs its neighbour,
with potentially fearsome
consequences across the region.
The MDC expresses its deep
concern and outrage regarding the events of the
last few days in which
political leaders, civic leaders and supporters have
been arrested, tortured
and denied access to lawyers and medical treatment.
The murder by state
agents of Gift Tandare marks another very disturbing
development and is
condemned.
It is important to recall that the opposition has a
demonstrable record in
the last 7 years of holding peaceful political
rallies, and the church even
more so. It is Zanu PF that has a record of
violence. Accordingly the police
general ban on political meetings for 3
months is unjustifiable in the first
place.
However the general ban
on all political meetings throughout Zimbabwe is
also unlawful. As bad as
POSA is, it does not allow the police to issue
widespread banning orders as
it has sought to do. Notwithstanding the
provisions of POSA, the Zimbabwean
Constitution is quite clear regarding the
right that Zimbabweans have to
demonstrate peaceably. POSA is clear that
the police are obliged to
consider each case on its merits and it cannot
lightly disregard the
fundamental right contained in the Constitution for
people to demonstrate
and meet peaceably. What the police have in effect
done is issue a general
ban reminiscent of the State of Emergency which
ended in 1990. There is no
declared State of Emergency and to that extent
the police have acted
completely unlawfully in purporting to issue a general
ban as they have
done.
Even if the regime is of a mind to argue that it does have this
general
power it should be reminded that the provisions of POSA used by the
ZANU PF
regime to deny people fundamental constitutional rights are fascist
laws no
different to those used by the white minority regime in terms of
LOMA. They
were bad laws then and are no different now. LOMA did not prevent
the
legitimate demands of the people from being realised and in the same way
POSA will not succeed ultimately in denying the people their rights. The
sooner the regime realises that these laws will not solve the Zimbabwean
crisis the better. The regime is advised to repeal POSA and then sit down
with all Zimbabweans to negotiate a solution to the calamitous situation
afflicting our nation. The situation has now been greatly exacerbated by the
murder of Gift Tandare, the unlawful arrest of Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur
Mutambara and many other leaders and activists.
The denial access by
lawyers to those detained and the reports that many of
those detained have
been severely assaulted is a very serious development.
These two breaches of
rights usually go hand in hand - when lawyers can't
get in to see their
clients law enforcement agencies the world over feel
they have licence to
torture. That is the very reason why the United States
Supreme Court last
year, and very correctly, ruled that the denial of access
to lawyers in
Guantanamo Bay offended the American Constitution.
Sadly this practice is
routine in Zimbabwe and has been for decades. In
September last year the
practice was employed against Trade Union leaders.
Our demands made then
that the practice end were ignored. This practice must
stop immediately and
those responsible for both the denial of access and
torture must be
identified, rooted out of whatever state agency they belong
to and
prosecuted.
A specific call is made on the Attorney General to
investigate these reports
of denial of access and torture. It is the
Attorney General's responsibility
to ensure that Zimbabwe's Constitution is
obeyed by all, especially by state
agents and the police in particular. We
expect that he will call for an
urgent investigation into these allegations
and that he will vigorously
prosecute those responsible for these outrages
if the allegations are found
to be correct.
When a similar call was
made last September the Attorney General ignored
that call. No prosecutions
have been brought by the Attorney General against
those responsible, despite
video tape evidence clearly showing the identity
of those responsible for
the unlawful assaults and torture. If the Attorney
General ignores our
demands made again now he will be held personally
responsible. It is well
known that impunity fosters torture; if those
responsible for torture are
not brought to book they are bound to torture
again. It is only the Attorney
general who has the Constitutional power to
bring the culprits to
book.
In any democratic country if subordinates are found guilty of
serious human
rights allegations the Minister under whom they fall take
responsibility and
resign. This is not the first time that the police, CIO
and youth brigade in
Zimbabwe have been accused of torture - there have been
persistent reports
(many backed by irrefutable medical evidence) over the
last few years of
these agencies being engaged in acts of
torture.
Article 2 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or
degrading Treatment or Punishment states:
"Each State
Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial
or other
measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its
jurisdiction".
It is clear to all reasonable people that the ZANU PF
regime has failed to
comply with this basic international obligation. In
particular the Minister
of Home Affairs, Minister Kembo Mohadi, has failed
to prevent torture being
used by the police. He is deeply aware of the issue
because it has been
raised on several occasions with him in Parliament. He
should also be
acutely empathetic because he himself suffered torture at the
hands of this
regime in the 1980s. In all the circumstances we call upon him
to resign.
It would appear as if the Zanu PF regime is prepared to defy
the world and
use whatever means to frustrate legitimate expressions of
opposition to its
misrule of Zimbabwe. The torture and denial of access by
lawyers and doctors
to Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and the rest of
our colleagues,
coming so soon after the similar treatment meted out to
Trade Union leaders
last year is a clear sign that Robert Mugabe himself and
other Zanu PF
leaders feel they can act with impunity.
With this in
mind the ZANU PF regime is reminded that "torture is an
international crime
over which international law and the parties to the
Torture Convention have
given universal jurisdiction to all courts wherever
the torture occurs". We
are keeping records of those responsible for these
heinous acts and will use
all the means at our disposal to bring the
culprits to book.
All
those responsible for these outrages over the last few days must
understand
that they are on notice - these acts will not be forgotten and we
will use
the full force of international law in future to bring all those
responsible
to justice.
It is now time for those Zanu PF members who quietly disagree
with what is
happening and other regional leaders to speak out against this
vile conduct.
Mere silence amounts to condonation.
Martin Luther King
once said "Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an
unjust status quo,
good men must seek to bring into being a real order of
justice". That is
precisely what we are doing and as sure as day follows
night a real order of
justice will be brought to Zimbabwe. But it is
difficult for those
struggling within Zimbabwe to do so alone. Apartheid was
not ended solely
through the efforts of South African patriots; it was
achieved through their
concerted efforts which were supported by massive
international support and
action. That support and action has largely been
missing and the
international community has allowed Zimbabwe to degenerate
into the grave
crisis it is in today.
It is high time the international community acted
to assist those trying to
bring about a new order of democracy in Zimbabwe.
There has been far too
much talk and far too little action from the
international community. What
is required is urgent, vigorous, proactive
diplomatic activity by Southern
African nations in conjunction with
international institutions such as the
UN and EU.
David Coltart
MP
Shadow Minister of Justice
13th March 2007
Independent.co.uk
By Daniel Howden, Deputy Foreign
Editor
Published: 13 March 2007
Why are we asking this
now?
Robert Mugabe's regime has been using increasingly violent tactics
to
prevent any form of protest. With the economy in freefall, unemployment
spiralling, real inflation approaching 2,000 per cent and no money to pay
the security forces, all public protests have been banned. Life expectancy
for women has now dropped below 34 and millions of Zimbabwean men have
crossed the border into South Africa to find work and food. In this
situation the government is determined not to give the opposition any kind
of focal point. Recently there has been a new mood of defiance and the
ensuing flash points have refocused international attention. This culminated
in a protest rally at the weekend and the arrest and apparent torture of the
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
So how strong is Mugabe's grip
on power?
Twenty-seven years after sweeping to power in the country's
first free
elections the man who trained in Ghana to be a schoolteacher is
still his
country's supreme power. Aged 83 he has a Fidel Castro-like
ability to speak
for hours without notes and sit through interminable Senate
sessions without
pause. He has divided and ruled in the corridors of power
since the end of
the liberation struggle and seen off every rival. Even
those who hate him,
who are legion, admit that he is an exceptional
tactician with extraordinary
determination and self-discipline. However,
with each year that passes and
each milestone of collapse that is reached,
the remaining threads of his
legitimacy fall from him. And others start to
imagine what their role might
be after Mugabe.
Will he face a
challenge from within the ruling party?
After decades of concentrating
wealth and power in their own hands Zanu-PF
leaders are haunted by its
possible loss in a succession crisis. The result
is that the party has never
been so divided. For almost the first time
Mugabe has not been able to
impose his will. A proposal to "harmonise"
presidential and parliamentary
elections - in effect extending his term from
2008 to 2010 - was not backed
unanimously. While there are many ambitious
lieutenants, the two main
contenders for succession are Emmerson Mnangagwa
and Joyce Mujuru. Mnangagwa
is his favoured candidate, according to sources.
Mnangagwa oversaw the
massacre of 25,000 Ndebele in the notorious
Gukuruhundi campaign of the
1980s. But Mnangagwa, thought to be Zimbabwe's
richest politician, faces
fraud allegations through the state-controlled
press, fed by Solomon Mujuru,
the former army chief and husband of the
Vice-President, Joyce. She acquired
a fearsome reputation during the war, as
well as the nom de guerre Spill
Blood, and added to that power base during
the land invasions. What neither
offer is any cause for optimism over a
change in direction.
What
about the opposition?
While the country is practically bankrupt, the
Central Intelligence Office,
(CIO) functioning as Mugabe's secret police,
enjoys a budget many times that
of the health service. The CIO has been
ruthlessly effective at sowing
confusion and mistrust in the opposition camp
and credited with forcing a
damaging split in the main party, the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC).
After leading his party to two heavily disputed
electoral defeats, the
former union leader Morgan Tsvangirai now heads a
divided MDC, after a
fallout over a proposed boycott of Senate
elections.
The pro-Senate wing is led by Arthur Mutambara, an MIT-trained
academic, who
has returned to Zimbabwe and re-entered politics for the first
time since
being an active student leader. Mutambara has drawn support from
many in the
country through his appearance to be a political novice. Mr
Tsvangirai,
however, remains the one man with the charisma and public
support to rattle
the regime. Questions have been asked over his willingness
to act after two
exhausting treason trials left him facing the death penalty
and house arrest
for years at a time.
The result of this division has
been a falling away in support for MDC and
an increasing reliance on broader
alliances such as the Save Zimbabwe
coalition that called the weekend rally.
These groups, comprised of civil
society organisations, religious leaders
and trade unions preaching
non-violent protest, have proven harder to
silence. For much of the past
three years, the Catholic Archbishop of
Bulawayo Pius Ncube has been
Mugabe's most voluble and bravest
critic.
What can other governments do?
Mugabe has comfortably
outmanoeuvred Commonwealth leaders, international
organisations and the
British Royal Family alike. He realised early in the
economic downturn of
the 1990s that a return to the narrative of colonial
struggle was the best
way to hide the deficiencies of his own regime.
Likewise, the concentration
of international media on the fate of white
farmers during the land
invasions in 2000, enabled the regime to say that
nothing has changed and
the West only cared about the fate of whites.
The World Food Programme
has been forced to hand over its operations to Zanu
control or leave
millions to starve. What is needed is a subtle policy of
containment and
encouragement of neighbouring leaders to use their influence
to avert a
catastrophe on their own borders.
Also, the arrival of China in African
affairs has removed many of the
remaining levers of influence in London and
Washington. Much of the West's
moral capital has been spent in Iraq and in
short-sighted foreign policy in
Africa itself.
Why does South Africa
remain silent about the crisis?
Any analysis of Mugabe's relationship
with his South African counterpart,
Thabo Mbeki, must start in their shared
history of struggle against white
minority government. Mugabe's mantle as
liberator is as powerful to many in
southern Africa as Nelson Mandela's is
to the rest of the world. Mbeki is
thought to be close to the Zimbabwean
leader and has few of Mandela's
reservations about his northern
neighbour.
South Africa is itself experiencing the end of the liberation
honeymoon and
land reform, managed for political rather than economic
purposes, threatens
to unravel its own economy as it did in Zimbabwe. Only
the influx of
millions of Zimbabwean immigrants and accompanying resentment
of their
presence seems to offer the political incentive to the South
African
leadership to act against a former comrade in arms.
Is the
game up for Zimbabwe's dictator?
Yes...
* Mugabe is 83 and can no
longer count on the unanimous support of the
security forces
* His
own party is divided and even long term allies are manoeuvring for
succession
* The increasing violence against protesters is evidence
of panic at the top
of the regime
No...
* He has declared his
intention to run for office again, whether next year
or in 2010
* The
opposition is hopelessly fractured and the state has a monopoly on
violence
* There is no obvious alternative within the ruling party,
which has
descended into bitter factionalism
The Australian
March
13, 2007
FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer has condemned the brutal
suppression of a
rally in Zimbabwe by the Government of President Robert
Mugabe.
During last weekend's rally, Zimbabwean Opposition Leader Morgan
Tsvangirai
is reported to have suffered head injuries after being taken into
police
custody. Rights groups allege other politicians have been
tortured.
Police detained Mr Tsvangirai and dozens of other Opposition
figures and
shot dead a man while crushing a prayer meeting organised in
defiance of a
ban on political rallies.
Political tensions, which
have been brewing over the soaring cost of living
and Mr Mugabe's
increasingly controversial rule, erupted when riot squads
fought opposition
youths in the capital for the second time in a month.
Mr Downer said the
news was further evidence of the regime's utter disregard
for basic
democratic principles and the human rights of the people of
Zimbabwe.
"These latest arrests form part of an intensifying cycle of
repression by
the Mugabe regime," Mr Downer said.
"They are clear
signs of the Mugabe Government's desperation to cling to
power in the face
of its growing unpopularity amongst the people of
Zimbabwe."
He said
the Mugabe Government's disastrous policies had crippled a once
thriving
economy, leaving Zimbabweans with hyper-inflation and over 80 per
cent of
the population unemployed and living below the poverty line.
"I call on
the Government of Zimbabwe to release those arrested, to revoke
the ban on
political activity and to implement immediate political and
economic
reforms," Mr Downer said.
Government of Canada
March
12, 2007 (6:15 p.m. EDT)
No. 40
The Honourable Peter
MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the
Atlantic Canada
Opportunities Agency, today made the following statement
concerning the
violence that the Zimbabwean police force used against
participants in the
gathering organized by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign on
March 11 in
Harare:
"Canada condemns the Government of Zimbabwe's continued
disregard for
democratic principles and fundamental freedoms, such as the
right to
assembly, and its increasingly violent repression of its citizens.
The use
of ammunition against innocent and unarmed people is an unacceptable
response to the current economic crisis and the suffering of Zimbabweans. I
deplore the brutal police crackdown that led to the death of a Movement for
Democratic Change supporter and injured several others. I extend my
condolences to the families of the victims.
"Canada calls for
the immediate release of opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party
leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara,
senior party officials and
National Constitutional Assembly Chairman
Lovemore Madhuku, as well as all
Zimbabweans arrested during this police
operation. I urge the Government of
Zimbabwe to provide immediate access to
appropriate medical treatment and to
live up to its responsibilities for the
safety of the detainees. Canada
denounces the brutal arrest, detention and
alleged torture in custody of
these peaceful protestors. We also call for
the revocation of the
three-month ban on rallies and demonstrations.
"We urge the
Government of Zimbabwe to abide by the Harare Principles and
respect the
rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and the human
rights of the
people of Zimbabwe. The crisis of governance in Zimbabwe can
only be
overcome through dialogue, with the broad participation of
Zimbabwean
society."
New Zimbabwe
By Mary
Revesai
Last updated: 03/13/2007 12:49:26
IF A man is told often enough by
enough people for a long enough time that
he is the embodiment of perfection
- wise, strong, infallible and possibly
immortal - he begins to believe
it.
For decades, Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe has been used to having
people
licking his boots and singing his praises. He has relished hearing
the Nolan
Makombes and Tony Garas of this world comparing him to Jesus
Christ, the Son
of God. Others like Didymus Mutasa and some church leaders
have suggested
that Mugabe was anointed by God to rule Zimbabwe for the rest
of his life.
He has never found this grovelling embarrassing. Wherever
Mugabe has gone,
he has seen his portrait gazing down benevolently on his
subjects from the
walls of buildings, be they government, parastatal,
municipal, business or
educational establishments. Upon his frequent
departures from and arrivals
at Harare International Airport, a sea of faces
waves him off or welcomes
him.
He is used to frenzied and
ingratiating singing by men and women resplendent
in patriotic garb bearing
his portrait. The sound of sirens announcing his
ubiquitous, grotesque and
fuel-guzzling motorcade are like an addictive drug
that he can't just give
up.
Psychologist Charles Horton Cooley described the kind of image a
person has
of himself as the result of the responses and reactions of others
as the
'looking glass self' or an idealised picture of oneself.
But
as Edgar Tekere's biography, A Lifetime of Struggle, has shown through
revelations about Mugabe's past, this idealised self-image does not always
bear any relation to objective facts. The book, which I have not read, has
raised Mugabe's hackles in a way nothing has ever done before because it
has, so to speak, shattered the looking glass through which Zimbabweans,
despite their objective experiences and the evidence of their own eyes, are
expected to view the man who has controlled their fate for almost 30
years.
And if Mugabe's plans to cling to power by standing as a candidate
in
presidential elections next year succeed, Zimbabweans will be expected to
endure more deprivation and repression as the octogenarian makes what he
knows is a last ditch attempt to impose his idealised legacy on the
nation.
Tekere has been crucified by Zanu PF spin doctors and apologists
for daring
to burst the bubble of Mugabe's infallibility and invincibility.
Those who
have read the book have questioned certain things and pointed out
Tekere's
own human weaknesses. This is as it should be. The point remains
however,
that Tekere's human frailties and whatever inaccuracies,
distortions or
exaggerations are found in his book, do not detract from the
impact of the
publication of his biography on Zimbabwe's body politic. The
book has put
Mugabe on the defensive in the true sense of the word for the
first time
because allegations have been made about him by someone from his
own party
who knew him intimately at the period being spotlighted. This was
taboo
until now.
Over the years, Mugabe has become an expert at
denouncing and attacking
perceived enemies, sell-outs, agents of foreign
powers or unpatriotic
Zimbabweans on behalf of the revolution, his party and
government. He has
never had to defend his own record and reputation because
he had cunningly
created the illusion that he was head and shoulders above
the rest and
therefore beyond reproach in all departments. Hooray to Tekere
for forcing
him to confront for the first time that this is not so and that
like the
rest of us, he has human weaknesses and
vulnerabilities.
Ironically, if Mugabe's advisers and propagandists knew
what they were doing
by keeping their fingers on the pulse of the nation and
reading the public
mood correctly, they would have seized upon Tekere's
revelations as an
opportunity to humanise Mugabe and portray him as a mortal
human being like
everyone else.
After all, Mugabe is not the first
leader in the world to have inconvenient
stories from his youth and past
surfacing when he is at the pinnacle of
political power. His nemesis, United
States president George Bush has had to
deal with revelations about a
drinking problem in his youth and allegations
that he and his father
belonged to a secret segregationist society. Another
U.S. president, Bill
Clinton endured an even more fiery baptism of fire when
the U.S. congress
trawled through his past to reveal numerous extra-marital
affairs while
gathering evidence for his impeachment in the Monica Lewinsky
saga. Even in
his retirement, Clinton still has to hear the jibe, 'I did not
inhale' which
refers to his response when a story surfaced during his
presidency that he
smoked mbanje during his student days at Oxford
University in
Britain.
Former South African president Nelson Mandela had to grin
and bear it when
personal details about his marriage to his now ex-wife
Winnie were splashed
in the media when they divorced and during the
reporting of the numerous
controversies Winnie has been embroiled in. Former
Zambian president Kenneth
Kaunda had information about his Malawian origins
exposed while he was in
power. Kurt Waldheim, who served as United Nations
secretary general in the
1970s had to find a civilised way to manage the
situation when information
surfaced that in his youth he had been a member
of the SS, the Nazi
paramilitary organisation.
The list of world
figures who have had secrets from their past exposed in
books or the media
is endless. It is instructive that when the misfortune
befell them none of
the figures listed above regarded it as the fire and
brimstone, life and
death event that Mugabe has turned the publication of
Tekere's book into. He
has gone on the warpath and encouraged an official
smear campaign against
the author. He has enlisted an army of apologists,
columnists and the state
broadcaster to defend him by spewing venom at
Tekere, whose book has made
revelations about Mugabe's love life and marital
problems.
He
appears, however, to have been most stung by Tekere's suggestion that he
was
a reluctant recruit to the liberation struggle contrary to the image he
presents of himself today as someone who has never faltered or put a foot
wrong. Interestingly, Mugabe has often made mincemeat of opponents like
Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change over the issue of
their reluctance to join the war of liberation, proving the veracity of the
psychological theory of projection as a defence mechanism.
Mugabe has
been hopping mad at Tekere because he cannot use brute force to
deal with
him as he is currently doing to crush dissent following his
government's
clampdown on political rallies. The only regrettable thing
about Tekere's
book is that it and others chronicling events during the
early days of the
liberation struggle did not appear earlier.
It is doubtful that if the
roles of political luminaries had been subjected
to scrutiny by their peers,
the creation of larger-than-life cult figures
like Mugabe would have
occurred. If his advisers were worth their salt they
would know that is it
futile to ram the details of how Mugabe was
"unanimously" anointed to lead
Zanu PF more than 30 years ago down the
throats of a populace to whom
independence is now meaningless because of the
repressive governance they
are being subjected to.
This time-warped and sanctimonious
self-validation means nothing in the
prevailing situation.
Mary
Revesai is a New Zimbabwe.com columnist and writes from Harare. Her
column
will appear here every Tuesday