CNN
Zimbabwe seizes jet with 'suspected mercenaries' aboard
Monday, March 8, 2004 Posted: 7:26 PM EST (0026 GMT) Tuesday, March
9, 2004 Posted: 0026 GMT (0826 HKT)
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Zimbabwean authorities show what
they found on a seized U.S. registered cargo plane at Harare airport, Monday. |
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(CNN) -- Authorities in Zimbabwe have taken 64
people identified as "suspected mercenaries" into custody and seized a
U.S.-registered jetliner carrying military material, a police spokesman said
Monday.
In Washington, a State Department spokesman said the aircraft had no
connection to the U.S. government, and the company listed as its owner said the
aircraft was sold recently.
"An investigation to establish the true identities of the men and their
ultimate mission is under way," police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said. "A full
statement will be issued in due course."
The Boeing 727 was impounded Sunday evening in Harare after authorities
concluded its owners had falsely declared its cargo and passengers, Bvudzijena
said. Its origin and destination were not released.
The jet's owner is listed in U.S. aviation records as Rantoul, Kansas-based
Dodson Aviation. But Butch Holtgrieve, a company spokesman, said the aircraft
was recently sold to a South African company which he did not identify.
Zimbabwe's Home Affairs Ministry said the aircraft was carrying military
material. Items displayed for reporters included camouflage uniforms, an
inflatable dinghy, portable radios and tools such as bolt cutters, but there was
no indication that the aircraft carried any weapons.
Bvudzijena said those held were of "various nationalities."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the U.S.
Embassy in Harare was looking into the matter, though there was no indication
Americans were among those held.
The United States has been very critical of the government of Zimbabwe and
especially President Robert Mugabe.
The United States has accused the Zimbabwe government of waging "a concerted
campaign of violence, repression, and intimidation showing its disregard for
human rights, the rule of law, and the welfare of its citizens."
Earlier this month, Washington imposed new targeted sanctions on several
companies owned by members of the Zimbabwe government.
Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 but has drawn sharp
criticism over many of his policies, including what many claim are human rights
abuses targeting the opposition.
Sunday Times (SA)
Possible SA link to alleged mercenary
plane
Tuesday March 09, 2004 07:05 - (SA)The
government was concerned that South African citizens may be among the
64
alleged mercenaries aboard a possibly US-registered aeroplane impounded
in
Zimbabwe on Sunday.
In a media statement on Monday, the Department
of Foreign Affairs said it
was in close communication with South Africa's
High Commissioner to
Zimbabwe, Jerry Ndou, as he seeks clarity on the
circumstances surrounding
this incident.
"Should the allegations that
those South Africans on board are involved in
mercenary activities prove
true, this would amount to a serious breach of
the Foreign Military
Assistance Act, which expressly prohibits the
involvement of South Africans
in military activities outside South Africa
without the due authorisation
of
the National Conventional Arms Control Committee," the department
said.
The French news agency AFP reported earlier that Zimbabwe's Home
Affairs
Minister Kembo Mohadi had announced the impounding of a
US-registered
aircraft which landed at Harare airport with military equipment
and 64
suspected mercenaries.
However, a US State Department official
denied that the plane was registered
in the United States, though it might
once have been. "It is not a US
registered aircraft right now," the official
said on condition of anonymity.
Mohadi said that a "United States of
America-registered Boeing 727-100 cargo
plane was detained last (Sunday)
night at about 1930 hours (1730 GMT) at
Harare International Airport after
its owners had made a false declaration
of its cargo and crew."
"The
plane was actually carrying 64 suspected mercenaries of
various
nationalities," the minister told a press conference.
"Further
investigations also revealed that on board the plane was
military
materiel."
President Robert Mugabe has repeatedly accused the
US government and the
former colonial power, Britain, of trying to oust him
from power since he
was re-elected in controversial polls two years
ago.
Mohadi said full details would be issued in due course but that in
the
meantime investigations were under way to establish the "true identities
of
the men and their ultimate mission".
The plane, whose origin has
not been established, has been moved to a
military airbase, AFP was
told.
What had been done with the men aboard was not immediately
clear.
A US embassy official in Harare said "We know nothing about it"
and the
mystery deepened when the official in Washington confirmed: "It is
not a US
government or a US commercial aircraft as far as we know.
"I
understand that at one point back in the 1970's someone may have owned it
in
the US but it hasn't been a US aircraft since the early 80's," the
official
explained. "I have no idea who owns it. There is no US citizen
on
board."
Three US nationals were arrested at the same airport on
March 7, 1999
trying to board a plane to Zurich with firearms.
They
said they were missionaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and
used the
arms for hunting and for their protection.
The government described them
as mercenaries, prompting anti-US
demonstrations.
They were convicted
on September 13 of that year on a charge of possession
of arms of war, and
sentenced to 27 months in prison, with 21 months
suspended because the judge
found they had been treated inhumanely.
They were released on November 6,
1999.
Relations between the United States and Zimbabwe worsened last week
when US
President George W. Bush renewed sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe
President
Robert Mugabe and other government officials one year ago for
allegedly
undermining democracy in the southern African
country.
Washington said it was widening the existing sanctions regime
against
Zimbabwe to include seven government-related businesses.
Bush
said the Zimbabwe government was causing a breakdown of the rule of
law,
economic instability, and fomenting politically motivated violence,
but
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo responded angrily referring to
the
Americans as "hamburger-eating imperialists".
Last month the EU
extended sanctions it had imposed against Zimbabwe, to
include an arms
embargo as well as travel restrictions and a freeze on any
overseas assets of
95 government officials, including Mugabe.
The economy of the former
British colony has been in a nose-dive in recent
years with international
support drying up, and rates of inflation and
interest skyrocketing to record
highs of more than 600%.
Mugabe's reputation as an African statesman
started fading in recent years
after the country - once the region's
breadbasket - slid into economic
decline as land reforms which had been left
unresolved for years, were
jump-started with the violent occupation of
white-owned farms.
Sapa
SABC
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Government keeps keen eye on mercenary plane in
Zimbabwe |
March 09, 2004, 04:54
The government is concerned that South African citizens may be among the 64
alleged mercenaries aboard a possibly US-registered aeroplane impounded in
Zimbabwe on Sunday. The department of foreign affairs said yesterday it was in
close communication with South Africa's High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, Jerry
Ndou, as he seeks clarity on the circumstances surrounding this
incident.
"Should the allegations that those South Africans on board are
involved in mercenary activities prove true, this would amount to a serious
breach of the Foreign Military Assistance Act, which expressly prohibits the
involvement of South Africans in military activities outside South Africa
without the due authorisation of the National Conventional Arms Control
Committee," the department said.
Kembo Mohadi, Zimbabwe's home affairs
minister, earlier said a US-registered aircraft, which landed at Harare airport
with military equipment and 64 suspected mercenaries, had been
impounded.
However, a US State Department official denied that the plane
was registered in the United States, though it might once have been. "It is not
a US registered aircraft right now," the official said on condition of
anonymity.
Three US nationals were arrested at the same airport on March
7, 1999 trying to board a plane to Zurich with firearms. They said they were
missionaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo and used the arms for hunting
and for their protection. - Sapa
The Telegraph
'Mercenaries on US aircraft are held in Harare'
By Tim
Butcher in Johannesburg
(Filed: 09/03/2004)
Claims by the
Zimbabwean regime that an American-registered aircraft had
been impounded at
Harare loaded with military equipment and dozens of
"suspected mercenaries"
were being investigated by western governments last
night.
The regime
said the mercenaries came from various countries. It did not give
further
details but The Telegraph has learned the aircraft flew to Zimbabwe
from
South Africa.
President Robert Mugabe's regime has repeatedly accused
Britain and America
of seeking to overthrow the 80-year-old dictator but
there was no suggestion
that the aircraft was part of an attempted coup in
Zimbabwe. It was more
likely to be part of the illicit flow of arms and
people common through
quasi-lawless African countries such as
Zimbabwe.
Unregistered flights were common from Harare to the Democratic
Republic of
Congo until recently as Mr Mugabe's cronies sent troops to
plunder its
diamonds, cobalt and other mineral resources.
British and
American diplomats were last night seeking clarification of a
statement made
by Kembo Mahadi, the Zimbabwean home minister.
"A United
States-registered Boeing 727 cargo plane was detained on Sunday
night at
Harare International Airport after its owners had made a false
declaration of
its cargo and crew," Mr Mohadi said. "The plane was actually
carrying 64
suspected mercenaries of various nationalities.
"Further investigations
also revealed that on board was military material."
He said the aircraft
was moved to a military base for further investigation
and journalists'
requests to see the aircraft were turned down.
Mr Mohadi said full
details would be released once officials established
"the true identities of
the men on board and their ultimate mission".
Later state television
broadcast pictures of Zimbabwean military personnel
next to an aircraft
bearing the registration number N4610.
The men were shown holding up
bolt-cutters, a sledge hammer, army boots,
sleeping bags and walkie-talkie
radios but no weapons or ammunition.
US Federal Aviation Administration
records show N4610 to be a 727 registered
to Dodson Aviation Inc. based in
Ottawa, Kansas. Dodson Aviation says it
sold the aircraft about a week ago to
an African company called Logo Ltd.
Aircraft are one of the most common
conduits for African dictators and rebel
leaders to smuggle arms, money and
people and it is possible this aircraft
was en route from South Africa
through Zimbabwe to another destination.
Once an aircraft's flight plan
is filed it is relatively easy for it to
deviate from the plan and deliver an
illicit load.
Peacekeepers deploying to Liberia last summer in the death
throes of the
regime of the ousted president Charles Taylor were amazed to
see an unmarked
cargo jet arrive at the airport outside the capital,
Monrovia.
The aircraft, registered in Belgium and believed to be from
Libya, one of
Taylor's staunchest allies, was loaded with
weapons.
Taylor's regime expressed surprise that the aircraft was
impounded claiming
that the weapons were for self-defence even though United
Nations sanctions
banned all arms shipments to Liberia at the time.
Independent (UK)
Violence against opposition MPs in Zimbabwe 'is worst in
world'
By Basildon Peta, Southern Africa Correspondent
09 March
2004
The attacks on opposition members of Parliament by Robert
Mugabe's regime is
the worst example of persecution of elected MPs in any
democracy in the
world, a report by Canadian and Zimbabwean lawyers has
concluded.
Even being related to or employed by an opposition MP is
equivalent to a
crime in the eyes of the Mugabe regime and can result in
gross human rights
violations including death, says the report, Playing With
Fire.
The study, to be released in London this week, says all opposition
MPs in
Zimbabwe have suffered severe beatings, torture or destruction of
personal
property at the hands of the Mugabe regime. Many had their homes
destroyed.
Three opposition MPs died after severe assaults, including
Austin
Mupandawana, the Kadoma MP. Although their deaths could not be
directly
attributed to the attacks, the report says that their health
deteriorated
soon after.
In targeting the MPs and other opponents, the
Mugabe regime has violated
almost every international protocol on human
rights, the report said, and
the violence against them is continuing with
impunity.
"By targeting these people, the Zanu-PF party and President
Mugabe are
sending a clear signal to the citizenry that they should be
fearful of
supporting anyone else but the Zanu-PF party," the report
said.
"The message is clear. Doing otherwise may jeopardise their
property, and
even their lives. Evidence shows that to stand against Zanu-PF
is to expose
not only yourself but also your family and staff to assault,
property loss,
arrest, torture and possibly death."
The report said
more than 90 per cent of the 57 opposition parliamentarians
elected in 2000
had reported violations that had directly affected their own
person,
including murder, attempted murder, torture, assault , arrest
and
detention.
Although research for the report was specifically based
on what had happened
to 50 MPs, all the 57 opposition MPs had suffered
violence in one form or
another. They had all been arrested and jailed by the
Mugabe regime. Because
of deaths and losses in by-elections, the number of
opposition MPs has now
been reduced to 53.
About 14 MPs, including Job
Sikhala, Fidelis Mhashu, Tafadzwa Musekiwa, Roy
Bennett, Willias Madzimure,
Paul Madzore, Tendai Biti and David Coltart, had
survived assassination
attempts at home or in their vehicles. The MDC
leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who
is not an MP, has survived several murder
attempts and his personal aide,
Tichaona Chiminya, was murdered in a petrol
bomb attack. Many MPs have been
beaten or arrested more than 10 times.
Half of the attacks on opposition
MPs were perpetrated by Zimbabwe's state
security agents - the Zimbabwe
Republic Police, the Zimbabwe National Army
and the Central Intelligence
Agency - yet these were supposed to protect
citizens from unlawful acts.
Other attacks were by Mr Mugabe's militant
youth militias and so-called war
veterans.
The attacks are committed with impunity and in no instance were
the
perpetrators arrested or charged. In many instances, MPs were arrested
when
they tried to report attacks made on them to police. "The law and
law
enforcement agents have become the primary tools for oppression of MPs
from
the opposition," the report said, adding that the judiciary had
been
prostituted after the purging of independent judges in favour of
cronies.
Conditions in Zimbabwe are far worse now than they were in 2000
when the
present opposition MPs were elected under a harsh environment, with
the
state more prepared to use force. The report listed political violence
since
2000, and concluded: "Any election under these conditions will be a
farce."
Sporting Life
'ZIMBABWE ISSUE' SHADOWS ICC
MEETING
By Richard Gibson, PA Sport
World
cricket chiefs began talks in New Zealand today with a
warning not to seek
tit-for-tat retribution should England pull out of their
tour of
Zimbabwe.
England and Wales Cricket Board chairman David
Morgan will air
his board's views on their winter commitments at the two-day
Auckland summit
and is likely to face conflict from fellow members of the
International
Cricket Council's executive board.
Some
countries have been angered by England's 'go it alone'
attitude towards
touring Zimbabwe and rumours of a counter motion to
relocate the ICC
Champions Trophy, scheduled for Birmingham, Southampton and
the Oval in
September, have emerged.
But ICC president Ehsan Mani has
recommended that the 10 full
member countries on the executive board treat
the 'Zimbabwe' issue and
discussions on the two-yearly one-day tournament
mutually exclusively.
"Clearly there are potentially very
serious issues that need to
be resolved relating to England's scheduled tour
of Zimbabwe," Mani said.
"I believe that through the board
and the ICC's disputes
resolution process there are mechanisms in place for
these bilateral
concerns to be effectively dealt with.
"However, it is important that these genuine issues between two
ICC members
do not spill over and impact on broader issues that could affect
all
countries such as the venue for the ICC Champions Trophy
2004.
"Ultimately this decision is in the hands of the
executive board
and I will be guided by the views of the directors but I will
put forward my
view that we should be seeking to clearly separate these
matters so that we
avoid confusing bilateral issues with multi-lateral
concerns."
Ironically, the schedule for the Trophy, released
last month,
pairs England with Zimbabwe in the opening match at
Edgbaston.
The 16-day event which, like the World Cup,
pitches the world's
best one-day teams against each other and also includes
Kenya and the United
States, is worth millions of pounds to the host
country.
Morgan agreed to air ECB reservations about touring
a country
gripped by Robert Mugabe's oppressive regime this week, having
originally
declared intent to announce a decision on whether to tour by the
end of
February.
But he is unlikely to find much
international support for
boycotting, especially as Australia and Sri Lanka
have provisionally given
the thumbs up to play there in the coming months and
Bangladesh and West
Indies have already toured this
winter.
Despite Mani's words, therefore, the possibility of a
motion to
shift the ICC tournament elsewhere at relatively short notice
remains.
To prevent it occurring, the ECB would need at least
two allies
or abstentions among the 10 full member
countries.
Should seven vote in favour of moving the event,
it would almost
certainly be played during the same time frame as television
commitments
would make it impractical to change, most probably in India or
possibly
Australia.
Given the financial penalties involved
it is likely that the ECB
will now bide their time in making public whether
they will fulfil their
Zimbabwe commitments.
In contrast
to the fiasco at the World Cup last year when Nasser
Hussain's team failed to
travel to Harare and were left at loggerheads with
their bosses, the ECB had
hoped to make an early and decisive call this
time.
Such a
scenario cannot happen again and if England do pull out,
they are likely to
face a compensation claim from the Zimbabwe Cricket
Union.
That would be a cheaper option than losing the back-end of the
domestic
season, however.
Should the 15 one-day matches be relocated,
it would cost the
ECB a potential £2million-plus in ticket
sales.
The three-match NatWest Challenge against India -
lucrative due
to television money from the Asian market - scheduled as a
warm-up for
England's bid for the Trophy and likely to be watched by full
houses, would
also be lost at a similar deficit.
Mugabe's foes 'face constant attacks'
MPs tell of threats and violence
from ruling party supporters
Rory Carroll in Johannesburg
Tuesday
March 9, 2004
The Guardian
President Robert Mugabe's government has
terrorised almost every single
opposition member of Zimbabwe's parliament
with violence, intimidation and
jail, according to a new report.
A survey
of 50 of the Movement for Democratic Change's 59 MPs and of 28 of
its
parliamentary candidates found that all claimed to have
personally
experienced human rights abuses in the past three years at the
hands of the
security services and supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF
party.
In collecting MPs' accounts of vandalism, torture and
attempted
assassination for the first time, the Zimbabwe Institute, a
non-governmental
organisation based in South Africa, said it had revealed the
price of
standing up to Mr Mugabe.
The report, to be published this
week, paints a grim picture of life as an
opposition MP: their houses are
burned, their cars stoned, relatives and
colleagues are abducted and
sometimes killed, the MPs themselves are liable
to arrest and beatings in
police custody.
By targeting such visible and well-known people the
regime was sending a
clear signal to citizens to support only Zanu-PF in next
year's
parliamentary election, said the report. "Any person who
contemplates
standing for the opposition in 2005 in the existing environment
is well
aware they they will pay dearly for this choice."
The Zimbabwe
Institute found that the 78 MPs and parliamentary candidates
interviewed had
experienced 616 incidents, an average of eight each.
More than 90% of the
MPs had experienced jail, violence or the threat of it.
A quarter had
survived murder attempts, 42% reported being physically
assaulted and 16%
reported torture, including electric shocks to the
genitals, being stripped
naked and whipped and beaten on the soles of the
feet.
Just under half
had had their homes or cars vandalised. Three MPs reported
murders of their
staff and nearly 40% said they moved their families for
greater
security.
Half of the incidents were blamed on the police, the army and
the central
intelligence organisation, the other half on the so-called war
veterans and
ruling party youth militia.
MPs and candidates in rural
areas were found to be the most vulnerable. No
perpetra tor was arrested,
charged or tried in any of the 616 incidents.
"The state has become more
brazen in its attacks on opposition MPs and no
longer makes as much effort to
disguise its hand in these attacks," said the
report.
Incidents such
as the burning to death in 2000 of a driver and guard serving
the MDC leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai, were widely publicised but the report
found that near
daily, non-fatal attacks went unnoticed by the
international
community.
Evelyn Masaiti, the shadow minister of youth,
gender and employment
creation, spent two days in hospital in 2002 after
soldiers beat her with
rifle butts and fists.
An information ministry
spokesman said he could not comment on the
allegations until he the report
was published. "We haven't seen a paragraph
of it yet."
The Zimbabwe
Institute, based in Cape Town, was a relatively new but
respected and
credible organisation, said Andrew Moyse, of the Media
Monitoring Project
Zimbabwe, a watchdog group based in Harare. "It's obvious
that there is a
concerted campaign to terrorise MDC legislators. It leaves
some with a mix of
terror and helplessness," said Mr Moyse.
Meanwhile the archbishop of
Zimbabwe's Roman Catholic church, Pius Ncube,
yesterday urged the world to
toughen sanctions against the government.
Singling out South Africa, he
called for it to switch off its electricity
supply to Zimbabwe. "That will
bring the country to a standstill and
eventually Mugabe will relent," he told
the Johannesburg-based daily Sowetan
newspaper.
· Authorities in
Harare said yesterday they had seized a cargo plane on
Sunday carrying 64
suspected mercenaries and military equipment. State TV
showed soldiers
sifting through a dinghy, wire cutters, a compass and
sleeping bags. The
detained passengers and crew were said to be of a variety
of
nationalities.
A US state department spokesman said: "We have no
indication that the plane
is a US government plane. We don't have information
that there are American
citizens detained."
Cape Times
New urgency for Mbeki in Zim
March 9,
2004
By Allister Sparks
The Mugabe regime's
announcement that it will hold parliamentary
elections next March injects a
new element of urgency into the Zimbabwe
crisis - particularly for President
Thabo Mbeki.
From being an issue that seemed to be dragging on
indefinitely with no
end in sight, now suddenly there is a deadline - and the
clock is ticking on
the need for an agreement to ensure that the election
will be sufficiently
"free and fair" to win international
recognition.
Mbeki's international credibility is at stake on this,
to a degree
that exceeds anything he has faced so far. He has been promising
for two
years that his "quiet diplomacy" will eventually deliver a settlement
in
Zimbabwe, even as the situation in that country descended from bad
to
catastrophic.
While the situation dragged on, Mbeki could
always claim that secret
talks were taking place (even when they were not)
and that a deal was in the
making. He could respond to his sceptical
international critics by saying in
effect, "I'm working on it, give me a
little more time." And so he has
remained their "point man" on the Zimbabwe
issue.
But now there is a deadline, against which Mbeki must either
deliver
or be seen to have failed. If he fails, having insisted for so long
on his
"quiet diplomacy" in the face of mounting scepticism and criticism,
his
political credibility will be in tatters.
Conversely, if he
does deliver an agreement and free and fair
elections are held next March,
Mbeki will emerge from the whole drawn-out
issue vindicated, triumphant. His
international ratings will soar.
With so much at stake and further
procrastination no longer possible,
Mbeki must surely step up the pressure
now. And there are indications he is
doing so. A few days ago, he invited
delegations of the ruling Zanu-PF party
and the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), to meet separately
with him in
Pretoria.
The MDC was represented by its deputy president, Gibson
Sibanda (its
leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is facing a spurious charge of
treason and has
had his passport withdrawn), and its secretary-general,
Welshman Ncube.
Zanu-PF was represented by Justice Minister Patrick Chinamaso
and the head
of state security, Nicholas Goche.
What transpired
at these separate meetings with Mbeki has not been
disclosed, but the fact
that they took place is itself a milestone in this
protracted
standoff.
This was followed by a meeting of the MDC's National
Executive
Committee in Harare last Friday. While there is still widespread
scepticism
within the opposition movement about Mugabe's real intentions -
they point
out that he has deceived Mbeki many times before - I understand
Tsvangirai
told his executive they should prepare for the possibility of
talks with
Zanu-PF soon.
So there is a window of opportunity.
But Mbeki faces awesome
difficulties if he is to seize it.
Firstly, if he is to achieve an agreement he must do so soon.
The
election is due in 12 months, so if it is to be even reasonably
free and fair
the structures necessary to ensure that the competing parties
can campaign
freely must be in place at least six months in advance. By the
end of
September.
So Mbeki has weeks rather than months to get Zanu-PF and
the MDC to
reach the point of agreement, so that work can begin on getting
these
structures in place.
This will not be easy. The MDC has
had some searing experiences in
past elections and it is going to be adamant
in its demands for a level
playing field. If it fails to get an absolute
assurance of this, it will
almost certainly boycott the election, so
rendering the whole exercise
futile and Mbeki's mission aborted.
At its National Executive Committee meeting on Friday, the MDC began
working
on this, drafting a preliminary list of 15 minimum conditions for
the holding
of elections. It will consider adding more at another strategy
meeting to be
held soon.
Meanwhile, the preliminary 15 conditions are as
follows:
a.. A genuinely independent electoral commission must
be established
to run the entire electoral process;
a..
Partisan officials such as the present Registrar General of
Elections and
members of the military must not be involved in running
the
election;
a.. A completely fresh voter-registration
campaign must be undertaken
by the United Nations or some other neutral and
professional body;
a.. An electronic (computer data base) copy
of the voters roll must be
provided to all political
parties;
a.. All aspects of the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy
Act (the law used to close the country's most import
independent newspaper,
the Daily News) that curtail media freedom must be
repealed;
a.. All administrative decisions that resulted in the
closing of the
Daily News must be reversed and obstacles to the free
operation of it and
other newspapers removed;
a.. The
broadcasting media must be liberalised and the state-owned
media opened up to
carry equal amounts of coverage of all parties' electoral
messages, in
proportion to the percentage of votes they secured in the last
parliamentary
election in 2000;
a.. The Youth Militia must be disbanded.
These are the so-called Green
Bombers featured in a recent BBC's Panorama
documentary showing how young
men and women are conscripted into torture
camps where they are brutalised
and conditioned to assault and kill the
government's political opponents;
a.. All aspects of the Public
Order and Security Act that curtail the
freedom of political parties to
campaign must be repealed;
a.. The Electoral Act must be
amended to make it conform to the
Southern African Development Community's
specified electoral standards and
norms;
a.. Secure and
translucent plastic ballot boxes must be used in the
election to prevent them
being stuffed with pre-marked ballot papers;
a.. Voting on one
day, subject to enough polling stations being
established and changes being
made to the electoral process to enable all
citizens and residents registered
as voters to vote;
a.. International, regional and domestic
observer missions must have
unhindered access to the entire electoral
process;
a.. Counting of ballots at polling stations must be in
the mandatory
presence of polling agents and observers; and
a.. Visible indelible ink must be used to identify those who
have
voted.
But even if all these preconditions are met,
problems will remain that
could prevent the MDC from gaining power. Under
Zimbabwe's present
constitution the president can appoint 30 MPs of his own
choosing, which
means the MDC would have to win 64% of the 120 elected seats,
a landslide of
almost two-thirds, to gain a majority in
Parliament.
And even if it were to achieve that, Mugabe could still
choose his
Cabinet from among his own Zanu-PF party and continue to rule by
decree,
bypassing Parliament, until the next presidential election in
2008.
To remove either of these obstacles to a free and fair
election would
require amendments to the constitution, which can only be done
with
Zanu-PF's co-operation in the present Parliament. Or with a decision
by
Mugabe to step down so that this can be a presidential as well as
a
parliamentary election. Neither appears likely.
So the
question is: Can Mbeki mount enough pressure to remove this
Catch 22 which
makes success for the opposition virtually impossible? If
not, the whole
thing becomes a pointless exercise.
New Zimbabwe
The message travels faster than Sharuko
08/03/04
I
HAD arrived at the Harare International Airport on time to allow
myself
enough time to check in safely and possibly have breakfast at the
upper
floor restaurant.
But by the time I boarded the plane it was as
if I had arrived there a
couple of minutes before the closure of the
departure lounge.
As soon as I had handed my passport over to the
immigration officer he
looked at it as though he was waiting for it. He
flapped through the pages
and held it on his left hand to look at me straight
in the face as a senior
military man at a cadet.
"You are a
journalist?," he asked me. The answer came out of me with much
difficulty
because I knew that my passport is silent on my occupation.
"Yes," I said
politely and with a quivering voice. As my heart pounded
questions began
running in my mind.
"What could I have done to deserve this?" Who was
this man asking this
question? Was he a genuine immigration officer or some
intelligence officer,
I wondered.
Then hell was let loose! Where was I
going. Where was Robson Sharuko!. Were
we together in this trip. When was I
due back. Who was going to be my
contact person in South Africa? Where was my
luggage..The man wanted to know
just but too much. The questions were as many
and disturbing as they were
plain daft. I was gobsmacked.
Latter I saw
Emerson Mnangagwa passing freely in the company of some young
girls whom I
suspect were his daughters.
Those behind looked at me as though I was a
wanted criminal. I saw them
craning their necks forward to see who this
person was like primary school
children taking a gaze at one of their number
being caned by an irascible
headmaster.
Those ahead of me didn't want
to miss the spectacle either. They probably
thought that I was one of those
bogus asset management people caught trying
to skip the country.
Even
though I have seen him before I can't say I know Sharuko for I have
never
seen his relatives. I don't know where he stays. I first and last
spoke to
him in 2001 when he was coming from Dubai at the Jo'burg Airport
and that.
was by accident.
"It is so ridiculous to lump two different people
with different
hopes, fears and interests together"
MTHULISI
MATHUTHU
If there is a view I share with him, I have yet to know it. So why
was I
being asked about this man?
One consolation took me through the
trouble. I was innocent and I was going
to attend a public meeting in
Johannesburg. Even though I still don't know
where Sharuko is I now
understand why I was being asked about him.
He had just been fired from
the Herald newspaper for filing copy for the
Voice of America and was known
to be headed for South Africa. Any other
journalist hurrying out had to know
something about Sharuko's mission and
had to share it with the
state.
The fear being that such a journalist will take the sad story of
Zimbabwe to
the outside world. I laughed when the whole picture began working
out
clearly in my mind. But sadness engulfed me.
More than twenty
years into independence, Zimbabwe is still one of those
countries that train
journalists so it can do anything to them.
So entrenched is the
conspiracy theory that even a poor journalist fits into
the imaginary
conspiracy puzzle. It is so ridiculous to lump two different
people with
different hopes, fears and interests together.
Blocking a journalist from
traveling will certainly not freeze all the
computers in Harare and suddenly
stop them from transmitting the horrendous
message to
as far as
Iceland.
Besides, the story is already out. Just before the harassment at
the airport
the European Union had announced the renewal of travel ban on
President
Robert Mugabe and his cabal. More recently, the USA did just the
same.
For all that to happen it didn't take a journalist to sneak out and
seek
audience with Colin Powell or Baroness Amos. It simply took brazen
trampling
of
human rights by men and women masquerading as liberators in
Zimbabwe. The
message travels faster that Sharuko.
The most dangerous
people to Zimbabwe's image abroad are those who are
allowed free passage
where journalists are undressed for no apparent reason.
They include
those who kidnapped Patrick Nabanyama and went on to kill Cain
Nkala. They
include those who are known to have said people who don't
support them will
die. Among them are those who are being investigated by
the UN for plundering
DRC in the name of Pan-Africanism.
With them are the people whom we know
to have set up camps to manufacture
corpses (to borrow from Maxim Gorky) to
crush dissent in Kezi and elsewhere
in the 1980's.
Needless to talk
about those who bombed the Daily News and went on to close
it and crafted
laws to narrow the space for free competition and flood out
the
opposition.
They are known by everybody for their opprobrious activities
which are
downright crude and senseless. Murder by its very nature is too
sensitive a
project to be managed by clumsy clowns in Harare.
Above
all the world is different from what it was in the early 1980's when
"corpse
manufacturing" in Kezi could be camouflaged as counter insurgency.
Until
this stupid conspiracy theory which justifies evil conduct and
harassment of
other citizens is "finally and permanently discredited and
abandoned" it will
be difficult to imagine a good story about this
establishment in any credible
newspaper.
Ask De Klerk and P.W. Botha.