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Archived News
19th January 2002
Zim ruling party escalates violence
Blair in talks over Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe shadow on Africa summit
Civil rights group detained
South Africa urged to use sanctions against Mugabe
BA halts Zimbabwe deportation
District looted
Fight clean, neighbours tell Mugabe
Zanu PF opens campaign with barbed wire torture
Zimbabwe party office burns down
UK and US move to trace Mugabe's funds abroad
White farmers' case postponed
Failed asylum seeker flights to Harare 'halted’
Zim MP's stomach slit open
Mugabe given list of election demands
US tells Zimbabwe to change or face sanctions
UK 'considering sanctions against Zimbabwe'
International hunt for Mugabe family assets
Debate on Zimbabwe’s media bill delayed
Party rebel puts Mugabe media curb on hold
US threatens to freeze Mugabe assets abroad
Zim may invite EU observers
MDC leader's electricity cut
10 000 soldiers deployed to campaign for Mugabe
UK rejects allegations of funding broadcasts
MDC members held
Villagers flee violence to the cities
Programme to send food to Zimbabwe set for clearance
Zanu PF widens terror campaign
Mugabe invites Obasanjo for consultations
Help needed to trace Mugabe funds, says PwC
Mugabe report delayed
Zimbabwe 'meltdown' feared as exodus gains pace
Militants rampage in Zimbabwe
EU sanctions loom as Mugabe ignores deadline for poll plans
Would-be farmers yet to see new plots
Saving Zimbabwe
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From Business Day (SA), 14 January
Zim ruling party escalates violence
Harare - Militias of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party have stepped up their campaign of violence against opponents ahead of Presidential elections due in eight weeks, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change reported on Sunday. An "orgy of violence" erupted in the central city of Kwekwe on Friday and continued on Saturday where a mob of militiamen burnt down the MDC's provincial offices, and also one of the pro-democracy party's pickup trucks. The attack was watched by uniformed policemen "who appeared helpless", said a statement. However, state radio reported Sunday that 22 MDC supporters had been arrested for questioning over an attack on ruling party supporters. Human rights organisations say police are following orders not to interfere with Zanu PF as they wreak havoc on the opposition, and to harass MDC supporters instead.
In the village of Murambinda in the eastern province of Manicaland about 300 km southeast of Harare, seven MDC officials were wounded when militias stormed the opposition party's offices and attacked staff with knives and axes. At the village Mutoroshanga about 100 km north of Harare, a local MDC official had his home destroyed by a rampaging mob of so- called guerrilla war veterans and ruling party youths. He was one of several in the district to be made homeless by similar attacks in the district since Wednesday, the statement said. The report follows a meeting in Brussels between Zimbabwean ministers and a delegation of European Union officials. Spanish envoy Javier Conde de Saro said after the meeting that Zimbabwe Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge had failed to allay EU concerns.
On Saturday the Commercial Farmers' Union, whose 4 000 members, nearly all whites, have suffered almost two years of constant violence and harassment by ruling party militias invading their farms, said 23 farmers had been driven off their farms in the first nine days of the year. One had been forced to flee within five minutes, while another was barricaded in his home. CFU spokesman Jenni Williams said that the farmers were told, "tell your brothers, (United States president George) Bush and (British prime minister Tony) Blair to remove sanctions, and then you can return home."
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From BBC News, 13 January
Blair in talks over Zimbabwe
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has discussed the troubled situation in Zimbabwe with South African President Thabo Mbeki. New fears have been sparked by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's clampdown on his political opponents. Downing Street says both Mr Blair and Mr Mbeki, who spoke by telephone on Saturday, are taking the matter very seriously. The comments from Mr Blair's official spokesman come as heads of government from the region, including Mr Mbeki and Mr Mugabe, arrive in Malawi for a meeting. The situation is also expected to be discussed at a meeting of the South African Development Community at the end of the month.
Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin has written to David Blunkett requesting urgent talks on the fate of asylum seekers from Zimbabwe. The prime minister's spokesman said recent events would affect asylum claims but individual cases would be examined "on merit". There are concerns that those deported from the UK could be victims of violence because of the new moves against the Zimbabwean government's political opponents. Mr Letwin has expressed concern that British immigration officers have made a number of attempts to deport a man who says he is a member of one of Zimbabwe's opposition parties. Those supporting the application say the man, known only as "Paul", was put on a flight out of the country on Friday even though lawyers had successfully applied for an injunction against his immediate removal. In the end he was taken off the flight by officials. The UN High Commission for Refugees has asked the government to suspend deportations to Zimbabwe. The Home Office has refused to comment on the specific case, but said that they would not deport anyone who had well-founded fears of persecution. A Home Office spokesman said on Saturday: "We acknowledge that the situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated and are aware of the concerns expressed internationally about events in that country. "There is not going to be a suspension of removals at this point, but we are continuing to monitor the situation very closely.
New laws in Zimbabwe have given President Mugabe powers to suppress opposition and activists fear violence and intimidation in the run-up to elections. The UK has been at the heart of efforts to pressure Zimbabwe to allow election monitors. On Saturday President Mugabe said this latest action, and the threat of sanctions, amounted to an attempt by Britain to recolonise his country. "It's just Britain; Britain is at war with us," he said as he arrived in Malawi for a meeting of the Southern Africa Development Community. "Blair has his own version of colonialism and we will resist that, I can assure you." Earlier, Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Stanislaus Mudenge attacked the British Government, accusing it of trying to unseat President Mugabe. Mr Mudenge's attack came at the end of a day of fraught talks in Brussels between a delegation of 18 senior Zimbabwe government ministers and officials, and the EU. He alleged the UK was swamping Zimbabwe with short wave radio "propaganda" supporting the opposition MDC party, and also providing funding.
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From BBC News, 14 January
Zimbabwe shadow on Africa summit
Heads of state and government from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are meeting in Blantyre, Malawi, on Monday for a summit called to address problems of instability affecting several countries of the region. The conflicts in two member states, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, will be high on the agenda. But the political tensions surrounding land redistribution and presidential elections in Zimbabwe look set to dominate. The Zimbabwean crisis is already having economic effects on other countries and there are fears political instability could be catching. However, it is a delicate issue, as its problems are considered by all SADC members to be internal.
This has led Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to criticise the community for being hypocritical and aggravating the situation in his country. He told the BBC nothing would come out of the meeting and urged South Africa to go it alone and impose direct sanctions. "The threat to undermine the elections by the military, by [President Robert] Mugabe himself, should actually send shock waves to South Africa and say, 'under those circumstances, we are going to cut fuel, we are going to cut transport links'," he said. "Those kind of measures, even if they are implemented at a lowly level, send the right signals." South Africa, however, disagrees and believes "quiet diplomacy" and not sanctions should be used. "We've been working at this for a long time, trying to convince [people] that what is called [for is] quiet diplomacy," Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad was quoted as saying.
The assembled leaders of the 14 SADC states will be joined by the presidents of Rwanda and Uganda, because they both have troops still in the Congo, as well as two Congo rebel leaders. BBC correspondent Elizabeth Blunt in Blantyre says in the past the SADC's peace efforts seem to have had some effect, and participants at the summit are expected to give the peace process another push in the right direction. Congo President Joseph Kabila said on Sunday he hoped progress could be made to resolve the civil war in his country. At first Mr Kabila had been unhappy about the decision to invite Rwanda and Uganda to the meeting, regarding them as foreign aggressors, but now he concedes their presence might be helpful.
The Congo war has sucked in neighbouring countries from Uganda to Namibia and threatened to destabilise the whole region and, for the moment, the peace process seems to have got stuck. Also in Blantyre are the leaders of the main rebel groups fighting Mr Kabila's government - Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) and Adose Onusumba of the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD). They are all expected to take part in a Meeting of National Dialogue, scheduled to take place in South Africa later this month, some of the groundwork for which is likely to take place in Blantyre.
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From ZWNEWS, 14 January
Civil rights group detained
A group of Zimbabwean civil rights campaigners have been detained by the Malawian authorities in Blantyre. The group - Munyaradzi Bidi, Kumbirayi Hodze, Theresa Mungadzwa and Brian Raftopolous - had travelled to Blantyre to brief southern African leaders attending the SADC summit about the situation in Zimbabwe. On Sunday, they were approached in their hotel by a policeman who asked if they had permission to attend the SADC summit. They obtained confirmation that they had been liaising with the Malawian government, who had approved their visit, but were detained anyway. They spent Sunday night in custody, and it is believed that they will be deported from Malawi this morning.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 14 January
South Africa urged to use sanctions against Mugabe
Johannesburg - Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Zimbabwean opposition, pleaded yesterday for sanctions to be imposed on his country before the presidential election in March. His call came as police arrested 22 members of his party, the Movement for Democratic Change, in Kwe Kwe, following violent clashes with supporters of the ruling Zanu PF party who had burned down an MDC office. Mr Tsvangirai said that after two years of "softly-softly" diplomacy by Zimbabwe's neighbours, which had failed to stop President Mugabe's abuse of the rule of law, it was time for genuine sanctions. Targeted measures should be imposed immediately to freeze money and assets held overseas by Mr Mugabe and his associates, while South Africa should impose a fuel, transport and electricity blockade.
Mr Tsvangirai told BBC Television: "We are aware that smart sanctions, if they are immediately implemented will have the personal effect on the leadership of Zanu PF." He encouraged South Africa, the regional superpower, to use its economic muscle against the Mugabe regime. "I think SA will have to go it alone and do something effective on the ground," he said. "The threat to undermine the elections by the military and the president himself should send shockwaves to South Africa. And South Africa should say, 'OK, under those circumstances we are going to cut fuel, we are going to cut transport links'."
Tony Blair telephoned South Africa's President Mbeki on Saturday night to discuss the deepening political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe. A spokesman for Mr Blair said: "Both leaders take it seriously. It is clearly deteriorating in a way giving everyone cause for concern." Mr Tsvangirai's remarks won the backing of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance. Its leader, Tony Leon, said South Africa should withdraw its representatives at the conference of SADC, the grouping of southern African states, to protest at the body's powerlessness on Zimbabwe. Mr Tsvangirai said that SADC, which meets today in Malawi, was too incoherent and divided to have any genuine effect on the Zimbabwean situation.
The summit was given a circus air as Mr Mugabe arrived claiming "God is on our side" before launching a personal attack on Mr Blair, accusing him of being a liar. Meanwhile Mr Mugabe was attacked by the veteran anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The South African Nobel Prize winner said: "Mugabe seems to have gone bonkers in a big way." "It is very dangerous when you subvert the rule of law in your country, when you don't even respect the judgments of your judges. It is a great sadness what has happened to President Mugabe. He was one of Africa's best leaders, a bright spark, a debonair, well-spoken and well-read person." The Commercial Farmers' Union said that another 23 white farmers had been forced off their land since Jan 1 in another wave of land seizures by mobs loyal to Mr Mugabe.
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From The Guardian (UK), 14 January
BA halts Zimbabwe deportation
Hint at ban on expulsions as risks grow for Mugabe foes
British Airways has refused outright to accept a Home Office directive to fly a deportee from Gatwick to Zimbabwe, it was disclosed yesterday, as ministers gave their first hint that they are preparing to halt the expulsion of that country's failed asylum seekers. The hint comes amid rising fears that deportees face arrest by President Robert Mugabe's secret police. It also emerged yesterday that Home Office officials have suspended the expulsion from Heathrow of another Zimbabwean asylum seeker. Although the department said there was not going to be "a suspension of removals at this point", the official statement stressed that ministers acknowledge that the situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated and are monitoring the situation very closely.
The shift represents a softening in tone compared with the line taken last week when the two planned deportations were being finalised. Ministers have the power to halt the deportation of rejected asylum seekers - some with links to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change - if they officially declare Zimbabwe to be a "country in upheaval". The power was used twice by former home secretary Jack Straw. Many of those sent back to the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, from Britain have had their asylum applications rejected on the basis of an outdated country assessment. There have been claims that some have been arrested or attacked on their return to Zimbabwe, while others have gone into hiding.
Yesterday the Home Office said: "We do recognise that genuine Movement for Democratic Change activists may well merit asylum." Downing Street later said that Tony Blair had discussed the situation in Zimbabwe with South African president Thabo Mbeki on Saturday. BA's refusal was in defiance of a directive to put a deportee on the 9.15pm Harare flight on Friday. The airline invoked its power to refuse if it sees "reasonable grounds" under the 1971 Immigration Act. Yesterday a BA spokesman said: "We felt there were reasonable grounds and so the man did not board." It was claimed that the planned Heathrow deportation, on the same day, was suspended because the Home Office received new evidence from the asylum seeker's lawyers.
Over the weekend the UN refugee agency lent its support to those urging the British government to suspend deportations to Zimbabwe. "The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is gravely concerned about the serious human rights violations in Zimbabwe," said Anne Dawson-Shepherd, the agency's UK representative. "Those who have sought asylum in the UK should be offered a safe haven and all deportations stopped. Their return to Zimbabwe under current circumstances could seriously jeopardise their physical safety, their liberty and their life." The UNHCR said the Mugabe government had sanctioned extra-judicial executions, hostage taking and torture, and targeted violence in the run-up to the presidential elections in March.
Its plea has been endorsed by Amnesty International, which complained that immigration officers had ignored the recent intensification of attacks on opposition supporters, and the daily deterioration in the situation, when rejecting applications from Zimbabwean refugees. The Refugee Council has also called for the home secretary, David Blunkett, to take immediate and urgent action and the shadow home secretary, Oliver Letwin, is pressing him for an all-party meeting this week to discuss the issue. In a further statement, a Home Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the concerns expressed internationally about events in that country. We will grant asylum to those who have well-founded fear of persecution."
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From ZWNEWS, 14 January
District looted
An entire farming district has become the target of a systematic looting spree by war veterans and Zanu PF supporters. Commercial farms in the Hunyani valley, north-west of Harare, are having their crops stolen by mobs of ruling party supporters using farm vehicles they have commandeered. One farm lost seventy tonnes of wheat destined for delivery to the millers over the weekend, and another mob took forty five tonnes of maize. Cattle and goats have been slaughtered. Farm workers have been severely beaten and evicted and farmers have been driven from farm to farm ahead of the gangs.
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From Guardian (UK), 15 January
Fight clean, neighbours tell Mugabe
Southern African leaders shrink from sanctions but say Zimbabwe's presidential poll must be peaceful, free and fair Harare/London - Southern African leaders called yesterday for a free and fair presidential election in Zimbabwe, but made it clear that they are not prepared to follow the European Union and Washington in threatening sanctions against Robert Mugabe's regime. The one-day meeting in Malawi of leaders from 14 countries was focused mainly on the Zimbabwe crisis, testing the leaders' newly proclaimed desire to take responsibility for resolving their continent's problems. But their desire not to upset Mr Mugabe was made evident by the deportation of four Zimbabwean human rights activists who planned to lobby the meeting about the political murders and violence committed by their government.
The Malawian president, Bakili Muluzi, opened the Southern African Development Community summit in Blantyre by urging Zimbabwe to run a clean election in March. "As the date of the presidential election in Zimbabwe has been announced, we are all very hopeful that the elections will be peaceful, free, fair and transparent," he said. "As a matter of fact, what is important in an election is not just the election day but the entire election process, from the preparations to the vote counting and the announcement of results." But he gave no hint of criticism of the violence and the political crisis in Zimbabwe, and said the role of its neighbours would be limited to offering advice. "I believe that our duty as SADC will be to listen and offer advice where we feel it is necessary to do so," he said.
The presidential candidate of the Movement for Democratic Change opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, called on the meeting to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe, saying that two years of "softly-softly" diplomacy had failed to curb Mr Mugabe's abuses. The MDC wants the overseas bank accounts of Mr Mugabe, his cabinet and leaders of his party, Zanu PF, frozen immediately, and a petrol, transport and electricity blockade to be imposed by South Africa. Amnesty International joined the call for SADC to exert more pressure on Mr Mugabe. "The deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe places in real jeopardy the possibility of free and fair elections ... and raises the spectre of such violent repression of political opposition degenerating into civil war and the possibility of state- sponsored militias undermining any attempt to reassert the rule of law," it wrote to SADC leaders.
But Mr Tsvangirai recognised that he was likely to get little joy out of the SADC. "Unfortunately there have been double standards and hypocrisy in the actions taken by the whole body," he told the BBC. "South Africa, which is the most influential regional partner for Zimbabwe, I think will have to go it alone." But South Africa has said it does not believe sanctions are an option. It says they would do more harm than good, and that the onus is on ordinary Zimbabweans to lead the campaign to unseat Mr Mugabe. The president of Mozambique, Joacquim Chissano, expressed concern at the implicit threat of the Zimbabwean military chief, General Vitalis Zvinavashe, not to recognise the outcome of the election if the opposition won. "I hope he meant himself politically, because every citizen has a right of choice; but if he meant militarily then I am worried," Mr Chissano said.
Tony Blair spoke to the president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, about the crisis on Saturday, the day after the EU gave Zimbabwe a week to commit itself in writing to a free election, including the presence of foreign monitors and journalists, or face sanctions. A South African official said Mr Blair urged Mr Mbeki to take a tougher line and not to be persuaded by Mr Mugabe's claim that he is a victim of neo-colonial interference aimed at blocking land reform. But Pretoria says Mr Mbeki is frustrated by being unfairly landed with a problem largely of Britain's making. The Commonwealth ministerial action group is expected to discuss the possibility of sanctions against Mr Mugabe's government at a meeting in London later this month.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 15 January
Zanu PF opens campaign with barbed wire torture
The violence begins as Mugabe supporters strike at white-owned farms in the tobacco heartland
Harare - The ruling party in Zimbabwe, Zanu PF, has begun its presidential election campaign using a new torture weapon, barbed wire raked across the feet of farm workers, commercial farmers said yesterday. "I saw grown men weeping," said Chris Shepherd, a tobacco farmer, after a day of violence against scores of farm workers left unable to walk after the soles of their feet were injured on barbed wire. "It is torture. I have never seen so many men weep in a day," he said. Mr Shepherd, who farms in Karoi, the tobacco heartland 125 miles north of Harare, spent the previous 36 hours rescuing farmers and workers from an upsurge in political violence by President Robert Mugabe's supporters. "We are seeing the start of the election campaign, and it is going to get worse," he said.
Mr Shepherd and many farmers scattered over Mr Mugabe's political stronghold, the Mashonaland province, reported that their workers were forced to attend all-night Maoist "pungwes" - political indoctrination camps. Farmers say the workers arrived back physically and mentally exhausted and most, but not all, are too frightened to file official reports of torture at the hands of Mr Mugabe's militants. Mr Mugabe, 77, faces the toughest challenge to his 22-year rule in seven weeks when he stands against Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader and former trade unionist. Yesterday, in other parts of the province, Mr Mugabe's militia rampaged across white-owned farms, beating workers, ransacking thousands of tons of stored maize, seizing cattle and crops. In the last 24 hours dozens of farmers in Mashonaland have been told to leave their land.
Commercial farm workers are seen by Mr Mugabe as Tsvangirai supporters, and tens of thousands have been forced from their jobs and homes in the last three months. Four Zimbabwean human rights activists, hoping to tell southern African leaders in Malawi about this worsening political violence at home were arrested in the capital, Blantyre, jailed and deported early yesterday. The four were arrested, on the orders of Zimbabwean intelligence agents, before a meeting of the Southern African Development Community, SADC. "We are outraged that one African country, Malawi, acting on the orders of another, Zimbabwe, should do this when SADC has signed protocols which recognises the rights of civil society to contribute to political developments," said Kumbirai Hodzi, committee member of the Zimbabwe Crisis Committee, which represents a broad coalition of non-governmental organisations.
"In the morning we were taken to the airport and declared prohibited immigrants." He said senior policemen told the four they were acting on orders sent to Malawi by the Zimbabwe government. "The Malawi police were embarrassed, as all our papers were in order. We had transgressed no law." Amnesty International is warning of the threat of civil war in Zimbabwe unless the Mugabe regime allows the presidential election in March to be free. "The deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe places in real jeopardy the possibility of free and fair elections... and raises the spectre of such violent repression of political opposition degenerating into civil war," its memorandum said. "The time has come for SADC to send a strong and consistent message that the situation in Zimbabwe has grown worse; that the Zimbabwean authorities should not allow human rights to be violated with impunity." Amnesty International said Zimbabwe human rights organisations had reported about 50 politically-motivated killings since early 2000, some of them during parliamentary by-elections in 2001. In its latest report, Amnesty said it had been told of up to 10 people killed by state-sponsored militias in recent weeks.
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From Associated Press, 14 January
Zimbabwe party office burns down
Harare - Government-backed militants beat and critically injured several opposition activists in Zimbabwe during the weekend and burned down an opposition party office, officials said Monday. The unrest, which reportedly included police tear gassing an opposition rally and militants from President Robert Mugabe's ruling party spraying several homes in Harare with gunfire, capped a week marred by violence. Government-backed militants embarked on a fresh looting campaign of white-owned farms last week, forcing 23 landowners from their homes. International observers have said Mugabe is using the land issue as a screen to bolster his support and crush dissent ahead of March presidential elections. With the tacit support of the government, militants have invaded hundreds of white-owned farms since early 2000. Mugabe has called their actions a justified response to the legacy of inequitable land ownership left by colonial rule. The possibility of free elections is considered remote, since Mugabe has cracked down on dissent through legislation and government-sanctioned violence. A pending bill would muzzle the independent press in Zimbabwe - banning foreign journalists from working in the country and requiring local journalists to register with the government or face up to two years in jail.
In protest, about 25 journalists gathered outside Parliament on Monday with the intention of holding an all-night vigil. But they were dispersed by the police who threatened to make arrests. The disintegrating rule of law in the country has also sparked concern in the international community. Western governments have condemned the violence. The United States has imposed sanctions and the European Union is threatening to do the same. On Monday, Mugabe pledged to ensure upcoming presidential elections were free and fair, and agreed to allow international observers and journalists to observe them. His reassurances were contained in a declaration issued at the end of a one-day summit of southern African leaders in nearby Malawi. Zimbabwe's crumbling democracy dominated discussions at the conference. Instability in Zimbabwe could convulse all of southern Africa, and the meeting was seen as one of the last opportunities for regional leaders to reign in Mugabe ahead of the elections scheduled for March 9 and 10.
Late Saturday night, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change office was set fire to by ruling party militants in the town of Kwekwe, 200 miles southwest of the capital Harare, opposition officials said. Also on Saturday, a rally held in Buhera, 80 miles south of Harare turned violent when police fired tear gas on the crowd of 5,000 opposition supporters, opposition officials said. Seven opposition supporters were beaten by ruling party militants and admitted to a hospital in Harare and listed in critical care. Opposition party lawmaker Roy Bennet who was scheduled to address the crowd said the police told him that opposition party rallies were now illegal. In other developments, 34 activists from MDC were arrested over the weekend, the opposition said, but the police had no comment. The police did say however, that ruling party activists sprayed several homes in Harare with gunfire over the weekend.
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From The Financial Times, 15 January
UK and US move to trace Mugabe's funds abroad
Blantyre/Brussels/London - The British and US governments have begun a joint effort to identify millions of dollars thought to be salted away in foreign bank accounts by Robert Mugabe and his inner circle. The move is in preparation for a potential decision by Washington and the European Union to impose personal sanctions on the Zimbabwean president and leading members of his government. They would involve freezing bank accounts and refusing visas so Mr Mugabe and his circle could not visit western countries. Some estimates put the sums allegedly looted from the Zimbabwean people at hundreds of millions of dollars, but the Foreign Office and US State Department have no accurate figure yet. The move comes amid deep gloom in London and other capitals about the increasingly violent situation in Zimbabwe ahead of presidential elections in March.
Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, has called for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the Commonwealth at the heads of government summit in Australia in March if there is no improvement, but it is unclear whether Britain can win support from the other 53 Commonwealth countries. Mr Mugabe on Monday shrugged off criticism. On his departure from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Malawi, he said: "All issues were well discussed. We are very, very happy. Come to Zimbabwe and see the election for yourselves." The SADC on Monday said it was prepared to take Mr Mugabe's word that he would ensure free and fair elections. In a final communique, the SADC said it had received assurances from Mr Mugabe that he would allow international election observers and journalists into Zimbabwe and assure the independence of the judiciary, and on an electoral commission. Mr Mugabe had also given commitments to respect human rights and freedom of opinion and association, and to investigate incidents of political violence.
However, Zimbabwe is passing laws to bar foreign journalists and international monitors from the election, curb dissent at home and disenfranchise Zimbabweans that live overseas. Amnesty International, the UK-based human rights body, had urged the SADC to acknowledge an escalating human rights crisis in Zimbabwe and warned of political repression precipitating the possibility of civil war. There were signs on Monday night that the UK government was bowing to pressure from MPs and moving towards suspending deportation of failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats said they had been told by David Blunkett, home secretary, that no more would be sent back until after a new assessment of the risks. After Mr Blunkett met Oliver Letwin and Simon Hughes, the Tory and Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesmen, the Home Office would confirm only that it had not returned any more asylum seekers on Monday.
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From News24 (SA), 14 January
White farmers' case postponed
Harare A magistrate in Zimbabwe Monday postponed a case against 24 white farmers facing charges of public violence, after the state said it had lost some evidence and wanted to review the rest. The state alleges the farmers attacked defenceless blacks resettled on a white-owned farm in Chinhoyi, northwest of Harare, in August last year. The farmers deny the charges, and claim they were rescuing a colleague barricaded in his home by marauding land occupiers. In a highly publicised case, 21 farmers were arrested and jailed for two weeks in August. Three others were later arrested and charged with the same crime, bringing the total to 24. State prosecutor Clemence Chimbari said: "The state is seriously considering the evidence available with the view of withdrawing charges against some of the accused." Chimbari said the rest of the state's evidence had been destroyed in a fire early this month that razed the Chinhoyi Magistrate's Court, where the farmers were initially tried. In granting the application, magistrate Celestine Mushipe postponed the matter to April 23.
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From The Guardian (UK), 15 January
Failed asylum seeker flights to Harare 'halted’
London - The government yesterday came a step closer to announcing a decision to stop sending failed asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe after it emerged that work is now under way revising the official assessment of the danger faced by those deported to the country by Britain. The home secretary, David Blunkett, last night said that he was considering the position and confirmed in a meeting with the shadow home secretary, Oliver Letwin, that nobody faced the threat of being put on a plane to Harare within the next 24 hours. But a Home Office source who had been at the meeting denied Conservative claims that a decision had already been taken to suspend all further expulsions while the policy was reassessed. Pressure grew over the weekend from British politicians and refugee groups for the deportations to be halted amid fears that deportees to Zimbabwe faced the danger of arrest by president Robert Mugabe's secret police. Refugee groups have complained that many Zimbabwean asylum seekers, including members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, have been refused refugee status in Britain because the official assessment of the danger they face in Zimbabwe has not changed since October last year. Ministers acknowledge that the position has deteriorated since then. However, last night Mr Letwin claimed the home secretary had indicated at their meeting that there would not be any further removals until the process of reworking the entire official position on the deportations to Zimbabwe had finished. "This is a victory for common sense," said Mr Letwin. "The situation in Zimbabwe is serious, and this is clearly not the time to be deporting opposition politicians back there. We are grateful to Mr Blunkett for the constructive way he responded to the points we have been making."
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From News24 (SA), 15 January
Zim MP's stomach slit open
Harare - David Mpala, the Movement for Democratic Change MP for Lupane, northern Matabeleland, was fighting for his life on Monday after Zanu PF supporters slit his abdomen with knives, a few hours after abducting him on Sunday afternoon. He is on a life-support system at a hospital in Lupane. Mpala was on his way to the funeral of a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) member when he was kidnapped. His captors, numbering about 20, knocked his wife unconscious during the kidnapping incident which happened about 16:00 at Lupane business centre, in full view of the public. The abductors stabbed and dumped him about 6km from the business centre. While he was unconscious and bleeding profusely, the gang drove away in the MPs white Nissan Hardbody truck. The vehicle was, however, recovered in nearby Tsholotsho on Monday morning.
After regaining consciousness, Mpala was helped by members of the public to get to Lupane police station from where he was rushed to St Luke's Hospital. Mpala, 47, could hardly speak at his hospital bed in Lupane on Sunday night where he is under police guard. "The people who kidnapped him are known war veterans," said a close relative. "We can identify some of them." Mpala's aides said he had fainted at least four times from excessive bleeding. He was expected to be air-lifted to Bulawayo for special medical attention late on Monday, said MDC officials. The officer commanding Matabeleland North Province, Senior Assistant commissioner Boyathi Ngwenya confirmed the attempted murder of the MP. He refused to give further details, nor could he confirm any arrests.
Mpala's aides said war veterans had held a meeting at Lupane business centre shortly before his abduction. "This gory abduction and other incidents of violence, coming a day after President Mugabe and his entire Zanu PF leadership were trying to project themselves as non-violent at a meeting with some carefully selected church leaders, which bordered on blasphemy, exposes Zanu PF as a hypocritical party," said MDC spokesperson, Learnmore Jongwe. Mpala, farmer Patrick Ashton, and seven other opposition supporters are among the latest victims in the violent presidential campaign in which Mugabe faces his stiffest challenge from Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC. The seven opposition supporters were detained at Murambinda hospital, 300km south of Harare, in Buhera district of Manicaland province after they were attacked with axes and other sharp instruments by Zanu PF supporters and war veterans in their office at the growth point on Saturday. Two of them have been transferred to Harare because their condition is considered serious.
Lawyer Innocent Gonese, who is the member of parliament for Mutare and chief whip, said that, instead of helping the sick and arresting offenders, police picked up 32 MDC party supporters and detained at Murambinda police station. Gonese said: "I went to the police station to represent them, but police refused me access which is illegal because, as a lawyer, I am allowed by law to see my clients." He said police told him they could not allow him to see the victims until officers from the criminal investigations department from Mutare had charged the 32 suspects. Pashayi Muchauraya, MDC spokersperson for Manicaland, and Roy Bennet, MP for Chimanimani, later managed to transfer the victims to the Avenues Clinic in Harare.
Muchauraya said MDC supporters were attacked when Zanu PF supporters raided their offices at Murambinda, accusing the opposition party of organising meetings in the province. Wilbert Marimbere, an MDC actvist, was arrested by police when he went to report the incident. Jongwe said: "Unlike in the run-up to the June 2000 parliamentary elections when Zanu PF fanned violence in daylight and were proud of it, this time there is a slight shift in their strategy. In public, they preach non-violence and project themselves as saints, but, on the ground, their militia has clear and ruthless instructions to the contrary." Since the MDC was launched, some of the opposition party's MPs have been beaten up or their homes have been attacked by Zanu PF members and state agents. No arrests have been made in any of the cases.
From ZWNEWS: The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO has released its report on political violence for the month of December. December proved to be one of the most violent months so far, with at least seven murders, including two by decapitation. The tally of crimes brings the number of documented deaths over 2001 to 48, and the number of cases of torture to 2245. If you would like a copy of this report, please let us know. It will be sent as a Word attachment to an email message - total size 107 Kb, or around twice the size of the average daily ZWNEWS.
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From BBC News, 15 January
Mugabe given list of election demands
Malawi - A special summit meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has ended with Zimbabwe being given a list of actions it has to take to reduce political tension in the approach to March's presidential elections. Neighbouring countries had expressed concern that this tension, and Zimbabwe's economic decline, were beginning to affect the whole region. For eight hours the presidents of 14 southern African nations were closeted behind closed doors, a small enough group for frank speaking on the region's problems. About half-an-hour before the end, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe came out alone. When the final communique was issued it was clear that President Mugabe's fellow presidents had given him a long list of actions his government had to take:
Guarantee freedom of speech and association
Investigate fully all cases of political violence
Accredit local election monitors and foreign observers
Allow both local and foreign journalists to cover the polls
As the communique was read out, it became clear that the meeting had been very critical of some recent developments in Zimbabwe. "The summit expressed serious concern on the statement made by the Zimbabwe army on the outcome of the election and urged the government of Zimbabwe to ensure that, in accordance with the multi-party political dispensation prevalent in SADC, political statements are not made by the military but by political leaders," the statement said. But would Zimbabwe really do all this? At the press conference after the summit, its chairman, Malawi's President Bakili Muluzi, was asked what would happen if Zimbabwe did not comply. "Let us give Zimbabwe a chance," he said. "They have made a commitment to us, as SADC, and President Mugabe assured us several times that he would like to have free and fair elections. So we believe that there will be free and fair elections. So let us wait and see. I can assure you that all of us will take an interest to make sure that whatever has been promised is adhered to," President Muluzi said.
As Mr Mugabe left the summit he seemed confident enough, assuring journalists that it was his arch enemy Britain, and not Zimbabwe, that had come in for criticism. In fact President Mugabe did score one point - over a new radio station, Radio Africa, which started broadcasting to Zimbabwe out of London just before Christmas. "The summit noted with concern the negative reporting by certain sections of the media in Zimbabwe and appealed to them to be objective," the SADC executive secretary said. "The summit expressed grave concern over the fact that some western countries have authorised the broadcasting from their territories by their nationals of hostile and inciting propaganda against the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe. The summit called upon those countries to desist from such actions." President Muluzi declined to get involved in the war of words which has been going on between Britain and Zimbabwe. But he did recommend that both sides be prepared to talk. "We would like to encourage, if anything, some dialogue between Britain and Zimbabwe so that they can start speaking to one another. "It's difficult when you don't have a dialogue between parties and when you don't discuss issues and one hopes that one day, you know, President Mugabe and Prime Minister Blair will sit down and talk over things and discuss," he said.
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From Reuters, 15 January
US tells Zimbabwe to change or face sanctions
Washington The United States on Tuesday told Zimbabwe's leaders they could face targeted sanctions if free elections did not take place in March and said President Robert Mugabe's policies had led the country to "rack and ruin." State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters the United States was consulting with various governments regarding "targeted sanctions" against Zimbabwean leaders, family members and associates, if the situation there did not improve. "We continue to make our message loud and clear, as I hope I'm doing again today, that they need to take steps in Zimbabwe to reassert the rule of law and attention to the norms of a civic society," said Reeker. But he stressed no final decisions had been taken on the timing or implementation of sanctions, which could include a travel ban on Zimbabwean leaders and their families.
"The policies that the Mugabe government have taken have lead the country to economic and political rack and ruin, and it's time for them to think about the future of their country, the future of their people and focus on democracy," said Reeker. He added: "And that would include establishing a system to have free and fair elections as they're scheduled in March." Seeking to extend his 21-year hold on power in the elections, Mugabe pushed through tough laws last week banning independent election monitors, outlawing criticism and denying voting rights to millions of Zimbabweans abroad.
Mugabe appeared on Monday to change his mind, however, pledging to a summit of African leaders in Malawi that the poll would be fair and that he would allow independent observers. European Union diplomats had also threatened sanctions if Zimbabwe refused to allow foreign observers to monitor the March elections. US assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor, Lorne Craner, arrived in Zimbabwe on Tuesday to make clear the US position, said Reeker. Under a law signed by President Bush last month, Reeker said the United States would oppose debt relief and vote against loan credit or guarantees to the government of Zimbabwe if it did not change its ways.
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From Ananova (UK), 15 January
UK 'considering sanctions against Zimbabwe'
Foreign Office minister Baroness Amos says Britain is considering sanctions against Mr Mugabe's regime. There have been calls over recent weeks for asset freezes and travel bans directly targeted at Mugabe and his associates. Lady Amos says the UK is working with the EU to come up with "appropriate measures" if Zimbabwe fails to provide certain written assurances by Friday. She told the BBC: "There have been calls for targeted sanctions against the government of Zimbabwe. The process that we are engaged in with the European Union could result in what are called 'appropriate measures' if the things that we are looking for are not met. What it means is that Britain has been working with partners on this. The EU has the possibility to take 'appropriate measures'... that could be targeted sanctions." But Lady Amos went on to add that the government wants to maintain dialogue with Zimbabwe and that "we are not ruling anything in or anything out". She said: "We are at a point now where the government of Zimbabwe have to come back with some written commitments by this Friday. And the EU have made it absolutely clear that they will be looking very closely at the action that is being taken by the Zimbabwe government on the ground, that the commitments made at the meeting last week are actually being followed through."
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From The Guardian (UK), 16 January
International hunt for Mugabe family assets
Commonwealth, EU and US officials have begun investigating the overseas assets of Robert Mugabe, his family and close associates, in readiness for possible sanctions against Zimbabwe. EU foreign ministers meet on January 28 to decide if Mr Mugabe genuinely intends to hold free and fair elections in March, with international observers present, and whether he has made efforts to curb violence by his supporters. In October the EU invoked article 96 of the Cotonou agreement governing relations with African states, which allows for sanctions if a range of issues such as human rights and good governance are not addressed. The US Congress has already agreed to consult its international partners about a collective response to the Zimbabwean crisis. Although Mr Mugabe apparently gave assurances about allowing foreign observers and journalists to cover the election at the meeting of the Southern African Development Community in Malawi on Monday, formal invitations have yet to be issued.
Tracking assets salted away by Mr Mugabe, his family and political friends will not be easy, as the president himself has managed to avoid the scandals that have swirled around some of his ministers, top civil servants and generals. Yet the Mugabes have been able to acquire a string a properties in the country, including a new £6m mansion in a quiet Harare suburb. He himself has acknowledged corruption in his cabinet. In 1999 he told ministers: "I know they [international contractors] are buying you for tenders and that some of you are accepting huge bribes." The Zimbabwean magazine Legal Forum has described the country as a "racketeering state" characterised by minimal economic development, stagnation leading to recession and unbridled greed by the ruling elite.
But unlike the crude daylight robbery of Sani Abacha and his circle in Nigeria, the money trail left by Mr Mugabe's associates is likely to be sophisticated. Reports of the personal enrichment of Mr Mugabe's associates and close relations have been legion, particularly after the military intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where secretive joint ventures were set up to exploit the vast resources of diamonds and minerals. His own extravagance, and that of his wife, has caused a national outcry. In the 1990s Mr Mugabe was Africa's most-travelled president. According to an investigation by the Zimbabwe Independent business weekly, he spent £180m in the decade on fuel alone for commandeered Air Zimbabwe planes to fly to more than 150 countries.
His party, Zanu PF, is also an international business empire with a vast array of interests held through part ownership of a company called Zidco Holdings. Set up shortly after independence, Zidco has stakes in numerous aspect of the Zimbabwean economy, from property and duty-free shops to building materials and army supplies. Run by a southern African family originally from Malaysia, its assets and profits are a secret, guarded by two key Mugabe allies on the board: the former justice and security ministers Emmerson Mnangagwa and Sidney Sekeramayi. A couple of years ago Mr Mugabe whimsically told a journalist that if he ever found himself out of a job (presidential salary around £16,000 a year), he could go back to teaching and his wife Grace could earn a crust by sewing. But investigators are expecting to find rather more substantial assets. Among the pleasures of life for Mr and Mrs Mugabe have been their regular shopping expeditions to London. If sanctions bite, the couple may find that their credit line this spring is considerably diminished.
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From The Financial Times, 16 January
Debate on Zimbabwe’s media bill delayed
Debate on Zimbabwe's controversial media bill, which was due to be considered by parliament yesterday, has been postponed by the government without any explanation. Opposition MPs believe the government delayed the legislation because it was not certain of a majority in the house of assembly. They expect the bill to be debated today or tomorrow. Officials dismissed speculation that the government had delayed debate on the bill because of pressure from fellow members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) at Monday's meeting in Malawi. One diplomat said he hoped "rather than believed" that the combination of SADC pressure and the European Union's sanctions threat against Zimbabwe would be enough to force the government to drop the bill. "To pass the bill now would be a slap in the face for both SADC and the EU," said the diplomat, but government officials rejected this, insisting that the legislation was a purely domestic affair and would come before the house within the next few days.
MPs debated another controversial bill - an amendment to the Labour Relations Act that would permit the government to deregister trade unions that use industrial action to achieve political goals. Parliament's all-party legal committee, which has only advisory powers, reported unanimously that the proposed labour amendment bill was unconstitutional because it contravened the right to free association. Eddison Zvobgo, a former cabinet minister in President Robert Mugabe's government, spoke against the bill, underscoring government concerns that it might not be able to muster a majority in the house. Mr Zvobgo chairs the legal committee and is an outspoken critic of the ruling Zanu PF party. Parliament adjourned without voting on the legal committee's report or the amendment. Officials expect a vote on these two issues today, assuming that the government has mustered a parliamentary majority by then. Opposition MPs say the legal committee's negative report on the labour relations bill points to a similar adverse report on the media bill. While this is unlikely to affect the government's ability to push the legislation through parliament, it will strengthen the arguments of journalist groups who intend to challenge the media act in the courts when it becomes law.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 17 January
Party rebel puts Mugabe media curb on hold
Harare - A media Bill intended by President Robert Mugabe to silence his critics was put on hold yesterday after a revolt in parliament from within the ranks of his own Zanu PF party. Dr Edison Zvobgo, a Zanu PF founder who heads the parliamentary legal committee, delayed the second reading of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill by being "unavailable" to present a report on the Bill to parliament. The block appeared to have forced the government to consider amending the Bill, which has been widely criticised for its threat to jail journalists if they breach a "code of conduct", before it comes before the house again next week.
It was the second time in two days that Dr Zvobgo, a key member of parliament, had obstructed the will of his leader. Under the constitution, Dr Zvobgo's committee must vet Bills before they are put to a second vote. On Tuesday his committee said an amendment to labour legislation, which would have outlawed strikes and trade unions if they were seen to hurt the economy, was in conflict with freedom of association provisions in the constitution. Yesterday, the media Bill, which would have outlawed independent and foreign journalists not approved by the government, did not appear on the order paper as expected. Political sources in Harare said that Dr Zvobgo and his committee would have found many clauses within the media Bill unconstitutional.
Speaking in parliament, Patrick Chinamasa, Mr Mugabe's justice minister, said: "After some lengthy consultations with objective-minded media organisations and the deliberation with honourable members on my side, I have suggested some amendments to the Access to Information and Privacy Bill." Parliament was adjourned until Tuesday. Zanu PF lobbyists are expected to try to strike a with Dr Zvobgo to submit his report if some of the Bill's more robust clauses are withdrawn. Dr John Makumbe, a political analyst, said: "They are in a bind but, remember, the president can rule by decree and that Bill, and the amendments to labour legislation, can still be put into law, and Zanu PF needs them ahead of the elections."
President Mugabe faces the strongest challenge yet to his 22-year rule from Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, in March's presidential elections. David Coltart, the shadow justice minister, said yesterday: "Zanu PF want these Bills pushed through, that's why they have adjourned until Tuesday, presumably so they can work on Zvobgo." Dr Zvobgo was one of the founders of Zanu PF, and its main legal negotiator at the Lancaster House talks in 1979 which led to Zimbabwe's independence. In recent years he fell out with Mr Mugabe because he criticised the way the party was run, particularly in his province, Masvingo, south of Harare. He was dropped from the cabinet and from the politburo but is on record as saying he would never leave Zanu PF. Several key members of Zanu PF were absent from parliament on key voting days in the past few weeks, including Simba Makoni, the finance minister who chose to spend time on his farm instead. Meanwhile, there are shortages of maize meal, the staple food, for a second week, with most rural shops having run out. Political sources said Mr Mugabe's cabinet is panicking as it realises that there is no way maize meal can be brought into Zimbabwe from South Africa within three weeks.
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From The Times (UK), 17 January
US threatens to freeze Mugabe assets abroad
Johannesburg/London/Washington - President Mugabe was facing the prospect of sanctions against his regime’s assets abroad last night as the United States increased the pressure on Zimbabwe to hold free and fair elections. Washington is threatening to impose travel bans on Mr Mugabe and dozens of his family and aides and freeze their overseas assets as well as withhold $26 million in Congress-approved aid unless the situation in Zimbabwe improves. US congressmen in South Africa accused Mr Mugabe’s inner circle of government officials and military officers yesterday of looting Zimbabwe’s Treasury and secretly stashing the assets abroad. Ed Royce, Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Africa Committee, said Washington was fully aware that Mr Mugabe’s allies had made "a wave of significant deposits" in American banks. In Britain, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the City watchdog, said that banks based in Britain that receive laundered cash and gems linked to the Mugabe regime will be named and shamed or face prosecution.
The latest diplomatic pressure came as it emerged that political violence claimed the lives of 48 people last year, with nearly every killing perpetrated by President Mugabe’s lawless militias. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum said it feared even worse violence this month. The group attributed the sudden increase in brutality to the deployment of a recently created youth militia. The first 1,000 "youth national servicemen", mostly unemployed, uneducated youths, completed three months’ training in December and have been spread around rural areas in northern Zimbabwe.
On a visit to Cape Town, Mr Royce and other Congressmen warned Mr Mugabe that the United States Government would increase pressure on Zimbabwe to ensure that next month’s presidential elections were not rigged. "You can ex pect the US to ratchet up the pressure for free and fair elections," Mr Royce said. The scope of the US threats are being spelled out by Lorne Craner, the US assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labour, who is now in Zimbabwe. A State Department spokesman said yesterday: "The policies that the Mugabe Government have taken have led the country to economic and political rack and ruin, and it’s time for them to think about the future of their country, the future of the people, and focus on democracy."
The proposed sanctions would be aimed at Mr Mugabe, along with his senior government and military officials, and would be designed to prevent vast amounts of money leaving the country. The US decision on whether to impose sanctions on the rogue regime in Harare is expectedly imminently. At the same time, the European Union is considering sanctions if Zimbabwe does not quickly agree to independent foreign observers and reporters to monitor the March election. The 54-member Commonwealth is also expected to discuss suspending Zimbabwe from the organisation when it meets in Brisbane.
Mr Royce said that European governments were reporting similar flows of funds out of Zimbabwe and also the Democratic Republic of Congo, where senior officers in Zimbabwe’s army propping up the Government of President Kabila have extensive business interests in diamonds, minerals and timber. "Assets are being transferred out of Zimbabwe by allies and military officers close to President Mugabe," he said. Efforts are being made, he said, in both Washington and London to track down millions of dollars already thought to have been deposited in overseas banks. The FSA said it was taking "very seriously" the allegations that millions of dollars from Zimbabwe is ending up in British bank accounts. The watchdog gave warning that financial institutions who do not comb their client list for likely launderers and report any suspicious findings to the National Criminal Intelligence Service would be the first to be prosecuted.
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From News24 (SA), 16 January
Zim may invite EU observers
Harare - Zimbabwe may invite some European Union countries to observe its presidential elections in March, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told parliament on Wednesday. "We are inclined to invite some countries of the EU," Chinamasa said during parliament's weekly question and answer session. "Those who we know have already made up their minds, they cannot come. They can come as tourists maybe, but not as observers," he said. Zimbabwe has come under heavy fire after the passage of tough new electoral and security laws that bar foreign observers from the election. The measures prompted the European Union to insist on two "immediate actions" - "the invitation and accreditation of international election observers, including from the EU", and "full access to national and international media". Zimbabwe had earlier said it would go "some way" toward addressing the EU concerns.
Chinamasa also defended the stance taken last week by Zimbabwe's military chief General Vitalis Zvinavashe, who said security forces "will only stand in support of those political leaders that will pursue Zimbabwean values" and the goals of the "liberation struggle". "The statement by General Zvinavashe was long overdue, because they needed to put the record straight," Chinamasa said. Reports in some private Zimbabwean newspapers claimed recently the military had urged Mugabe to step down to avoid dragging out the nation's political crisis. "There was no way we could have a free and fair election ... when in fact they (the people) had been poisoned to believe that the army had turned against President Mugabe," Chinamasa said. "There is nothing whatsoever objectionable in the statement by General Zvinvashe," he said. "Those who object are really making a statement that they are traitors to Zimbabwe." Zimbabwe's presidential elections are set for March 9-10, but campaigning has already been marred by widespread violence targeting opposition supporters.
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From African Eye (SA), 16 January
MDC leader's electricity cut
Harare - Zimbabwe's electricity authority has disconnected the power supply to the home of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) cut the electricity on Monday after a BBC broadcast in which Tsvangirai, who leads the Movement Democratic Change (MDC) called for South Africa to impose direct sanctions on Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai's wife Susan said two men from Zesa arrived at their house in the capital city of Harare and disconnected the electricity at about 3pm without saying anything to her. "Our accounts are up to date and we don't owe Zesa any money," she said on Tuesday. She said she was waiting for a response from Zesa authorities as to why their electricity had been cut-off. Zesa authorities declined to comment but a senior manager who asked not to be named said they acted on "orders from above".
In the BBC interview Tsvangirai said South Africa should impose direct sanctions on Zimbabwe by stopping fuel and electricity supplies and cutting all transport links to the country. "The threat to undermine the elections by the military and by President (Robert) Mugabe himself, should send shock waves to South Africa who should say we are going to cut fuel, we are going to cut the transport links," Tsvangirai said. Zimbabwe imports electricity from South Africa and relies on its southern neighbour for a rail and road link to its fuel supplies from the sea. In retaliation the Zanu PF government said Tsvangirai's statements culminated from the MDC's futility in pursuing an agenda of violence and intimidation.
This isn't the first time the government has tried to intimidate Tsvangirai, who poses a formidable challenge to President Mugabe in the March presidential poll. He has been arrested on several occasions on charges of inciting violence and earlier this month the MDC was labelled a terrorist organisation. Zimbabwe already faces sanctions from the United States after President George W Bush signed the Zimbabwe Economic Recovery Bill in December. The bill will impose restrictions on outside travel to President Mugabe and top officials in government.
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From the Financial Gazette, 17 January
10 000 soldiers deployed to campaign for Mugabe
The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) has sent 10 000 soldiers on leave and deployed them throughout the country to campaign for President Robert Mugabe ’s re-election in the presidential plebiscite due on March 9 and 10, it was established this week. The Financial Gazette also established that the soldiers would be paid an extra $10 000 a month each for their work in the presidential election campaign, in addition to their normal salaries. The soldiers went on leave from the beginning of January this year and will remain in the field until the presidential election is concluded. The soldiers are drawn from various battalions around the country, although authoritative sources said the Presidential Guard battalion had contributed the biggest single chunk to the 10 000 troops deployed for the campaign. The soldiers were deployed to campaign for Mugabe in their own home areas.
The troop deployments were followed by a tough statement from the commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), Vitalis Zvinavashe, last week who warned Zimbabweans that the army would not accept a president who did not participate in Zimbabwe’s 1970s independence war. "We wish to make it very clear to all Zimbabwean citizens that the security organisations will only stand in support of those political leaders that will pursue Zimbabwean values, traditions and beliefs for which thousands of lives were lost, in pursuit of Zimbabwe’s hard-won independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests," he said. "To this end, let it be known that the highest office in the land is a straitjacket whose occupant is expected to observe the objectives of the liberation struggle. We will therefore not accept, let alone support or salute, anyone with a different agenda that threatens the very existence of our sovereignty, our country and our people."
Zvinavashe’s statement has been roundly condemned by the international community and by Zimbabweans who say if that is the position of the ZDF, then there would be no need to have an election in the first place. ZNA spokesman Colonel Mbonisi Gatsheni this week said he was not aware of the army deployments for purposes of campaigning for Mugabe. "I am not aware of that situation so I cannot comment further," he said. He also declined a request by this newspaper for him to seek comment on the matter from his superiors. The top commanders had earlier referred all questions to Gatsheni. The army spokesman also refused to comment on whether Zvinavashe’s statement did not contradict an earlier statement by the army’s public relations directorate that the ZNA would serve any leader elected by Zimbabweans. "I issue statements on behalf of Commander Zvinavashe and you can’t ask me to comment on what my boss has already said," Gatsheni said. The directorate had, prior to Zvinavashe’s statement, repeatedly rejected charges that the army was partisan and vowed it would serve any government elected by the people. The Financial Gazette managed to trace and speak to some of the soldiers deployed on the ground in the Chikomba area. The newspaper also strenuously sought to speak to Zvinavashe himself on his mobile phone but could not go beyond his aide de camp who answered the phone.
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From Business Day (SA), 17 January
UK rejects allegations of funding broadcasts
Harare - The British high commission in Harare has dismissed as "wrong" allegations that it was funding "illegal broadcasts to Zimbabwe" and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). In a statement released yesterday, the High Commission said the allegations published in the government-controlled Herald and Sunday Mail newspapers were unfounded. "With the exception of the BBC World Service, the British government is not funding any radio stations broadcasting to Zimbabwe. The BBC World Service is funded by the British government. It provides worldwide broadcasts, including to Zimbabwe." There were Zimbabweans operating a radio station in the UK, but without British government assistance. Capital Radio was shut down last year soon after starting operations in Harare following the freeing of airwaves by the Supreme Court in 2000.
The high commission said claims that Britain was funding the MDC were false. "The British government is not funding the MDC and is not violating the Political Parties (Finance) Act. We have not received any formal representations to support the allegations that we are." The high commission said Britain was funding humanitarian projects in Zimbabwe: HIV/AIDS alleviation, supporting victims of human rights abuses, and feeding programmes for malnourished children and pregnant mothers. In addition, the mission denied reports that Britain had threatened Malawi with an aid freeze if it did not condemn President Robert Mugabe's violent repression and state-sponsored lawlessness. "Britain has not threatened Malawi over Zimbabwe, another statement said. "Britain is providing £70m to Malawi this year for development, of which £25m is budgetary support."
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From News24 (SA), 16 January
MDC members held
Harare - Police arrested 22 opposition activists after political clashes in central Zimbabwe, but later released all but three of them after holding them overnight, their lawyer said on Wednesday. The 22 were arrested late on Tuesday at the offices of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the town of Gweru, following political clashes in the surrounding Midlands province, Lawyer Tonderai Chitere said. Nineteen of the activists were freed on Wednesday, and the remaining three had been charged with public violence, he added. Police said they did not know about the arrests in Gweru, which is 275km south of Harare, but said 28 MDC members had been arrested and released in the nearby town of Redcliff, and four of them had been charged with public violence. An MDC official in Gweru, speaking by telephone on condition that he not be named, said the group included victims of political violence who had run away from Mberengwa, in southern Zimbabwe. The three still in custody plan to plead not guilty to charges of perpetrating political violence in Mberengwa, Chitere said.
Meanwhile police spokesperson Tarwireyi Tirivavi said a mob of youths attacked a group of off-duty soldiers as they passed through the central town of Kwekwe, 200km south of Harare, late on Tuesday. "Quite a number" of youths armed with stones and empty bottles pelted their vehicle, forcing the soldiers to summon the police, he said. Police reinforcements had to be called in to quell the mob, Tirivavi said. A 24-year-old man, Simwanja Mijoni, was later found stabbed to death in a sanitary lane near the scene of the clashes, but Tirivavi could not say if the man's death was connected with the clashes. The mob fled at the sight of the extra police and no arrests were made, he added. Also overnight on Tuesday, MDC legislator Fidelis Mhashu said his house had been ransacked by armed police with a warrant to search for "chemicals and containers". "They probably suspected me of making bombs or grenades," said Mhashu. Political violence is on the rise in Zimbabwe ahead of the presidential elections, set for March 9 and 10. President Robert Mugabe, struggling to hold on to power and extend his 22-year rule, has given police broad powers to break up political meetings and to jail people who criticise the government.
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From The Financial Gazette, 17 January
Villagers flee violence to the cities
At a crowded "safe house" provided by a good Samaritan in one of Harare's high- density suburbs, Rodney Chikura, an elderly man of 52, despairs. "We have been condemned to a life of poverty," he says, throwing his arms into the air in desperation. Like his 40 other colleagues with whom he and his family now share this four-roomed house, Chikura has had to watch helplessly the life he had built for himself and his family in the Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe (UMP) communal lands come down crashing under the violent wave of political violence engulfing Zimbabwe. The unemployed father, who tilled the tired UMP soils to earn a living for his five children, says when Zanu PF mobs burnt his homestead last month because of his support for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), it was the second time that the ruling party's militants had done so in the past two years.
But this time round, said Chikura, he feared he might not be able to recover from the second attack and destruction of his homestead and his fields. "The terror and torture methods that we thought had gone with Ian Smith have terribly become a reality in independent Zimbabwe again," Chikura lamented. Smith, premier of the country then known as Rhodesia, was accused of presiding over the deaths of thousands of Zimbabwean blacks in his 15-year fight to maintain white supremacy, which ended with independence from Britain in 1980. Two months ahead of a potentially history-drawing presidential election, militias loyal to President Robert Mugabe have unleashed unprecedented terror and violence across Zimbabwe, re-igniting in the minds of villagers such as Chikura memories of the terrible 1970s independence war. Mugabe faces his deadliest political challenge in the critical ballot from MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai who many political analysts tip to make short work of Mugabe if the plebiscite is free and fair. But for Chikura or for 60-year-old Amos Makwe, who fled his two wives and 10 children to come and join the growing list of internal refugees who are being looked after by the Zimbabwe Human Rights (ZimRights) organisation, the road to the important election is proving a terrible test of endurance. "Both my wives were forced to divorce me and one of them, who is seven months pregnant, was severely beaten up and is now being kept under surveillance," a tearful Makwe said. The latest spasm of violence is a re-enactment of similar chaos which marred the run-up to the country's parliamentary elections in 2000, narrowly won by Zanu PF. At least 40 MDC supporters were murdered before and during that ballot.
Makwe, who also is from UMP, one of the areas worst hit by the latest violence, claimed that the war veterans and Zanu PF militias had set up torture bases in his area where villagers suspected of supporting the MDC were routinely tortured. Echoing the dejection and hopelessness of many of the refugees at the house, Makwe said he had lost hope of ever returning to his rural home or seeing his family for as long as Mugabe and Zanu PF were in power. ZimRights national director Munyaradzi Bidi said the number of internal refugees was swelling and his agency, working with another local aid body Amani Trust, was now finding it difficult to keep the families well fed and sheltered. "We are working with Amani Trust as we do not have the capacity to cater for the large numbers that are coming to us," he said. According to an Amani Trust official, the agency which has continued to receive refugees since the parliamentary polls is now caring for nearly 1 000 displaced people nationwide. Scores of other aid agencies are doing the same to hundreds of other displaced Zimbabweans. Even as Mugabe was assuring the European Union and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) this week that his government would ensure a peaceful, free and fair election, more people were fleeing violence by his militias to seek refugee in Harare and other urban centres. Bidi said ZimRights, which in some instances has had to seek court orders to force the police to attend to some of the incidents of violence, was stepping up its campaign to the international community to pressure Mugabe to end the violence and human rights abuses. As a result of the lobbying by ZimRights and other organisations, the International Federation for Human Rights had written to Mugabe urging him to uphold the rule of law and human rights. The World Organisation Against Torture had also contacted Mugabe to tell him to stop his militant supporters from harassing human rights campaigners and that he also ensures that the perpetrators of the violence are brought to book.
MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe said his party was also trying to assist some displaced people, most of whom are its supporters, but said the MDC was hamstrung by lack funds. "We are trying to help where we can but the party does not have the capacity to assist large numbers with basic necessities and accommodation because of financial constraints. The majority of the victims have now become destitute," he said. The MDC would also step up efforts to lobby both the SADC and the rest of the international community to take tougher measures to force the government to observe human rights and democracy, Jongwe said. But whether the hesitant international community eventually moves Mugabe, its intervention will come too late and be too little for Zimbabweans such as Chikura, who says being a refugee in his own country will leave him with permanent scars. "Can you imagine we have to sleep in the same room with our children against all the cultural taboos? This is an insult to your dignity you can never forget," he said. "What is worse, I have children who I now cannot send to school because my whole livelihood has been destroyed. This constantly hits at my ego and renders me as a failure as a father."
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From The Financial Times, 17 January
Programme to send food to Zimbabwe set for clearance
Johannesburg - The World Food Programme (WFP) is expecting to get clearance on Friday to send its first consignment of maize to Zimbabwe, where food shortages are worsening and an estimated 500,000 people are on the brink of starvation. The first load of 8,470 tonnes of maize meal donated by the US will leave Tanzania by train as soon as Zimbabwean inspectors in Dar-es-Salaam have declared it "acceptable and bacteria-free", said Judith Lewis, WFP regional director for eastern and southern Africa. "You could say it is a drop in the ocean, but I prefer to call it a start," said Ms Lewis. "The situation in Zimbabwe is bad and deteriorating fast." The WFP estimates that at least 116,000 tonnes of maize is urgently needed. Other organisations put the total food import bill for the year at $750m, while 3.5m Zimbabweans have applied for food handouts. The consignment marks the return of the WFP to Zimbabwe, which it had left in 1996, and is the outcome of often difficult negotiations with the government. "We have been working on a memorandum of understanding with the authorities since November," said Ms Lewis. "They were concerned at how we would actually operate. But we have opened an office in Harare and, despite a slow start, the programme is now shifting into high gear." Zimbabwe normally produces a surplus of food but this year a combination of negative factors has brought the country to the brink of famine. The maize shortage, initially caused by drought, has been exacerbated by politically motivated violence, as agricultural production has been severely hampered by farm invasions and commercial farming has been disrupted by the government's "fast-track" land reform programme.
After long denying there was a problem, the government admitted at the end of last year that a crisis was looming and formally requested the WFP's intervention. But funds from the international community have not been pouring in because of a combination of donor fatigue and concern at the deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe. Ms Lewis said she was confident the necessary resources would be found, but the WFP had been forced to use millions of dollars of its own resources to buy food for the country. It has also put out a tender in South Africa to buy 8,000 tonnes of maize meal, pulses and cooking oil. Donor countries are also demanding guarantees that the food will reach the starving and will not be stolen or diverted. Earlier this week Ed Royce, chairman of the Africa Committee of the US House of Representatives, on an official visit to South Africa, explicitly accused Zimbabwean government cronies of selling US food aid to line their own pockets. Ms Lewis said she was confident security had been arranged. "Zimbabweans we have trained will arrange distribution, but we will have enough monitors on the ground to make sure the food reaches its intended destination." She also dismissed the argument that the ruling party had such a hold that any aid, however well intentioned, would end up benefiting the current government.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 18 January
Zanu PF widens terror campaign
Zanu PF has stepped up political violence countrywide despite growing international pressure on President Robert Mugabe to rein-in militant youths and war veterans spearheading his re-election campaign, human rights groups say. They said unemployed youths and militants from the ruling Zanu PF party had intensified attacks against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the past week ahead of the country's March 9/10 presidential election. The drive defies calls by Western governments led by the United States for Mugabe to restore respect for the rule of law and ensure the build-up to the polls is fair. "We are receiving more and more reports of violence from across the whole country...The reports we are getting suggest it is Zanu PF and not the MDC which is behind this violence," said a spokesman for human rights watchdog ZimRights. In its bid to thwart the MDC campaign, the ruling Zanu PF has unleashed terror across the country with the National Youth Service trainees taking a leading role. In all major towns and cities Zanu PF militias are demanding party cards from anyone they come across. In addition to possessing the card, people are expected to know Zanu PF slogans. Failure to produce the card or to chant the party slogan results in a severe beating. Bindura, Marondera, Buhera, Muzarabani and many other areas have become no-go zones as war veterans and Zanu PF youths run riot. Along major highways Zanu PF militias have mounted illegal "roadblocks" and are asking drivers to produce party cards and chant slogans.
"Most people have bought Zanu PF cards and carry them wherever they go to avoid being beaten up by the marauding youths," Tinashe Zinyando of Mbare said over the weekend. In the capital, particularly the high-density residential areas, a "curfew" has been imposed on residents. "We are living in perpetual fear and cannot go out of our gates at night because the militias are constantly patrolling our areas chanting ruling party slogans on the streets," a resident from Mabvuku said. In Mbare, those who operate at Mupedzanhamo and Siya-So home industries must be party card-holders. Addressing a group of militias and war veterans at Mbare's Nenyere flats over the weekend, war veterans leader Joseph Chinotimba declared the area a no-go zone for the opposition. "Mupedzanhamo is specifically meant for Mbare residents and those who do not reside in Mbare should use this facility only after producing a Zanu PF card and a letter from their district chairman," Chinotimba was reported to have said. In Muzarabani youths have established bases from which they monitor the movement of all people. "I was crudely ordered to make a U-turn back to Harare and get a party card despite the fact that I had explained to the militias that I was going for a funeral in the Hoya area," a furious Tagwirei Madiro of Borrowdale said this week. In Mudzi, teachers were ordered to return to their respective homes to obtain party cards if they wanted to teach in the constituency.
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From SABC News, 17 January
Mugabe invites Obasanjo for consultations
Olusegun Obasanjo, the Nigerian President who brokered a deal between Zimbabwe and Britain, will visit Harare on Sunday at the invitation of President Robert Mugabe for "consultations". "The president ( Obasanjo) has been invited by President Mugabe for consultations," said Tunji Oseni, Obasanjo's spokesperson, adding that "the land issue" would be one of the topics discussed. The deal brokered by Obasanjo, an old friend of Mugabe, now appears dead, with the Mugabe government failing to implement its commitments to stop illegal land seizures and end political violence. Under the terms of the agreement, Britain also agreed to fund legal land reform to correct colonial imbalances in land ownership in its former colony, the bulk of which is owned by the country's white minority. Pressure is mounting on Zimbabwe and the Mugabe government ahead of elections due in March which many fear will not be free and fair.
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From The Financial Times (UK), 18 January
Help needed to trace Mugabe funds, says PwC
Johannesburg - International auditing firms operating in southern Africa said on Thursday that an investigation into the assets of Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, and those of his associates would be strengthened by the co-operation of international donor agencies. John Roux, the head of PricewaterhouseCoopers' forensic unit in Johannesburg, said the international banking community's co-operation in tracking funds belonging to Zimbabwe's ruling elite depended on donors, such as the World Bank or the European Union, raising concerns about the abuse of their funds. The US and the UK have launched an investigation into the assets held abroad ahead of a possible decision to impose targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe to put pressure on the government to hold free and fair elections. The US said this week that capital outflows from top officials to tax havens in Europe and the US had been increasing in the months before the presidential elections in March. Ed Royce, chairman of the Africa Committee of the US House of Representatives, warned of the danger of officials stripping the Zimbabwean national treasury. "There is nothing to prevent them [Zimbabwean officials] from doing it [moving money offshore]. It's very difficult to investigate. To get the Swiss banking authorities to co-operate, you would need some official backing and a criminal prosecution. The banks are not going to disclose for the sake of disclosing," said Mr Roux.
Swiss banks co-operated in an investigation last year into the assets held abroad by General Sani Abacha, former Nigerian president, after his death and proof of illegal accumulation of funds. By comparison, Mr Mugabe is the legitimately elected leader of Zimbabwe and would find protection in banking confidentiality. Auditors say the measures the US and UK are proposing would apply to more easily traceable, hard assets, such as properties, rather than to bank accounts probably held in tax havens. Zimbabwean officials are likely to have used formal private banking channels to move their money offshore. Alternatively, they may have set up corporate front companies to transfer their personal wealth overseas. "People would use tried and tested methods they have used for years. They would already have bolt-holes and slush funds. They would move money out along simple lines," said Rowan Bosworth-Davies, a consultant at Control Risks, a political and security risk analysis company, in London. Others would have sought to avoid detection by the Zimbabwean central bank and formal banking sector by redirecting funds held outside Zimbabwe or by illegally taking out hard currency. A likely first destination is South Africa, which has a large banking system offering international investment access and strong financial ties with its northern neighbour. "You can stash cash in a suitcase and fly out. It's not going to be picked up," said a Johannesburg-based forensic auditor.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 18 January
Mugabe report delayed
A diplomatically sensitive United Nations report assessing whether President Robert Mugabe is acting lawfully in Zimbabwe was delayed from publication yesterday after the intervention of the UN Secretary-General. The Telegraph has learned that senior staff in Kofi Annan's office said they needed to give final approval to the report, prepared by a special team from the UN Development Programme. "This report is diplomatic dynamite and needs to be handled very carefully," one diplomat said. It is understood to be the first time the Secretary-General's office has demanded final approval for a report arising out of a UNDP field trip.
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From The Independent (UK), 18 January
Zimbabwe 'meltdown' feared as exodus gains pace
Harare - South Africa has designated a disused military base on its northern border with Zimbabwe as a holding centre for refugees fleeing the rising tide of violence and economic hardship linked to Zimbabwe's political crisis. Leslie Mashokwe, a government home affairs spokesman, said Pretoria had identified an old military complex near Messina "to provide accommodation should the situation in Zimbabwe reach meltdown". Human rights groups warned yesterday that politically motivated violence in Zimbabwe was rising despite mounting international pressure on President Robert Mugabe, who faces the greatest challenge yet to his 20-year rule in the election to be held on 9 and 10 March. The European Union and the United States have threatened Mr Mugabe with sanctions if he does not ensure free and fair elections.
At least 2,500 Zimbabweans a day are crossing legally into South Africa to escape the political turmoil, immigration officials in Zimbabwe say. About 300 a day are leaving for Britain. Most of the Zimbabweans crossing into South Africa are obtaining tourist or shopping visas but they immediately became illegal immigrants once the temporary visas expire. A senior Zimbabwean immigration official said: "We suspect that many more people are crossing the border into South Africa illegally to seek employment there. Most of those people going to South Africa as tourists are in fact going there in search of employment and they are not coming back once their visas expire." Immigration officials said at least 300 Zimbabweans a day were leaving to join friends and relatives in Britain. They said an estimated 400,000 Zimbabweans were now living in Britain, more than half of them illegally. Zimbabweans can enter Britain without a visa, if their stay is for holiday or business and for less than six months.
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From Associated Press, 18 January
Militants rampage in Zimbabwe
Harare - Ruling party militants rampaged through farming districts in northern Zimbabwe Friday, in what the opposition said was an attempt to shut down the areas to its campaigners ahead of presidential elections. Militants stormed white-owned farms, while members of the ruling party youth militia in green government-issue uniforms manned roadblocks to seal off districts to supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Welshman Ncube, the opposition party's third ranking official, accused President Robert Mugabe's party of creating ``no go areas'' for opposition supporters ahead of the vote scheduled for March 9 and 10. "Such areas are being systematically extended ... there is no prospect of the elections being free and fair," he said. Mugabe, fighting for his political survival after nearly 22 years in power, has cracked down on the opposition and pushed through legislation tightening security and electoral laws that favor his party.
On Friday, at least 100 slogan-chanting militants stormed a white-owned farm near Karoi, 130 miles northwest of Harare, the capital, demanding white owners immediately leave the property. Three of nine black workers on the property were assaulted by assailants who smashed down fences and hurled stones at approaching vehicles, said farmer Terry Smit. Other properties in the Karoi corn and tobacco district were targeted by militants who demanded owners pack up and go, some by the end of Friday, officials of the Commercial Farmers Union said. Smit said militants drove workers from their homes and threw their belongings onto the road after accusing them of supporting the Movement for Democratic Change. "They told me they were evicting me today. They are about 30 yards from my door," said Smit, speaking by telephone from his besieged farmstead. Drumbeats, singing and pro-government slogans were audible on the line. Smit said threats of violence from militants intensified since an announcement earlier this month of presidential elections.
Some farm workers bought ruling party membership cards to help them pass through the militia checkpoints. Without a card, "you are humiliated. We were made to kneel in the road and beg to be let through and sing slogans,'' said an elderly white farm manager who asked not to be identified. The youth militias have ignored government assurances that only police are permitted at roadblocks. Police have not prevented the militias throwing up checkpoints. Since the start of the year government-backed militants have embarked on a fresh looting campaign of white-owned farms, forcing at least 23 landowners from their homes, the mainly white farmers' union says. Police were on Friday unavailable for comment on violence. Militants have invaded hundreds of white-owned farms since early 2000 with the tacit support of the government, which called their actions a justified response to inequitable land ownership left by colonial rule. Most of Zimbabwe's commercial farmland is owned by whites who make up less than half a percent of the population.
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From The Guardian (UK), 19 January
EU sanctions loom as Mugabe ignores deadline for poll plans
Brussels/Harare - European Union sanctions against Zimbabwe moved closer yesterday after President Robert Mugabe failed to meet a deadline to agree conditions for allowing international observers at the presidential election in March. As lawlessness and intimidation spread across the country, the current holder of the union's presidency, Spain, said Harare had not replied to last Friday's EU demand for detailed plans on observers and media access within seven days. "The non-response is a sort of response," a Spanish official said. "They are sending us a clear signal." EU diplomats said sanctions were likely to be decided by a meeting of foreign ministers on January 28, unless there was a change in the next few days. One said: "They've really got to come up with something fairly quickly or there will be smart sanctions," aimed at leaders of the regime.
The likely options include a travel ban and an assets freeze for members of the regime, as well as an arms embargo. EU governments say they want to avoid hitting innocent people. Officials said that Zimbabwe was trying to split the union by inviting observers from most of its 15 members but excluding Britain, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. EU missions in Harare are expected to report on the situation next week before ambassadors meet in Brussels to recommend policy options to the foreign ministers. But pressure is mounting for action after criticism that previous threats have come too late. "I would be surprised if the Zimbabweans responded anywhere near the deadline, and I would be gobsmacked if they were to respond positively to the [EU] requests," the MEP Glenys Kinnock said "Mugabe is trying to divide and rule," Geoffrey van Orden, a Conservative MEP, said. "The EU should take a robust stand and not let him decide who makes up our election monitoring teams."
Latest events in Zimbabwe have confirmed fears of dangerously escalating climate of violence. Late on Thursday, supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change were abducted and beaten by supporters of the ruling Zanu PF. Several youths escaped and were being treated at a Harare hospital. Thomas Tawanda Spicer, 17, the son of a Zimbabwean film-maker, Edwina Spicer, was tied to a tree and beaten and kicked throughout the night. He was later taken to a police station in the northern city of Marondera where he was reportedly arrested on charges of kidnapping. After first denying any knowledge of him, the police confirmed that he was in their custody, but denied him access to his family or a lawyer. Mr Spicer is an active MDC member and his fluent Shona and trenchant criticism of the Mugabe government has delighted opposition rallies.
Violence has also been used by the Zanu PF militia to stop the distribution in rural areas of all independent newspapers, including the Daily News, the Financial Gazette and the Zimbabwe Independent. Distributors and vendors of the papers have been beaten and threatened with death if they continue to sell them, the publishers said. "It is clear from the number of cases coming to us that there has been a substantial increase in state-sponsored violence," said Tony Reeler, director of the Amani Trust, which cares for the victims of violence. "We are concerned by the number of reports of deaths which we are having trouble confirming because we do not get responses from the police. Torture appears to be increasing substantially."
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From The Financial Gazette, 17 January
Would-be farmers yet to see new plots
Confusion surrounded the government’s fast-track land reforms this week as would-be beneficiaries said they were still landless because of bureaucratic delays which some analysts said were an attempt by the government to buy time ahead of the crunch March presidential election. A snap survey by the Financial Gazette this week revealed that most of the properties on which new settlers are being allotted plots are being contested or are already occupied by self-styled independence war veterans and other ruling Zanu PF party supporters, which means that the beneficiaries cannot move onto the land. As a result, most of the people whose names have appeared in the state media in the past few weeks as having been given land are still in the dark about the specific location of the plots other than general information such as the province and district.
Most of the beneficiaries said they had been told that the farms on which their plots are located are not yet ready for occupation because war veterans had already planted maize on the properties and would only leave after harvesting. "That is the tragedy of the whole issue because you will find that some of those people who invaded farms when the land crisis started were not allocated land under the scheme and are still living illegally on the occupied farms," said one beneficiary who was allocated land in the Murewa district of Mashonaland East. More than 27 000 individuals had by Tuesday this week been listed in the state media as having been successful applicants under President Robert Mugabe’s fast-track land reform programme. Efforts to get comment from Lands and Agriculture Minister Joseph Made or Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, whose ministry is in charge of the actual placement of the resettled farmers, were fruitless this week.
"By rushing to announce the names of people before the farms are ready for occupation, the government could create conflict between the people who have been allocated land and those who have planted on the farms because some of us are keen to start working on our farms immediately," said another would-be farmer. All the interviewees preferred not to be named for fear they could lose their farms or plots or face retribution from marauding Zanu PF militia. This newspaper also found that another impediment had been an apparent breakdown in communication between Made’s ministry and its district offices, which had resulted in several successful applicants being turned away after inquiring about the exact location of their plots. "When I went to check at the local district office, I was told they were waiting for information from head office before they could write to me stating where I had been allocated land," said another successful applicant who was given a small-scale farm in Makonde district of Mashonaland West province.
The analysts accused the government of trying to hoodwink the electorate ahead of the crucial March 9-10 ballot in which Mugabe faces a stern challenge from opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The move is also seen as an attempt by Mugabe to mislead the international community that an orderly land redistribution programme is taking place in Zimbabwe. A rural and urban planning lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said an orderly programme should have involved a coordinated approach between the various government departments involved in the exercise. "The procedure should be fairly standard. Once new settlers get letters from the district office, the district administrator’s office should be able to take them to the respective piece of land allocated to them," the lecturer said.
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From The Financial Times, 18 January
Saving Zimbabwe
Only intervention by the country's neighbours can prevent catastrophe in the forthcoming elections, says Robert Rotberg
Dictators eventually overreach themselves. Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, has been pushing his country and his neighbours towards the abyss for several years. With a decisive presidential election looming, he has just forced legislation through parliament that is intended to make opposition campaigning impossible, destroy the last smidgin of accountability, prohibit objective poll-watching and encourage continued physical intimidation of voters. Pending is an attempt to emasculate the independent media. Washington, London, Brussels and Pretoria have been wringing their hands over Zimbabwe's descent into chaos, economic catastrophe and impending famine for many months. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa summoned the leaders of the Southern African Development Community to consider Zimbabwe's case this week. The result was yet more hand-wringing.
Nothing short of action by South Africa and Zimbabwe's other neighbours will save a denial of justice from becoming a broader tragedy. Mr Mbeki and the SADC need to intervene in Zimbabwe to help the country save itself from further economic and political strife and possible civil war. Mr Mugabe's intention is to control the election and the critical period before it with his own lackeys. That clearly will not do. The best alternative, and one that nearly all Zimbabweans would welcome, would be an election run by a team of experts from the SADC. Botswanans, Namibians, Malawians and South Africans (not Zambians) have all managed responsible, fair elections in the recent past. If they were to organise the election, starting now, all Zimbabweans would believe the result. The role of Washington, London and Brussels would be to help pay for the SADC's services.
Mr Mugabe would not welcome such interference. But South Africa controls the supply of electricity and petroleum to Zimbabwe and can also limit many of its imports and exports. If Mr Mbeki could rally SADC support for such a bold initiative, Mr Mugabe would have little room for manoeuvre and might accede to an SADC-run election. The need for outside intervention extends to the campaign as well as to the conduct of the balloting itself. The SADC will need to ensure that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change is allowed to seek support freely throughout the country. Observers believe that it has backers everywhere and could win a fair poll.
That is precisely why Mr Mugabe has been - and is intent on - ensuring that potential MDC voters know that they will be attacked now and later by the president's paramilitary legions (the so-called war veterans and newly armed sets of thugs) and, sometimes, by the police. That has been the pattern for more than a year. Without an impartial protecting force, many Zimbabweans will fear showing support for the opposition, or will refuse to vote. For that reason, South Africa and the SADC need to do more, with moral and political backing from Washington, London, Brussels and the United Nations. The SADC should send troops into Zimbabwe - preferably with Mr Mugabe's acquiescence - to keep the pre-electoral peace. Most of those troops would be South African and Botswanan but others could be recruited as well. Small detachments of troops stationed throughout Zimbabwe could prevent high levels of local intimidation. They would also provide a degree of confidence for rural and urban voters.
This kind of intervention is normally unthinkable. But there are no limits to Mr Mugabe's ruthlessness and no end to his preying on his own citizens for personal gain. As Mr Mbeki has said, Mr Mugabe has lost the moral authority to continue to lead. Indeed, from the perspectives of the European Union and parts of the British Commonwealth he has become a pariah and Zimbabwe is deserving of various kinds of sanctions. The UN Security Council could declare Zimbabwe worthy of humanitarian intervention under the UN Charter, thus supporting any SADC initiative. The SADC charter also permits interventions to preserve peace, even within the sovereign borders of its members. Zimbabwe is bankrupt. Its people are suffering from the power-hungry exactions of Mr Mugabe and his ilk. Everyone concerned pins their hopes on a fair election that will reflect the desires of most Zimbabweans. But everything that Mr Mugabe has done since early 2000 suggests the impossibility of such a test without SADC control and intervention. If ending dictatorship is a worthy goal, and if ending the palpable harm that Mr Mugabe is doing to southern Africa is another objective, action is imperative. Sitting back and continuing to pray that Zimbabweans will somehow be able to vote according to their hearts and minds, whatever Mr Mugabe does, is an exercise of pious futility.
The writer is director of the programme on intrastate conflict at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He is president of the World Peace Foundation
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