VOA
By James Butty
Washington, D.C.
14 March
2007
Some Zimbabwean opposition activists who were detained for
taking part in a
protest Sunday were temporarily released late Tuesday night
to the custody
of their lawyers and told to return to court later
Wednesday. Shortly
before their release, Zimbabwe opposition Movement for
Democratic Charge
leaders had been held under police guard at the Avenue
Hospital in the
capital, Harare.
Nelson Chamisa is spokesman for MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai and one of
those beaten and arrested Sunday by
Zimbabwe police. He described police
treatment of MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai from his hospital bed shortly
before their release late Tuesday
night.
"Mr. Tsvangirai has been detained at the hospital for medication
and proper
hospitalization. According to the doctor, Mr. Tsvangirai
sustained a big cut
on his head arising from the assault by the central
intelligence people and
ZANU-PF militia while he was in police custody," he
said.
Chamisa said the Zimbabwe High Court had mandated the police to
take Mr.
Tsvangirai and the other wounded MDC leaders to the hospital for
medical
treatment before their appearance in court.
"When we got to
the court in the afternoon at the insistence of our lawyer,
because we
applied to the high court to try and have Mr. Tsvangirai and the
rest of the
leaders, including myself, to be brought to court. And we got
that order
from the high court; the police were now under pressure to get us
to the
magistrate court for appearance. But when we got there, it was clear
that
most of the people were not fit to stand before the court. So they were
asked to be hospitalized by the court to be checked in terms of their
medical fitness. And of course, that's how we ended up here where we are.
Unfortunately, we are still under police custody," Chamisa
said.
Chamisa disclosed that all hospitalized MDC activists had police
officers
posted by their hospital beds to ensure they did not escape from
the
hospital.
Struggling to stand upright and with a deep gash on the side of his head, Morgan Tsvangirai was brought before a Zimbabwean court yesterday. But the opposition leader refused any further medical treatment until all his fellow detainees were allowed to go to hospital.
Mr Tsvangirai arrived at the magistrates' court in the capital, Harare, with about 50 others, including several terribly wounded women, in an open truck. They sang songs of defiance against President Robert Mugabe's regime. After being arrested on Sunday for trying to attend a prayer meeting the authorities had deemed an illegal gathering, Mr Tsvangirai was severely tortured by police. "I am all right," he said, emerging from the packed courtroom and shaking hands with well-wishers, including Andrew Pocock, the British ambassador in Harare, Mr Tsvangirai winced in pain, his eyes so puffed and bloodshot he could barely see. The left side of his body was hunched and the stitches sewn into a deep wound on his head were clearly visible. Memory Mapai, 38, mother of one child
and a supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), could
barely walk. She was assisted by a wounded party official, Grace
Kwinjeh. Mrs Mapai's thin legs were blistered from blows. She clutched her side, and said in a weak voice: "The pain is very bad. I was tortured at Machipisa [police station]. But we will not stop." Elliot Mangoma, a prominent Harare businessman and MDC official, had to be carried in and out of court to the ambulance as his left leg was broken. "Tell the world about this," he said. One young man was heaved into court by fellow detainees. He lay writhing in pain for at least an hour on the floor of Court 6, before the police allowed him to be taken away on a stretcher. He was too weak even to whisper his name. "This was ghastly, barbaric treatment," said Mr Pocock, who was at first refused entrance to the court. "Morgan Tsvangirai has been very badly beaten but he remains strong, they all seem in good spirits. This government is under international scrutiny, and it is under enormous economic pressure. I don't know what comes next." Earlier, lawyers for the detainees had reported to Mr Justice Chinembiri Bhunu that police were defying an order he issued on Monday granting all the prisoners medical treatment and legal representation. Police responded by bringing the detainees to the court yesterday. But no charges were pressed against Mr Tsvangirai or any of the others. Police had failed to complete the necessary paperwork and no hearing could proceed. Sobuza Gula-Ndebele, the attorney-general, ordered that the entire group should be detained at a private hospital in Harare. Only when this assurance of medical treatment for every prisoner was given did Mr Tsvangirai agree to go to hospital. As he emerged from the dirty courtroom under police escort, hundreds of supporters began singing the African anthem, "Nkosi Sikelele Afrika", or "God Bless Africa". The treatment meted out to Mr Tsvangirai and his followers drew worldwide condemnation, led by Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state. She said: "The world community again has been shown that the regime of Robert Mugabe is ruthless and repressive and creates only suffering for the people of Zimbabwe. "The United States calls for the immediate and unconditional release of those individuals detained by the government of Zimbabwe." Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, has made no public comment on the situation. But Lord Triesman, the junior foreign office minister responsible for Africa, said: "The UK holds Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe government responsible for the safety of all those detained, urges the police to allow them access to legal advice, to provide them with medical care and to arrange for their immediate release." South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki's has always refrained from condemning Mr Mugabe. But Aziz Pahad, his deputy foreign minister, called on the regime to abide by the "rule of law" and "respect the rights of all Zimbabweans", including the "leaders of various political parties". |
New York Times
By MICHAEL
WINES
Published: March 14, 2007
JOHANNESBURG, March 13 - The Zimbabwean
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
and 49 other antigovernment protesters
were sent to a Harare hospital for
treatment on Tuesday, two days after the
police arrested and beat them for
their efforts to hold a protest
meeting.
The violence continued to draw international condemnation,
including an
unusual, if muted, rebuke on Tuesday from neighboring South
Africa, which
has seldom criticized President Robert G. Mugabe's
authoritarian government.
Zimbabwean officials were unrepentant and cast the
assaults on the
protesters as necessary to prevent attacks on the police and
more political
mayhem.
Parts of Harare, the capital, have been off
limits to political protests
amid discontent over the country's economic
collapse. The police have
patrolled the city in force since February, when
an attack by riot police
officers on a political rally in a southern suburb
descended into a street
battle.
Limping and missing a large patch of
hair, apparently because of a head
wound, Mr. Tsvangirai appeared in a
Harare court on Tuesday before being
sent to the hospital, his lawyers
said.
The government ignored an earlier order by the nation's High Court
to allow
lawyers and doctors to talk to and examine the imprisoned
protesters. Late
Monday, a second High Court order demanded that they either
be charged with
offenses or released by midday Tuesday.
News agency
reports said Mr. Tsvangirai and a second opposition leader,
Arthur
Mutambara, stood side by side in the court before police ejected
outsiders
and sealed off the building. The two men lead rival factions of
the Movement
for Democratic Change, the only opposition party of note in a
nation
dominated by Mr. Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic
Front.
One of Mr. Tsvangirai's lawyers, Alec Muchadehama, said Mr.
Tsvangirai
suffered deep cuts to his head, a badly battered right eye and
other
injuries during his two days in jail. Mr. Muchadehama said the civic
leader
Lovemore Madhuku suffered a broken arm "and injuries all over his
body and
deep cuts to his head."
Mr. Madhuku heads the National
Constitutional Assembly, Zimbabwe's largest
civic group, which promotes
political change. A frequent object of arrests
and harassment in recent
months, he appeared in court on Tuesday with his
head and one hand swathed
in bandages, news agencies reported.
Because the police emptied
spectators from the courtroom before the
proceedings began, it was unclear
what occurred during the hearing. Mr.
Muchadehama said no one had been
charged so far in connection with the
planned meeting on Sunday in a poor
southern Harare neighborhood called
Highfield. One man was shot and killed
by the police during the crackdown.
The police reported that three officers
were injured and said that some
members of the opposition threw rocks and
other objects at them.
Before Mr. Tsvangirai was driven from the court to
the hospital in a police
vehicle, news agencies reported, he shouted, "The
police assaulted
defenseless civilians, but the struggle
continues."
Zimbabwe's economic deterioration, fueled by
1,700-percent-a-year inflation
and a pervasive shortage of basic goods, has
emboldened critics of Mr.
Mugabe's government, who are increasingly ignoring
police warnings against
public protest. The 83-year-old Mr. Mugabe, who has
led Zimbabwe since its
independence in 1980, also faces growing unhappiness
within his ruling
party, many political analysts say.
The European
Union and the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon,
joined the
United States on Tuesday in condemning the crackdown. In a
written
statement, the United Nations' human rights commissioner, Louise
Arbour,
cited "shocking reports of police abuse" and called for an inquiry
by
Zimbabwe's government into the violence.
South Africa's deputy foreign
minister, Aziz Pahad, urged Zimbabwe "to
ensure that the rule of law,
including respect for the rights of all
Zimbabweans and leaders of various
political parties, is respected,"
according to a statement issued in his
name.
The Zimbabwe government did not immediately respond to the
criticism. Its
crackdown on political dissent spread Tuesday to one of Mr.
Mugabe's
sharpest critics, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, whose
offices were
raided by the government's secret police, the Central
Intelligence
Organization.
New Zimbabwe
By Staff Reporters
Last updated: 03/14/2007 10:54:04
ARTHUR
Mutambara, the leader of one of the two factions of Zimbabwe's
splintered
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was hauled from
his hospital
bed and driven to court late Tuesday night with dozens of other
bruised and
bloodied opposition activists.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the other MDC faction
leader remained at Harare's Avenues
Clinic under police
guard.
Following the late night unscheduled court appearence, Mutambara,
who was
nursing head wounds, was released into the custody of his lawyers
and
ordered to return to court on Wednesday.
Mutambara's lawyer,
Beatrice Mtetwa, said no state prosecutor or magistrate
was at the court
when the group was led to court around 10PM.
"The fact that there was no
prosecutor, no magistrate, no court officials,
only police, says a lot," she
said. "It says that we are in a police state."
Mtetwa said about 12 of
the 50 activists who had been arrested Sunday
remained at a hospital,
including Tsvangirai.
Mtetwa said police forced Tsvangirai, Mutambara and
many of her other
clients to lay face down and then beat them savagely and
repeatedly with
truncheons both at the scene of the arrests and at police
stations.
She said the state intended to charge the activists with
incitement to
violence for holding the rally organised by Zimbabwean
churches. Formal bail
had not been granted to any of them, she
said.
"We do not know why we are going back to court, if there is a case
against
them or not," she said.
During a brief court appearance
earlier Tuesday, the bruised and bandaged
activists shuffled into the room,
many singing and chanting in defiance of
the heavy police
presence.
British Ambassador Andrew Pockock, who was in court, said the
right side of
Tsvangirai's face was swollen, including his eyes. "It was
damn barbaric,"
the envoy told reporters.
A crowd outside sang and
waved the party's open hand salute as the MDC
leaders and about six other
injured activists left. Tsvangirai, his soiled
shirt almost completely
unbuttoned, appeared disoriented as he walked slowly
and boarded an
emergency vehicle unaided.
One activist was taken from court on a
stretcher, two stumbled on crutches,
and a young woman unable to walk was
helped into an ambulance by paramedics.
"The world community again has
been shown that the regime of Robert Mugabe
is ruthless and repressive and
creates only suffering for the people of
Zimbabwe," said Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice. She called for the
"immediate and unconditional release"
of the activists.
Mutambara had head wounds, Grace Kwinje also had head
wounds around his ear
and Lovemore Madhuku, head of the National
Constitutional Assembly, suffered
a broken arm.
Police used tear gas,
water cannon and live ammunition to crush Sunday's
gathering by the Save
Zimbabwe Campaign, a coalition of opposition, church
and civic groups, in
Harare's western township of Highfield.
Police shot and killed one
opposition activist, identified as Gift Tandare.
Two mourners were slightly
injured Tuesday at his funeral in skirmishes with
police, witnesses
said.
Among those arrested Sunday in Highfield were two journalists on
assignment
for The Associated Press, Harare freelance photographer
Tsvangirayi Mukwahzi
and freelance television producer Tendai Musiya. Both
were also released
from official custody but Musiya was still undergoing
medical checks and was
expected to return home shortly.
"It's been a
grave mistake by government. This has done more for
reunification of the
opposition than formal talks could have done," Pockock
said.
As the
clampdown continued, police raided the main office of the Zimbabwe
Congress
of Trade Unions on Tuesday.
"Staff were harassed, threatened, some were
slapped and beaten up. All
offices were searched and fliers, files and some
videotapes were seized,"
the labor group said. Its financial administrator,
Galileo Chirebvu, was
taken away by police who said they were looking for
"subversive material."
The federation has called for a national protest
strike in April.
U.S. Ambassador Christopher Dell told the British
Broadcasting Corp. that
Washington holds Mugabe and his government
personally accountable for the
safety of the detained
activists.
"We're all deeply shocked and saddened that the government of
Zimbabwe feels
that it has to resort to such brutal tactics against its own
people," Dell
said.
He also expressed disappointment at what he
called the passivity of
neighboring states, including South Africa, in the
face of the suffering of
Zimbabweans.
"One would hope that in the
glaring light of the growing brutality of the
Zimbabwean government, those
states would finally feel moved to act. They
can no longer deny that there
is a real crisis on the way here," Dell said.
"It was not Britain, it was
not Tony Blair who was out on the streets the
other day beating his own
people. That was the government of Zimbabwe in
open warfare with its own
population," Dell told the BBC.
South Africa's Deputy Foreign Affairs
Minister Aziz Pahad issued a statement
urging the Zimbabwean government to
ensure respect for the rule of law and
the opposition to work toward "a
climate that is conducive to finding a
lasting solution" to the challenges
facing Zimbabwe.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions said it
deplored the government's
"shamefully weak response," while the South
African Council of Churches said
"the silence of the South African
government is aggravating the situation."
U.N. High Commissioner for
Human Rights Louise Arbour added her voice to
mounting international
criticism on Tuesday. U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, Amnesty
International and the human rights committee of the
International Bar
Association also have expressed concern and condemnation.
The European
Union condemned "the ongoing violent suppression of the freedom
of opinion
and of assembly, as well as of other fundamental rights."
Mugabe's
opponents blame the 83-year-old leader for repression, corruption,
acute
food shortages and inflation of 1,600 percent _ the highest in the
world.
They have demanded the ouster of Mugabe, Zimbabwe's only ruler since
independence from Britain in 1980.
State radio Tuesday quoted
Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu as saying
opposition activists had
attacked police and were to blame for the violence.
Authorities suspected
an "underground movement" of opponents was planning a
violent campaign
against the government, he said.
Nathan Shamuyarira, chief spokesman for
Mugabe's ruling party, said
Tsvangirai defied a police ban on Sunday's
meeting. "Tsvangirai really asked
for the trouble in which he has found
himself," he told South African state
television. - Staff
Reporter/Associated Press
zimbabwejournalists.com
14th Mar 2007 01:21 GMT
By Alex T. Magaisa
ONE of my earliest memories of
humankind's capacity for cruelty and the
pleasure that some members of this
species take in inflicting pain and
suffering on other breathing creatures
is an incident I experienced years
ago, as a small boy, while attending to
the otherwise mundane chore of
looking after the village's domestic animals
along side other boys from the
village.
Those of us who witnessed the
incident lost something that day; we were
violently robbed of the precious
innocence of youth.
You see, when you have observed a naked display of
barbarism, it is very
difficult to express it in words. At those times,
silence can seem the only
perfect response.
It can be easy for
writers to overestimate the importance of what they do,
but there are times
when events cause a certain jolt; when all words appear
to pale into
insignificance. You are tempted to put down the pen and respond
to the
almost peremptory call of silence. In the wake of the brutal events
obtaining in Zimbabwe in recent days, it is a temptation that has been
difficult to resist.
But then it occurred to me that responding to
the call of silence, would be
a grim betrayal to all those men and women who
have suffered. But even then,
all the possible subjects, for which I had
prepared, suddenly appear
irrelevant. So today, I thought I would simply
reflect on the brutal
manifestation of mindless cruelty perpetrated by man
over man, in the
beleaguered nation of Zimbabwe. And this is where my early
experience of the
cruelty of humankind comes in.
It is many years
now, but occasionally, especially when I witness the
display of sadism, I
still hear echoes of the tortured cries of the little
birds. They were just
small eaglets, barely feathered and had hardly seen
much of the world to
which they had just recently been introduced. We saw
him high up in the tall
tree, frantically making his way up to the big nest.
Some of his friends
stood below, urging him on, while others stood by,
watching the spectacle,
with obvious excitement. He had already started
ripping the nest apart by
the time we got to the scene. Then he threw them,
one by one, the little
eaglets, down to his friends under the tree. Up in
the sky, the mother eagle
issued shrill cries, manifestly angry but helpless
in the circumstances. It
circled viciously and tried more than once to yank
a piece of the boy's
flesh, but each time it got closer, his friends below
hurled large stones at
the eagle.
Why, we asked, were they the doing that to the little birds.
They said that
eagles deserved to suffer and die because they are a menace
in their
village - they prey on the young chickens and food. But these
eaglets were
harmless, we said. They said it was best to catch them young.
The other
eagles, they tried to rationalise, would know that they should not
prey on
their food and young chickens in the village. But it is in the
nature of
eagles to behave as they do, we said. They said they did not
care.
It was fun anyway, they claimed, and went on to tie the hapless
birds on
strings and hang them on tree branches and take vicious aim with
their
catapults and stones. The deathly sounds of the little, defenceless
creatures pierced the stillness of an otherwise serene summer's
mid-afternoon. Mother eagle hovered above in desperation. It was clear she
could do nothing in the face human power and cruelty.
It was
difficult to fathom, the fact that a human being could be capable of
such
wickedness. It was obvious the boys were enjoying the whole sordid
exercise.
It was hard to understand how a decent person could actually find
it an
enjoyable spectacle. Did they not come from a home with a mother and
father?
Did they not have young brothers and sisters in their homes? How, we
tried
to comprehend, would they sleep at night? Would they simply banish
this from
their memories and sleep soundly throughout the night, without
even having
nightmares filled with the deathly cries of the defenceless
eaglets?
We stood by, helpless - helpless because we thought there
was not much we
could do against admittedly bigger and notoriously ruthless
boys from the
next village. We had looked to the bigger boys in our group
but they had
also stood by, clearly unimpressed by the spectacle but not
having the will
to intervene. After all they were just birds, they were
eagles and they
could not be drawn into a fight over eagles.
Later
on, I would, wit a sense of guilt, wonder whether I could have done
something; whether we could have done something to save those defenceless
creatures, which had been tortured so ruthlessly before our eyes and whose
lives had been terminated for no reason other than that they were
eagles.
There was, I must admit, a sense of embarrassment; embarrassment
at being a
member of the human race which had so exposed itself as capable
to doing
grievous harm even to unarmed and defenceless creatures;
embarrassment at
the fact that I had done nothing to prevent the cowardly
attacks. There was
a deep sense of guilt at the actions of my fellow human
beings, by whose
actions the brief life journey of the little birds had been
so violently and
abruptly interrupted.
That day I lost something; all
of us who witnessed it - we all lost
something. There was, to sum it up, a
deep sense of betrayal in respect of
the nature of the human being. We
learnt, in that very episode, humanity's
capacity for cruelty.
I do
not know what happened to those boys in life. Perhaps they became
policemen.
Perhaps one of them shot Gift Tandare in cold blood on Sunday.
Perhaps they
were there, when Tsvangirai, Madhuku, Mutambara, Biti and
others were beaten
up in recent days. I would not be surprised if they were.
Not that it makes
a big difference if they weren't.
I am just not surprised that some of
our members of the human race are
capable of that. What is a shame though,
is how the plight of victims is
sometimes forgotten and instead, some of us
blame the victims for their
predicament. We become the victims of our own
victimhood. Perhaps it's human
nature to try and rationalise violence - to
try and explain it, even when it's
absurd to do so.
I am reminded of
my readings in women's law - of the "Battered Wife
Syndrome" - in simple
terms, a physical and psychological condition by
which a wife who has been
repeatedly and systematically abused by her spouse
over a period of time,
becomes so tormented and weary that she is unable and
unwilling to take
action to defend herself. Rather, she begins to see
herself as the problem;
she blames herself for her predicament, and tries
even to rationalise the
behaviour of her spouse. In short, this is a case
where the victim blames
herself for her unfortunate position.
I am not surprised therefore, that
some people might be criticising the MDC
leadership for their predicament -
they are simply confirming what
systematic violence does to victims. The MDC
leaders were only exercising
their democratic rights - there is nothing
abnormal about attending a
meeting, be it for prayers or politics. What is
unusual and unlawful is to
deny people that legitimate right. The critics
are victims themselves, who
have accepted their fate and now try to make
sense of the other's unusual
and otherwise irrational and unlawful
behaviour.
I am not sure how those who have killed Gift Tandare and
brutally assaulted
the others sleep at night just as I wondered all those
years back, when the
boys in the village tortured those hapless eaglets, how
it was that they
were able to sleep at night. I do not know how the others
see it; men like
President Mbeki in South Africa, President Mogae in
Botswana, President
Guebuza in Mozambique, President Kikwete in Tanzania,
President Pohamba in
Namibia, President Mwanawasa in Zambia; perhaps they
too, like the big boys
who watched and did nothing to stop the brutal boys
from torturing and
executing the defenceless eaglets, feel it is not their
business to
intervene and stop it.
I am aware of humankind's capacity
for cruelty - but are we not also
complicit when we do nothing stop those of
our species from doing harm to
those that are defenceless? What I know is
that, part of the guilt that I
have carried since the day of the torture of
the eaglets, is because I too
felt a sense of shame and carried a share of
the guilt; the collective guilt
at not having done anything to stop the
mindless brutality that I witnessed
day. Yes, they were only birds, but they
had done nothing wrong, except to
exercise their right to live, as nature
had prescribed.
Dr Magaisa can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
The Scotsman
JANE FIELDS IN
HARARE
ZIMBABWE'S badly beaten opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was
whisked
away from a Harare court yesterday for hospital
treatment.
Ahead of his appearance, riot police in blue helmets had
surrounded the
magistrates' court in Harare's Rotten Row, while witnesses
inside said
police had cleared the courtroom.
But legal proceedings
did not get under way. Instead, the prosecution said
anyone who needed
medical attention would get it, and ambulances were
waiting to ferry Mr
Tsvangirai and his colleagues to private clinics.
There had been growing
fears over the condition of the leader of the
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), who was arrested last Sunday at a
prayer rally in a Harare
township.
Police beat him on the head so badly that his deputy, Thokozani
Khupe, said
earlier that she believed he was "battling for his
life".
Mr Tsvangirai, 55, was taken to court shortly after midday along
with more
than 40 detained opposition officials. The former trade unionist
had a badly
swollen eye and a wound to his head. A large patch of hair had
been shaved
off, apparently to tend to the wound.
Eliphas
Mukonoweshuro, a spokesman for the MDC, told The Scotsman Mr
Tsvangirai was
undergoing "medical procedures" at a Harare clinic after his
brief court
appearance. Lawyers were trying to get a "warrant of liberation"
for him and
more than 40 co-accused but were "worried about the possibility
of them
being taken back into custody".
A breakaway faction of the MDC led by
Arthur Mutambara - who is also in
custody - said magistrates were waiting
for instructions from the president,
Robert Mugabe, who was in a
meeting.
"The arrest and brutal assault of the opposition leaders is a
well-orchestrated strategy by [the ruling party] ZANU-PF to destroy the
opposition by eliminating its leadership," a spokeswoman
said.
Tensions were high in the capital after reports that police opened
fire on
about 500 mourners on Monday at the funeral of an opposition
activist who
was shot dead by police the previous day. Two people were
injured and taken
to hospital for treatment.
Police started shooting
at the mourners to disperse them, Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition, a local
rights group said.
State radio said the government was concerned "by the
apparent interference
of some western governments and organisations in the
internal affairs of
Zimbabwe", after the reports of police brutality
unleashed a torrent of
international condemnation.
A spokeswoman for
Ban Ki Moon, the United Nations' secretary-general, said
attacks on
opposition leaders "violate the basic democratic rights of
citizens to
engage in peaceful assembly".
Louise Arbour, the UN high commissioner for
human rights, said: "This form
of repression and intimidation of a peaceful
assembly is unacceptable."
MUTED REACTION ACROSS AFRICA
WHILE police
action against Morgan Tsvangirai drew sharp condemnation in the
West, most
of Zimbabwe's African neighbours remained restrained yesterday.
South
Africa issued an unusual but cautious statement, urging
"that the rule of
law, including respect for human rights of all Zimbabweans
and leaders of
various parties is respected".
The Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa, who
has defended Robert Mugabe in the
past, said: "Recent developments are of
great concern to us."
Washington Post
Leader of
Fractured Movement Finds Stature Boosted Following Beating
By Craig
Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, March 14, 2007; Page
A09
JOHANNESBURG, March 13 -- Two harrowing days in police custody
have left
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai with serious
physical
injuries but also renewed standing as head of an anti-government
movement
that is showing more energy than it has in
years.
Tsvangirai's failure to mount protests after several tainted
elections had
fueled criticism that he lacked the strategic savvy -- and
perhaps even the
physical courage -- to lead a final push against President
Robert Mugabe. As
recently as Friday, speaking before journalists in
Johannesburg, Tsvangirai
played down the need for demonstrations, saying:
"Going in the streets is
only one of the strategies. . . . A struggle has
various stages."
Yet two days later, police arrested Tsvangirai, 55, for
attending a
political rally in defiance of a ban on such gatherings. Though
organizers
portrayed the event as a prayer meeting in an attempt to sidestep
the ban,
it in fact marked the launch of an ambitious new "Save Zimbabwe"
campaign,
bringing together most major elements of an opposition that had
splintered
badly in 2005.
"If they ever wanted to boost Morgan
Tsvangirai's popularity, they've done
it," said David Coltart, an opposition
lawmaker who is not aligned with
Tsvangirai, speaking from Helsinki, where
he was observing an election.
"Whether Morgan intended this or not, this
thing has been thrust upon him,
and probably emboldened him."
At the
gathering Sunday, police shot dead one anti-government activist,
rounded up
50 others and beat many of them severely, opposition officials
said. Those
arrested appeared in court together Tuesday, wearing casts,
bandages and
bloodied, dirty clothing, and won both access to their
attorneys and the
right to medical care at a Harare clinic, news reports
said.
Outside
the court, Tsvangirai told journalists, "It was sadistic to attack
defenseless people," according to the Reuters news agency.
The worst
injuries were suffered by Tsvangirai, a burly former mineworker
and union
activist who appeared in court with a swollen face and stitches in
a gash on
his head. Party officials said he lost consciousness three times
during his
first day in jail, and in a brief meeting with his wife Monday
morning,
Tsvangirai could barely eat, walk or speak.
His harsh treatment left many
people concluding that Mugabe, attempting to
maintain control after 27 years
in power, regards Tsvangirai as his most
serious threat.
Most of the
detained activists were taken back to court late Tuesday, the
Associated
Press reported. They were released into their attorneys' custody
and are due
back in court Wednesday morning. Tsvangirai was one of 12 who
remained at
the clinic.
The opposition leader has his roots in Zimbabwe's labor
movement and was
among the founding members of the Movement for Democratic
Change in 1999. He
ran for president against Mugabe in 2002, and many
outside observers say
they believe he would have won if Mugabe's forces had
not manipulated the
election. Tsvangirai has been charged with several
crimes, including
treason, but has been acquitted.
Despite his
personal popularity, Tsvangirai was not able to turn discontent
into
effective demonstrations after tainted elections in 2000, 2002 and 2005
or
during a brutal slum-clearance campaign in 2005 that left 700,000
Zimbabweans without homes or jobs. His party split later that year, and he
has struggled since to regain his stature.
Even with the party
fractured, opposition to Mugabe's rule began rising
again late last year as
inflation topped 1,000 percent and persistent
shortages of gas and food
affected millions of Zimbabweans. Trade union
activists and several civic
groups, such as the National Constitutional
Assembly and Women of Zimbabwe
Arise, increasingly drove this new activism.
The breakaway faction of the
Movement for Democratic Change grew more
aggressive, issuing a flier for
Sunday's rally that declared, "It is
defiance or death."
But the
events of recent days have altered the chemistry of opposition
politics
again.
John Mw Makumbe, a political analyst at the University of
Zimbabwe, said
Mugabe had blundered badly in mistreating Tsvangirai. "He has
really raised
Morgan's profile beyond his wildest imagination," Makumbe
said, speaking
from Harare, the capital. "This time, Morgan is almost being
viewed as the
president."
U.S., British and U.N. officials have
sharply criticized the government for
arresting and beating opposition
activists.
"The world community again has been shown that the regime of
Robert Mugabe
is ruthless and repressive and creates only suffering for the
people of
Zimbabwe," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement
issued in
Washington. She demanded that Tsvangirai and other activists be
freed.
There have been reports of sporadic unrest in recent days, but
nothing
resembling the violence on Sunday, when police used tear gas, water
cannons
and live ammunition to control rock-throwing
youths.
Attention now is focused on what Tsvangirai will do with his
enhanced
stature when, and if, he is freed from jail. "We'll wait to see if
Morgan
will really rise to the occasion when he's recovered," Makumbe
said.
IOL
March 14 2007 at 01:32AM
London - Britain called on Tuesday for a
"very robust international
response" against Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe's government for its
brutal crackdown on the opposition.
"The situation is appalling. I condemn last Sunday's beatings and
arrests of
opposition leaders," junior Foreign Office Minister Lord David
Triesman said
in the House of Lords, Britain's unelected upper house of
parliament.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and dozens of
supporters were
arrested during a bid to hold an anti-government rally in
Harare on Sunday
despite a police ban.
Tsvangirai on Tuesday
defiantly vowed that his push to topple Mugabe
would go on. He was heading
to hospital to receive treatment for a beating
that he allegedly received in
custody.
"What is needed now is negotiation between
government and opposition,
on new democratic constitutional agreements, and
an economic recovery
programme, to lift Zimbabwe out of the disaster
resulting from Mugabe's
policies," Triesman said.
"Instead,
Mugabe has resorted to further violence and intimidation,
clinging to power
as Zimbabwe crumbles around him."
When asked about taking the
problem to the United Nations, Triesman
replied: "If we can secure enough
faces in the Security Council for a good
discussion, without it being
blocked, that would be very valuable.
"Zimbabwe opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai appeared in court this
morning plainly very seriously
injured, and has been returned, as others
have, to prison," he
said.
"These are circumstances which do call for a very robust
international
response," he said.
The main opposition
Conservative Party in the Lords asked why it would
not be right to invade
Zimbabwe to remove a tyrant like Mugabe when it was
right to invade Iraq in
2003 to topple Saddam Hussein.
"I don't think there is a prospect
of the invasion of Zimbabwe and I
don't want to encourage the thought,"
Triesman replied.
"The circumstances of the people of Zimbabwe
require of us a very high
measure of aid and a possibility of
reconstruction. The prospects of being
able to do it, and do it
successfully, are bound to be part of what's taken
into account." -
Sapa-AFP
The Age, Australia
March 14, 2007 - 11:00AM
A former Australian citizen has
been gravely injured in police custody after
being arrested in a mass
weekend protest in Zimbabwe, a lobby group says.
Sekai Holland, who lived
in Australia for two decades until 1981, was
arrested along with dozens of
other activists protesting against bans on
political rallies in the capital
Harare on Sunday.
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was among
those arrested and he
suffered head injuries while in police custody, his
lawyer claims.
Australian lobby group the Zimbabwe Information Centre
said in a statement
today that Mrs Holland's nephew had found his
61-year-old aunt seriously
injured when he visited her
yesterday.
"Mrs Sekai Holland is suffering from fractured hands and feet,
head injuries
and internal injuries and is now held under police custody at
the Avenues
Hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe, according to her nephew who
visited her
yesterday afternoon," the statement said.
Another senior
opposition figure, Grace Kwinjeh, also is being held there
with a damaged
ear, an injured neck, heavy bruising and cuts, the statement
added.
The lobby group urged the Australian government yesterday to
put pressure on
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to free Mrs Holland, a
senior figure in the
country's opposition movement.
Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer issued a statement the same day condemning
the brutal
suppression of the rally in Harare.
He called on the government of
Zimbabwe to release all those arrested, but
did not single out Mrs
Holland.
Mrs Holland moved to Australia in 1961 and married an Australian
man, Jim
Holland, before the couple moved back to Zimbabwe in
1981.
Born in Zimbabwe, Mrs Holland was granted Australian citizenship
while
living here but was forced to give it up when she returned to her
homeland.
The couple have a son and a daughter who still live in
Australia.
Mr Holland, who still holds an Australian passport, is
believed to have been
in Tanzania when his wife was arrested and has made
his way back to
Zimbabwe.
AAP
Zimbabwejournalists.com
14th Mar 2007 00:10 GMT
By a Correspondent
UK Parliament
House
of Lords
13th March 2007
Zimbabwe: International Crisis
Group
Lord Blaker asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their
response to the recommendations contained in the recent report
of the
International Crisis Group entitled Zimbabwe: An End to the
Stalemate?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and
Commonwealth Office
(Lord Triesman): My Lords, we welcome the ICG's latest
report and agree with
a number of its recommendations, including the need
for greater regional
engagement. The situation is appalling.
I
condemn last Sunday's beatings and arrest of opposition leaders. What is
needed now is negotiation between Government and opposition on new,
democratic, constitutional agreements and an economic recovery programme to
lift Zimbabwe out of the disaster resulting from Mugabe's policies. Instead,
Mugabe has resorted to further violence and intimidation, clinging to power
as Zimbabwe crumbles around him.
Lord Blaker: My Lords, I am grateful
to the Minister for that very full
reply, with which I agree entirely. I
would add only that the demonstration
two days ago involved the leader of
the opposition being assaulted so
severely that he had to be hospitalised.
Does the Minister agree that the
report makes it clear that the Mugabe
regime is actually crumbling? I agree
with him that the report makes
valuable suggestions, and I am glad that the
Government are going to take up
some of them.
Discussions should begin, as proposed in the report, about
taking the
question of Zimbabwe to the Security Council of the United
Nations. It is
relevant that South Africa is now a member.
Lord
Triesman: My Lords, I understand the noble Lord's point. If we can
secure
enough of a basis in the Security Council for a good discussion
without it
being blocked, that will be valuable. I hope that people
understand the
urgency for doing so. Morgan Tsvangirai appeared in court
this morning,
plainly seriously injured, and has been returned, as others
have, to prison.
These circumstances call for a robust international
response. If anyone
needs to learn the lessons, they have only to turn on
the television and see
the footage of those injured-and very heroic-people.
Baroness D'Souza: My
Lords, will Zimbabwe be high on the agenda of the
forthcoming Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting-in particular, the
possibility of Mr Mugabe
remaining as president beyond the 2008 elections?
Lord Triesman: My
Lords, I would be surprised if it were high on the agenda
of the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Zimbabwe withdrew from the
Commonwealth, arguably just moments before it was removed from it. I know of
no intention to re-admit it. It is completely out of line with,
paradoxically, the Harare principles for good governance.
I have also
heard that Mugabe anticipates carrying on in power well beyond
2008. I do
not know whether that will happen, because his economy has more
or less
imploded. The World Bank is anticipating a rate of inflation that
may be
approximately 5,000 per cent by the end of the year. These are
circumstances
from which I believe no economy in peacetime, and probably in
wartime, has
recovered.
Lord Lea of Crondall: My Lords, will my noble friend take
delivery of a
message of solidarity from the House to Morgan Tsvangirai,
given the
appalling treatment he has received? He is a former friend of
ours, a trade
union official and a great democrat, and that is the least we
can do in
these circumstances.
Lord Triesman: My Lords, I welcome
that, and I will do so. I am hopeful that
trade unionists and others
throughout the world will convey that message,
and that in doing so they
also convey it to COSATU in South Africa, where I
should like to see the
trade union movement also stand shoulder to shoulder.
Lord Avebury: My
Lords, in the circumstances described by the Minister of
Zimbabwe imploding,
does he think that the recommendation made by the
ICG-that the European
Union should engage with SADAC in formulating and
implementing a strategy
for a peaceful transition to post-Mugabe democratic
rule-now stands a better
and more realistic chance of success? If these
discussions do take place
between the EU and SADAC, will the Minister ensure
that one of the matters
to be taken up is the humanitarian situation of the
victims of Mugabe's
tyranny and in particular those who have been severely
injured in the recent
attacks on peaceful demonstrators?
Lord Triesman: My Lords, I believe
that when these matters are resolved the
suffering of people in recent
days-and over a considerable period-must
feature in those discussions. SADAC
has a responsibility as the regional
part of the African Union and plainly
ought to play more of a role. In
answering the question I am cautious, not
because I disagree with the
sentiment that lies behind it, but because I
have been frustrated on too
many occasions by witnessing the fact that
leaders in SADAC have not been
prepared to play that role. We should urge
them to do so.
Baroness Sharples: My Lords, cannot Her Majesty's
Government bring more
pressure to bear on President Mbeki to criticise
Mugabe; in fact, to condemn
him?
Lord Triesman: My Lords, a number of
African presidents-President Obasanjo,
former President Chisano of
Mozambique and President Mbeki-have probably
said rather more privately than
is recognised. I am among those who would
prefer some of those comments to
be made more openly and on the record
because they would have a greater
effect.
There are deep concerns in South Africa that the current economic
implosion
may well displace up to 6 million people across the Limpopo into
the poorest
part of South Africa. That would be a humanitarian and regional
security
disaster as competition for land, water and other resources would
become
acute. I believe that everybody wants a robust solution, but one
which does
not lead to an even worse disaster.
Lord Alton of
Liverpool: My Lords, given the failure of President Mbeki and
others to
speak out vocally against what is happening in Zimbabwe, would not
the visit
this week by President John Kufuor of Ghana, who has just taken
over the
presidency of the African Union, be an ideal moment to raise this
issue with
him and to engage a nation such as his in trying to broker a way
forward in
a country that is seeing not only the imprisonment of opposition
leaders but
the use of tear gas on innocent demonstrators? As the noble Lord
told us,
the country is sliding into famine and the mortality rate for women
is now
said to be in the mid-30s. Surely this is a moment to raise this
matter
during the state visit of President John Kufuor and to bring African
leadership behind everything that the noble Lord mentioned.
Lord
Triesman: My Lords, President John Kufuor has a very good record in
this
regard. I should be extremely surprised if this matter were not
discussed
during the state visit, which I welcome. President Kufuor is an
outstanding
leader who can play a very important role. When statements are
made at the
end of the visit, I hope it will be apparent that some of the
noble Lord's
wishes will be gratified.
The Archbishop of York: My Lords, the noble
Lord told us that if enough
votes could be obtained in the Security Council
a resolution could be
passed. What will it take to obtain those votes? How
engaged are Her Majesty's
Government in trying to persuade the different
embassies and High
Commissions in the region to be proactive because
dictators know no other
language than a very robust response?
Lord
Triesman: My Lords, I frequently put precisely those points to high
commissioners and ambassadors of the region. We want to see this matter
expressed in the clearest possible terms. The problem at the Security
Council is slightly more complex than the most reverend Primate expressed.
Were it to be a matter of simply trying to get the votes, it would be tough
but we would have a very good go at it; the difficult task is knowing in
advance that you have enough support to make a credible stab at it. I am
keen to avoid Robert Mugabe believing that we cannot even get off first
base, because if anybody will use that, it is him.
Baroness Park of
Monmouth: My Lords, I suggest to the Minister that the
report recommends
that something should be done to prevent a second
Murambatsvina-"clearing
up"-like the awful operation about two years ago,
which Anna Tibaijuka
criticised so justly and severely. Is it possible for
this Government to at
least raise in the United Nations the question of
requiring the
secretary-general, who I hope is quite distinct from the
Security Council,
to send a personal representative and a representative to
ensure that the
follow-up to the Anna Tibaijuka report should not be a
second operation of
the same kind? Surely that is clear-cut and simple, and
is something that
could be done and need not rest on votes?
Lord Triesman: My Lords, the
noble Baroness makes a very important point.
Ban Ki-Moon has taken account
of the fact that the first of these appalling
events should not be repeated.
He is engaged, and we should press him to
continue to be engaged. Even that
will not turn out-as I know the noble
Baroness knows-to be as simple as it
is to say it here. Kofi Annan intended
to go there to follow those matters
up and to see whether there was a
prospect of change before he left office.
He was told by Mugabe to stay out
of the country. He announced at the
African Union conference that he would
have no prospect of success in
attending. Very few countries in the world
tell the secretary-general not to
come, and they do so only, in my view,
because they have appalling crimes to
hide.
Lord Hamilton of Epsom: My Lords, if it is right to invade Iraq to
get rid
of the tyrant Saddam Hussein, who was making life hell for the
citizens of
Iraq, why is it not right to invade Zimbabwe to get rid of the
tyrant
Mugabe?
Lord Triesman: My Lords, I do not think that there is
a prospect of the
invasion of Zimbabwe, and I do not want to encourage that
thought. The
circumstances of the people of Zimbabwe require of us a very
high measure of
aid and a possibility of reconstruction. The noble Lord may
say that that is
true in other places as well, but the prospects of being
able to do it
successfully are bound to be part of what is taken into
account.
Extract from
Daily Press Briefing
Tom Casey,
Deputy Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 13, 2007
QUESTION: Zimbabwe,
please. Can you tell me the level of concern you have
for the unrest that's
going on at the moment?
MR. CASEY: Well, I think all of you have seen
the statement that we put out
by the Secretary calling for the immediate
release of those individuals,
including some key opposition leaders, who
were detained in Zimbabwe after
the violent crackdown on this prayer
breakfast that was being held over the
weekend. We certainly are concerned.
We're concerned that the police and the
government as a whole hadn't
responded to a number of court orders on this
issue. We're concerned in the
first place that these individuals have been
detained.
No one
should face harassment, intimidation, and as it increasingly appears,
beatings and physical abuse simply for trying to get together and meet and
freely express their views and freely talk about political issues. I think
what this incident shows clearly to the international community is, again,
the repressive nature of the Mugabe government and the lengths to which it
will go to try and keep people from being able to participate in the
political process.
QUESTION: Are you taking any diplomatic steps
to try to increase pressure on
the Mugabe government to treat its people
with greater dignity and less
violence? Are you reaching out to neighbors,
to South Africa? Are you
reaching out to the Chinese, who have economic
relations?
MR. CASEY: We've had a number of discussions among embassy
counterparts in
Zimbabwe itself. I think you've seen already a statement
come out from the
EU ambassadors there and I think there may have been one
that has come out
from the EU itself as well.
Our ambassador is
currently, or was when I came out here, present in the
courtroom where these
individuals have been brought for a hearing. I know
that both he as well as
some of the EU ambassadors made efforts to visit
these individuals in
detention to try and check on their condition because
of the concerns we
have about what is going on. Certainly, we are going to
be talking with our
EU partners as well as with other friends in the region
as well, because
clearly, this is very concerning.
As we approach the beginnings of an
electoral campaign in Zimbabwe as well,
we certainly want to see more
openness and see a dialogue go on between all
the elements of Zimbabwean
society. What we don't want to see is an increase
in repressive behavior.
And again, it's particularly disturbing to see these
reports of not only a
breakup of these rallies, but of individuals,
including some senior members
of the political opposition, being beaten, not
being provided with medical
care, and possibly suffering serious injuries
that no one's been able to
account for.
They have also not been given the opportunity, as I
understand it, to see
their counsel, see their lawyers, or otherwise have
the kinds of contacts
you would normally expect. And they're required under
Zimbabwean law. So
yes, we will be talking with our friends and partners
both in Europe and in
the region to talk about what else we might be able to
do to support some
positive change in Zimbabwe.
Elise or
Charlie.
QUESTION: Yeah, to follow up, you said the American
ambassador made an
attempt to see --
MR. CASEY:
Yeah.
QUESTION: Did he actually see any of the people who were in
jail?
MR. CASEY: No, he was not permitted to visit with them. As I
said, he was in
the courtroom today when those individuals were brought in,
but as far as I
know, he was not given an opportunity to converse with
them.
Elise, did you have something else?
QUESTION: Yeah.
We really haven't heard that much about Zimbabwe until this
incident,
although the United States has always considered the government of
Robert
Mugabe to be a repressive regime. Do you think that enough high-level
attention has been paid to -- while you pursue your democracy agenda to
democratic backslide -- continued backsliding in Zimbabwe that lead to this
event?
MR. CASEY: Well, I wish I could say that this event
represented a break with
some positive movement in Zimbabwe. I think we've
seen, over the past few
years, that the situation there, like in a number of
other countries, has
unfortunately only continued in the wrong direction.
And certainly, we have
tried to call attention to the problems in Zimbabwe,
both publicly here and
in international fora. It's unfortunate to us that
this is, of course, one
of the other issues that the Human Rights Council
has not decided to focus
on or pick up on despite the fact that there are
serious concerns and
problems. So while I think we have done as much as we
can to call attention
to this and we have continued to try and push for
change in Zimbabwe,
including through working with our partners, obviously,
the incidents over
the past week and today just serve as another reminder of
why we need to
continue to be focused on this, look at things closely and
see what we can
do to try and foster change.
SABC
March 14, 2007,
06:15
South Africa has met another diplomatic challenge at the United
Nations.
This time over its troubled neighbour Zimbabwe. The SA government
says the
political problems and economic meltdown that has besieged Zimbabwe
do not
warrant the country being the subject of concern in the Security
Council.
An inclusion in the council agenda may lead to sanctions on
Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is under an international spotlight as world outrage is
growing
over its government's violent crackdown on political protests. This
follows
the arrest and alleged beatings in detention of Morgan Tsangirai,
the
opposition leader, who was arrested on Sunday.
There is a growing
diplomatic shuffling at the United Nations (UN) corridors
to bring Harare
back to the Security Council for allegations of human rights
abuses and
political violence. The UN chief has issued a strong call to
Robert Mugabe,
Zimbabwe's president, challenging him to release opposition
leaders, ensure
free political activity and protection of human rights in
his
country.
Zimbabwe issues 'not for the council'
However, South Africa
disagrees that Zimbabwe should be the subject of
concern in the Security
Council.
"We truly regret what's happening in Zim but it's not the matter
that
belongs to the Security Council," said Dumisani Khumalo, the SA
ambassador
to the UN.
Thousands of Zimbabweans have fled to South
Africa as the economic crisis
deepens. Mugabe has been under severe
criticisms, mostly from Western
countries, for alleged mismanagement of his
country's economy and human
rights violations.
With Zimbabwe's arch
enemy, Britain taking over the presidency of the
Security Council from South
Africa next month, the current situation in
Zimbabwe may find its way into
the agenda of the Council.