CHIEF SUPERINTENDANT CHIPEMBERE
HARARE CENTRAL POLICE STATION
ZIMBABWE REPUBLIC POLICE
SOUTH AVENUE
HARARE
22nd February 2001
DEAR SIR
RE: THE SITUATION ON CALGARY FARM.
We received our first visit from war vets on April 13th 2000.
They made various illegal requests, which I turned down. I left the country for fear of my life on April 17th and returned on August 1st 2000.
During my absence they disrupted and harassed my labourers. They whipped and assaulted a number of them. They harassed and threatened my tenants working on the farm. This applied particularly to Mr. and Mrs. Reid, who run the roses, the dairy, and the arable crops. It also included other tenants who were simply living in houses of mine on the farm – the Farrs, Mr. la Grange, and Mr. Henry MacIlwaine. This included numerous threats of death, mutilation and torture. They completely disrupted farming operations. They prevented my tenant, Mr Reid, from growing wheat. They forbade him from planting crops. They also illegally invaded and occupied one of the offices on my farm, (next to the Carpentry shop).
I returned to the farm on August 1st. I was continually subjected to threatening messages from a Corporal Stanley Mapfumo, a self-styled war vet, who works as a driver at KG VI Army HQ. He claimed to be the "Base Commander". This man was violent, abusive, dangerous and completely unreasonable, and I chose to avoid him.
Provoked by his disgusting behaviour, Mr. Reid, Mr. Farr and myself sought a High Court order evicting him from the property, and a restraint order forbidden him, and those claiming rights under his authority, from setting foot on the property. We were successful in our application, and the orders were delivered to the Deputy sheriff.
The Deputy sheriff served the order on Cpl Mapfumo at Army HQ. After very considerable difficulties we eventually persuaded the deputy sheriff to go to Marlborough Police Station, and seek assistance from the Police to evict the squatters living on the farm, who were claiming rights under the authority of Mapfumo. Marlborough Police refused to act, so the eviction never took place. I delivered my copy of the order to the squatters on my farm, and they refused to move. Repeated attempts by both my lawyer and myself proved fruitless. The Police simply would not act upon a legal order from the High Court of Zimbabwe.
We continued to suffer abuse and harassment from the war vets on a regular basis. They refused to pay rent for their accommodation, and they would not even pay for electricity, so we cut it off from them. One of the squatters then assaulted my mechanic, Stewart, at my workshops, although he had nothing to do with the cutting off of the electricity. Stewart eventually retaliated and injured the squatter who had assaulted him. Stewart reported the assault to the Police, who never even recorded his statement. The squatter, who had assaulted him, then reported Stewart for assault, and his statement was taken! This was later over-ruled by the Officer in charge, Insp. Mkungunugwa, and nothing has happened since.
The squatters then left their illegal lodging, leaving their kit behind. Concerned that I would be blamed if anything went missing, I loaded up their kit and took it back to them on Glenara farm, where I left it in the care of one of them. On returning to their accommodation, I noticed that woodworms and white ants had seriously damaged the wooden building in which they had been living. Consequently I fumigated it for insects, locked the door, and put a notice on the door warning of the dangers of poison. A few days later they came and ripped my warning notice from the door. Cpl Mapfumo was with them, in contempt of High Court orders. From this time onwards he frequently came to the farm and harassed all and sundry.
In mid-November we had a visit from the acting DA, a Mr. Chihoto. About fifteen men including Mapfumo accompanied him. He, the DA, told me that he was taking my lands for resettlement. He emphasised that he was only interested in land – nothing else. I was not asked for my opinion – I was simply told that he was doing it. He told me that he had no interest in law and order. Insp. Mkungunugwa was there as a witness.
The following day I visited Insp. Mkungunugwa at Marlborough and asked if he would evict squatters if they tried to reoccupy my buildings. He replied that he would.
A few days later some squatters returned and ripped the lock and bolt off the office door. I reported this to Borrowdale Police and it was recorded as ‘breaking and entering’. I asked the Officer in charge if he would arrest the culprits, and he said he would – and that I should inform him when they returned.
During the same visit Chakwama stole two wooden doors from my carpentry shop worth some $6000. (This was reported in my letter to Marlborough police of 23rd November, 2000 - enclosed.)
A few days later the squatters had returned, and reoccupied the office. I chased them off as this was in contradiction to the DA’s instructions. I then collected their kit from the office and delivered it to Borrowdale Police Station.
A day or two later the squatters, who were also responsible for the breaking and entering, were back. I drove to Borrowdale Police Station, collected a police detail and had them arrested. Borrowdale police confirmed that they had committed a criminal offence and promised to charge them. The next day they were delivered back to their illegal lodgings in a Police Landrover from Marlborough Police Station, with their kit!
The abuse and harassment continued with Mapfumo visiting regularly. The foreman of the rose enterprise was assaulted, and my maid was threatened with dire consequences if she continued to work for me. My two gardeners were forced to role in the mud, and then beaten with a sjambok, and chased away. My old 80-year-old pensioner maid was also made to roll in the mud and chased away.
On the 16th and 18th December Mr. Reid and I left the farm for a break over Christmas.
On the night of Dec 22nd Mapfumo visited the farm at about midnight. He, together with about a dozen hangers on, went to the Hill House and found my sawmill tenants, the Snymans, who were renting the house and sawmill from me. They assaulted Mr. Snyman, abused his wife, clubbed their dogs with pick handles, and forcibly evicted them from the house. They loaded all their kit onto my pick-up and chased them away.
The police and Mr. Malcolm Vowles from CFU came out to defuse the situation.
Mr. Reid returned on the 8th Jan and I returned on the 18th Jan, 2001.
Since that day the Hill House is still illegally occupied, and the police, despite repeated requests, have refused to help. The squatters have been illegally using my water and electricity without payment.
On January 29th, after months of continuous threats and harassment, my tenants, the Farrs, eventually gave up and decided to move elsewhere. They left their house on the 29th January and the next morning one of the "war vets", Chakwama, decided to park in his car in their garage. This was an obvious act of provocation and indicated his intention of illegally moving into the house. I went down to the house, towed the vehicle out of the gate, and locked the gate.
(His vehicle was a battered pick-up, which I had seen being towed around the farm by a tractor in the last two weeks. When I towed it out, the doors were all locked and the handbrake was on, and it was in gear. As he would not have agreed to move it, and as it was locked, I had no option but to move it as it was.)
I returned home to the farm at approximately 1615 hours on Tuesday, 30th Jan 2001. As I drove towards the house I noticed a green army Mazda 323 with army "BF" numberplates and four occupants. I drove into my garage and this car followed me and stopped just outside the garage, presumably trying to block my way out. They had left some room, so I drove out of my yard and did a short circuit past the dairy and back to my house again.
After about fifteen minutes I noticed about six individuals, who I took to be so called "war vets", approaching my house from different directions. I started going round inside my house locking exterior doors. When I reached the kitchen, I noticed that two of the men were already inside the house with another one at the door. I approached them and asked them to get out of my house.
The first one started leaving, but the second one, Mapfumo, started shouting at me, "Do you think you a bull? Do you think you are a bull?" And with that he grabbed me by the front of my shirt and started assaulting me with his fists. At this the other two joined in and started punching and kicking me.
After some minutes they then dragged me out of the kitchen door by my feet. They dragged me about six meters and then continued assaulting me. At this point there were another group of six or more outside who joined in. I defended myself as best I could, but was no match for all nine of them. One had a large plank, another had a broomstick, and the rest were using boots and fists. They continued assaulting me for some time and then left me lying on the ground bleeding. I sustained multiple bruises to the head and jaw as well as a deep cut to the back of the head. I also sustained bruises to other parts of my body and a broken rib on the left side of my back. I drove in to a friend in town, who drove me to the Avenues clinic.
My assailants then went to Marlborough Police Station and reported me for assault! Supt. Kupara, O/C Harare Suburban District, came and took a statement off me at the Avenues Clinic, and I handed in a written statement to Marlborough Police.
Last weekend, 18th February, 2001, Chakwama moved into the Dairy House, recently vacated by the Farrs. He and his family are still in residence.
Threats and harassment continue on Mr. la Grange in Guest Cottage no 1, and Mr. Reid.
Since my assault I have had further threats of death and violence, and hence I am living with a friend in town.
CONCLUSION.
The following offences have been committed:
Can I expect any help from the police in this predicament?
YOURS VERY SINCERELY
DAVID WHEELER.
Copy Marlborough Police Station.
STOP PRESS – Friday 2nd March 2001
Since writing this letter I have had no positive response from the Police.
On Thursday my last remaining tenants, Mr Irvine Reid and his wife, Gayle, have been forced out of their house by death threats, and are leaving. This leaves the farm without senior management.
Stop Press. Wednesday March 13th, 2001. Still no reaction..
Innocent civilians and MDC leaders have in recent weeks been subjected to brutal attacks from people dressed in Zimbabwe National Army attire in the high-density suburbs of Harare and Chitungwiza. We now have evidence that hired ZANU PF thugs aided by the hooligan section of the war veterans dressed in Zimbabwe National Army attire are perpetrating the terror currently being experienced in the high density areas. The perpetrators of these barbaric acts of thuggery seek to confuse the nation and alienate ordinary people from the national army while they scare people into supporting Zanu PF. However the clumsy execution of their mission exposes them for what they are – confused political amateurs.
We believe in the integrity of our defence of forces. We however know that there have been cases of infiltration in certain wings of the army and some officers have unwittingly aided the brutalization of innocent citizens. The Movement for Democratic Change believes that institutions such as the army, the police and the civil service are national institutions, which should remain, non-partisan, capable of serving any government elected by the people of Zimbabwe.
The Movement for Democratic Change is however appalled by the clear partisan behaviour by the Zimbabwe Republic Police demonstrated most recently last Sunday (March 4) in Chitungwiza. The police force, which the previous day had published a mischievous and unfortunate statement that it had banned MDC political rallies in Chitungwiza, went on to wantonly beat up residents, particularly those who were gathering for the official opening of a market centre in St Mary’s Township by MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai. This is hardly surprising if one recalls that a few weeks ago Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri declared his membership of the moribund Zanu PF party.
He has chosen to abuse his position as Commissioner of Police to brutalise the people for and on behalf of Zanu PF in its struggle against the peace loving people of Zimbabwe against his oath to protect and defend them.
The same police force has let Zanu PF thugs calling themselves war veterans terrorise commercial farmers and more importantly innocent farm labourers and other innocent Zimbabweans accused or suspected of being members or supporters of the MDC. The police are acting with such zest to crush peaceful meetings of opposition political parties while they facilitate and turn a blind eye to the criminal activities of Zanu PF thugs.
It is sad and a national tragedy that the police have taken a role as Zanu PF’s political hooligans with a brief to fight, maim and kill innocent citizens who require their protection.
The brutalization of MDC supporters and innocent residents of Harare and Chitungwiza and many other areas in Zimbabwe must not be viewed in isolation. It is part of a broader strategy by Zanu PF to maintain its hold on power by unlawful and evil means.
This strategy was conceived at the Zanu PF congress in December last year. It centres on violence and force. It is this crumbling party’s misguided belief that Zimbabweans can be terrorised into voting for Zanu PF. Zanu PF’s desperation now knows no bounds. They are holding in bondage the people with whose mandate they are supposed to govern, in the hope that the people would be terrorised into surrendering their right to choose their leaders.
The Zanu PF strategy also includes an assault on the judiciary with an aim to put a ‘Zanu PF’ puppet judiciary, which will deliver kangaroo justice. The strategy also envisages silencing the privately owned press and civic society as evidenced by the bombing of the Daily News printing press; the expulsion of foreign journalists; the attack on bona fide civic groups and the creation of bogus civic organisations.
We have seen and heard senior Zanu PF leaders including vice-president Joseph Msika openly encouraging, inciting and supporting violence and brutality against innocent Zimbabweans whose only “crime” is to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to belong or to support a political party of their choice. While Joseph Msika was frothing in the mouth telling some 200 Zanu PF thugs that the MDC is a dangerous party which must be crushed some 40km away another innocent victim of Zanu PF’s brutality, Gloria Olds was being murdered in cold blood by thugs believed to be sponsored by Zanu PF.
The people should not be hoodwinked, not for one moment into believing that MDC leaders who are being arrested and harassed have committed any crimes. Their only “crime” is that they have chosen to stand up against evil and in support of the people’s struggle to be free.
We in the MDC rejoice in that in less than 12 months time the people of this country will be called upon to pronounce Judgement on the wickedness of Zanu PF and its government
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~March 11
2001 |
AFRICA |
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© |
Armour-piercing bullets
used to gun down widow
R
W Johnson
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WHEN David
Olds saw the trail of blood near his mother's body, he realised that she must
have crawled a short way after she was attacked. Around her were the remains of
her three favourite dogs. Like her, all had been killed with armour-piercing
bullets.
"I lost it, went off at the deep end," said Olds at the sight of his
72-year-old mother, Gloria, who was still mourning an elder son murdered a year
earlier when she was shot 15 times at her farm gates last Sunday.
"I fired shots at the police, closed the gates and chased them away," Olds
said, describing how he shut the property to all outsiders for several hours as
he struggled to regain his composure. "She was just full of holes. I picked up
her body and carried it into the shade."
The slaying of Gloria Olds was the latest, and probably the most shocking, of
the eight murders of white farmers since President Robert Mugabe's war veterans
and Zanu-PF supporters began invading their land in February last year.
Last April David Olds's brother, Martin, 44, was killed after a three-hour
siege of his farm. Martin's widow, Cathy, and children Martine, 18, and Angus,
15, fled to England, arriving with £60.
David resolved to stay with his wife Laura, daughter Mandy, 14, and son Ryan,
11, and to protect his mother on the family's isolated Silver Streams farm at
Nyamandlovu, 40 miles from Bulawayo.
Unusually, he had spent a night in the regional capital last weekend. On
Sunday morning he was contacted by neighbours who said they had heard shooting.
He sped back to the farm, but when he saw the police in his garden, he knew
immediately that he was too late.
"My mother was lying in a pool of blood in the full sun," he said in his
first interview. "They used armour-piercing shells against my mother. And then
they walked over to shoot her dogs, from about two yards' range. They just cut
them to pieces with those bullets, there was blood all over the place.
"One of the dogs had been run over in a farm accident and its back legs had
dragged on the ground but my mother was so fond of it, it went everywhere with
her. It couldn't hurt a fly but they just tore that one apart like they did the
others."
Olds, 43, had no hesitation in blaming the Mugabe government for his mother's
death. Mugabe had incited violence against white farmers and created a climate
of lawlessness to improve his chances of victory in the forthcoming presidential
election. "Mugabe is just determined to win at any cost and people are going to
go on getting killed as part of that. They can kill us with impunity."
His view was echoed by the Rev Paul Andrianotos, the South African-born
Presbyterian minister at Gloria Olds's funeral in St Andrew's Church, Bulawayo,
on Friday.
"It's a sad day when leaders tolerate and in some cases encourage
lawlessness," the minister told his predominantly white congregation. "It is sad
when a Zanu-PF official says, 'We are willing to let this country go to ruin so
that we can stay in power.' " The minister, whose application for a new work
permit has been refused following similar comments he made at the funeral of
Martin Olds, described Gloria's killers as "cowards and scum".
David Olds said he had spent much of the last week re-enacting his mother's
last moments in his mind, blaming himself for having failed to save her. "The
trouble is there was quite a lot of cover for them to hide by the gate. I should
have cleared that. I came down here to protect her, after all, and I failed,
didn't I?" he said.
At the same time he is determined to help the police in their investigation,
and has dug some of the 30 bullets fired at his mother out of the ground. He
said much of the ammunition was "bright and shiny, just out of the packet",
leading him to suspect her killing was a carefully planned operation.
"My mother's Toyota Hilux was well-known in the area - she was extremely
well-liked and had a tremendous rapport with the black community especially," he
said. "So of course people noticed the two guys who drove off in her Hilux and
they've been identified as the same guys who had a drink in the bar at
Nyamandlovu, our local village, the previous day.
"They were clearly watching the farm and waiting for me to go. They must have
been waiting at the farm gate at 6.30am when she came down to open it like she
did every morning."
Olds said the attacks on his family were "pure politics", and pointed out
that his brother's Compensation farm, next door to Silver Streams, had not even
been listed for government takeover at the time of his murder. "But they listed
it straightaway afterwards," he said. "I suppose they felt they had to. Mother's
farm wasn't listed either but maybe they'll list it now.
"The motive certainly wasn't theft. They went into the farmhouse but they
didn't take the wages money that was lying on the table, they didn't even take
booze or the guns in the house. They just took her handbag and the Hilux keys.
Then they drove it into town, locked it and threw the keys away. They used it
purely as a getaway vehicle."
Olds's mother had borne a succession of tragedies with characteristic
resilience, her son said. "My sister Elizabeth died at 18 in a car accident.
Then my mother's mother died three years ago. And then my father three months
later. And then Martin.
"But she kept on the farm and ran two butchers' shops. I tried hard to
persuade her to carry a gun but she wouldn't. Those guys with the
armour-piercing shells were up against an unarmed woman. And when they'd riddled
her with bullets they took the engagement and wedding rings off her fingers."
Olds has been touched by the response of other local farmers and by many
black people. "My mother was widely loved. I was in the butchers' shop the other
morning and some war vets came in. I thought, 'So what do you guys want?' But
they'd come to say how sorry they were, how they'd really liked her."
Despite his love of Zimbabwe, Olds is weighing up the risks of staying on.
Mandy and Ryan, he said, "ask me, are you going to get shot too, Dad? I have
lots of questions but no answers. Without any law, what are we?"
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From The Times (UK), 12 March
Mugabe's ghost squads spread terror at night
Our correspondent reports on a sinister group and the young men who vanish in Zimbabwe
To Blessed Nkano and his friends, the armed enforcers who descend on their Zimbabwe township after dark in Land Rovers with blacked-out windows are known as the "ghost squad". They wear no uniforms and carry no identity cards, but after they have gone through the beer halls and nightclubs beating young men like Mr Nkano, 19, the ghost squad retreat into the night, taking a victim with them.
In the past fortnight, 11 young men have disappeared from St Mary's township after these late-night raids. Local churchmen and human rights groups can find no trace of them in any police station or detention centre. Nobody is in doubt that this is the work of President Mugabe's feared CIO, which, in a country that cannot find money for food or petrol, has just been given another £20 million budget to create havoc.
Informers say that Mr Mugabe has chastised the war veterans for not being savage enough in dealing with his enemies, so he has turned to professionals to do the job. Mr Nkano now has to spend most nights sleeping in the maize fields that fringe Harare's biggest township at Chitungwiza because the ghost squads have twice tried to abduct him from his parents' home in recent days. He admits to being a local organiser for the MDC, the opposition party, but in their nightly round-ups the CIO men do not much care whom they thrash or abduct as long as St Mary's gets the message that dissent can seriously damage your health.
When the authorities were asked by the MDC leadership to explain the need for so much police and security activity in St Mary's, the answer was that it was an undercover operation aimed at capturing a gang of South African and Angolan car thieves. The attacks are not confined to St Mary's. Across Zimbabwe, the bloodshed that plagued last year's elections has continued - with much of it being blamed on ruling party militants illegally occupying white-owned farms in a government campaign to confiscate land to hand over to blacks. More recently Mr Mugabe has been accused of intimidating judges, expelling independent journalists and harassing his political opponents.
The violence has prompted Francis Maude, Britain's Shadow Foreign Secretary, to label Mr Mugabe a "thug and a murderer". Mr Maude condemned the French Government for receiving Mr Mugabe in Paris, accusing it of handing him a propaganda coup, and reiterated his call for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the Commonwealth. Mr Maude told BBC1's Breakfast with Frost yesterday: "I think the time has come for the Commonwealth to make it absolutely clear that the veneer of respectability that Zimbabwe's membership of the Commonwealth gives should be removed. What it does is to give to Mugabe this sort of sense that he is an internationally respected statesman. He is not. He is a thug and a murderer now, and that should be made very clear."
Opposition leaders in Zimbabwe and MPs in Britain have bitterly attacked the French and Belgian Governments for agreeing to meet Mr Mugabe during his European tour this month. It is unlikely that Mr Mugabe raised the subject of the attacks in St Mary's while taking tea with President Chirac, but they make a mockery of his protestations abroad that there are no human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Last week the CIO invaded the home of the MDC MP for St Mary's, Job Sikhala, who is his party's spokesman for security and police matters in parliament. Also last week, two youths, David Chipunza and Terence Saunyama, were dragged into the back of a Land Rover Discovery - provided as aid by the British Government - in a 4am raid on St Mary's. Their whereabouts are unknown.
The first indication that the CIO had a new lease of life came last month with a spate of thefts of vehicle registration plates from car breakers' yards. Before, they had not bothered with number plates on their government-issue vehicles, but have decided this draws unwanted attention to their antics. Tony Reeler, the director of the human rights group Amani Trust, said: "While the war veterans, the police and Army get the blame for all the violence, there is ample evidence from informers and eyewitnesses that the CIO are now infiltrating such organisations. Nobody enjoys the licence the CIO gets, and unlike most secret services they do not care who knows it. They want communities to fear them."
Mr Reeler is worried that the CIO has been unleashed even though President Mugabe insists that no presidential election is imminent. "Does this mean we are going to see the worst chapter of human rights abuses this country has ever witnessed and have to suffer 13 months of this sort of brutality to beat the opposition into submission?" he said. "Only Mugabe knows."
From The Sunday Times, 11 March
French polishing for a tyrant
Don't be surprised by the red carpet for Mugabe in Paris - France often cosies up to African dictators
Guards in plumed caps and ceremonial tunics stood to attention as the black Mercedes purred into the Elysée Palace courtyard on Tuesday. Out stepped Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, clearly savouring the presidential honours. Although reviled in Britain, he can still count on the French to roll out a red carpet. With its accommodating politicians, excellent food and good shopping, Paris is a favourite destination for African dictators taking a break from troubles at home; and there may be no better political deodorant for a despot stinking of corruption than a pomp-filled tête-à-tête with a French president. It should come as no surprise that Jacques Chirac seemed so willing to oblige Mugabe.
He arrived fresh from the incident in Brussels on Monday when Peter Tatchell, the gay and human rights activist who accuses Mugabe of torture, was punched in the face by Mugabe's bodyguards and left barely conscious in the gutter after trying to make a "citizen's arrest". Mugabe, who had just concluded a polite lunch with Poul Nielsen, the European Union's development commissioner, chuckled with aides in the back of a BMW. The Herald, a Mugabe organ in Harare, said Tatchell "should be thankful that the president's security men did not shoot him down like a dog". Asked about the unpleasantness in Belgium, Mugabe chuckled knowingly once more. "That was Brussels," he said. "This is Paris."
The French are not known for squeamishness in relations with African leaders whose neglect of democracy often goes hand in hand with unbridled sovereignty over mineral riches. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing may have come to regret the gift of diamonds he accepted from Jean-Bedel Bokassa, the "emperor" of the Central African Republic, who was accused of eating some of his victims; and Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, son of the last president, may have come to ponder the wisdom of African liaisons that have led to accusations of illegal arms dealing in Angola.
Yet old habits die hard and the Elysée relished exploiting Mugabe's falling out with Britain and recruiting him to its "Francophone" Africa club - even if he does not speak French. Membership perks are numerous, not least a law dating back to 1881 that is designed to protect heads of state, however unsavoury, from being insulted in France. In Paris last week, a motley assortment of leaders from Congo, Chad and Gabon made use of this image-laundering facility to take a French author to court for having had the temerity to question their credentials. Mugabe may not yet have received a Légion d'Honneur, the medal doled out by the bucketload in French-speaking Africa, and Chirac made a point of not greeting him at the front door so as not to be filmed shaking his hand. But Mugabe seemed more than happy with drum rolls, a fanfare and six dozen palace guards.
What had been billed as a 15-minute "meet and greet" session had turned into a 45-minute exchange in which Chirac was happy to focus more on pacifying the Great Lakes region of Central Africa than on Mugabe's pacification of his opposition. While Chirac officially was said to have expressed "concern" at events in Zimbabwe, Mugabe came away beaming. Pausing in front of the cameras on the way out of the Elysée, he called the talks "very friendly". In his £2,300-a-night presidential suite at the Prince de Galles - "we are very discreet", says a public relations consultant - he told Zoe Eisenstein, a journalist for Radio France Internationale, that Chirac had indeed raised the "land question". But this, Chirac had obligingly suggested, was an issue between Britain and Zimbabwe in which the French were strictly neutral.
Mugabe said Chirac had told him that the French "were not going to allow themselves to be influenced by Britain to take a wrong decision against us and we were very happy about that". Downing Street seemed anxious not to make this Gallic courtship of Britain's favourite bogeyman the subject of an open diplomatic tiff. "We told the French, 'If you're going to have this meeting, we hope President Chirac will use it to draw attention to the internal situation,' " a Whitehall source said, referring euphemistically to the harassment and murder of white farmers, the muzzling of the press, the dismantling of the independent judiciary and the intimidation of the opposition. Francis Maude, the shadow foreign secretary, angrily telephoned the French ambassador in London to complain about Chirac's "extraordinary lack of European solidarity". The French, as is their wont in hearing complaints from across the Channel, simply shrugged.
From The Sunday Times (SA), 11 March
Regional leaders clip Bob's wings
Mugabe loses control of defence 'organ'
Southern African leaders have taken the first step to curtailing Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's influence in the region. The leaders decided at the SADC extraordinary summit in Windhoek, Namibia, that the "organ" on politics, defence and security should be integrated into the SADC structure and should report to the regional body's chairman. Until now it has functioned independently of the SADC, under Mugabe's chairmanship. In future the chairmanship will be rotated annually.
A communique issued after the summit said the leaders had "agreed that the structure, operations and functions of the organ shall be regulated by the protocol on politics, defence and security co-operation" and coordinated at summit level. This means it would no longer be able to act unilaterally and its decisions would have to be endorsed by regional leaders before being implemented. "An individual will no longer be able to take a decision on behalf of the region," a senior government official said.
Zimbabwe has tried to underplay the significance of the decision on Mugabe's influence. Zimbabwe's High Commissioner to South Africa, Simon Khaya Moyo, said the decision was "in the interest of all of us in the region". He said that Zimbabwe supported the restructuring of SADC and did not see the changes as having an effect on Mugabe's regional influence. "We want to strengthen SADC and we are not going to allow our leaders to be divided," he said.
The control of the organ has been a source of concern among some leaders in the region. Former South African President and SADC chairman Nelson Mandela clashed with Mugabe over the issue. In 1998 Mugabe angered some leaders when he persuaded Angola and Namibia to send troops to the DRC to help Laurent Kabila in his war against rebel forces supported by Rwanda and Uganda. Mugabe will continue to chair the organ until the next summit in Malawi in August, where a decision will be taken on his successor as chairman. The Malawi summit will also review the decision on troops deployed in the DRC.
The Namibia summit, which was called to discuss the restructuring of the SADC, agreed to phase out its 21 commissions and sectors. It intends to replace them with four core directorates within two years. The communique issued after the summit said the leaders had also signed a declaration on firearms aimed at eradicating the illicit manufacturing, stockpiling and trafficking of weapons in the region. They expressed concern that the arms were contributing to the high level of instability, prolonged conflict and social dislocation in the region and the continent. The declaration is the first stage towards the development of a regional protocol.
The jockeying for the position of executive secretary was resolved when the acting incumbent, Dr Prega Ramsamy, was appointed for four years. Five countries had put up candidates for the position. It had been vacant since 1999 when Kaire Mbuende, a Namibian politician, was sacked. DRC President Joseph Kabila, who attended the summit for the first time since coming to power, was congratulated for the steps he had taken to bring peace to his country. He was also praised for opening the way for Botswana's former President Ketumile Masire, the facilitator for the inter-Congolese political dialogue, to resume his work.
From The Sunday Times (SA), 11 March
The pink panther stalking Mugabe
Gay activist who was beaten by the Zimbabwean leader's bodyguards tells why he turned on the man he once revered as a liberation hero
London - When Robert Mugabe publicly thanked Peter Tatchell for his contribution to the Zimbabwean struggle four years ago, little did he know that soon he would not be speaking to him. In fact, that their relationship would break down so badly that Tatchell would soon be stalking his former hero - trying to arrest him.
In the 1970s Tatchell had marched alongside young Zimbabwean firebrands like Didymus Mutasa, who later became Speaker of Parliament, and Chen Chimutengwende, who became information minister. He also raised funds to buy medical kits for Zanu guerrillas fighting against Ian Smith's racist government. But, on Monday, Tatchell was knocked unconscious by Mugabe's bodyguards. When Mugabe met European Union leaders in Belgium, the slim, lone figure of Tatchell emerged in a hotel lobby and tried to arrest Mugabe on human-rights charges. The resulting scuffle in which Mugabe's bodyguards beat up Tatchell led to international condemnation of Mugabe and his government.
Speaking to the Sunday Times from his small flat in a working-class area of London on Thursday, Tatchell accused Mugabe of becoming an "Ian Smith with a black face", branding him a "despot". "I hoped Zanu and Mugabe would ensure black majority rule to create a truly democratic, multiracial society based on equality for everyone. None of that has happened," he said. "Poor Zimbabweans have benefited very little, and having suffered so much in the liberation struggle this is terrible."
Some call Tatchell a loony leftie. He has been in more than a thousand demonstrations and has been involved in the gay "outing" of politicians and bishops who had publicly attacked gay and lesbian people. He was once called a "homosexual terrorist" by the Daily Mail newspaper, and the London Sunday Times branded him public enemy number one. However, this week, after his challenge to Mugabe in Belgium, he was being hailed by the same newspapers as a hero.
Born in Australia in 1952, he moved to Britain in 1969 and has been involved in gay and human rights causes ever since. His confrontational methods of protest, which include directly challenging and exposing homophobes and dictators, have led to his becoming a hated figure in Britain. He also took part in the struggle against apartheid and actively and successfully lobbied President Thabo Mbeki - then an ANC leader based in Lusaka - to include a gay rights clause in the ANC's constitutional principles.
The lobbying led to meetings with the ANC's constitutional guru, Albie Sachs, and the inclusion of the first explicit gay and lesbian rights clause in the world in South Africa's final constitution. Tatchell's involvement with South Africa began when he joined a protest against the South African surf lifesaving team that visited Australia in 1971. From then on he attended marches and other activities to protest against apartheid.
During the interview this week, Tatchell frequently stopped speaking because he said he was still getting dizzy spells from his beating by Mugabe's men. He was surrounded by thousands of books and memorabilia from his more than 30 years of gay activism. A South African flag flew on his bookcase. Very slightly built, Tatchell hardly strikes one as the type to challenge Mugabe and the many other powerful figures that have drawn his wrath. Unlike his neighbours, Tatchell has metal security bars on the windows of his flat. He has been attacked more than 300 times. Mugabe's men videotaped his actions in Brussels and have threatened to kill him.
On the day in 1997 when Mugabe thanked Tatchell for his activism, he asked him what he was involved in. "When I told him that I was a gay activist he spluttered into his tea," Tatchell said. Two years later, in late 1999 after Mugabe called gays animals, Tatchell and a few fellow activists forced Mugabe's limousine to stop in London and Tatchell opened the door and grabbed the Zimbabwean leader. He told him that he was under arrest on charges of torture under the 1984 UN Convention. "Mugabe was very happy when I was involved in the liberation struggle," Tatchell said. "I do not wish to impose anything on Zimbabwe. I simply want all the people of Zimbabwe to be treated with respect."
Now he plans to widen his attacks on Zimbabwe's leadership by exposing the corrupt business activities of at least four of the country's top politicians. Tatchell intends to use the information to have the leaders' accounts in European banks frozen and their overseas properties seized. "Some of them seem to have fabulous wealth acquired since they came to power, but at the same time price increases are hitting ordinary Zimbabweans hard," Tatchell said.
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But members of the Zimbabwean community say Mugabe should not be allowed to visit Australia for the summit.
"He has a lot of blood on his hands," said a Zimbabwean woman who has lived in Melbourne for eight years. "He gets people to do his dirty work so his hands are clean."
The woman asked that her name not be used because she feared reprisals against relatives in Zimbabwe.
"What is most unfortunate is that at independence he was our hero."
The woman said the "evil" Mr Mugabe should not be allowed to attend the Brisbane CHOGM because "he has brought Zimbabweans to their knees".
A dominating figure in Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, Mr Mugabe leads a nation scarred by political violence and intimidation, economic decline and corruption in high places.
His leadership was in the international spotlight last year when a terror campaign by his followers left at least 25 opposition supporters and five white farmers dead.
The campaign began after Mr Mugabe suffered his first defeat at the ballot box when voters rejected constitutional changes which would have given him more power.
The defeat rattled Mr Mugabe and led to the postponement of a general election due last April.
When the election was eventually held in June it resulted in a narrow win by his ZANU-PF party.
The violent occupations of hundreds of white farms during campaigning for the general election were regarded as an attempt by Mr Mugabe to exploit the emotional issue of land redistribution for political gain.
The Melbourne woman said: "People are fed up, but what can they do? If they demonstrate they risk being killed. He is a desperate man who will do anything to stay in power."
Her opinions were echoed by a Zimbabwean businessman who settled in Australia with his family three years ago.
The businessman said there was a "strong feeling" within the Zimbabwean community that Mr Mugabe should not be invited to the Brisbane summit.
"You can take it for granted that most Zimbabweans agree he should not be accorded any international recognition," he said.
There was also strong criticism of the African leader from a Melbourne academic who is a former member of the ZANU-PF party.
"I am very disappointed with the way things have turned out in Zimbabwe," said Felix Mavondo, a lecturer at Monash University who has lived in Australia for about 10 years.
However Mr Mavondo said Mr Mugabe should be allowed to attend CHOGM and explain his views.