Zimbabwe: Outpost of Tyranny

Why "Zimbabwe: Outpost of Tyranny" (Z.O.O.T.)?

The term, "outpost of tyranny", was popularized in January 2005 by the then United States Secretary of State Designate Condoleezza Rice, to refer, broadly, to certain countries where reppressive governments show contempt for democracy and human rights. Zimbabwe was one of the countries cited by Rice, along with Cuba, Burma, Noth Korea, Iran and Belarus.  Some have taken issue with this characterization of Zimbabwe and, in particular, with its being lumped in the same sack with these totalitaraian regimes.  If Zimbabwe is not yet a pure totalitarian regime in its present form, it could fairly be described as a country with significant totalitarian elements grafted onto a formerly functioning (and now severely deterioirated) democratic system.  For example, although Zimbabwe's independent press is still able to criticize the regime to an extent unthinkable in the 5 other members of Rice's club, it has increasingly over the past 6 years been depleted, beseiged and attacked by the Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ).  And while there are still voices of judicial independence, especially at lower court levels, the regime has, likewise, pursued a strategy of stifling independent judicial thinking, especially at the High Court and Supreme Court levels.  Clearly, if one uses Natan Sharansky's "Town Square Test" for assessing a country's relative level of freedom, Zimbabwe in 2006 falls more squarely into the "fear society" than into the "free society" category. 

This weblog is an attempt to chronicle the abuses of the GOZ and to contribute to re-focussing international attention on the country and to give a "coup de main", as our Francophone colleagues might say, to other activist comrades working for change and for improvement in the situation of all Zimbabweans.

The Town Square Test

Another objective of this blog which I failed to mention in its inaugural post is that it be a tool for my own continuing education with regard to the Zimbabwe situation. As such, this enterprise is very much, and will continue to be, a work in progress. Input and suggestions are welcome. Finally, part of the work that needs to be done and that will be done on this blog is to acknowledge, and link to, the important work, analysis and organizing being done already by a wide range of bloggers focusing exclusively or occasionally on Zimbabwe, journalists, and other civil society actors activists and members of the democratic opposition in Zimbabwe.

I said in the previous post that it is clear that Zimbabwe in 2006 falls more squarely into the "fear society" than the "free society" category.  In just the past month, there has been ample evidence that the GOZ fails the "Town Square Test" miserably.  First, approximately 30 members of WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise) were arrested in Harare on September 11th ahead of a planned sit-in at "Town House".  The sit-in had been intended to demonstrate Harare residents’ anger at the shocking service delivery experienced in the capital.  Then, there was the brutal repression on September 13th of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union's (ZCTU) attempt to organize a march to demonstrate--not for anything as radical as a change in the GOZ--but to demand an increase in the nation’s minimum wage and universal access to antiviral drugs to combat HIV/AIDS.  ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo and First Vice President Lucia Matibenga were among trade unionists arrested and badly injured.  ZCTU General Secretary Wellington Chibebe, winner of the U.S.A. labor union AFL-CIO’s 2003 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award was also arrested. Several days after the protests, the GOZ decided to bar entry into the country of a group of American Black Trade Unionists who had sought to meet with the injured Zimbabwean trade unionists.  It is interesting to note that the GOZ official press attempted to smear the American group, describing them as a "right wing" union.  The Congress of Black Trade Unionists' credentials in standing up for workers rights in the U.S. as well as in Zimbabwe, including its frequent criticism of the George Bush government are well established.  Via its own blog, the AFL-CIO condemned the GOZ's arrest and brutalization of the ZCTU leaders and its refusal to allow entry into the country of representatives of the AFL-CIO member organization CBTU.  On September 27th, the civic group National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), organized a march and were, again, met with a brutal police response.  Finally, several leaders of Zimbabwe National Students' Union (ZINASU) were arrested on October 11th following a peaceful march of around 800 of them to demand demanding the improvement of conditions at the country's universities. 

More repression of "Town Square" Manifestations.

It seems you need only scan the daily press clippings on Zimbabwe to find multiple additional examples of the GOZ's well-orchestrated effort to stifle civil society's expressions of opposition to the misrule and impunity that characterize the present regime. Student leaders at the university in the northeastern Zimbabwean city of Bindura were abducted and interrogated late Wednesday, according to them, by GOZ officials.  A member of the opposition political party MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) was also arrested on Wednesday in the town of Gwanda and charged with distributing "subversive ZCTU pamphlets".  Not content with the strategy of arrests, beatings and intimidation in response to civil society's demonstrations of their fed-up-ed-ness with the Mugabe regime, a GOZ legislator (and Mugabe nephew) is attempting to have ZCTU leaders removed and replaced by a "new look management" team, an undisguised euphemism for pro-ZANU-PF individuals.  Even private sector actors have not been immune to the GOZ's efforts to control dissent, dissent, in this case being merchants' moves to increase the price of food and other commodities in a desperate attempt to keep pace with the rapidly devaluating Zimbabwe dollar.  Police in Zimbabwe’s second largest city of Bulawayo have in the past two days arrested scores of shop managers for allegedly hiking prices of basic commodities without approval from the government.

Collective reticence of African leaders on Zimbabwe.

Much has been written about the lack of robust response from African heads of state both in the SADC region and elsewhere on the continent on the subject of Mugabe and the politcal and economic meltdown over which he is presiding.  There have been some exceptions to the collective reticence of African Presidents. Some point to the failed efforts of Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Obasanjo in 2003 to mediate an end to the Zimbabwe crisis as an example. The South African President has preferred pursuing a route of "quiet diplomacy" rather than confrontation with the person still viewed with reverence in some quarters as one of the doyens of Southern African liberation struggle movements.

During his recent trip to the United States, Botswana President, Festus Mogai was asked what his country was doing about the crisis in Zimbabwe and he responded that if the USA "can do nothing about tiny, naughty North Korea, what do you expect Botswana, with a population of 1.7 million to do against Zimbabwe (population 14 million)." Never mind that, following the exodus of between 3 and 4 million ZImbabweans that there are probably not 10 million souls remaining in the country, the answer to the Botswanan President was eloquently supplied in an op-ed piece in a Namibian online journal.  The answer is that African leaders should use their moral authority to go beyond the proven failure of "quiet diplomacy." (Read his whole piece.)

Perhaps it takes being an "ex-President" for African leaders to summon the courage to criticize the GOZ.  This week,  Botswana's former President, Ketumile Masire, leveled a "tacit but sharp criticism" against Mugabe for his "destruction" of Zimbabwe. 

Being an ex-President is apparently not a sufficient condition to assure that African leaders are able to speak truth to power, however.  Former Malian President and present Chairman of the African Union (AU), Alpha Oumar Konare was in Harare last week and refused to meet with members of Zimbabwe civil society.  Konare, an active member of Malian's civil society and pro-democracy movement himself, when he was a journalist in opposition to the Moussa Traore dictatorship (which he succeeded in office following a year's transition under present Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure) is the kind of African leader with the moral authority (Toure is another) to confront the Zimbabwean President.  It is a shame that he has chosen not to do so. 

From Collective Reticence to Collective Resistance (and the human costs).

While there has been a deafening silence from many African leaders, there has been evidence of increasing collective resistance, as described in the first 2 posts, among the courageous women and men of Zimbabwean civil society, over the past 6 weeks, to the GOZ's misrule.  And the human costs of their resistance have been high.  The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR), which examined the ZCTU labour leaders arrested and beaten following their September 13th march, said in a statement on October 4th that their injuries were consistent with torture adding it would submit a report to court to prove the police assaulted and tortured the union officials.   Among those arrested and beaten were ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo and secretary-general Wellington Chibhebhe.  Chibhebe was beaten unconscious and suffered head injuries, a broken arm and fingers. 

A.O.K. is not A.O.K.

Alpha Oumar Konaré, a.k.a "A.O.K.", the first democratically elected president of Mali and present Chairperson of the African Union, knows a thing or two about opposing dictatorial regimes. He was founder of an opposition newspaper, "Les Echos" in the late 1980s in Bamako and was also one of the founding members of the country's first independent radio staion in 1991, Radio Bamakan. Both independent media outlets played a role in contributing to the ouster of the Moussa Traore dictatorship.  A.O.K.'s CV, which can be found on the African Union's web site, further shows that he has been a member of 17 activist organizations committed to democracy , human rights and social change. It is therefore particularly disappointing that during his October 13th visit to Harare to consult with Robert Mugabe on issues related to the crises in Sudan, DRC, Somalia and Cote D'Ivoire, that he snubbed Zimbawean civil society's request to meet with him to discuss the crisis in Robert Mugabe's own country. The fact that NANGO (National Association of Non Governmental Oganizations in Zimbabwe) sought an audience with President Konaré is testimony to the esteem in which he is held, for his championing of democracy, by Zimbabwean civil society.  It is to be hoped that President Konare will undertake a moment of reflection and reconsider his responsibility, as a former civil society and pro-democracy activist himself, to stand publically with the civil society and people of Zimbabwe against misrule, impunity and oppression.  Otherwise, A.O.K. will definitely not be A.O.K. in the eyes of Zimbabweans and of democratically minded people everywhere.    

Zimbabwe After Mugabe

Watch an interview on BBC's Hard Talk program with opposition MDC M.P. David Coltart in which he discusses the state of the opposition, including the ongoing talks to achieve a united front of the opposition, and the prospects for Zimbabwe after Mugabe .

Zimbabwe After Mugabe II. (Opposition AND Regime Contemplating It).

It is not only starry eyed opposition leaders like David Coltart who are contemplating life after Mugabe in Zimbabwe.  A recently leaked GOZ analysis prepared by the much-feared CIO (Central Intelligence Organization) concludes that Mugabe is widely "hated" by Zimbabweans and that much of the Zimbabwe people are prepared to stand up to demand that he step aside. The hatred is shared by certain elements of the security forces which, as a result, could not be counted on to defend the regime in an insurrection situation, according to the intelligence report. All that is needed is a resolute and united opposition, the report goes on to say.  Clearly, the regime is concerned.  

A Chance in Ghana in December for AOK to become AOK in Zimabweans' Eyes.

The Voice of America's Studio 7 is reporting that Zimbabwe Civil Society has not given up on A.U. Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare quite yet.  He will be in Accra, Ghana in December for the annual A.U. summit and Zimbawean human rights workers plan to attempt again to meet with him to discuss Harare’s failure to implement rulings by the AU's African Commission on Human and People's Rights concerning the rule of law, evictions and living conditions for those displaced by Harare's 2005 home demolition campaign.

EU Urges SADC Heads of State to Act on Zimbabwe

Also from Studio 7:  At a 1 day summit on the subject of economic integration in the SADC region held yesterday in South Africa, diplomats from the EU, SADC's primary financial backer, pushed regional heads of state to take collective action against the Zimbabwe regime.

Apologists Among Us (With my own apologies to Normblog).

I say "with my own apologies to normblog" because Norman Geras penned a piece on his blog with this title last year, on the subject of the silence of much of the European and American Left with regard to Islamist fanaticsm, at a time when they were EXTREMELY vocal in their criticism of British and American government policies (some even positing that U.S. policies and actions are actually responsible for Islamist terror--the "chickens coming home to roost" argument).  He also touched on the same subject in an article published in Dissent magazine last year. Both are well worth reading.  But I digress since the apologists to whom I refer here are not those described in normblog, who see an external "root cause" to Islamist terror (and to Ba'athist terror for that matter)that is U.S. (or U.K.) imperialism.  Rather, I am referring to those who see an external "root cause" for the GOZ's increasingly repressive and anti-democratic policies, its arrest and torture of dissidents and political opponents and members of civil society, and its orchestration of an economic meltdown.  The rhetoric of the 2 groups of apologists is remarkably similar (and there is no doubt overlap in their membership): U.S. or U.K. imperialism is the force behind the "vilainization" of the regime (e.g. Iraq or Zimbabwe)--or movement/organization (in the case of Islamist fanaticism).  A group of North American apologists for the GOZ were in Harare shortly after the September 13th brutalization of ZCTU labor leaders.  The representatives of  the Global African Congress (GAC), a Canada-based "Pan-Africanist" group, whose visit was sponsored by the GOZ, lavished praise on Mugabe and condemned the western imperialist demons who, they said, are responsible for spreading lies about Zimbabwe.  While GAC is clearly an inconsequential group on the lunatic fringe of the left, other, arguably slightly less-inconsequential institutions and individuals on the left in the U.S. and U.K. have mimicked their rhetoric.  They apportion the blame for the collapse of Zimbabwe's democratic institutions and of its economy on the U.S. and the U.K., often repeating the 2 shibolleths that it is U.S. "smart sanctions" that have ruined the economy and that it is because of US and UK opposition to land reform that the GOZ has incurred their wrath. Another example of apologist discourse on the North American left with regard to Zimbabwe can be found in this Z magazine article by Mukoma Ngugi .  Ngugi speaks of the "Zimbabwe of Western Imagination", and believes that it is being targeted becaue it has "violated the myth that naturalizes racial hierarchy".  ("Blacks are not supposed to kick out whites from their farms and their homes".)  Read the whole thing for insight into the pathology of some on the Western Left that prevents them from holding regimes responsible for their actions and sees the hand of Western Imperialism behind all of the world's ills.

Under Dictator, Zimbabwe Slides Into Chaos

Listen to the report on American National Public Radio entitled "Under Dictator, Zimbabwe Slides Into Chaos", which aired on October 11th. 

United Nations in Bed with Mugabe?

Last month, the UNDP Zimbabwe Office denied the allegation that they are in bed with the GOZ regime, but the issue seemingly will not go away.  In an article in this week's issue of the Zimbawean newspaper, The Financial Gazette, the UNDP denied hobnobbing with the Mugabe government. UNDP Zimbabwe has consistently portrayed itself as a "mediator" between the GOZ and civil society and has been noticeably silent on the increasingly anti-democratic and repressive measures taken by the regime including the 2005 programme of mass forced evictions and demolition of homes and informal livelihoods, dubbed by the GOZ "Operation Murambatsvina".  (Operation Murambatsvina, which translates roughly from Shona to "clear the filth", resulted in the forced eviction of 700,000 persons from their homes, indirectly affecting another 1.2 million2.4 million--according to the United Nations' own report.  Amnesty International sent a strongly worded letter of protest to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.  Unfortunately, to this day, neither the U.N. nor the African Commission has taken any steps in response to the damning evidence contained in these reports.)  UNDP Zimbabwe apparently does not believe it is required to take a clear stand in defense of the core UN charter values--which are so blatantly being violated in Zimbabwe--including the right of a population not to be denied housing, their right to assembly and expression, the right of an independent press to operate free of state coercion and interference, and, most fundamentally, the right of a people to determine its government and leaders through democratic means.  What business does UNDP have posing as a "mediator" between an outlaw regime and its people?

Students Hit the Streets in Bulawayo

There are reports just in that around 500 members of the student organization ZINASU hit the streets of Bulawayo this morning to protest against rising costs of education. Around 30 students have so far been arrested. More details as they come.

More on the Student demonstrations and Arrests in Bulawayo

Zimonline is reporting that 43 students were arrested yesterday in Bulawayo as they peacefully marched and attempted to present a petition to the Bulawayo provincial governor, Cain Mathema. Students in Bulawayo were protesting the exodus of lecturers, high fees and deteriorating learning standards and living conditions at institutions of higher learning there.

Politicized Food Aid

Zimonline reported yesterday that the government is flooding rural areas where rural district council elections are looming with food aid, which is being targetted to ruling party supporters.  Read the whole story.

"The Zimbabwe We want: Towards a National Vision Document" and Konrad Adenauer Foundation Roundtable.

Apologies to readers for the lack of blogging Friday through Sunday.  We will get back into the rhythm this week.  Part of the reason for no blogging on Friday was the busy schedule with 2 events in Harare the launch of the "National Vision for Zimbabwe", sponsored by some Church leaders (more on this controversial effort later today) and a roundtable sponsored by the German Embassy on the subject of :  "Citizens' Apathy and its Consequences on the Development of Zimbabwe."  More on this too today.

International Honor for Zim Human Rights Lawyers' leader, Arnold Tsunga

On October 18th, Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced that it would confer on a Zimbabwean lawyer its highest recognition, for his work with ZLHR (Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights), an organization that provides legal representation to victims of human rights abuses, including human rights defenders arrested and detained in Zimbabwe.  Arnold Tsunga, the group's executive director, has worked tirelessly with his colleagues at ZLHR to document human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and bring them to the attention of the international community. 

Student Leader Arrested in Bulawayo for Taking a Photograph

On Friday, ZINASU leader Promise Mkwananzi was arrested for taking a picture outside of the courtroom in Bulawayo where 43 Zinasu activists, who'd been arrested the previous Monday, were being arraigned.  Mkwananzi, whose cellphone and camera were confiscated, was attempting to take photos of fellow stundents who were singing in solidarity with their detained comrades.

Multiple honors for Zimbabwe journalist David Masunda.

A leading Zimbabwean journalist and director of beleaguered independent radio station Radio Voice of the People (VOP), David Masunda, has been invited by members of the European Parliament to address the group on issues related to the media in Zimbabwe. He was also recently the recipient of a fellowship sponsored by the U.K. based "One World Broadcasting Trust", known as the "Open Broadcast Fellowship". Radio VOP, which became the target of the GOZ this year, recently saw charges against its board of directors dropped by a Harare Magistrate. 

Women of Zimbabwe Arise (and are Arrested and Released) Again

Members of WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe, Arise!), who were arrested last Wednesday while protesting against illegal evictions and poor service delivery in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, were released from prison on bail on Friday. Faithful readers of this blog will recall that it was the arrest of 30 members of WOZA on September 11th that kicked off approximately four to five weeks of civil society demonstrations and protests including actions by ZCTU, NCA and ZINASU, among others.

About the "National Vision Document"

I promised to comment more fully today on the subject of the so called "National Vision Document" (NVD) put together by certain segments of the wide array of Zimbabwe Churches and also on the (aborted) roundtable discussion sponsored by the German Embassy on Friday, purportedly to discuss the theme, "Citizens' Apathy and its Consequences on the development of Zimbabwe."  First to the NVD launch meeting, held Friday at Harare's Catholic University.  The Catholic University resembled a camp (an armed one, that is) more than a campus on Friday morning because of the expected appearance of the Zimbabwean President.  Heavily armed military police and plain clothed security were crawling on the college grounds and especially in proximity to the tent which had been pitched for the event.

First a word on the National Vision Document and on the church leaders involved in the effort. According to its authors, the document is an "invitation to all Zimbabweans and all friends of Zimbabwe to dialogue with us so that we can together define a national division of the Zimbabwe we want, and agree on strategies on how to get there." The official sponsors of the document are the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC), the Evangelical fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC).  However, the unstated reality is that there is great heterogeneity of opinion among members of each of these, the 3 main ecumenical associations in Zimbabwe, as well as heterogeneity of opinion among the adherents of the NVD effort itself. That is to say, within the ZCBC, there are prominent leaders (Bishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo is one; read excerpts from an interview with him on Britain's Channel 4 news last year courtesy of normblog.) who have been openly critical of the Mugabe regime and see the dissolution of that regime as a sine qua non for moving out of the crisis. Similarly, in the EFZ and the ZCC, there are those who will not countenance working with a regime that has routinely presided over the inplementation of policies that they believe violate basic tenets of respect for human rights, let alone, basic Christian tenets. These leaders and other like-minded members of these groups have disassociated themselves from the NVD effort, questiong the independence of the process and fearing that the GOZ was poised to co-opt the discussion regarding how the country might emerge from the political and economic morass. 

Many of these Church leaders and activists suspicious of the NVD have, instead, been working through an activist umbrella group of religious and civil society groups opposed to the Mugabe regime known as the Christian Alliance (C.A.). Bishop Levee Kadenge, of Zimbabwe's Methodist Church, is one of the leaders of the C.A.  Some of the Church hierarchy have responded hostiley to the C.A., scolding leaders of CA for their activism and independence and insisting that the Church must speak with one voice.  The GOZ has been even more violent in its opposition to the C.A.: C.A. leaders, including Bishop Kadenge, have been followed, harrassed and have even received death threats from GOZ agents.

So the NVD, clearly, does not represent the voice of the entire (or some would say, even of a majority of) the ZCCB, EZF or ZCC. 

But as I also stated, there is also clearly some difference of opinion among the religious leaders who are adherents to the NVD themselves.  This came out clearly at the Friday morning meeting when certain of the pastors spoke of  GOZ "mistakes", with regard to the manner in which the Mugabe government implemented a fast track land reform program and to the mass forced eviction operation that pushed 700,000 Zimbabweans into homelessness and, implicitly, in reference to his refusal to engage in dialogue with the political opposition and with civil society, while others towed the GOZ's line that foreign powers were to blame for teh political and economic difficulties.

However far apart the leaders of the NVD may be, Mugabe may have rendered their effort, modest and flawed as it may have been, a non-starter.  In his speech that wound up the morning conference, Mugabe stated that constitutional reform, one of the cornerstones of the NVD, was out of the question. While the NVD stated that the current "Lancaster House constitution was not inspired by the collective consent and consensus of the people of Zimbabwe," Muagabe stated that the constitution was in fact "home grown" and was among the "non-negotiables" for his government.

To give credit where credit is due, the NVD document does, in what can only be described as an audacious way given the increasingly repressive political climate here, challenge certain of Mugabe's policies, for example, proposing the setting up of an independent land commission to ensure fair distribution of land and a review of repressive media and security laws recently enacted by the GOZ.  However, Eldred Masunungure, Professor of Political Science at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) believes that the analysis did not go far enough:

"...yes it [the NVD] does raise important issues but at the same time it does not identify the major causes and where they originate from, such as mis-governance by the government...Let’s not forget that Mugabe is a cunning politician who has in the past managed to hoodwink opponents that he is changing policies."

John Makumbe, also Politcal Science Professor at UZ, summed up what appears to be the view of many in the pro-democracy movement in Zimbabwe with regard to the NVD:

"The fact that the main opposition is not part of the Church efforts could be a reflection that they do not have faith in the Church’s efforts and I would agree with that because Mugabe has shown in the past that he is not an honest and sincere negotiator.”

The sad, sad story of the "Zanu-ization" of a Roundtable Discussion

The German Embassy on Friday afternoon sponsored a roundtable, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the presence of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Zimbabwe,  whose goal, according to its advertisement, was to discuss the question: "Citizen Apathy and its consequences on the the development of Zimbabwe."  Unfortunately, the ZANU-PF invitees succeeded in hijacking the event and transforming it into a snooze-fest that studiously avoided any reference to the purported subject of the meeting.  The ZANU-PF Governor of Matabeleland South and the ZANU CLerk of Parliament delivered soporific speeches worthy of Comrade Fidel. The members of the democratic opposition and pro democracy organizations in attendance (members of ZINASU, MDC and other civil society groups were in evidence) exercised nearly super-human self-restraint in allowing the off-subject propaganda show to go on without objection, surely in deference to their German hosts.  Shame on the German Embassy hosts, however, for not calling the meeting back to order and back to the subject at hand.  It was, unfortunately, a wasted opportunity and afternoon.

With Zimbabwe a member, the U.N. is Pointless (With Apologies to Adam Lebor)

Normblog had a link last week to an Op-Ed piece in the The Times with the title "With Sudan a Member, the U.N. is Pointless" (hence my apologies for the title of this post).  The author, Adam Lebor (also the author of a book to be published on November 1st called "Complicity With Evil": The United Nations in the Age of Modern Genocide that vituperates, correctly in this blogger's opinion, against Koffi Anan and the U.N.) argues, as Norm puts it,

"the case for expelling Sudan, and in principle other countries in extreme violation of the UN Charter, from the UN."

Pencil in Zimbabwe among the "other countries".  LeBor reminds us that the U.N charter provides for expulsion of countries that are in gross violation of its provisions:

"In fact the issue is very simple. UN member states that fail to live up to the requirements of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights should be sanctioned, suspended and, in extreme cases, expelled. Article 6 of the charter already provides for expulsion: “A member . . . which has persistently violated the principles contained in the present charter may be expelled by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.”

Why would an outlaw country care, you might ask?  In fact they care very much:

"UN membership is important, especially to prickly post-colonial states uncertain of their place in the world. It confers legitimacy and prestige. It provides them with psychological and political succour and the plentiful company of kindred spirits. Once inside the UN complex in New York tyrants morph into worthy interlocutors, their opinions sought by superpowers, their egos massaged, their meetings with world leaders broadcast on their state-controlled television."

Read the whole article and add Zimbabwe to the list of candidates for expulsion.

ZCTU President, Lovemore Matombo, to speak at Nov. 4 London Conference

Also from normblog, yesterday, there will be a conference in London on November 4th--to show solidarity with ZImbabwe trade unionists--at which ZCTU President, Lovemore Matombo, will speak.

Apologists Among Us (Part II)

Peter Tatchell writes eloquently on the subject raised in this blog last week with regard to those comrades of ours on the left who manage to find all kinds of reasons for the GOZ's repressive measures as well as reasons for not taking a vocal public stance against it:

"There was a global campaign against apartheid. I was part of it for more than 20 years. Why isn't there a similar global campaign against Mugabe's murderous tyranny? Ooops, silly me. The killer is the wrong colour. He's a black murderer, not a white one. Besides, it is racist and neo-imperialist for anyone in the west to criticise the leader of a developing country, even a bloody butcher like Mugabe. Well, that seems to be the perspective of some (not all) of my colleagues on the left."

Read the whole thing from the Guardian's "Comment is Free" column yesterday.

Correction on the "Zanu-ized" Roundtable

In a post yesterday on the hijacking by the GOZ invitees of a roundtable discussion meant to discuss "Citizen Apathy" , I unjustly scolded the German Embassy and said that they were the sponsors of the meeting.  The sponsor was the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF), and not the German Embassy.  KAF is affiliated with the German Christian Democratic Party but is independent of the German Embassy. My apologies to the German Embassy and I transfer my scolding to KAF.

“‘You Will Be Thoroughly Beaten’: The Brutal Suppression of Dissent in Zimbabwe.”

That is the title of a new Human Rights Watch report (HRW) that will roll off the presses tomorrow. From the HRW press release:

“When Zimbabweans engage in peaceful protest, the government responds with brutal repression,” said Georgette Gagnon, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities use torture, arbitrary arrest and detention to deter activists from engaging in their right to freely assemble and express their views.”

Human Rights Watch called upon the government of Zimbabwe to end the practice of arbitrary arrests and detentions, and to stop the use of excessive force by the police. The government should also investigate all allegations of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and bring the perpetrators to justice, Human Rights Watch said.

Read the whole report.

South African Minister Held Accountable by Zim Activists in London

Our comrades at Sokwanele (an Ndebele word meaning Enough!) posted last Thursday on the brave Zimbabwean activists who confronted the South African Foreign Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma earlier in the week in London. Among the protesters was Peter Tatchell who also recently had an excellent piece in the Guardian's "Comment is Free" section, which we blogged on yesterday.  Read Sokwanele's coverage of the South African Minister being called to account for her country's enabling of the Zimbabwe regime. 

Eddie Cross: Mugabe no longer functioning effectively as head of state.

Eddie Cross has an as always thoughtful and informed piece on the Zimbabwe Situation on his site and also cross posted at the Zimbabwe Pundit and at Enough is Enough.

Cross posits that Mugabe may already be easing himself out of the day to day duties of head of government--either in anticipation of his retirement or perhaps because of health problems--but that there is some confusion with regard to who is in charge (when he is not):

"Mr. Mugabe is no longer functioning effectively as Head of State – he is working very short hours and for whatever reason is already in a state of semi retirement. He has moved to his new home in Harare and goes into the office late in the morning returning home before midday. Few people are seeing him and it is clear that government is confused and divided – no strong central direction is apparent. Everybody is doing his or her own thing. Then there is the succession debate. Rumors abound about Mugabe’s future plans – they all point to him stepping down and it would appear from our sources that the debate on whether to allow him to remain President until 2010 has been quashed. It would appear to us that he is now committed to retirement in March 2008, if not sooner. A recurrent Zanu PF nightmare is that he might become incapacitated sooner than March 2008, leaving Zanu unprepared for the succession battles that will follow."

Peaceful NCA Demonstration Brutally Suppressed by Police Yesterday

Yesterday afternoon at 2:00 PM, several hundred activists from the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) took to the streets in a peaceful, non-violent protest of the prevailing political, social and economic conditions, which they say are fuelled by the "absence of a people driven constitution".  The 300 persons who gathered in and around Africa Unity Square were descended upon by police anti-riot squads.  Demonstrators, seated on the ground, were beaten by security forces. NCA Chairperson Dr. Lovemore Madhuku and other NCA leaders, including Frank Nyagumbo and Marko Shoko, were arrested and taken to Harare Central Police Station. The Law and Order Section of the police are now reportedly contemplating charging Madhuku with violating some section of the much abused and infamous "Public Order and Security Act"--for carrying out an event without notifying the regulating authority. The three are currently detained at Harare Central Police Station.  The South African Newspaper, The Mail and Guardian, has further coverage here.

GOZ to spy on internet users

That it what ZIMONLINE is reporting today.  According to the report:

"The President was in a mean mood...lambasting both the police and the CIO for failing to apprehend even a few of the journalists purveying negative information about the ruling ZANU PF party and government," said a source, who spoke on condition he was not named. According to the source, Bonyongwe assured the President that the CIO would begin deploying its agents at private internet shops across the country starting this week."

You can read the whole thing here.

More on the "National Vision Document"

SW Africa Radio's Hot Seat program was the scene of a sizzling discussion when Hot Seat host Violet Gonda spoke with U of Zim political science professor and well known political commentator, John Makumbe, Archbishop and outspoken Mugabe critic, Pius Ncube of the Bulawayo diocese, Methodist Bishop Levee Kadenge, the leader of the Christian Alliance, and Bishop Trevor Manhanga of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (and active participant in the "National Vision" process). Bishop Kadenge explains that his problem is not with the document itself but with the process:

"But, my problem is the way they are going about it, because, already, it has been given to the President who has already made a judgment. And, for me, what has been said by the President kills all the six items on their way forward, which are: constitution, dialogue, land commission, repeal of POSA etc and then building bridges and then the Churches offering their global networks as a way of building the future. And, all these, when the President said there are things which are not negotiable, all the six fall in the category of non- negotiable. And then the question is what is the way forward? That’s how I look at this document. A good document and I’m very honest, but, perhaps there are changes which have been done lately to the final document. But, as I was following the document in the process of it being written it is one of the best documents ever produced. But, the way it is being done now there is the question of who is in control, who is in charge, who has the final say, who make declarations and that kind of a thing."

You can read the transcript of the discussion here. 

John Makumbe on the "National Vision Document": "A Deceptive and Demented Document"

John Makumbe is not as sanguine as Bishop Kadenge with regard to the Church Leaders' effort to produce a "National Vision Document" to chart Zimbabwe's way forward from the present crisis.  Kadenge has more of a problem with the "process" than with the document itself. John Makumbe, Professor of political science at U of Zim called the document "deceiving and demented" yesterday in his weekly column published in the London-based Zimbabwe Independent. Makumbe is severe in his assessment of both the document and the process:

"We must not forget that the pro-state church leaders are essentially implementing Mugabe's initiative following his four-hour lunch with them at State House a few months ago. Through that deceptive action, Mugabe managed to divide the church into two camps, with the Christian Alliance being viewed by the "pro-staters" as "a fringe organisation" in the church. Further, the fact that the pro-state church leaders openly rejected regime change as constituting part of the expected national vision clearly places them at variance with the majority of Zimbabweans. Without regime change, every national vision will simply be a nightmare. Since the late 1990s we have been sold all manner of "visions" such as MERP, NERP, now there is NEDPP. None of these nightmares envisaged regime change as the crucial ingredient for the resolution of the Zimbabwe crisis. The national vision that the pro-state clergy are soliciting will fall flat if it will not begin from the premise that the political situation currently prevailing in Zimbabwe is basically rotten, and that it stinks to high heaven. There will be no realistic national vision for Zimbabwe without regime change."

The whole article is here.

"A tsunami has rolled through Zimbabwe."

On Tuesday, this blog highlighted a new report which rolled off the presses yesterday at Human Rights Watch (HRW) entitled "You will be thoroughly beaten" about the Government of ZImbabwe's increasingly repressive campaign against civil society, human rights campaigners, and ordinary Zimbaweans trying to survive during an economic cataclysm.  On Monday, we blogged on Human RIghts Watch's bestowing of its highest honor on Arnold Tsunga, executive director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human RIghts (ZLHR).

Arnold Tsunga is in New York where he will receive the HRW award tonight. He also has a powerful Op-Ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal, entitled, "Yes, you will be thoroughly beaten" (subscription required).  Tsunga states that:

"A tsunami has rolled through Zimbabwe, different from the tidal waves that hit Asia in 2004. Ours came last year, in the form of bulldozers and soldiers. Vibrant towns were reduced to flat and desolate grounds. More than 700,000 people lost their homes and livelihood. Why? President Robert Mugabe thought that the poor people who lived in these urban areas represented a political threat. He feared that the citizens might mobilize against him. So he launched a pre-emptive strike against those already suffering under his policies. He called it "Operation Murambatsvina," literally "Operation Clear the Filth" -- the "filth" being hundreds of thousands of Zimbabwean men, women and children who were internally displaced, many of whom continue to live without access to humanitarian assistance today."

Tsunga reads the bill of particulars of the Mugabe regime's assault against the democratic opposition:

In the past six years, the government of Zimbabwe has increasingly turned to repressive and often violent means to suppress criticism from the opposition and civil society. Opposition political parties have been stifled. Police and other state-sponsored agents routinely intimidate, attack and torture government critics, including members of civil-society organizations, human-rights lawyers, journalists and trade unionists. At the same time, the police use repressive laws to silence critical voices in the remnants of civil society. Americans may take for granted the essential freedoms of speech and assembly. But in Zimbabwe, printing presses have been bombed and newspapers have been closed for criticizing Mr. Mugabe.

He describes the personal cost that human rights and pro-democracy workers pay for their opposition in Zimbabwe and also explains why he, as a lawyer, still bothers to pursue actions against the government in the country's court system:

After working for many years as a commercial lawyer in Mutare, I was abducted, tortured and threatened for simply defending individuals who stood in the way of Mr. Mugabe. My co-workers and I have been arrested and dragged to the courts for trying to document and create an official record of government abuses. Some people ask me why I bother using the legal system when the deck is so stacked against us. I answer that there is still a semblance of a court system and some brave judges who will uphold the law. But they are operating in straitjackets and desperately need support to continue doing the right thing.

Tsunga also takes advantage of his presence on U.S. soil to call on the American government to increase its assistance to Zimbabwe's pro-democracy community as well as its general humanitarian assistance:

Human-rights defenders in Zimbabwe face enormous risks as they fight for reparations and resettlement of the hundreds of thousands made homeless by Mr. Mugabe's evictions. The U.S. can support these activists through the provision of technical assistance and other forms of targeted support. Greater humanitarian assistance is also required for the victims of the evictions who today remain in desperate need of housing, food and other forms of assistance.

Bravo, Arnold Tsunga! The HRW award is a well deserved honor to a courageous pugilist for human rights in Zimbabwe.

VOA Radio Interview with Arnold Tsunga

Voice of America's (VOA) Studio 7 Zimbabwe program, yesterday, included an interview with Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights leader, Arnold Tsunga, on the occasion of his receiving a Human Rights Defenders award from Human Rights Watch.  You can listen to the interview here.

At least a partial victory for opposition as spying bill is re-drafted.

MISA (Media Institute for Southern Africa--Zimbabwe) reports, in a press release today, what appears to be at least a partial victory for opposition parliamentarians and members of civil society with the announcement that the the GOZ is re-drafting the controversial "Interception of Communications Bill, 2006", which is designed to permit the GOZ to spy on telephone and e-mail messages.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Professor Welshman Ncube, who was among those who questioned the constitutionality of the proposed law, confirmed that the government had considered the committee’s concerns following a meeting held with the Minister of Transport and Communications, Christopher Mushowe and the Attorney-General Sobusa Gula-Ndebele.  However, he appeared to caution against declaring victory just yet:

“The Bill has not been withdrawn per se. The government has redrafted the Bill to cover the portions that we raised concern with and have shown us the amendments. We are, however, yet to see the full version. I will only comment further when we see the full version."

MISA-Zimbabwe and its partners in the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ), Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (Zinef), leading human rights organisations, the business community, have been pushing for the withdrawal of the Bill arguing that its provisions are vague and unconstitutional as they violate the right to freedom of expression, privacy and business confidentiality.

The proposed law, which does not provide for judicial and parliamentary oversight, among other contentious provisions, seeks to empower the chief of defence intelligence, the director-general of the Central Intelligence Organisation, the Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to intercept telephonic, e-mail and cellphone messages. The Bill seeks to create a monitoring centre whose function will be to facilitate authorised interception of communications. 

The Bill also empowers state agencies to open mail passing through the post and through licensed courier service providers and makes it compulsory for internet service providers to install at their expense software and hardware to enable them to intercept and store information as directed by the state. 

The Silver Lining of the Rural District Council Elections.

The Zimbabwean sees some silver linings in the Rural District Council Election results.  The conventional wisdom with regard to the RDC election results was that MDC suffered a drubbing at the hands of the ruling ZANU-PF party.  True, before a single vote was cast, ZANU had already chalked up around a third of the 1500 or so of the seats as they succeeded in excluding MDC candidates on technicalities in as many as 500 rural districts where ZANU ran candidates unopposed. And the actual number of seats picked up by the oppostion among the 1000 or so seats they contested was probably little more than 10% of the total (complete definitive results will be published by the independent election monitoring group, ZESN, this week). 

So where is the silver lining?  For one, for the first time ever, the opposition succeeded in winning seats in the "Zanu-PF heartland" in Masvingo Province. Secondly, though ZANU won a lion's share of the seats, in many cases, the vote difference was small (the MDC spokesperson alleges that his party won over 40% of all votes cast).  These figures, if verified (ZESN will release additional analyses of the results early next week including one that will look at what MDS would have won had the seats been awarded based on proportionalility of votes cast rather than winner take all) should be a heartening sign for the opposition and its supporters that they are making important inroads, despite the fact that they waged their campaign with a very meagre advertising and "get out the vote" budget.  Read the article from the The Zimbabwean for more insights into the silver linings of the RDC elections--which are probably causing ZANU-PF leaders some sleepless nights.   

Exiled Veteran Zim Journalist Launches Online Newspaper

As Zimbabwe's Financial Gazette and "Allafrica.com" reported several weeks ago, exiled veteran ZImbabwean journalist, Geoffrey Nyarota, has recently launched an online newspaper, The Zimbabwe Times.  Nyarota, the former editor of the banned Zimbabwe newspaper, the Daily News from its inception in 1999 until January 2003, has been living in exile in the United States.  The newspaper's printing presses were bombed in 2002 before the paper was banned by the GOZ. He is also the author of a brand new book (released in September 2006) entitled Against the Grain, which chronicles the abuses of the Mugabe regime.   Please consider reading and supporting Nyarota's latest effort. 

"Operation Sunrise" Demonstrators to Face Trial on Tuesday, November 7th.

The GOZ continues to crack down in a draconian manner on peaceful demonstrations by ordinary Zimbabwean men and women. This time it is the brave women of WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise!) who are being tried for a peaceful march protesting the meaningless "economic reforms" undertaken by Finance Minister Gideon Gono (this reform, dubbed "Operation Sunrise" by the GOZ consisted of lopping 3 zeros off the Zimbabwe currency in August). The following is a statement released by WOZA today: 

"One hundred and fifty-two members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) are to face trial in Bulawayo tomorrow at the Bulawayo Magistrates Court at 8.30am. They are charged under Chapter 37 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act – ‘participating in a public gathering with the intent to cause public disorder, breach of peace or bigotry’.

If convicted, the members could receive up to five years in custody or face a heavy fine. They were arrested on 21 August in Bulawayo while protesting against Operation Sunrise (the slashing of zeroes). Riot police arrested WOZA members as they were marching towards the RBZ offices where they intended to hand over an open letter to Gideon Gono. The peaceful protest started at 11am at the Post Office in Main Street. As the procession turned into Leopold Takawira St, to go to the Reserve Bank, police appeared and stopped the march, arresting the members. Over 20 members, many of them minors were subjected to different forms of torture whilst in the offices of the Law and Order Department. They were made to sit on ‘air chairs’ and beaten under their feet.

For more information, please contact Jenni Williams or Annie Sibanda on 091 898 110 or 091 300 456 or email [email protected]."

Spring in Zimbabwe: A Time of Faith in Change and Rebirth in Nature (and in Government?)

Via SW Radio Africa, Eddie Cross waxes poetic on the beautiful spectacle of springtime in Zimbabwe (flowering Jacaranda, Flamboyant, Acacia, Bougainvilea, etc.).  He suggests that we take a page from the book of nature and and look beyond the terrible economic and political conditions that exist on the ground (analagous to the dry parched conditions that exist in the countryside following the long dry season) and that we summon the faith to work for a political rejuvenation analagous to the rejuvenation of nature brought by the spring rains:

"This period – just before the rains and when it is so hot and arid after 6 months of dry weather, is a time of faith for all nature. They have no knowledge of El Nino or any other impediment to the coming wet season; they trust their instincts and the turn of the seasons.

Perhaps we could take a leaf out of their book and trust our instincts rather than what we see on the ground. Believe in the turning of the seasons and the inevitable changes that must come and bring with them life – sometimes in a rush, the brown flood waters sweeping down the dry river beds, sometimes like last night – gentle rains that presage the new season and with it new life."

Read Eddie Cross's whole essay, "Spring in Zimbabwe".

Mugabe has found a formidable partner in crime in the form of China.

That is the opinion of exiled Zimbabwean journalist, Stanford Mukasa.  Mukasa, formerly the editor of the Zimbabwean newspaper, The Chronicle, and now a Professor of Journalism at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, warns in his "Letter from America", published on the SW Africa Radio website, of the pernicious impact that promised new Chinese aid to Africa will have on pro-democracy movements--in Zimbabwe and elsewhere. His letter, entitled "China’s 'economic growth without democracy' policy is spoiling African dictators like Mugabe," can be found on SW Africa Radio's web site.

All Charges against WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe, Arise!) Dropped!

We blogged yesterday on the impending trial of WOZA protesters. The following is a statement just released by WOZA detailing the state Prosecutor's decision, this morning, to drop all charges against WOZA memebrs who were arrested for taking part in a peaceful demonstration in Bulawayo in August to protest economic conditions:

"One hundred and fifty-two members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise, (WOZA) including 30 members of Men of Zimbabwe Arise, walked away celebrating this morning after the State, represented by Prosecutor, Mr Manata, withdrew the charges before plea citing lack of evidence to support the case. Magistrate Msipha presided over the case.  The members were being charged under Chapter 37 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act –‘participating in a public gathering with the intent to cause public disorder, breach of peace or bigotry’. The prosecutor was heard bearing down on the state witnesses just before the trial, (Law and order officers), for writing ‘useless’ statements, which he said, were too watery and could not be used to pin down WOZA.

The frustrated Law and Order officers were later heard devising future strategies to be employed to stifle future dissent by WOZA members, among which were thorough beatings to cow the members - but another officer replied saying ‘ but these do not run away, they will just sit down and wait for us to stop’. 

Advocate Perpetua Dube, a member of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, defended the women. This is the eight court victory for WOZA members in court and the leadership declared it a victory for economic reforms. "By the withdrawing charges against us, we take it that it is a confirmation that Gono has a case to answer. We marched to demand economic reforms not just a slashing of zeroes and we have been vindicated. You cannot criminalize the speaking of the truth. So we say once again to Gideon Gono – if you want to be a hero you must slash more than a zero!

For more information please contact Jenni Williams on 263 91 300 456 or 263 91 898 110 or email [email protected]."

More from VOA's Studio 7 Radio on Dismissal of Charges against WOZA Activists.

VOA (Voice of America) Studio 7 had a story last night on the dismissal of charges against WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe, Arise!) activists in a Bulawayo court, yesterday.

MDC Factions Set to Talk Next Week on Reunification.

Also from the Voice of America's Studio 7, a report that the 2 MDC factions are ready to sit down to talk about reunifying the party, Zimbabwe's principal democratic opposition formation. If true, this would be welcome news for the pro-democracy movement.  Each faction has its strengths and weaknesses and it seems likely that it is only through a united opposition that the ruling ZANU regime can be brought down.

A Zimbabwean Election Observer of U.S. mid-term contests Lauds U.S.G. Neutrality.

We blogged recently with regard to a Zimbabwean journalist and Professor, now living in the USA, on his view of the impact of the Chinese charm offensive on the African continent.  Associate journalism professor Stanford Mukasa of Indiana University in Indiana, Pennsylvania participated in yesterday's midterm elections in the U.S. as an election observer and applauded the neutrality of the U.S. government in the elections--despite pre-election indications that voter sentiment was running against the administration of Rebublican President George W. Bush.  Would that other heads of states and their governments aspire to such neutrality when it becomes clear that voter sentiment is against them.  Listen to the interview here.

WOZA (WOMEN of Zimbabwe Arise!) Women on Trial for Peaceful Protest (AGAIN!).

This blog has reported on the brave actions of WOZA on multiple occasions (here, here, here and here).  In fact it was the attempted sit-in by WOZA activists on September 11th that kicked off an extraordinary period of civil society activism that continues to today.

WOZA has just released the following statement informing us that 4 of their members will be in court tomorrow facing charges stemming from a peaceful protest they conducted in October to protest forced evictions:   

"The four WOZA members arrested on October 23rd and detained for 48 hours following a peaceful protest against housing eviction will appear at Western Commonage Magistrates Court for a remand hearing tomorrow, November 9th at 8 AM.  The women were remanded on $500 bail each on October 25th. Charges against one, Maria Moyo, were dropped after officers from Law and Order failed to substantiate charges that she was part of the protest.

The women are being charged under Chapter 46 Section 2 (v) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act –“employing any means whatsoever which are likely materially to interfere with the ordinary comfort, convenience, peace or quiet of the public or any section of the public, or does any act which is likely to create a nuisance or obstruction.” If found guilty, the women could face a fine or imprisonment for a period of up to six months.

Simba Chivaura, a member of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, will defend the women

For more information please contact Jenni Williams on 263 91 300 456 or 263 91 898 110 or email [email protected]."

Divided Factions of Main Opposition Party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), embark on Reconciliation Effort.

An article in this week's Financial Gazette expounds more on a theme that this blog raised earlier this week and that is the ongoing talks between the splintered MDC factions on reunification. This appears to be more than rumors now. Read the FINGAZ's account of MDC factions' attempts to bury the hatchet.

Electricity + ISP Problems = Light Blogging

Apologies for the lapse in postings this weekend; electricity and Internet service provider (ISP) deficiencies were the main culprits.

Zimbabwe, Outpost of Tyranny, Seeks Tourists.

That is the title of an article in the Sunday Times (the New York Times, that is) travel section, published yesterday.  The reporter, Michael Wines, to his credit, does raise the ethical question regarding whether a traveller is enlisting his or her implicit support to the regime by visiting the country's breathtaking sites including Victoria Falls.  Judging by the tourism figures (a fall from 600,000 to 200,000 overseas tourists from 1999 to 2005) tourists are clearly shying away.  The GOZ, however, has embarked on a public relations campaign to lure tourists back and to convince western governments to soften their travel warnings on Zimbabwe.  Wines will not say it but I will:  until the Mugabe regime cedes power, spend your Euros and dollars in neigboring Botswana and Zambia where governments are making serious attempts to pursue democratic and accountable governance.  Read the article here.  (Hat tip: JFS and CKS)