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Archived News
15th April 2003
MDC spokesperson released, police grab foiled
New MDC spokesperson denounces Mugabe attacks
Zimbabwean police hold MDC spokesman
MDC denies link to terror gang
Animals become scapegoats in vicious attacks on Zim opposition
MDC man battles for life after arson attack
Mugabe on the hop
Wanted: New driver
MDC spokesperson still in jail
MDC denies hiring thugs
Public dismisses army claims on rogue soldiers
Harare muscles in on SADC rights probe
Evicted workers win court order
Zim bribes farmworkers
Bill would ban trade in conflict diamonds
Report adds to Mugabe's isolation
Urgent application for Nyathi's release filed
Future EU members back Zim sanctions
Zimbabwe arrests dismissed as propaganda
Mliswa arrested
Rape as a political weapon in Zimbabwe
Mugabe opponent freed
Cops try to defy court order
Zimbabwe continues crackdown on opposition
Zim crisis deepens - C'wealth report
Zim officials 'would compromise task team'
Foreign diplomats gagged
Zim must think about how to recover
Relatives of arrested MP detained
New protests as Zim opposition grows bolder
Chefs circumvent govt's one-man one-farm policy
Perence Shiri denied bid to export
Talking up Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe blames foreign powers for civil uprising
Zanu PF land grabbing and looting to be exposed
No poll in Zengeza
Call for justice in Ndebele killings
Man talks his way to new world record
Star-studded Concert for Zimbabwe in London - 30 April
Detained MPs released
MDC: Final freedom call
Oppn's ad on torture list illegal: Zimbabwe
AU won't condemn Zim
Villagers dress down Obert Mpofu
Dead Zim soldier a 'mercenary'
Mugabe loses support of Catholic Church
Eskom threatens to switch off Zim
US wants Mugabe out
Mugabe's recruits flee brutal Zimbabwean past
Journalist honoured
Star-studded Concert for Zimbabwe in London - 30 April - Update
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From Business Day (SA), 8 April
Zimbabwean police hold MDC spokesman
As soon as Gibson Sibanda, the deputy president of Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was granted bail yesterday in the Bulawayo Magistrate's Court, police arrested the MDC's official spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi. Nyathi was arrested as he left the courtroom after the hearing, accompanied by the president of the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai who had travelled to Bulawayo to support Sibanda in court and to attend several party meetings. Tsvangirai spoke after the arrest to the large crowd of MDC supporters, urging them to stay calm. "It was a potentially explosive situation and I did not want the situation to get out of hand. There were a lot of riot police there," said Tsvangirai afterwards. Sibanda who was arrested and detained last Monday on charges of contravening Section 5 of the Public Order and Security Act, had spent the past week in Khami prison in solitary confinement under armed guard. He was released on condition that he provided guarantees of Z$1m and was also required to surrender his passport and has to report to the police twice a week.
Nyathi was taken to the Bulawayo police station and locked up in the holding cells to await being officially charged. In what the MDC's secretary-general, Welshman Ncube describes as "the cat and mouse game the government is playing with the opposition", Nyathi is due to be charged only today, "despite there being ample time to have him charged yesterday and moved out of the police holding cells which are unfit for human habitation". "Paul has been arrested for attending the same planning meeting as Gibson Sibanda at which the recent successful stayaway was discussed." said Ncube. Asked if the MDC was to proceed with proposed stayaways and other forms of protest against the Zimbabwean government, Ncube said the party would continue with its programme of mass action, which would include marches, stayaways and boycotts.
Meanwhile, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) task group due to visit Zimbabwe this week should not just be yet another public relations exercise, acting Democratic Alliance leader Joe Seremane said yesterday. Seremane said it was unlikely that the group would get an accurate picture of the situation in Zimbabwe in only one day. "One cannot help but conclude that the quick visit to Harare at the invitation of Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge is more of a PR exercise than a genuine attempt to establish the truth about human rights abuses," he said. Seremane said the group should include independent experts on human rights, constitutional law as well as agriculture. "The members of the task group should be provided with a copy of the Commonwealth report on Zimbabwe," he said.
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From The Daily News, 8 April
MDC denies link to terror gang
By Fanuel Jongwe
Twenty-three alleged rogue soldiers and army deserters said to be part of terror gangs which have been assaulting residents and opposition party supporters in Harare and Chitungwiza in the past three weeks, were allegedly arrested last week in a joint operation by the army and the police. Army uniform, boots, belts and MDC T-shirts and banners were allegedly recovered during raids at the suspects' homes and hide-outs. One of them said he said was persuaded by a member of the MDC, identified as Sox, to join the party in planned bombings of strategic buildings in Harare during the mass stayaway. However, MDC presidential spokesman William Bango said "these are all hired Zanu PF thugs. They have nothing to do with the MDC. This is an attempt by a cornered regime to destroy the party in the townships. If there are some people who have committed an offence, the normal thing is to charge them and make them appear in a court of law rather than parade them on television before those charges are brought against them. That is what happens in a normal democracy."
The suspects included a female corporal, said to have been picked up in Chitungwiza, and a private, said to have performed guard duties at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation's Pockets Hill studios. They were paraded during a media conference yesterday at the army's 2 Brigade headquarters in Cranborne where they are being detained. Major Alphios Makotore, the Zimbabwe National Army's deputy director of public relations, said the suspects targeted areas where the police and army had been deployed to monitor the situation during the two-day stayaway on 18 and 19 March. They allegedly beat up members of the public under the pretext of performing army duties. "Some of them moved in groups of two or three people while others wore civilian clothes and used Mazda 323 vehicles which are never used during army operations," Makotore said. Hundreds of residents were beaten up and severely injured by gangs of youths in army uniform following the stayaway called by the MDC to press the government to address the deteriorating economic and human rights situation. Two weeks ago, one such gang allegedly paired patrons at a Chitungwiza night-club and forced them to have unprotected sex. The army exonerated its members from the incidents. "The army has never been involved," Makotore said. "It's so plain that we are there to protect people. It's logical that you don't beat up people when you want to win them to your side." He said it was unfortunate the police, army and the CIO were implicated in the alleged beatings.
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From The Star (SA), 7 April
Animals become scapegoats in vicious attacks on Zim opposition
By Lynne Altenroxel
Nearly three dozen cattle have been hacked with axes in a wave of new politically motivated horrors being perpetrated against animals and their owners in Zimbabwe. At least 16 of the cattle were "axed to death", animal-rights activists said yesterday, while others were shot to put them out of their misery. "If anything, it's getting worse," Zimbabwe National SPCA chief inspector Meryl Harrison said yesterday of the animal abuse in the country. A few days ago, she rescued a dog that had been beaten by eight men with batons and sjamboks after it tried to protect its owners during a raid on their home. The owners, both members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), were discharged from hospital at the weekend after being beaten up with an assortment of weapons, including chains and sticks covered in barbed wire. The dog's beating came just days after 15 cattle were hacked with axes on a farm at Chimanimani, about 400km south-east of Harare, owned by MDC MP Roy Bennett. Most of the animals were hit on the legs. One cow could not stand up after being beaten, another had its tail chopped off, and one calf had a 15cm-deep wound on its back. "You could have put a teacup in it," said Harrison, describing the gash. Yesterday, Harrison received news of another herd of 16 cattle in Norton, 60km outside Harare, that had been hacked to death with axes. After tending to animals on farms invaded by ruling-party militants for the past three years, Harrison believes that Zimbabwe's animal welfare crisis is getting worse. The "axing" of the cattle, she said, was not always aimed at killing the animals, but at wounding them "to get back at the farmers".
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From The Daily News, 8 April
MDC man battles for life after arson attack
From Our Correspondent in Bulawayo
Nqobile Ndlovu, a 25-year-old MDC supporter, is battling for life at Gwanda Provincial Hospital after sustaining extensive burns when the hut he was sleeping in was set ablaze by suspected Zanu PF supporters on Monday last week. Earlier, the ruling party supporters are reported to have threatened him for openly celebrating the opposition party's victory in the recent Kuwadzana and Highfield by-elections. The arson attack took place in the Mafuko communal lands, about 35km west of Gwanda, on Monday night. Ndlovu was alone when the incident took place. Matabeleland South police spokesman, Inspector Alfred Zvenyika, would neither confirm nor deny the incident. "I am not aware of the incident or arrests related to it. I will, however, find out about it," he said. MDC spokesman, Paul Themba Nyathi, described the attack as "callous thuggery being perpetrated on the masses by a desperate Zanu PF regime". Relatives who declined to be identified for fear of victimisation said Ndlovu, who was drinking with friends at a local bottle store when the results were announced, was threatened by identified Zanu PF supporters after celebrating the MDC victory. "He has not told us who exactly threatened him, but there is a notorious group of Zanu PF supporters who were drinking at the same bottle store the same day. We heard that Nqobile ignored their threats before retiring to his home. He woke up at about midnight to find his hut on fire." Although hospital officials declined to discuss Ndlovu's condition, a nurse at the hospital confirmed that he was in bad shape. "The burns are so bad that at the moment we can only administer anti-burn creams and ointments on him." Meanwhile, in Bulawayo, one woman was raped by a Zanu PF supporter who claimed he wanted to revenge his party's loss in the Kuwadzana and Highfield by-elections.
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Comment from The Financial Mail (SA), 4 April
Mugabe on the hop
Momentum shifts to opposition after stayaway and by-election victories
By Tony Hawkins, Harare
With the expiry on March 31 of the opposition's 15-point ultimatum to government, and the Movement for Democratic Change's (MDC) victory in two crucial urban by-elections, the pace of events in Zimbabwe is hotting up. In a campaign marred by violence, intimidation and allegations of government vote-rigging, the MDC retained the two Harare seats. In Highfield, it won 63% of the vote in a low turnout of about 35% and it held Kuwadzana with 72%. For the first time in almost a year since his "victory" in the March 2002 presidential elections, President Robert Mugabe is on the back foot. Today, the momentum is clearly with the opposition, primarily because of its success in organising last month's two-day national stayaway. The response has been vicious, if predictable. With the international media firmly focused on events in Iraq, Mugabe, boasting of himself as "a black Hitler tenfold", has taken off the gloves. "Let the MDC and its leaders be warned that those who play with fire will not only be burnt, but consumed by that fire," he said. Since the mid-March stayaway, more than 500 suspected MDC activists and supporters have been threatened, beaten, arrested and tortured.
"We have been getting reports of about 60 cases of violence a day and in our view that is massive," says Brian Kagoro, co-ordinator of Crisis in Zimbabwe. Amnesty International calls the crackdown "a new and dangerous phase of repression. This is an explosive situation," it adds, while the US State Department says Harare must "cease its campaign of violent repression". Mugabe dismissed it out of hand, saying he will not listen to "pathetic puppets" of the West. His justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, goes further in ruling out the softening of Posa promised by President Thabo Mbeki. Last month, Mbeki told a meeting of African clergy in Midrand: "We have agreed with the government of Zimbabwe that they should attend to the pieces of legislation that are said to offend human rights [and] the press." Not so, says Chinamasa: "We cannot amend Posa when we are under an onslaught from institutions that are causing mayhem and anarchy ." Mugabe was even more direct, warning Mbeki to mind his own business: "It is now time for law and order to have the upper hand and we will not seek the approval of outsiders to enforce law and order in our country," he said.
As if to demonstrate that he has seized the initiative, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has agreed to the resumption of talks with government to discuss how to resolve the crisis. But he insists that the government's precondition - that he drop the MDC court challenge of last year's presidential election results - is not negotiable. All this is playing to the gallery. Mugabe and his close lieutenants have no intention of agreeing to the MDC's demands. Talks will go nowhere unless a hitherto compliant Pretoria toughens its stance. Zanu PF's intentions are clear in the heavy police presence in the cities designed to prevent further mass action and, on Monday, the arrest of MDC vice-president and parliamentary leader Gibson Sibanda. Sibanda is to be charged under Posa with organising the stayaway and seeking to overthrow the government unconstitutionally. MDC leaders believe it is a matter of time before more of their leadership, probably including Tsvangirai, are detained. Tsvangirai sums up the public mood: "The regime is now nervous - their bags are packed as they realise who has the power. We have to prepare for the final push and they will run." At issue is whether the penny has yet dropped in Pretoria.
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From The Economist (UK), 3 April
Wanted: New driver
Can Robert Mugabe's regime be ousted peacefully, or will he cling on till his country is wrecked?
A dozen soldiers, in uniform, came to Renford Mudzi's home after midnight. They held and tortured him for three days, beating his feet, face and buttocks, and running electric shocks through his toes, tongue and penis at such voltage that it sent him into convulsions. They accused him of having burned a bus during Zimbabwe's recent general strike, which he denies. His real crime may have been that he is an activist for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the country's main opposition party. From his hospital bed, where he is recovering from head injuries and two cracked vertebrae, Mr Mudzi laments that his family has had to hide in four different homes in six weeks. For their sake, he asks that his real name not be published. But he insists that he will never quit the MDC, nor rest until democracy returns to Zimbabwe. His wife, he says, backs him, despite the suffering his stance has brought the family. In recent weeks, the Zimbabwean opposition has found a new energy, and the government has grown jittery. On March 18th and 19th, an MDC-organised general strike brought most of the country's surviving businesses to a halt. This week, despite spirited rigging by the ruling party, ZANU-PF, the MDC won two parliamentary by-elections. And March 31st marked a deadline that the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, gave to Mr Mugabe's regime to restore some basic aspects of democracy or "face a popular mass action to regain the people's liberties, freedoms and dignity." He has yet to give any details, but Mr Tsvangirai apparently hopes to lead a series of big demonstrations as a "final push" to send Mr Mugabe's regime the way of Nicolae Ceausescu's. In the past, the party has hesitated to take to the streets, for fear that Mr Mugabe would roll armoured cars over the protesters. As a result, the government has been able to pick them off one by one.
Mr Tsvangirai, for example, is currently on trial for alleged treason, with two colleagues. His deputy, Gibson Sibanda, was arrested this week for allegedly breaking Mr Mugabe's security laws by helping to organise the strike. And in the past two weeks, hundreds of MDC supporters have been picked up and tortured, like Mr Mudzi, by special army units, the police, or by Mr Mugabe's youth militia. Harare's casualty wards groan with the victims, some with broken bones, others with burns. One grandmother told this correspondent how a soldier raped her with the barrel of his rifle. Remarkably, few injured activists show any sign of giving up. Expecting trouble, the government is taking precautions. Armed police are out in force, throwing up roadblocks and patrolling Harare's streets. Army units guard Mr Mugabe's splendid residence and offices. Shiny new armoured personnel carriers, complete with turret-mounted machineguns, rumble vigilantly around potential trouble-spots. Against such firepower, the unarmed opposition would seem to stand little chance.
Few imagine that Mr Mugabe would hesitate to give the order to open fire. But his footsoldiers' morale is open to question. In private, some police say they are appalled at their masters' systematic use of torture. Some Zanu members of parliament admit that their party has lost popular support. The main reason is not the government's brutality; it is the desperate state of the economy, which is thought to have contracted by 30% in the past three years. Inflation has hit 220%, and unemployment is perhaps 70%. Worst of all, thanks in large measure to Mr Mugabe's policy of seizing white-owned commercial farms, two-thirds of the country's 12m people are either subsisting on food aid or going hungry. Price controls have caused staples such as maize meal, sugar and cooking oil to vanish from the shops, to the delight of black-marketeers, who are often ruling-party hacks or army officers. Last month, the Commonwealth announced an extension to Zimbabwe's suspension, imposed after Mr Mugabe stole a presidential election last year, and some western countries have imposed an asset freeze and a travel ban on Mr Mugabe's closest cronies. But with all attention on Iraq, it seems unlikely that outsiders will exert serious pressure on the regime. South Africa, Zimbabwe's most influential neighbour, is actively seeking to end its isolation. So Zimbabweans will have to help themselves. Mr Tsvangirai predicts that they may have to make "extreme sacrifices...even the supreme sacrifice, to get rid of Mugabe."
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 9 April
MDC spokesperson still in jail
Paul Themba Nyathi, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change's (MDC) chief spokesperson, is to spend another night in police cells after authorities decided today to change the charges under which they were holding him, his lawyer said. Nyathi, the second top MDC official to be arrested in a week, was told on Monday he was accused of "attempting to overthrow the government by unconstitutional means," and was due to appear in court in Bulawayo on Tuesday to apply for bail. The charges related to a meeting at which the MDC leadership planned the protest stayaway that shut down the country for two days last month. MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda was arrested and spent a week in jail under the same charge. Nyathi, an MP and member of the MDC's national executive council, was arrested outside the Bulawayo Magistrate's Court on Monday, immediately after Sibanda had been granted bail. However, he spent most of Tuesday recording a statement in response to a different charge, said lawyer Nicholas Mathonsi. "I think they realised that they could not sustain the charges. The meeting he was alleged to have attended, he actually wasn't there," he said. Instead, Nyathi is now being charged with "attempting to coerce the government." The new charges relate to a publicity statement bearing Nyathi's signature in which the MDC spelt out a 15-point ultimatum to President Robert Mugabe, demanding that he restore the rule of law in Zimbabwe. After 23 years Mugabe faces unprecedented pressure from the disintegrating economy and, in the last week, the first signs of censure from the Southern African Development Community. MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube said on Tuesday the party would continue with its plan for "peaceful, lawful and democratic protests in the form of mass action to ensure that we regain our freedoms." He would not specify when the campaign would go ahead.
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From News24 (SA), 8 April
MDC denies hiring thugs
Harare - The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Monday dismissed President Robert Mugabe's claim it had hired army deserters to attack its own supporters. "This is theatre," said MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube. "We are being asked to believe that the litany of violent acts against MDC victims, was organised by ourselves so that we could brutalise our own people. It's nonsensical." On Monday night, state television showed 23 young men in military camouflage uniforms, many of them handcuffed and in leg irons, whom a military spokesperson claimed were army "deserters". The spokesperson said the men were hired by the MDC to carry out sabotage and attack civilians to tarnish the army's image and spark an uprising. The claims followed international outrage over violence in the wake of the MDC-organised national stay-away in protest against Mugabe's government. The protest shut the country down for on March 18 and 19. About 250 people had to be treated in hospital. Most victims said their assailants were in groups of up to 50, were dressed in military uniform and were often armed with automatic rifles. Homes of MDC members and officials were attacked, often after midnight, and allegedly carried out beatings, including sexual assault, damaged property and stole money. The state-controlled daily Herald said the 23 young men shown on TV were also suspected of being part of "an underground military wing of the MDC" that was to bomb service stations in Harare during the stayaway on March 18 and 19.
Ncube said the evidence of the Zimbabwe army's involvement was "overwhelming. "They were wearing army uniforms, armed with AK47 (assault) rifles, and driving in big army vehicles. They moved around in broad daylight and were accompanied by known Central Intelligence Organisation (Mugabe's secret police) operatives." Ncube said Mugabe's claims were "a red herring... to divert attention from state-sanctioned human rights abuses" shortly before the arrival of a ministerial committee from neighbouring states to examine the situation in Zimbabwe. Last week, the Southern African Development Community announced it was sending a delegation to Harare to speak to all stakeholders. Until now, SADC had "turned a blind eye" to the regime's violent tactics, Ncube said. "However, now within SADC there appears to be a change of attitude, that the brutalisation of the people of Zimbabwe will not be tolerated." The government first deployed troops into urban areas in 1998 during food riots. The MDC has recently issued leaflets urging members of the security forces "not to allow yourselves to be used" by Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party.
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From The Daily News, 9 April
Public dismisses army claims on rogue soldiers
By Columbus Mavhunga
The arrest of the alleged rogue soldiers and army deserters said to be part of terror gangs indiscriminately assaulting residents and opposition supporters, has raised many questions than answers. In a statement, the army said the soldiers had deserted the army and were perpetrating violence on behalf of the MDC following their alleged bribery by the opposition party. On Monday the Zimbabwe National Army paraded 23 alleged army deserters arrested in a joint operation by the army and the police. Members of the public yesterday telephoned The Daily News querying the authenticity of the
army's claims. Most questioned why it had taken the army so long to alert the public about the army deserters considering that residents had for months complained of the terror campaigns which were being perpetrated by men wearing military uniforms. Others could not understand why the army took its time before taking action against the "rogue soldiers".
The public questioned how the soldiers managed to leave the barracks with AK rifles and ammunition considering the tight security checks at military establishments throughout the country. "Army vehicles and guns such as AK rifles are not taken out of the barracks in a pocket," said one caller who said he was in the army. "You have to account for them before you leave. The ZNA must look for a more convincing explanation." Major Alphios Makotore, the army deputy director of public relations, however, said: "They managed to steal ammunition from the barracks as they were people who had a know-how on security procedures in the army. A soldier on duty is entrusted with a weapon and its ammunition. In that situation a soldier who is a rogue element or working for the interest of outside organisations can steal the very weapon and ammunition issued to him and go AWOL."
On why the army did not alert the public that some soldiers had deserted camp, Makotore said they wanted to establish the actual status of the culprits. "It was imperative for the army to carry out exhaustive and thorough investigations on the circumstances surrounding these allegations before going to the Press," he said. Professor Welshman Ncube, the MDC secretary-general, yesterday dismissed the ZNA's assertions as part of government efforts to divert attention from the opposition's demands for the restoration of the rule of law. He said it was "nonsensical and illogical" to claim that his party had hired the soldiers when its supporters were the victims of the wanton beatings and attacks. Ncube said: "The soldiers were many and were heavily armed with AK rifles. They were carried in army vehicles and were accompanied by known members of the State security and youth brigades. It is typical in fashion and characteristic of government's efforts to divert our attention from our demands and to hoodwink the Southern African Development Community task force coming soon to Zimbabwe." A Sadc task force is expected in the country this week or next week to assess the crisis in Zimbabwe.
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From Business Day (SA), 9 April
Harare muscles in on SADC rights probe
Zimbabwe may play a role in judging its own human rights record, if claims about the composition of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) task force being sent to investigate mounting political violence are anything to go by. Confusion reigned yesterday over the exact membership, mandate and timing of the visit, which was decided on at last week's meeting in Harare of the SADC organ on defence and security. Observers said the absence of clarity on the crucial issues could be a sign that the region is backing away from placing pressure on Zimbabwe, despite private concerns expressed by some ministers about developments there. There was no mention of the visit in the final communique issued after the SADC organ's meeting. In a strong signal of support for the Zimbabwean government, the communique said: "The meeting took note that those opposed to Zimbabwe have tried to shift the agenda from the core issue of land by selective diversion of attention on governance and human rights issues." A Harare-based diplomat said yesterday that the Zimbabwe government would be part of the task force probe, a claim that was given credence by comments by Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge. SA's foreign affairs department, however, says SA, Botswana and Mozambique will be on the task force. The diplomat says the countries represented will be Angola, Tanzania, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Despite reports last week that the task force would visit Zimbabwe this week, the Zimbabwean government said yesterday that it would announce the dates soon. Mudenge said the task force would be formed by Zimbabwe and would be sent there on his government's terms. When a task force was first formed in August 2001, regional leaders expressed concern about the effects of the Zimbabwe economic situation on the region and it was agreed it would go about its task without interference.
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From The Daily News, 9 April
Evicted workers win court order
By Brian Mangwende Chief Reporter
The High Court yesterday directed that about 1 000 workers evicted from Member of Parliament Roy Bennet's Charleswood Estate in Chimanimani last week, be allowed to return to the farm immediately. Last week, State security agents and Zanu PF activists forcibly removed the workers and their families from the opposition MP's farm and dumped them about 11km away. The workers camped in the open at a bus terminus in Ngangu Township in Chimanimani. In a final order consented to by the State and Bennet's lawyer, Justice Tedius Karwi ordered Ministers Sydney Sekeramayi of Defence, Joseph Made of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Augustine Chihuri, the Police Commissioner, Constantine Chiwenga, the Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, to desist from attacking Bennet's employees. Karwi said: "The respondents and all persons acting for them or under their control be and are hereby interdicted from threatening, abusing, intimidating, harassing, assaulting or communicating with the directors of the applicants, employees of the applicants and their family members. That the employees of the applicants and their families be and are hereby permitted and directed to return forthwith to their homes on the property known as Charleswood Estate and recommence their duties working for the applicants."
Other respondents in the matter are the district administrator of Chimanimani, the officer-in-charge of Chipinge District Police, officer-in-charge of Chimanimani and his deputy, and Joseph Mwale, a member of the Central Intelligence Organisation. Mwale is still to be brought before the courts on murder charges stemming from the death of two MDC activists, Talent Mabika and Tichaona Chiminya, who were petrol-bombed in their car and burnt to death during the run-up to the bloody parliamentary election in 2000. Karwi then ordered the respondents, jointly and severally, to pay the cost of the application. Ray Passaportis, Bennet's lawyer, said: "The State was represented by the Attorney-General's Office and they conceded they had no defence to the actions by the respondents. The brutal assaults fell far outside the confines of the Land Acquisition Act. The judgment was basically based on that." Bennet said: "I am pleased about the judgment. If the respondents or some of them fail to pay the costs of the application, we'll be attaching their properties through the messenger of court." The workers were kicked out on the pretext that the farm, which falls under the Export Possessing Zone, had been designated. But according to the law, property under EPZ cannot be designated. Wallace Mupfumwa, a Zimbabwe Human Rights Association regional officer in Manicaland, said efforts to get humanitarian aid to the affected people were thwarted by the State security agents. Since Bennet became the MP for Chimanimani, police, soldiers and CIO agents have on several occasions raided his Charleswood Estate.
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From News24 (SA), 8 April
Zim bribes farmworkers
Pretoria - The Zimbabwean government is trying to bribe farm workers with food and promises of work to return to the farm of a member of the Zimbabwean opposition after the workers were earlier violently removed from the farm. The situation on the farm of Roy Bennet, MP of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has become an embarrassment for the Zimbabwean government and it is trying to convince the farm workers to return to the farm. This comes after a high-level delegation of international non-governmental organisations announced that they would be visiting the farm on Tuesday. Bennet said the governor of Manicaland, Oppah Muchinguri, drove to his farm near the Mozambique border in her luxury vehicle on Friday to speak to the workers and their families. The workers and their families, about 1 200 men, women and children, have been living in "terrible conditions" at a bus stop near Chimanimani, Bennet said. One of Bennet's workers said Muchinguri told them that they were now rid of Bennet and could return to the farm. The farm would be taken over by government. "The workers phoned me to ask whether they should accept the governor's food. I told them to take the food as it could do no harm." However, the workers refused to return to the farm unless Bennet himself came to fetch them. Bennet said media reports in South Africa have caused the government to "wake up" and that they were now trying to salvage the situation. "It has had a huge impact, because it now focuses attention on what is really happening here. The fact that ministers from the South African Development Community (SADC) are now asking questions, definitely plays a big role," he said. A delegation of SADC ministers will visit Zimbabwe this week on invitation of the Zimbabwean minister of foreign affairs, Stan Mudenge. "The international community has been aware of the situation in Zimbabwe for some time. What we need is for SADC countries, and especially South Africa, to criticise the government, then we will see a reaction." Bennet is still the lawful owner of the farm under a court interdict that prevents police from setting foot on the farm. He and his workers were threatened and assaulted several times during the confiscation of farms.
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From The New York Times, 8 April
Bill would ban trade in conflict diamonds
Washington (AP) - Diamonds that finance and fan African civil wars would be banned from U.S. import and export under a bill passed by the House on Tuesday. "It makes a step in the right direction to wage war on the international trade nexus of money, diamonds and weapons, which help fuel conflicts in Africa," said Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. The bill, passed 419-2 with one member voting present, enters the United States into an international agreement that bans trade in so-called conflict diamonds. The Senate Finance Committee approved a similar bill last week. The international agreement, known as the Kimberley Process, includes representatives of the diamond industry, human rights groups and dozens of other nations. The group requires that traded diamonds come with certification that they were mined from legitimate sources. Conflict diamonds have been linked to civil wars in Sierra Leone and Angola. The rebels use forced labor to mine diamonds, then use the proceeds to purchase weapons and finance military action. The U.S. Customs Service will monitor the diamond trade and fine anyone who violates the ban. Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., asked the agency to look into whether several countries participating in the Kimberley Process, including Zimbabwe and the Central African Republic, still trade in conflict diamonds. It is estimated that trade in conflict or "blood'' diamonds makes up less than 4 percent of the annual global diamond trade. Lawmakers also argued that blocking trade in illegitimate diamonds will cut off financing to international terrorist groups. The Treasury Department suspects terrorists are moving their assets into commodities like diamonds as they are forced out of the traditional banking system. "Drying up the cash that supports terrorism is a very, very important part of the war on terrorism,'' said Vic Snyder, D-Ark. "If somebody can just take a sock full of illegal diamonds, put it in their pocket, walk onto a plane, they have an ability to move wealth all over the world to bribe, to buy weaponry, to buy explosives.''
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From The Guardian (UK), 10 April
Report adds to Mugabe's isolation
Commonwealth secretary general blames Zimbabwean leader for famine and human rights abuses
Andrew Meldrum in Harare
Robert Mugabe's government has committed severe human rights abuses against the opposition party, has actively repressed the press and the judiciary and is largely responsible for the famine that is currently gripping Zimbabwe, according to a Commonwealth report distributed to heads of government this week. The Guardian has obtained a copy of the confidential report by Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth secretary general, which says Zimbabwe has suffered significant "deterioration" in its political, economic and social spheres. It blames Mr Mugabe's land seizures for the nationwide famine. "The harassment of opposition and civil society leaders and activists continues," the report says. "There have also been several cases of harassment of the press and the judiciary. Legislation prejudicial to freedom of speech, the press and association remains on the statute book." The report, which was commissioned in March 2002 when Zimbabwe was first suspended from the Commonwealth, categorically refutes assertions made last month by Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, and Nigeria's leader, Olusegun Obasanjo, that the situation in Zimbabwe had improved. It will make it increasingly difficult for the two African leaders to gain support from Commonwealth members for the lifting of Zimbabwe's suspension.
The report is designed to convince Commonwealth leaders that Zimbabwe's suspension should continue until the heads of government meet in Nigeria in December. The findings are also expected to fuel the demand for the Commonwealth to send a team to Zimbabwe to investigate state-sponsored violence against the Movement for Democratic Change, the main opposition party. The report was only issued after Mr Mugabe repeatedly evaded Mr McKinnon's attempts to speak to him. "All efforts by the secretary general, direct and indirect, to engage in dialogue with President Mugabe have been rebuffed," said the report. Mr McKinnon stuck to the findings of Commonwealth observer groups that the parliamentary elections of 2000 and the presidential election of 2002 had not been free and fair and had been marred by violence. Turning to Zimbabwe's land controversy, Mr McKinnon emphasised that "there has never been any doubt about the need for land reform in Zimbabwe, a fact which I have repeatedly acknowledged publicly". He adds: "There is clearly a moral case for the United Kingdom to contribute towards transparent, equitable and sustainable land reform in Zimbabwe." But he found that the Mugabe government's controversial and often violent land seizures had not been supportable. The report endorsed the findings of the United Nations Development Project that the land programme had been "chaotic" and "the cause of much political, economic and social instability".
Although the Mugabe government has stated repeatedly that the land seizures ended in August 2002, the report finds that compulsory acquisitions continued until March 2003. "Reports have continued of a disproportionate number of the best farms being allocated to leading members of the ruling elite, including members of government and senior members of the security services and their families," Mr McKinnon states. The report also blames land seizures for causing the famine that is gripping two-thirds of Zimbabwe's 12 million people. The Mugabe government is also criticised for "conclusive evidence of the politicisation of food assistance". "Regrettably, to date there has been no positive response by Zimbabwe to the [Commonwealth's] call for political dialogue and national reconciliation," the report says. "The depressing situation offers even more grounds for the government of Zimbabwe to change course and to engage in meaningful dialogue with international partners."
* A Zimbabwe government official jumped from a third-floor window to escape being beaten by angry women war veterans demanding ownership papers for land they seized from white farmers, police said yesterday. A police official told Reuters that the acting administrator for Mashonaland West province had been injured and admitted to hospital after being assaulted with wooden clubs and an iron bar in his office in Chinhoyi.
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From The Financial Gazette, 10 April
Urgent application for Nyathi's release filed
Staff Reporter
Bulawayo - Nicholas Mathonsi, the lawyer for opposition Movement for Democratic (MDC) spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi, yesterday said he had filed an urgent court application to secure his client's release, two days after he was arrested by police. Nyathi was arrested on Monday as he and other party officials waited for the court hearing of MDC vice president Gibson Sibanda, who has been charged with contravening the controversial Public Order and Security Act (POSA) by organising a mass action. The charge stems from a job stayaway called by the opposition party last month. Nyathi, who was not brought before the courts as anticipated yesterday, is also expected to be charged under POSA. Mathonsi, a lawyer with Coghlan and Welsh in Bulawayo, told the Financial Gazette: "I have made an urgent application to the High Court for his release after getting no joy from the police since Monday morning when he (Nyathi) was first arrested. "I am at the High Court as we are talking, but the judge is nowhere to be found. It is clear now that the police are holding him illegally. He has spent nearly three days in the police cells." He added: "If the judge does not return, we will see what we can do tomorrow. I have failed to reason with the police."
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From News24 (SA), 9 April
Future EU members back Zim sanctions
Athens - Ten soon-to-be member states of the European Union have said they back targeted sanctions imposed by the EU on Zimbabwe, the Union's Greek presidency said in a statement on Wednesday. "The acceding countries... declare that they share the objectives of Council Common Position... of 18 February 2003... concerning restrictive measures against Zimbabwe," the statement said. In February the EU formally extended sanctions against Zimbabwe for another 12 months in a bid to tighten pressure on the government of President Robert Mugabe, accused of cracking down on political opponents. The sanctions, first imposed after Mugabe won controversial elections in 2002, which EU observers were not allowed to monitor, include a travel ban on the long-time president of the southern African country and 71 of his associates. During a ceremony due to be held on April 16 in Athens the EU will formally welcome Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia as new member states. EU candidate countries Bulgaria and Romania have also agreed with the sanctions against Zimbabwe, as has the tiny principality of Liechtenstein.
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From Business Day (SA), 10 April
Zimbabwe arrests dismissed as propaganda
Harare Correspondent
Zimbabwe is trying to mend its image by arresting "rogue soldiers" accused of fanning political violence. This is evidently in preparation for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) visit to Zimbabwe, possibly this week, to tackle the country's economic and political problems. In a joint operation, police and troops arrested 26 Zimbabwe National Army "deserters". The government claims they had "suspected links with an underground military wing of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)". Although the government is seeking to link the arrested soldiers with the MDC, the opposition says this is propaganda designed to create an impression that it is dealing with lawlessness. Government has in the past arrested and paraded soldiers, linking some of them with Mozambique's former rebel movement, Renamo, and apartheid SA to justify repression. Harare alleges that the MDC trained soldiers to overthrow President Robert Mugabe. Uganda was linked to purported training of the MDC "troops". The swoop on "errant" army officers followed a recent upsurge in violence by armed militants in army uniforms and a state crackdown on dissent. The MDC said the soldiers beat up people on official orders.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo defended the deployment of soldiers this week. He said they were there "to deal with terrorists who throw petrol bombs and plant dynamite under bridges and in public buildings". Army spokesman Maj Alphios Makotore denied the army was beating up people. Government claims of reform include promises of legislative amendments and dialogue with white farmers. The government has been promising to amend press laws and the Citizenship Act to accommodate immigrants from the region in the country since independence in 1980, and using this as evidence of reforms. Harare also claims the land issue is now being finalised, and efforts are under way to resolve outstanding differences with white farmers. But the smokescreen seems to be collapsing as farmers refused last week to sign a memorandum of understanding with government on the way forward, saying that the document did not address their grievances. Since then the farmers have been attacked as "irrelevant and unrepentant racists".
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From The Daily News, 10 April
Mliswa arrested
By Precious Shumba
Themba Mliswa, the controversial fitness trainer, was arrested in Karoi on Tuesday after he allegedly assaulted two commercial farmers, with whom he is locked in a legal battle over the ownership of their property, and a policeman. Mliswa, reportedly in the company of the "Top Six" Zanu PF gang, allegedly attacked the two farmers, the policeman and the messenger of court at Springs Farm in Karoi. A police officer in Karoi confirmed the arrest of Mliswa and nine other suspects, but declined to give details. He referred further questions to Superintendent Freedom Gumbo, the officer commanding Karoi District, who refused to discuss the matter over the telephone. The incident occurred after John Coast and Allen Parsons went to the farm, equipped with a High Court order allowing them to remove their personal belongings from properties they own in the area. Both farmers are directors with Hesketh Park Estates (Pvt) Ltd. Parsons runs Meadville Investments (Pvt) Ltd which owns Springs Farm, occupied by Mliswa. In January, the two farmers filed an urgent application in the High Court in a bid to recover property worth about $200 million from their farms. The order was granted on 28 January. The farmers, accompanied by Brighton Chiimba, the assistant deputy sheriff, were on Tuesday escorted to Springs Farm by an Inspector Khumalo and three other officers, all from Karoi Police Station. They were confronted by Mliswa and about 15 Zanu PF activists, among them members of the notorious "Top Six Gang", upon their arrival at the farm. Mliswa allegedly ordered the youths to attack the entourage.
A Constable Mwachenuka at Karoi Police Station confirmed the incident. He said Khumalo was in a stable condition after being treated at Karoi Hospital and discharged. Kelvin Weir, a Karoi resident, said he drove the farmers to Chinhoyi General Hospital where they were treated before being transferred to the Avenues Clinic in Harare. They were discharged after receiving further treatment. Weir said: "The other policemen escaped during the attack, but Inspector Khumalo was hit on the head with a rifle butt. Chiimba escaped over the top of a razor wire fence but sustained serious leg injuries in the process. "Parsons' gun was taken from him and held to his head by one of the militants. The man cocked the gun and pulled the trigger, unaware that there were no bullets. All the time Mliswa and his colleagues said they would kill the 'white pigs' referring to the farmers." Coast was severely assaulted, resulting in him receiving six stitches on the head and eight others on the arm. Parsons, now in Harare, said they went to Karoi at Gumbo's invitation. "Superintendent Gumbo summoned myself and Coast to Karoi where we were supposed to identify our equipment which Mliswa was reportedly selling," he said. "Inspector Khumalo was accompanied by members of the Police Internal Security Intelligence and two officials from the Deputy Sheriff's Office. Mliswa arrived as we were about to leave the farmhouse and immediately ordered the youths to attack and kill us." On 10 January, Mliswa allegedly assaulted Parsons' wife, Jenny, after she visited the farm. Hart Wynand, the director of Justice for Agriculture, the radical farmers' lobby group, said Mliswa kicked Parsons all over the body and pounded Coast's four-wheel-drive vehicle with iron fencing poles.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 9 April
Rape as a political weapon in Zimbabwe
"In a Dark Time", a documentary film about sexual abuse in Zimbabwe perpetrated by pro-government militia, premiered last week at Witwatersrand University. In the film, 16-year-old Sarudzai recalled how she was alone in the family home with three younger siblings when militiamen surrounded it. Her father was at a funeral. Her mother was in the bush, hiding from the militia. Fearing they would set the hut on fire, Sarudzai stepped out. She was raped right there, she said, to punish her mother for supporting Zimbabwe's opposition party. Sarudzai and other women featured in the documentary said their attackers were militiamen known as the "Green Bombers", a government-created youth brigade often accused of human rights abuse. For protection, the film maker and women interviewed have remained anonymous. The event, organised by Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, sought to alert academics and human rights activists about gender-based human rights abuses, like gang rape and sexual torture, reportedly taking place in Zimbabwe. "We need to break the silence of academia and human rights institutions in South Africa about what is happening in our neighbourhood," said Dr Sheila Meintes, a member of South Africa's Commission on Gender Equality and a lecturer in political studies at Witwatersrand University.
International human rights watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group and Physicians for Human Rights have documented systematic rape and sexual torture of women during Zimbabwe's political violence since 2000. Last year, Amnesty International warned about "mounting reports of rape and sexual torture by the militia, continuing the pattern seen before presidential elections in March 2002". Tony Reeler, regional human rights defender with the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, described what he said was a new pattern of sexual violence in Zimbabwe. During 2000 and early 2001, human rights watchdogs documented widespread torture of opposition supporters. About 40% of these were women. They were beaten up, stripped naked and humiliated, but few were raped or sexually abused. After June 2001, rape and sexual torture of women became more prevalent and brutal. It allegedly happened in front of family and neighbours. As a result, the whole community experienced the psychological impact. "One individual's physical torture becomes a mass psychological torture," explained Reeler.
The Zimbabwean government has dismissed reports by local and international human rights groups that rape is used as a political weapon. "Yes, we have seen the allegations, but I don't need to tell you that definitely these are fabrications," said Betty Dimbi, an official in the Department of Information. Rape remains the least condemned war crime, concluded the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, referring to Rwanda and other civil wars in the late 1990s. The tide, though, is turning. In 2001, in a historic decision to acknowledge rape as a war crime, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia began prosecuting rapists. This, says Amnesty International, "challenges the widespread acceptance that torture of women is an intrinsic part of war". The Rwanda Tribunal is explicitly empowered to prosecute rape as a crime against humanity and a violation of the Geneva Conventions. South African judge Richard Goldstone, a former prosecutor for the Rwanda Tribunal, found that sexual assault can constitute torture and be prosecuted as a transgression of international humanitarian law. International law condemns rape and other forms of sexual violence as war crimes. The Geneva Conventions of 1949 were later strengthened by Protocol II, which extends protection to victims of rape, enforced prostitution or indecent assault during conflict.
Broadly, four kinds of rape can be identified in conflict.
Genocidal rape, as in Rwanda and the Balkans, seeks to destroy an ethnic or political group perceived as being the enemy.
Political rape punishes individuals, families or communities who hold different political views.
Opportunistic rape takes place when combatants run amok, assured of impunity in a lawless context.
Forced concubinage involves the conscription or kidnapping of young girls to wash, cook, porter and have sex with soldiers and militiamen. The Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association estimated that some 1 000 women were held in militia camps in 2002.
The last three forms of rape are found in Zimbabwe, said Reeler.
Tina Sideris, a South African researcher and activist on gender-based violence, noted the general invisibility of sexual abuse of women during conflicts in Southern Africa. Rape and forced concubinage were frequent during the long-running civil wars in Mozambique and Angola, but ignored in South African media and political circles, she said. Even in South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission "didn't deal with rape as a gross human rights abuse. Women were raped in detention and in guerrilla bases, raped by the enemy and by comrades," she noted. The TRC devoted a great deal of time to the murder and torture of freedom fighters, but only one day to listen to abused women. "Awareness of the gender dimension in human rights abuses is missing," said Meintes. In conflicts throughout the world, sexual violence is routinely directed at females as a conscious strategy, although commanders and politicians may dismiss it as isolated incidents by rogue soldiers. "Rape in conflict is a weapon to terrorise and degrade a particular community and to achieve a specific political end," said a Human Rights Watch report. "The rape of one person is translated into an assault upon the community through the emphasis placed in every culture on women's sexual virtue. The shame of the rape humiliates the family and all those associated with the survivor." "I act, I feel differently from the other girls," Sarudzai said in the documentary. "I am not a virgin any more. It happened against my will. Maybe I have HIV. I wish I'd die. Then I'd feel no pain." Sideris points out that post-conflict programmes don't deal adequately with gender violence. One reason is underreporting. Out of shame, economic vulnerability and powerlessness, women keep quiet about sexual abuse. In Zimbabwe, "the most vulnerable, the poorest, uneducated, unemployed rural women like Sarudzai ... are abused, which makes it all the more sinister," said Reeler. "We have a responsibility to speak out against human rights abuses and the time has come to do so," concluded Meintes.
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From BBC News, 11 April
Mugabe opponent freed
Zimbabwean police have released the chief opposition spokesman, Paul Themba Nyathi, four days after he was detained. A lawyer for Mr Nyathi - who is the information officer of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - said the High Court had ordered his release after police failed to charge him or to explain his continued detention. Earlier in the week, police said Mr Nyathi would be prosecuted for his participation in organising an anti-government strike last month. He was detained on Monday, as another senior MDC leader was released on bail. Some 600 MDC activists have been arrested since the strike - many say they were tortured. Mr Nyathi said he had been "illegally detained" beyond the stipulated 48-hour period. He said he had been kept in dirty, cramped and unhygienic conditions. Two MDC lawmakers were still in custody late Thursday, the AFP news agency quoted their lawyer as saying. The men - Jealous Sansole and David Mpala - who represent the country's western Matabeleland province, were arrested on Wednesday. "I haven't been able to locate them," lawyer Lucas Nkomo told the AFP. State television reported on Thursday that the two had been found in possession of papers "undermining the authority of the government". The arrests of Sansole and Mpala bring to six the number of opposition deputies arrested since the strike. They include MDC Vice President Gibson Sibanda who has been freed on bail of 1m Zimbabwe dollars ($1,200) after eight days in custody. He was barred from leaving the country, meaning that the MDC's top three leaders are all unable to leave Zimbabwe. Leader Morgan Tsvangirai and secretary general Welshman Ncube had to surrender their passports after being charged with treason ahead of last year's controversial presidential election. The MDC says it is still to decide on what action to take after President Robert Mugabe ignored a 31 March deadline for him to stop persecuting political opponents. Last week, Mr Nyathi told BBC News Online that the MDC was carefully considering the "risks" of embarking on more anti-government protests. "We don't want to draw our people into an ambush," he said.
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From ZWNEWS
Cops try to defy court order
Police yesterday tried to circumvent the court order to release MDC spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi. After High Court Judge Maphios Cheda had ordered the release of Nyathi, police tried to have him charged again before a magistrate in order to continue detaining him. Nyathi was seen being shepherded around the corridors of Tredgold Buildings, where the Bulawayo magistrate's courts are situated. Nyathi's lawyers managed to reach him before any hearing could take place, produced the high court order, and effected his release from the cells, where he was being held pending a return to Khami prison.. Two policemen - Inspectors Matira and Masuna - claimed ignorance of the order, although Matira had been present in the high court when it was ordered, and had undertaken to release Nyathi. Inspector Matira has become notorious in Matabeleland for his abuse of police powers, and involvement in violent acts over the last three years.
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From VOA News, 10 April
Zimbabwe continues crackdown on opposition
Harare - The Zimbabwe government is pursuing a promised campaign of harsh treatment for senior members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. By Thursday, three members of parliament were being held in police cells, and several more said they were expecting to be detained in the next few days. The three opposition members of parliament were arrested on suspicion of various charges, according to the police. A fourth member of parliament was released Monday after 10 days in police cells. One prominent member of parliament, opposition spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi, was planning to demand in the High Court that he be formally charged or released. The two others were arrested outside the second city, Bulawayo, on Wednesday, and have not yet been charged. In addition, at least three opposition district councilors in the Harare area have been attacked this week, and had their property trashed, allegedly by supporters of the ruling Zanu PF party. The opposition says many other incidents are happening every day and are not fully reported. Of the six members of the opposition's national executive committee, four have had to surrender their travel documents in connection with outstanding charges. A fifth will almost certainly have to surrender his before he is released on bail, perhaps this week. Last week, the deputy opposition leader, Gibson Sibanda, was detained for several days, and had to surrender his travel documents as a condition of his release. He is charged with violating the constitution by helping to organize a general strike, and could face stiff penalties if he is convicted. The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai is already on trial for treason.
The chief political reporter of Zimbabwe's independent weekly The Financial Gazette wrote Thursday that the ruling party is determined to rout the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. After last month's strike, President Robert Mugabe called the opposition a terrorist organization, and ordered his security services to react promptly and with vigor. The regional trading group, the Southern African Development Community, pledged last week to send a task force to Harare to investigate human rights abuses. The task force is to be headed by a representative from Angola. Political analysts welcomed the announcement by SADC, but now say that brief moment of optimism has been dimmed by the increased crackdown on members of the opposition, and the fact that the task force has not yet arrived. The Angolan embassy in Harare had no information Thursday about the task force's schedule. The opposition said it has heard the group might arrive next week. Meanwhile, the opposition said late Wednesday that it would announce a further round of mass action within two weeks. The two-day national strike last month paralyzed commerce and industry, and police say they are rounding up all those suspected of inciting the strike, or causing the relatively small amount of violence which accompanied it.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 11 April
Zim crisis deepens - C'wealth report
Dumisani Muleya
Zimbabwe's row with the Commonwealth over electoral fraud and human rights abuses is set to intensify after Australian prime minister John Howard circulated copies of the club's report on Zimbabwe to heads of government this week. The report, seen by the Zimbabwe Independent, says the situation has deteriorated at an alarming rate since President Robert Mugabe's disputed re-election last year. It says repression and human rights abuses are intensifying while no serious democratic reforms have been adopted. "Overall, the general political, economic, and social situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated since March 2002," the report, compiled by Commonwealth secretary-general Don McKinnon, says. Efforts to engage President Mugabe in dialogue have failed, it notes, despite President Sam Nujoma and former secretary-general Sir Shridath Ramphal's intervention. "Regrettably, to date there has been no positive response by Zimbabwe to the Marlborough House Statement and the Harare Declaration," it records.
The Marlborough House Statement was issued in March last year by the Commonwealth troika of leaders when they suspended Zimbabwe from the organisation's councils. The Harare Declaration of 1991 sets out principles of governance. The troika comprises Howard as current chair, outgoing chair President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, and incoming chair, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. Zimbabwe was told to promote political dialogue and national reconciliation; implement steps to normalise the political situation; promote with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) transparent, equitable, and sustainable measures for land reform; and engage the Commonwealth to achieve these outcomes. But McKinnon's report, which was toned down after a stinging first draft to ensure consensus among leaders on the recent extension of Zimbabwe's suspension, says Harare failed to fulfil these demands. "There has been no significant or substantive change of direction in Zimbabwe towards compliance with the Harare Declaration principles, as was the expectation in the Marlborough House Statement and the Abuja mid-term Review Statement," the report notes. "The constitutional, legislative and electoral framework for the conduct of elections, which the Commonwealth Observer Group found flawed, remains unchanged," it said. An independent electoral commission had not been established as the Commonwealth recommended.
The report says repressive security and press laws and other pieces of legislation "prejudicial to freedom of speech, the press, movement and association, remain on the statute book without amendment". It endorses the UNDP's view that land reform has been "chaotic" and "the cause of much political, economic and social instability". Reports have continued of a disproportionate number of the best farms being allocated to leading members of the ruling elite, it notes. It says the current famine can be blamed on land seizures and cites "conclusive evidence of the politicisation of food assistance". "Government and law and order institutions in Zimbabwe, including parliament, the police, and the judiciary are functioning but are under considerable pressure and constraints, with selective enforcement in many cases and widespread allegations of abuses of power," the report says. "The MDC continues to function as an opposition, but faces considerable harassment, pressure and politically-motivated violence and intimidation." McKinnon says trying to talk to Mugabe about these issues has been frustrating. "All my efforts to engage with government in fulfilment of the mandates given to me by the troika have been rebuffed," he said.
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From The Cape Times (SA), 11 April
Zim officials 'would compromise task team'
By Brian Latham
Harare - If Zimbabwean government officials are included in the Southern African Development Community's task force due to investigate the country's crisis, the results will be "as good as pre-determined", opposition Movement for Democratic Change secretary general Welshman Ncube said on Thursday. Ncube was responding to press reports suggesting the SADC task force that is to visit Zimbabwe next week will include government officials from the ruling Zanu PF party. "If these reports are true they would seriously compromise the search for the truth about what is happening in Zimbabwe and the path towards the resolution of the Zimbabwe problem," said Ncube. "The Zimbabwe government would be investigating itself. The failure of previous SADC missions to Zimbabwe can be largely explained by the fact that Stan Mudenge, Zimbabwe's foreign minister, was allowed to be part of such missions, compromising their independence and integrity," he said. Last week SADC foreign ministers meeting in Harare agreed to send a task force to the country to investigate the deepening crisis.
Ncube said that the MDC has received no formal, written invitation to meet the SADC task force. MDC leaders last week offered cautious praise to SADC for "rethinking" its position on Zimbabwe. "They were to be here this week," he said. "But indications are that they will arrive only next week. We have been told by Mozambican officials, who we understand are to chair the task f orce, that they would like to meet us, but we've had no formal invitation giving us a date," he said. The move followed unprecedented torture and violence directed at opposition supporters. A wave of terror in Harare's townships saw over 250 torture victims treated in hospitals. The MDC says over 1 000 people fled their homes ahead of scores of terror brigades armed with AK-47s, whips and batons. "It doesn't matter who you are or where you are in this country, you can be beaten, gang raped and tortured any time, anywhere. All you have to do, the only crime you have to commit, is to come across members of Mugabe's militia," said Ncube.
Last month, Harare's hospitals were flooded with over 250 victims of torture and rape. According to the opposition, about 100 remain in hospital with severe injuries. "You've all seen them in The Avenues Clinic," Ncube told reporters. "They have broken arms and broken legs, they've been raped and beaten." MDC presidential spokesperson William Bango said: "The Avenues Clinic looked like a military hospital in a nation at war." Bango described how one elderly woman in an impoverished township had been raped by soldiers who forced her to perform a sex act with a beer bottle. And he said others had been forced to have unprotected sex in public after men in uniform raided township nightclubs. He also told reporters that Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, a hard-line Mugabe supporter, last week warned: "Where the army is deployed, people should not expect a picnic."
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 1 April
Foreign diplomats gagged
Dumisani Muleya
Foreign diplomats accredited to Zimbabwe have been banned from making speeches at their national day events after Australian High Commissioner to Harare, Jonathan Brown's recent condemnation of rising repression in the country. Sources said the Dean of Diplomats, Ndali-Che Kamati of Namibia, on February 5 distributed a copy of a Foreign Affairs order barring ambassadors and high commissioners from making addresses on their national days. "The order basically states that the practice of making speeches during national days should be discontinued," a diplomatic source said. "After that, embassies and high commissions have stopped speeches, toasts to President Robert Mugabe and the people of Zimbabwe, and any other gestures of courtesy." It was the declining number of toasts to Mugabe that proved the final straw for government, the sources said. "Ambassadors, particularly from the European Union and North America, generally preferred to toast 'the people of Zimbabwe'," one source said. Sources said the order was meant to gag outspoken diplomats who have criticised government over repression and human rights abuses. While diplomats like Kamati, Zambian High Commissioer Dingiswayo Banda, who is also Dean of African Diplomats in Harare, and Nigerian High Commissioner Wilberforce Juta, have tended to whitewash Zimbabwe's simmering political and economic crisis, others have been less indulgent. Spanish ambassador Javier Sandomingo issued a stinging rebuke on the occasion of his national day last year, lamenting the failure of Harare to address issues raised by his government.
But Brown, in his address, turned up the volume. In some of the strongest remarks made by a senior diplomat in Harare, he told an Australia Day gathering on January 26 that his country, which supported the process leading to Zimbabwe's independence and reconstruction, was shocked by the current dramatic national decline. "Australia has watched with dismay as the people of Zimbabwe have become poorer," Brown said. "They are now more vulnerable to ill-health. They are more hungry, more often." Brown said Zimbabweans had become victims of growing repression. "They are less able to enjoy the democratic and human rights guaranteed to all peoples in the Commonwealth," he said. "Above all, the people of Zimbabwe were, in Australia's views and in the view of the Commonwealth Observer Group, denied the free expression of their will in the March 2002 presidential election." Brown noted that since the disputed poll, repression had been intensifying. "Since that election, we have seen the government of Zimbabwe tighten its grip on its people, further denying their freedoms of speech and association, and their protection under the law without discrimination," he said. The government has of late been sending Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials to national days instead of ministers as was the custom in the past.
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Comment from The Star (SA), 10 April
Zim must think about how to recover
By Max du Preez
It was an extraordinary moment. Monday, mid-morning Iraqi time. The Iraqi Information Minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, holds a press conference on the roof of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. He is buoyant. There are no American soldiers in Baghdad, he says emphatically. It's all lies. We're slaughtering them all. The TV screen splits, and the other half shows American tanks parked in front of Saddam Hussein's main palace. A Fox News reporter talks to the tank commander, who says the minister should simply look down into the street and he'll see the tanks - they're about 500m apart . "Perhaps we should go in and tap him on the shoulder," he says. My thoughts immediately went to another minister of information who is as much of a clown as al-Sahhaf and is also never deterred by facts clear for anyone to see: Zimbabwe's Jonathan Moyo. This week I listened to him denying his government's campaign of terror on Zimbabweans after the successful stayaway action two weeks ago. At the same time as we are shown television and press images of tortured and beaten-up people and listen to multiple stories of Zanu-PF thuggery, Moyo blames the opposition for all the violence. How many times have we listened to Moyo, the man who called South Africans barbarians after his huge shopping spree in Johannesburg, stating that there were no human right abuses in Zimbabwe; that the rule of law was intact; that there was no violent, corrupt land-grabbing sanctioned by his government.
The sad thing is that many Iraqis and citizens from Arab and Muslim states actually believe Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, and many people in Southern Africa, including apparently our foreign minister and general secretary of the ruling party, believe Moyo. They believe these men against all evidence because they want to believe them. But unlike most Arab states, we in Southern Africa are not strangers to democracy and an open society. Zimbabweans fought for years with great suffering and loss of life for those values, and accepted it as the norm during the first decade or so after independence. They want and deserve the truth. The big question in Iraq today is not which way the war is going to end, but what will happen after the war. In Zimbabwe the big question should not be whether Robert Mugabe's reign will end, but how Zimbabwe will recover from his disastrous rule after he had gone. It is becoming increasingly clear that he will probably not see Christmas in Harare. The rebuilding of Zimbabwe's economy is crucial, and hopefully Britain and the rest of the international community will play an active role in that process. But the reconciliation of the people of that country is even more important. The hatred and resentments run very, very deep. The police and army will have to be rehabilitated, because today they are widely seen as the henchmen of the ruling clique and enemies of the ordinary people. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Thank God we had Nelson Mandela to carry much of the load himself as an extraordinary symbol of reconciliation. But I have no doubt in my mind that our Truth and Reconciliation Commission process, much maligned as it was from many quarters, played a major role in persuading the vast majority of our people to accept the compromises reached during the negotiations process. I firmly believe that we would not have had the stability and goodwill we have now if we had not gone through that experience.
Zimbabwe will need a truth and reconciliation process after Mugabe had gone as much as we needed it after apartheid. Ordinary people will need to on to a public forum to tell the stories of their torture and humiliation and get recognition for their suffering. Hundreds of Zanu PF officials, policemen and soldiers will have to be tried and sent to jail if their country does not also have a system whereby perpetrators of gross human rights violations can confess and make full disclosure and then be granted amnesty. And above all, the lies about what happened in the last few years should be exposed. Zimbabweans can learn a lot from our experience when they have a truth commission. Their process should also be as public as possible with television cameras and radio microphones present everywhere. In our case, our daily participation in the TRC proceedings through the media was far more important than the final reports of the commission, and so it will be for them. Civil society and the various non-governmental organisations in Zimbabwe should start preparing for that now. The sooner after a regime change Zimbabweans can go through that process, the quicker healing can start. A truth commission experience in Zimbabwe will not only help to heal personal pain and communal resentments, but it will go a long way in restoring that nation's sense of public morality. It will also do a lot to restore the high esteem most of the world had for Zimbabwe before Mugabe started messing up.
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From The Daily News, 12 April
Relatives of arrested MP detained
From Chris Gande in Bulawayo
The relatives of one of the two MDC MPs who were arrested on Wednesday have been detained after they went to give food to the two legislators at Bulawayo Central Police Station. The police yesterday refused to send to court MPs Jealous Sansole (Hwange East) and David Mpala (Lupane) who continued to be held despite the expiry of the stipulated maximum 48 hours within which detained persons must be brought to court. Their lawyers only managed to locate them late last night. Sansole was detained at Hillside Police Station while Mpala was at Entumbane Police Station. One of the lawyers, Lucas Nkomo, yesterday said police detained Mhazha Sansole the MP's brother and Cleopas Chirwa who had gone to give the two MPs food at Bulawayo Central Police Station. Nkomo said the police told him that he should leave them while they do their work. He said he was making an urgent application to the High Court to have them released. The arrested pair was in the company of the MPs when they were arrested as they drove from Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Airport. Nkomo said the police had abandoned the previous charges in which they were saying Sansole had been found in possession of ballot box-sealing material and spikes. He said the police were now accusing Sansole of being found in possession of a booklet with the names of Zanu PF youths in Hwange. Nkomo said the police were also alleging that they had found a hand-written letter threatening the Zanu PF youths. There was no specific charge levelled against Mpala. Several MDC MPs have been arrested over the past two weeks in a crackdown that followed President Mugabe's order to the State security agents to "crush" the MDC.
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From The Daily Dispatch (SA), 11 April
New protests as Zim opposition grows bolder
Harare - Zimbabwe's opposition cranked up an anti-government publicity campaign yesterday ahead of a new round of planned protests against the increasingly authoritarian rule of President Robert Mugabe. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change placed advertisements in two independent newspapers warning of growing frustration among the people of the country. An advertisement in the independent Daily News warned of public anger and possible retribution against officials, troops and police seen to be "sustaining and oiling the dictatorship" of Mugabe. It also listed several ousted African and foreign dictators who fled their countries but left behind their functionaries, supporters and beneficiaries. "If you are supporting the dictatorship in Zimbabwe today, it is important to know you will be left alone to look after yourself and your family," the advertisement said. The opposition has said it is determined to proceed with planned protests despite a crackdown on government opponents and the arrests of several opposition leaders in the wake of last month's successful anti-government strike. Two other bold colour advertisements appeared yesterday in the weekly Financial Gazette showing photographs of victims of alleged beatings and torture by state agents and soldiers under the words "Change demands action". Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri dismissed the advertisements as "intimidation" against his officers. "They want to instil fear in members of the security forces and their families. It won't work," he said. Opposition spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi, meanwhile, was released yesterday on the order of high court judge Mathios Cheda in Bulawayo. He was arrested on Monday under the nation's strict security laws for his involvement in organising the anti-government strike. The government declared the strike illegal. Cheda said the police failed to justify Nyathi's continued detention and ordered him released without charge to be summoned back to court later if required, Nyathi's lawyer Nicholas Mathonsi said.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 11 April
Chefs circumvent govt's one-man one-farm policy
Blessing Zulu
The government's opaque approach to land reform has enabled prominent figures to circumvent its one-man one-farm policy by using their companies to acquire farms, the Zimbabwe Independent has learnt. But new policy guidelines would appear to disallow acquisitions by businessmen Mutumwa Mawere and Ibbo Mandaza who are accused of multiple-farm ownership. The two have, however, denied breaching government policy saying their holding companies bought the farms. Confidential minutes of the government's land audit committee show how commercial farmers and individuals with links to the ruling party formed holding companies to evade the one-man one-farm policy. "Consequently, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement had issued a circular in terms of which rural agricultural land ownership by companies would be disallowed," the minutes from December last year said. The circular is titled "Land reform policy pronouncements" and dated October 29 last year. Minister of State Flora Buka's interim audit report mentioned Mandaza and Mawere as having several farms each. The two have said their farms are company ventures. Mandaza is embroiled in an acrimonious land ownership row with close to 95 new settlers and Charles William Hammer-Nel over five farms in the Bubi District of Matabeleland North. Hammer-Nel has filed papers in the High Court claiming that he still owns the land in question as Mandaza only bought one property, Robert Block 19. Mandaza has taken settlers on the property to court in a bid to evict them. The settlers have filed opposing papers.
In his affidavit, Mandaza claims to have been issued with a certificate of "no present interest" by the government in November 2000, which rules the farms out from compulsory acquisition. Contacted for comment, Mandaza referred all questions to his lawyer, Johannes Tomana. Tomana said he was not aware of the circular that disallowed land ownership by companies. "I am not aware of that position," said Tomana. He accused politicians in Matabeleland North of having a hidden agenda and settling "so-called landless" people on the farms. The confidential minutes also questioned the conduct of the Ministry of Agriculture, which issued certificates of no present interest in clear violation of agreed policies. "In blatant disregard of established procedures and operational structures, some prominent persons were seizing farms and even going to the extent of evicting those resettled by the government," the minutes said. "Some indigenous farmers, with the apparent connivance of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, now owned multiple properties," the minutes said. Mawere refused to comment on whether the farms acquired by FSI Agricom had been bought with the blessing of the government. "You can ask that question to those who sold the farms to FSI Agricom," Mawere said.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 11 April
Perence Shiri denied bid to export
Augustine Mukaro
Air Force of Zimbabwe boss Perence Shiri and hordes of Zanu PF chefs who grabbed farms under government's land reform programme have failed in their bids to supply produce to international markets as they are not officially recognised as land owners. Highly placed sources in the horticulture industry said Shiri and others approached farm produce exporting giant Mitchell & Mitchell of Marondera seeking to be engaged as its out-growers. Shiri's offer was turned down because he doesn't officially own the land he is occupying. Under the fast track resettlement scheme, Shiri was allocated Eirene Farm in Marondera at the expense of 96 families who had initially taken over the farm. Directors at Mitchell & Mitchell confirmed that many A2 farmers in the area wanted to be the company's out-growers. "We have received lots of inquiries from A2 resettled farmers aspiring to get into horticulture farming," a director with Mitchell & Mitchell said this week. "It's unfortunate that we can't accept them because of the way they have acquired their land. We work under specific and stringent criteria set by international markets. "Only those farmers who officially own land are eligible to become our out-growers. Farmers should produce title deeds as the first requirement. If you don't have title deeds we don't even consider your offer," he said. "The selection criteria we are using have not been designed by ourselves because we are not the final consumers of the products. It is what the international market wants and we have to comply with their demands or risk contract cancellation," he said. Shiri and other A2 resettled farmers do not have title deeds or even leases to show that they are official owners of the land they occupy. The only documentation they have is a certificate of occupation issued by the Ministry of Lands. The state is the new owner of most of the 11 million hectares acquired since 2000. Mitchell & Mitchell is a major supplier of horticultural and vegetable products to leading United Kingdom-based supermarkets.
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From BBC News, 11 April
Talking up Zimbabwe
A man in Zimbabwe has started his attempt to enter the record books by talking in public non-stop for 36 hours. Jonah Mungoshi uttered the first of what will be many words in his attempt on the Guinness Book of Records title for the World's Longest Public Talk at 0900 GMT in the capital, Harare, on Friday. The current record stands at 26 hours and Mr Mungoshi told the BBC: "I would like to break the record emphatically so that it will take some time before someone comes over and thrashes my record". The 36-year-old, who works as a marketing manager for a bank, is no stranger to competitive chat. He finished third at a World Public Speaking Championship in Texas, USA. " I feel that I have a lot to say. My cup is really full. So I try to find a way of attracting the audience in a dramatic way," he told the Network Africa programme. Indeed, he will need all the verbal skills at his disposal if Mr Mungoshi is to keep an audience awake as he talks his way through 18 academic topics. Among the subjects he aims to cover are: Finances and the young; Achieving extraordinary success; Speed marketing; Thought management; and Leadership.
Mr Mungoshi says he feels deeply that if Africa is to transform itself from its current poor economic situation, then Africans need to look closely at themselves. Zimbabwe, once the breadbasket of the region, is facing serious economic problems, but Mr Mungoshi said he would not be talking about that, or the controversial political situation in his country. "People who imagine that the answer to our problems lies in politics are mistaken," he explained. He insisted that transform of society must begin with individual action which would then be translated into the wider society. "This is the way we can shape our destiny," he added. The Zimbabwean admits he is no Martin Luther King or Kwame Nkrumah but says he will give it his best shot. "I'll speak from my head. I will have notes to guide me. I have done my research. I feel passionate, have conviction." he told the programme. He has also, he admitted, been training in the gym for the last three months before the competition. "There is an ambulance on stand-by should there be a need to be rushed to the hospital," Mr Mungoshi joked. But when asked about his toilet arrangements during the period, he declined to elaborate in case anyone would find it "disgusting".
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 13 April
Zimbabwe blames foreign powers for civil uprising
Ranjeni Munusamy and Sunday Times Foreign Desk
The Zimbabwean government says it has "authentic information" that some Western governments are working with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to "render the country ungovernable". Zimbabwean officials told a meeting of Southern African Development Community foreign ministers this week that they have "concrete information" that Western powers, Britain in particular, are funding efforts to "unseat the government". Diplomatic officials said part of the plan was to stretch Harare's security forces to the limit through demonstrations and protest action, and to "provoke the government to act in a way that they do things that should not be done". The Zimbabwean officials told the foreign ministers they did not believe the social unrest in the country following the MDC's stay away campaign was "spontaneous" but sponsored by foreign governments. A SADC task force on Zimbabwe, expected in Harare this week, will be under pressure to respond to a damning Commonwealth report on Zimbabwe, which warns of further deterioration in the political and economic situation. The report, compiled by Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, says repression and human rights abuses have worsened since President Robert Mugabe's disputed re-election last year in March, and that there has been no positive response by the Zimbabwe government to previous initiatives . On March 19, the Commonwealth troika - comprising South African President Thabo Mbeki, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria - issued the Marlborough House Statement and suspended Zimbabwe for electoral discrepancies.
Zimbabwe was asked to promote political dialogue and national reconciliation; implement steps to normalise the political situation; promote transparent, equitable, and sustainable measures for land reform; and engage the Commonwealth to achieve these outcomes. McKinnon's report says Harare failed to fulfil these demands. "The constitutional, legislative and electoral framework . . . remains unchanged." The report says repressive security and press laws and other pieces of legislation "prejudicial to freedom of speech, the press, movement and association, remain on the statute book without amendment". It says Zimbabwe's land reform has been "chaotic" and "the cause of much political, economic and social instability". The report notes Zimbabwe's food crisis is linked to land seizures and cites "conclusive evidence of the politicisation of food assistance". "The MDC continues to function as an opposition, but faces considerable harassment, pressure and politically motivated violence and intimidation," it says.
From ZWNEWS: If you would like to read the Commonwealth report, please let us know. It will be sent as a Word attachment to an email message - total size 175 Kb, or approximately 3 1/2 times the size of the average daily ZWNEWS.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 13 April
Zanu PF land grabbing and looting to be exposed
By Itai Dzamara
The massive and systematic looting of former white commercial farms, is the work of senior Zanu PF and government officials, and the land reform programme has become chaotic, some members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee - expected to table its report to the House next month - have revealed. Members of the Portfolio Committee told The Standard that their report revealed "systematic looting" of commercial land by top government officials and well connected people, especially those within the ruling Zanu PF party. Said one member of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee: "The findings of the committee after it went around the provinces, were that the land reform programme was utterly chaotic. Top government officials and well-connected people have used their influence to grab rich farmland at the expense of the landless people. We are ready to table the report when the House resumes sitting next month."
President Robert Mugabe has tried to downplay the report whose findings were leaked to the international media last month and which created a lot of controversy when reported in the local media. Mugabe did acknowledge that all was not well with the land reform exercise but in an apparent bid to protect his close colleagues and ministers, said he would instigate another land audit and have the report presented to him. Zimbabwe's land reforms have been blasted by the international community and the United Nations for their lack of transparency and for destroying what was once a major agribusiness in Africa. The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee's audit, which has been largely shrouded in secrecy but whose findings have been partially leaked out, has created much anxiety among Mugabe's inner circle with many of his closest aides, including some of his family, accused of having grabbed more than one commercial farm and of looting others.
Daniel Mackenzie Ncube, the Zanu PF MP for Zhombe, who heads the portfolio committee, was not available for comment yesterday. However, Innocent Gonese, the chief whip for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said he hoped the report would be tabled in Parliament to shed light on the manner in which the land issue has been handled. Said Gonese: "Once the report has been tabled, we will debate on matters of principle. We hope that the Portfolio Committee did its job properly and will lay the ground for us to push for practical solutions on the controversial manner in which the land reform was implemented." Gonese scoffed at Mugabe's decision to have a second audit that would be handled by his office and whose participants would report directly to him. "Mugabe's government has never been serious about its inquiries and audits. Having another audit whilst ignoring the first one, is a sheer waste of time," said Gonese. "It is a time-buying gimmick. We will therefore stand up to our responsibility and duty of highlighting the importance of achieving an urgent solution to the land crisis and of moving on from there." Joram Gumbo, the Zanu PF chief whip said: "I haven't seen the report. I will only respond when it's tabled. I am aware that there is a lot of interest in the land reform exercise and we hope that the report will answer a lot of questions and clarify issues on the land reform."
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 11 April
No poll in Zengeza
Blessing Zulu
While the ruling Zanu PF party has started campaigning for the Zengeza seat in Chitungwiza, it has emerged that the sitting Movement for Democratic Change member of parliament, Tafadzwa Musekiwa, has not formally resigned. Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa told the Zimbabwe Independent on Wednesday Musekiwa has not resigned. "I have not received any letter of resignation from Musekiwa and as far as I know he is still a member of parliament," Mnangagwa said. MDC secretary-general Professor Welshman Ncube said as far as he was concerned there was no by-election in Zengeza. "The position is that as of today we still are not in receipt of the formal resignation of Musekiwa," said Ncube. "We know what he has stated to the press but he has not communicated to the party that he has resigned. "We are not aware that he has sent a letter of resignation to the speaker of parliament and no such announcement has been made in parliament," Ncube said. Press reports last month said Musekiwa had resigned and gone into exile in Britain because he believed the government wanted to eliminate him. Musekiwa is still in the UK where he sought political asylum. According to the Zimbabwe constitution, an MP should not be absent from parliament for 21 consecutive sittings. These have not expired owing to the few days parliament has been in session this year. Meanwhile, the ruling Zanu PF prospective candidate, Christopher Chigumba, is said to have started campaigning in the constituency. Chigumba, who lost to Musekiwa in the 2000 parliamentary election, is said to have set up a grinding mill in the area. He is understood to have started distributing basic commodities such as sugar, mealie-meal and milk to the people.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 13 April
Call for justice in Ndebele killings
Sunday Times Foreign Desk
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is under pressure to release reports of the alleged massacre of thousands of Ndebeles by government security forces during the 1980s. After his ducking the issue for years, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Resources Foundation is needling Mugabe to publish the reports and initiate a national reconciliation process. The attorneys are seeking a Supreme Court order compelling Mugabe to release the findings of two government-appointed commissions of inquiry into the alleged purges between 1982 and 1987, when Zimbabwe was in embroiled in civil strife. The reports on the conflict in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces were compiled by the Dumbutshena and Chihambakwe commissions. Mugabe initially refused to release the reports, citing state security concerns. Now, he's opposing their release because they would "open old wounds". But lawyers say their publication would "assist Zimbabweans to know the causes as well as the consequences of the disturbances, identifying the victims and drawing lessons from the tragic events". Human-rights groups say at least 20 000 Ndebeles were killed by forces deployed by Mugabe to crush the now-defunct opposition PF-Zapu under the pretext of suppressing an armed insurgency. Rights group Imbovane Yamahlabezulu say the events constitute genocide and is calling for Mugabe's prosecution. In recent years, mass graves have been discovered across Matabeleland. In 1999, during late vice-president Joshua Nkomo's burial, Mugabe virtually admitted wrongdoing, describing the massacres as an "act of madness" which would not be repeated again.
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From Reuters, 12 April
Man talks his way to new world record
Harare - A Zimbabwean man has talked his way into what could be a new Guinness world record with a speech lasting 36 hours. Jonah Mungoshi, a 35-year-old father of three and bank executive, beat a 26-hour record set by South African John Trevor Walker on his way to a personal goal of 36 hours of almost non-stop talk which ended at 9 p.m. British time on Saturday. "I'm extremely excited but extremely sleepy as well," a visibly exhausted Mungoshi told reporters. "All I want to do now is go home with my wife to sleep." A group of assessors will submit reports on the validity of Mungoshi's performance before his name can be formally entered into the next issue of the Guinness book of records in 2004. In his largely motivational speech, Mungoshi steered clear of direct reference to the political and economic crisis which many Zimbabweans blame on President Robert Mugabe's mismanagement, but admitted he was "deeply concerned about the future of this country". Mungoshi was only allowed "natural pauses" of not more than 30 seconds and was permitted to take 15-minute breaks every eight hours to eat and go to the toilet.
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From ZWNEWS, 13 April
Star-studded Concert for Zimbabwe in London - 30 April
A star-studded concert will be held at St.John's, Smith Square, London SW1 on Wednesday April 13 at 7.30 p.m. to raise funds for a trust to help fly international musicians to Zimbabwe, where cultural bodies are struggling to keep the arts alive and available across the cultural and racial divide. For people in and around London, attending the Concert for Zimbabwe is an enjoyable way to show support for Zimbabwe - and it's not even political. There will be a special guest appearance by Simon Callow. Others taking part include the Maggini Quartet; Seta Tanyel and Piers Lane; Nokuthula Ngwenyama and Margaret Fingerhut; Leslie Howard, Benjamin Nabarro and Jonathan Cohen; Colin Carr and Hamish Milne.
There is a strong bond in music between Harare and Bulawayo. Performing Arts Bulawayo has battled to bring classical music to Zimbabweans, has given concert series and prestigious festivals on a shoestring budget, encouraging indigenous artists and bringing in international performers who receive nominal fees and marvellous hospitality. PAB is also the impresario for Celebrity Subcription Concerts of Harare. Tours are coordinated so that wherever possible musicians can play with both Harare City and the Bulawayo Philharmonic orchestras. But it has become impossible to continue without help from outside. For example, a return economy class airfare from London now costs more than the annual salary of most professional Zimbabweans.
Tickets range in price from £35, which includes attending a reception to meet the artists in the St. John's Crypt after the concert, through £25, to £10 unreserved from the Box Office, St. John's (Phone 020 7222 1061, major credit cards accepted.) Tickets can also be bought from Lisa Peacock (phone: 020 7602 1416). Proceeds from the reception will go towards the PAB fund, which also provides scholarships to the Zimbabwe Academy of Music.
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From The Daily News, 14 April
Detained MPs released
From Chris Gande in Bulawayo
Two MDC MPs, who were arrested in Bulawayo last Wednesday, were released on Saturday amid claims that they were denied food for three days while in police custody. Jealous Sansole, the MP for Hwange East, was released on $50 000 bail. David Mpala, the MP for Lupane together with Sansole's brother Mhaza and their cousin Cleopas Chirwa, were released after the police failed to find a "suitable" charge. The police changed the charge against Sansole three times. When the MP was arrested on Wednesday, the police charged him for possessing ballot box-sealing material. On the same day, police also alleged that Sansole had ordered youths to deflate car tyres using spikes during last month's MDC-organised mass stayaway. The following day, the police changed the charge and said Sansole was being held for possessing a list of names of Zanu PF youths whom he was threatening. The police did not give reasons for detaining Mpala as well as Mhaza and Chirwa, who were detained after they brought food for the two MPs.
On Saturday, Bulawayo magistrate, Fadzai Mthombeni, heard that Sansole was arrested for possessing a letter in which he appeared to be recommending an unnamed person to seek asylum in Britain. The State accused Sansole of violating a section of the Public Order and Security Act by writing that Zanu PF was a threat to the asylum-seeker. Sansole pleaded not guilty to the charge, but was remanded to 28 April. Mthombeni also ordered Sansole to surrender his passport and to report to Hwange police station once a week. His lawyer immediately indicated to the court that he will apply against remand on Sansole's next appearance. Their lawyer, who alleged that the police had denied him access to his clients, did not raise the issue of assault on Sansole's brother since he was not charged. "The officers-in-charge of the four police stations where my clients were detained said they were instructed by Martin Matira, the investigating officer, not to give my clients food," he said. The two MPs were arrested at a roadblock in Bulawayo as they drove from Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo airport on Wednesday. Over the past two weeks, police in Bulawayo have arrested four MDC MPs, including the party's vice-president, Gibson Sibanda and the party spokesman, Paul Themba-Nyathi.
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From News24 (SA), 14 April
MDC: Final freedom call
Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader on Sunday told his supporters to be ready for a "final call" for freedom, as the party confirmed it would press ahead with mass action against President Robert Mugabe's government. In an Easter message, Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said that peaceful mass action and defiance of Zimbabwe's security laws was the only way to achieve a "peaceful, compassionate, caring and prosperous country." But he warned: "If you want change, expect pain. There is gain at the end of pain." The party's spokesperson confirmed that there would be more mass action. A strike called by the MDC last month to protest alleged misgovernance was widely heeded. Speaking after a five-hour meeting of the MDC's national executive committee, Paul Themba Nyathi said it was decided that "the MDC would have to implement yet another mass action for the government's failure to respond positively to those demands." He was referring to a set of 15 concerns over democracy, the rule of law and governance that the MDC had asked the government to address before the end of March. Mugabe dismissed the ultimatum.
There have been unconfirmed reports that the MDC was split over whether or not to press on with mass action. Tsvangirai was said to be in favour of dialogue with the ruling Zanu PF. Nyathi could not confirm when the action would take place, or what form it would take. The party said that after last month's stayaway, the government launched a vicious crackdown on the opposition's supporters, arresting at least 500. Scores of others were assaulted, the party claims. Six legislators have also been arrested in the wake of the mass action. The last two were released on Saturday in the country's second city of Bulawayo. Tough security laws introduced last year forbid unauthorised political gatherings. The MDC says the laws have been designed to prevent opposition protests. "Throughout our history unjust laws had to be defied in order to achieve our freedom," Tsvangirai said.
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From Associated Press, 13 April
Oppn's ad on torture list illegal: Zimbabwe
Harare - The government threatened to retaliate Sunday against an opposition advertisement that names police officers allegedly identified by victims of assaults and torture. Declaring the newspaper advertisement illegal, the government said it intended to incite hatred and undermine the rights and integrity of individuals in the security forces and were "a serious breach of the law," the state Sunday Mail reported. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said the privately-owned Weekend Tribune newspaper, usually a pro-ruling party weekly, gave the Movement for Democr |
