Zimbabwe: Outpost of Tyranny

Opposition Member of Parliament, Trudy Stevenson, Ejected from Parliament for Defending the Freedom of Airwaves.

Leading voice for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (and Member of Parliament) Trudy Stevenson was ejected from that body yesterday for standing up for ZImbabweans' rights to information.  This description of the incident was sent out by email by the MDC today:

Stevenson ejected from Parliament for defending freedom of airwaves

Wednesday 28 February 2007

Today Trudy Stevenson (MP Harare North) was ejected from Parliament for attempting to defend the freedom of the airwaves in Zimbabwe, in response to an answer on this issue by Deputy Minister of Information, Bright Matonga, currently implicated in a corruption trial in the matter of a ZUPCO bus tender while he was CEO of ZUPCO, before his entry to Parliament.

Matonga was responding to a Question Without Notice on why government was jamming independent radio stations attempting to broadcast into Zimbabwe. He responded that he was in fact glad that the opposition had noted that government had the power to jam broadcasts of propaganda against the state from outside the country and indeed was jamming those broadcasts, and he was also pleased that those people who received those broadcasts were no longer able to do so.

He went on to gloat over government’s power in this matter, and stated that the UK did not receive broadcasts from foreign countries.  At this, Hon Stevenson heckled the Deputy Minister, saying very loudly that his statement was incorrect and that on the contrary the UK received thousands of foreign stations broadcasting… There was general furore at this point and the Acting Speaker, Hon Kumbirai Kangai, ordered Hon Stevenson out of the chamber.

Eddie Cross: "The Crisis Intensifies."

Like Trudy Stevenson, Arthur Mutambara, Morgan Tsvangirai, etc., Eddie Cross is another voice of freedom and reason from the MDC.  Here is his latest essay:

The crisis intensifies!

The situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated sharply in the past few days. The government has imposed a ban on public meetings, the strikes are continuing with the State run hospitals now completely paralysed, Doctors and Nurses refuse to go back to work. The Universities are due to open on Monday but staff is on strike and there are no signs of compromise. Students plan to join the strike on Monday in support of their lecturers and demanding attention to the stark conditions under which they are living. The ZCTU has announced a national strike in a month’s time and the State Security Minister has threatened them with dire action.

Now a form of curfew is being imposed on the high-density townships across the country in an effort to bring the situation under control. These are clearly signs of panic in the realms of government.

Tomorrow should be the start of a 4-month freeze on prices and wages – however I understand the proposal has been abandoned as being simply unworkable. No statements are forthcoming from the authorities and to say the least, there is considerable confusion in business and Union circles. The Governor of the Reserve Bank speaks of a "Social Contract" but none exists.

However the most serious indicator of collapse is in the open market price of foreign exchange. Driven by the frantic efforts of people to buy foreign exchange in any form for a variety of needs from education fees to water chemicals for the Cities and those who want to externalize or even protect their assets. No one wants to hold local money – and the options are the stock market, foreign exchange and assets such as property or simply business stocks.

Today was no exception – the USD went to 7 500 to 1, the pound to 14 200 to 1 and the Rand was at 1100 or 1200 to 1. These are dramatic devaluations in a matter of a few days and importers simply do not know what to sell their imported products for when it comes to replacing their stock. Fuel distributors closed their outlets today while the adjusted to the new situation. We bought fuel at Z$6 600 and watched as the company ratcheted up its price to Z$7 500 while we were present. That seems to be the price at the moment. Bakeries are all over the place – most are charging double the "controlled" price.

This means a new surge in inflation and it is now clearer than ever that the government has lost all semblance of control in the economy. Gold sales are declining even more rapidly as mines close down in the face of unrealistic prices and exchange rates. Food is now being imported to meet all our basic food needs – local stocks are exhausted.

I watched a special programme last night on SABC about the plight of the border jumpers. Anyone watching that could not help but be moved by the plight of the people affected by this crisis in Zimbabwe. To see them risk crocodiles, armed gangs, the SA Police and Army and thirst and exposure to get away from Zimbabwe and try to make a living, any sort of a living, in South Africa was heart wrenching. To hear a white farmer describe finding a dead women next to a game fence with a baby that had lived for 3 or 4 days after the mother had died of exposure, just made me mad with anger at those who created and continue to tolerate the actions that have brought this about.

If someone with power does not do something to get this situation back under control, they better prepare for a real flood of refugees into South Africa – because the situation in Zimbabwe is simply no longer tenable.

Eddie Cross

Bulawayo, 28th February 2007

In Today's Zimbabwe Independent: "Protesters greet 'tyrant' Mugabe on Namibia visit."

Earlier this week, this blog posted an open letter from a leading Namibian Human Rights leader to the Namibian President ahead of the Zimbabwe President's state visit this week to Namibia.

Today's edition of the Zimbabwe Independent has a story on the reception offered to Robert Mugabe by Namibian civil society during that state visit that includes a quote from that same civil society leader, Phil ya Nangolo.  Ya Nangolo, director of the Namibian organization, "National Society for Human Rights" (NSHR) said that:

"Robert Mugabe should be in prison for his human rights violations...His land redistribution has not empowered any Zimbabweans but has just brought poverty."

It is indeed encouraging and inspiring to observe the expression of solidarity from Namibian citizens with regard to the ongoing repression being meted out by Mugabe and his regime on ordinary Zimbabweans.

Read the whole story in today's Zimbabwe Independent.

DIPLOMATIC BRIEF: MORGAN TSVANGIRAI'S BRIEF to the Harare Diplomatic Community

This just received by email but dated from a week ago, a talk given by MDC "Anti-Senate Faction" President, Morgan Tsvangirai to Harare's Diplomatic Community.  Appended in full, below:

DIPLOMATIC BRIEF

THE PRESIDENT OF THE MDC, MR. MORGAN TSVANGIRAI'S BRIEF

TO THE HARARE DIPLOMATIC COMMUNITY

Harare, February 21 2007

Your Excellencies,

Interesting political developments have transpired since we last met and a new political terrain shows signs of emerging.

You are all aware of the events of the last few days, but they cannot be properly understood if they are not placed in the proper context. These events are part of a broader scenario.

In our opinion, the ZANU PF National Conference has unleashed political forces within ZANU PF, which Mugabe might not be able to control.

The coalition of forces that sustained Mugabe over the past 27years, once cemented by force and material inducements, has virtually crumpled. It is doubtful whether he will be able to reconstruct a consensus, even if he tries to use the old carrot and stick strategy. ZANU PF is split in the middle.

As the warring factions inside ZANU PF continue to tear each other apart, the country might gradually move towards a power vacuum which, as you know, in other countries, such a vacuum has led to adventurism and disaster.

That is the greatest threat facing Zimbabwe as we grapple with various strategies to ensure a solution which achieves a soft-landing for the country from a long crisis.

Mugabe’s primary concern now is simply to manage factions which no longer share a common denominator of interests. In turn the factions themselves have abandoned any hope of achieving a consensus or compromise. They are now involved in a ‘winner-take all’ political game.

Those who gave Mugabe succor and comfort over the past 27 years have now created a political trap for him and it does not appear that there is an easy exit for him.

Every strategy for the survival of the regime has now provoked unworkable.

1. In particular, the monetary policy as a strategy of economic revival

has proved to be a false start. The so-called ‘social contract’ is simply a ruse that will never work. As we have always said of other aspects of degeneracy in Zimbabwe are mere symptoms of the fundamental problem, which a political one. As long as that problem remains unresolved, all attempts at economic recovery are simply idle propaganda.

2. The only contract that would be workable is one that produces an

agreed political path forward, leading to a new legitimate political dispensation.

3. In a nutshell therefore, the monetary policy strategy has become

simply a battleground in which Mugabe tries to read the riot act at his warring factions. It has no relevance to the fundamental problems facing the nation.

Given this political situation, the question that might be in the minds of the diplomatic community is what the MDC is doing in these political circumstances? We have had many sentiments expressed. At best some of these sentiments are plainly uncharitable, at worst they are down right abusive and mocking. We remain stoical in these circumstances.

But we are not about capturing international headlines through acts of reckless adventurism that might result in a carnage that might not achieve our central objective. We will continue building our resistance movement, gauging the pace and resilience of the people.

People are being pushed physically by the state apparatus of repression, their material well being is daily eroded by the deteriorating economy. There is now a clear mood of rebellion among Zimbabweans. However our job is not simply to instigate rebellion, but to channel people’s frustrations and hardships into a constructive force for change. And this we are doing. The tragedy is that the only answer available to the Mugabe regime is state sponsored violence. Zimbabweans have reached a stage where they are not prepared to have peaceful protest crushed by state violence.

A large cross- section of society is now in a rebellious mood. There is now open defiance of violent autocratic authority. Teachers, nurses, doctors, the general civil service and the public at large, have now reached the limits of their suffering and are no longer prepared to suffer silently.

The events in Bulawayo two weeks ago and in Harare over the past few days are a clear demonstration of the people’s determination now, to embark on an irreversible course to their freedom.

In particular, the events in Harare are still fresh in your minds and let me give you a brief about what actually transpired.

1. On Friday, last week, sporadic and spontaneous actions of peaceful

protest in the Central Business District were met with police brutality. Those targeted by this unprovoked police action sought to defend themselves and this resulted in a series of skirmishes throughout the city. Police action degenerated into random attacks of all and sundry including people in bus queues. Several people were arrested with no specific charges preferred.

2. The MDC had made an earlier application to hold a major rally at the

Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfields in order to launch our presidential campaign for 2008. As you know, under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) any organization intending to hold a political rally is required to simply notify the police. In turn the police have no authority to arbitrarily seek to prevent such a political rally. However the police sought to do precisely that.

3. We challenged this in the High Court and an order was granted, on

Saturday mid- morning. The order barred the police from interfering with the rally.

4. Immediately after the order was granted, the police arrested Hon.

Tendai Biti, MDC Secretary General, and MP for Harare East and Hon. Paul Madzore, MP for Glen View. Throughout Saturday, police went on a rampage, effecting sporadic arrests. Some activists were arrested at midnight on Saturday and the early hours of Sunday.

5. Throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning, the police unleashed a

programme of general harassment, intimidation and beatings across the entire Highfields suburb. The venue for our rally was sealed off by heavily armed police and riot control vehicles with water cannon equipment went about targeting people heading for the Zimbabwe grounds.

6. Early on Sunday morning I personally made several trips to Highfields

to assess the situation. Throughout the morning, police reinforcements continued to arrive. There was no rioting in Highfields at anytime from Friday to Sunday morning.

7. At the time of the rally, I proceeded to the Zimbabwe grounds where

I confronted the police who informed me and my colleagues that they had orders to bar anyone from accessing the rally. We proceeded to Southerton Police Station, looking for the local police commander. The local police commander went into hiding.

8. The atmosphere was now very tense. Thousands of people were milling

in the streets of Highfields in the vicinity of the rally venue.

9. We went back to the rally venue, to be confronted by an even larger

group of armed police. In some sections of Highfields, the police had already started brutalizing and harassing people. I sensed that the mood among the people at and around the venue was electric. I then gave the instruction that people disperse and go back home. 10. Immediately after I left the rally venue, the police unleashed a wave of indiscriminate violence throughout the suburb of Highfields. People were beaten up with truncheons, teargas was liberally used and for the first time ever, water cannon were target on anything that moved. Several people were injured and others arrested.

It is important for me to set the record straight because of the regime’s claims that the MDC started the violence. The regime, through the police was determined to stop the rally from the very beginning and they used arrests and indiscriminate violence to achieve their objectives. Obviously the cutting edge of their strategy was to unleash indiscriminate police violence on people going about their business peacefully.

As you might have read in today’s Herald, by arbitrarily banning peaceful political protest and rallies, the regime has for all practical purposes has declared a State of Emergency.

We are not and will not be intimidated by this state-sponsored violence. We will go ahead and launch our presidential campaign for 2008. The position of the party is that presidential elections must be held as scheduled in 2008. But this must be under a new Constitution, ushering enabling legislation to create an electoral framework that guarantees free and fair elections. There is ample time for that.

We are totally opposed to the postponement of the presidential poll and we are of the firm and unshakable opinion that there should be no more constitutional tinkering.

Constitutional reform cannot be a technical process of voting in parliament where ZANU PF has an in-built advantage through its illegitimate majority.

Instead, Constitutional reform must be a broad and all-inclusive political process that incorporates a wide spectrum of the views of the majority of Zimbabweans.

These views are broadly shared by our colleagues within the broad alliance. As partners in the broad democratic forces, we shall embark on common programmes to achieve this objective.

We shall relentlessly fight until this objective is achieved.

I thank you.

Following E.U. Lead, U.S. Extends Targetted Sanctions against 75 High Ranking Zimbabwe Government Officials Through 2008.

Studio 7 for Africa has the story on the U.S. Government's decision to extend its targetted sanctions against Zimbabwe Government Officials through next year.  

The move follows a recent E.U. decision to extend its own targetted sanctions against the Mugabe regime.

ZANU-PF Co-Founder, Author of Autobiography Critical of Mugabe, Edgar Tekere, Expelled from Ruling Party.

The New York Times with an A.P. story announces in today's edition that Edgar Tekere has been expelled from ZANU-PF for "insults" to Robert Mugabe:

"Tekere, who like Mugabe was one of the architects of the seven-year guerrilla war that ended white colonial rule, insisted Mugabe was indecisive, ''weak'' and had no military experience. The book strongly questioned Mugabe's role in guerrilla operations and alleged he had been reluctant to flee to neighboring Mozambique to join guerrilla commanders there after his 1974 release from prison."

Tekere said in an interview on the occasion of the launch of his book in Harare several months back that "90% of the country's current problems have been caused by Mugabe" (and the the other 10% by the snatch of sycophants surrounding him).

In other words, the real insult (and injury) to the country has come from the megalomaniac and misanthropic Mugabe and his minions. 

Read the article on Tekere's expulsion in today's Nwe York Times.

From the Namibia Economist: Mugabe is not good for Africa

The following editorial appeared in the Namibia Economist following Robert Mugabe's recent state visit to that country.  More evidence that more African countries and Africans have finally reached the tipping point of disgust with the dictator.

Mugabe is not good for Africa

Mugabe is not good for Africa. He forces our deepest insecurities to the surface. He makes us ashamed of being African. His behaviour insults us. It demands that we have to try and explain to the world why our continent, generally, is in such a dismal state. Fighting his own insecurities, he lets the world believe we cannot take charge of our own destiny, we cannot compete against the rest of the world, we are incompetent, we are utterly useless and we are second-class citizens living on the goodwill and grace of others.

He is not good for Africa. He undermines our self-respect. He destroys our national pride as he has made a joke of his own country. How can we defend him if millions of people in his own country are destitute, if his ministers say in public half of their own population they don't need or care for, and if his thugs go around beating up everybody with a different opinion.

He is not good for Africa because he is so rich. He makes us turn away our eyes so that we do not need to confront the accusation that one of the continent's richest persons has built his wealth on the destruction of his country, ala Amin, ala Mobutu, ala Dos Santos, ala Bokassa, ala etc etc etc. His wealth is not built on his entrepreneurial prowess, nor on his ability to bring wealth to his underlings, nor on his commitment to develop his country. It is based on exploitation, worst than any colonial exploitation has ever been, it is built on greed and it is built on murder.

He is not good for Africa because he intimidates other leaders and coaxes them into an extremely dangerous direction that leads to the destruction of communities, society, the economy and eventually the whole country. This we have seen happen over and over again for thirty years, yet Mugabe tenaciously remains in power despite all the warning signals. He corners other leaders into tight spots where they either don't have the guts to tell him to bugger of, or, due to our respect for older people, they are too polite to offend him.

He is not good for Africa because he has driven his own people away. Millions are living in exile. Destitute people scrounge on the fringes of South African cities where they are prepared to struggle for a pittance under the most appalling circumstances as long as they do not need to go back to Zimbabwe.

He is not good for Africa because he does not tolerate difference of opinion or criticism. He has crushed the independent media. He does not want journalists to inform the world on what is really happening, he only wants loyal dogs who are prepared to eat his poison for a few thousand Zim dollars a month which often amounts to supporting a family on less than U$100 a month.

He is not good for Africa because he has taken a once powerful country and its people and broken them down. A country which was once a major producer is now a shadowland for the desperate and the hopeless. And he uses skin colour as the excuse for his atrocities but he has harmed, maimed or killed many millions more black Africans than white Africans. For those poor wretched souls that are still alive, he has obliterated all opportunities for a better future, and he keeps trampling them, all in the name of his so-called eradication of inequality. He has reduced everybody to crawling in the mud which is his version of being equal.

When facts like these confronts me on a daily basis, and when I talk and listen to Zimbabweans living in Namibia, I am completely befuddled when I watch my local television channel, and there, in public, one Firremon Ankari of the Swapo Jouf Reeg sings songs of praise to Mugabe. I first thought it was some archival material from before 2000 which the NBC has dug up when they cleaned the buildings and is now using to fill slots. But then, to my horror, I saw it was an interview done on the day Mugabe arrived, that is, Monday this week.

I asked myself whether it is at all possible that in our modern country and in today's age, there still are such gallactically stupid Namibians, that they still believe the drivel Mugabe feeds us. And then I remembered that one Paulus Kapia also used to be a chairsomething of the Swapo Jouf Reeg and that his proven recipe to get hisself elected or appointed, was to make a lot of noise, regardless of how senseless that noise was. Then, at least, a light went up for me. Of course, comrade Ankari is just working on the same recipe his predecessor used, and he is using exactly the same strategy his idol, Mugodbe is using.

I know there are still dinosaur tracks in the rocks near Mount Etjo, but I was always under the impression they are fossilised.

R.W. Johnson in the London Review of Books: "In Time of Famine" in Zimbabwe.

R.W. Johnson has written another devastating essay on the human catastrophe in Zimbabwe, entitled "In Time of Famine".

This time, the Cape Town-based writer expands on the argument he made in a January article in the Sunday Times of London, which consisted of saying that there is a silent genocide underway in Zimbabwe.

In that article, he cited epidemiological data that suggests that there have been at least 2 million excess deaths in Zimbabwe since the year 2000--with excess mortality defined as those deaths in excess of the number that would have occurred had the prevailing conditions--and death rate--(death rate in 1999, for our purposes) continued.

Of course prevailing conditions did not continue.  The Mugabe regime presided over a politically motivated and chaotic land reform program that resulted in the redistribution of much of the country's productive land from white Zimbabwean farmers to black (and white) cronies of the Zanu-PF regime.  The result not only did not lead to any improvement in the lot of most poor black Zimbabweans, it actually contributed to their impoverishment as tens of thousands of blacks who had worked as laborers on white-owned farms were thrown out of work.  It also contributed to what has become a quasi-permanent food crisis as grain production plummeted and Zimbabwe moved from being a net food exporter to a chronically food insecure country.

It then presided over the forced eviction of poor black urban dwellers (on the pretext that their habitations and places of business were not built with the required authorizations but with the hidden subtext of a government's desires to punish, marginalize and destroy supporters and sympathizers of the political opposition).  Over 700,000 persons were directly affected, their homes and businesses destroyed according to U.N. estimates. An additional 2 million were "indirectly affected."

Readers will recall that we blogged on Johnson's earlier article in the London Times here.  

I will quote liberally from Johnson's more recent article in the London Review of Books because it requires a subscription and we therefore cannot link to it-- but will not append the entire piece in respect for copyright law.

Johnson was recently in Zimbabwe and captured in his piece the pall that has fallen over urban centers in Zimbabwe including Harareand Bulawayo, whose streets are eerily empty and silent and whose people resemble nothing so much as walking wounded, deeply wounded physically and psychologically; depressed and dying:

"Travelling across Zimbabwe these days brings to mind one of those films like The Day of the Triffids, where a familiar reality has been transformed into nightmare by some sudden calamity. Things are eerily quiet even in town. The street vendors flogging everything from fruit to wooden carvings have long since been chased away, the state having realised that a prospering black market means little VAT is collected; all law and order has gone; the shopfronts are the same, but now there is just emptiness where people used to be; and the people you do see don't just look ill, they look as though they are dying. In some ways conditions are back to the desperate days of the early colonists, and there are still a few whites - game-rangers and the like - able to live with that."

Johnson describes the toll in malnutrition and disease and despair of 7 plus years of misrule by Mugabe and his cronies:

"Starvation has been the biggest killer, but the meltdown of the economy and of the healthcare system has many diverse and often fatal effects, particularly when allied to the repeated campaigns - often carried out at gunpoint - to force people to change their lives in accordance with the latest twists and turns of government policy. Malnutrition increases sixfold the rate at which people with HIV die of Aids, a rate further increased by stress. Given that the government has made malnutrition a permanent and almost universal condition, and vastly increased stress levels by operations such as the Murambatsvina, it is hardly surprising that Aids deaths should have soared. Large numbers also die as a result of quite minor accidents and ailments, now that the hospitals are either death-traps or non-existent. Many die trying to leave the country across the crocodile-infested Limpopo, the Kalahari desert or through Kruger National Park. The population has shrunk so rapidly and to such an extent that many believe it is now under ten million (some put the figure as low as eight) instead of the 18 million there should have been had nothing untoward happened. Even allowing for the four million who are believed to have fled, several million are simply missing. The highest estimates suggest that six million have died. The minimum estimate, two million, is already more than twice the number who died in the Rwandan genocide. The fact that the margin of uncertainty is so wide is itself a measure of how close to total breakdown the country now is."

Johnson describes the carnage wrought on poor Zimbaweans by Mugabe's regime:

"Travelling through Zimbabwe leaves one in no doubt about the scale of the catastrophe. The entire country seems dazed by mortality and depression. One sees dead bodies in the grass, and when they are picked up they are simply dumped in pits. In the space of less than fifteen years, life expectancy has fallen from 62 to 34 years for women and to 37 for men, by far the lowest in the world. In a population weakened by five consecutive years of chronic food shortages, and with inflation heading up from 1050 to a predicted 2000 per cent, making all traded goods unaffordable except to a tiny elite, the death rate among the remaining population - among whom orphans and the old are over-represented - is bound to be more fearsome with every passing month."

He correctly fingers South African President Thabo Mbeki in his role as one of the main obstacles to change in Zimbabwe.  Unfortunately, because of ANC-enforced loyalty, even the "Freedom Man", Nelson Mandela has been shamefully silent with regard to the human cataclysm underway on his northern border--this will forever tarnish his legacy as a man of principle and a fighter for justice.

On Mbeki, Johnson says the following:

"Mugabe has got away with it only because Thabo Mbeki, who has stubborn loyalties, has covered for him. By insisting that 'Zimbabweans must be left to solve their own problems,' and putting it about that he is involved in delicate and long-running 'quiet diplomacy' with Mugabe, Mbeki has used South Africa's leverage to prevent the Zimbabwe question being addressed in any international forum. When, for example, were Zimbabwe's human rights abuses last discussed at the UN? Meanwhile it seems likely that the international community will continue to sit back and let Mugabe destroy his country. The recent split in the MDC has put paid to any hope for an opposition to Zanu-PF rule; and while this has emboldened the factions within Zanu-PF manoeuvring for the post-Mugabe succession to come out into the open, it has also given Mugabe an excuse to snatch back his promise to retire in 2008, claiming that he can't leave the scene with his party 'in shambles'. No reversal of policy is likely while he remains in office, and he has determined to stay till 2010 or beyond. The major powers have expressed their disgust and imposed elite-level sanctions, but this hasn't worked. Before contemplating any further action, Britain, the US and the rest look at their interests in the region as a whole and conclude that their priority is to maintain good relations with the regional superpower, South Africa. And since they can't take a stronger line over Zimbabwe without running up against Mbeki's interposed resistance, they back away."

He also correctly faults the U.N., the U.S., Britain and the E.U. for not taking stronger action to rescue the Zimbabwean People from their monster-ruler:

"A great deal hangs on whether what is happening in Zimbabwe can be termed 'genocide', as many people believe it can, for in that case the UN is obliged to act. But the last thing the major powers want is to be called on to mount yet another UN intervention in Africa: it was precisely this that led the Western nations to resist so strongly the use of the term 'genocide' to describe the Rwanda killings in 1994. The Convention on Genocide specifies that the target has to be a 'national, ethnic, racial or religious group' and makes it plain that 'deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part' is included in the definition of what constitutes genocide. Since the Rwandan disaster there has been much focus on devising some form of early warning system. Clearly, the Zimbabwean case is arguable both ways, but the issue is more likely to be settled by UN politics than by legal definition. Juan Mendes, special adviser to the secretary-general on the prevention of genocide, is only too aware that some member states want to trigger the genocide trip-wire as a way of advancing their own diplomacy. Israel, for example, is pestering him to decide whether recent pronouncements by President Ahmadinejad do not constitute the sort of racial hate speech that should trigger the early warning system.

With millions already dead in Zimbabwe it is absurd to ask whether intervention is necessary. The question is who will bring it before the UN. In this respect, South Africa, in its first vote as a Security Council member, put down a heavy marker by siding with China and Russia in opposing any condemnation of the regime Burma. This vote, which reversed South Africa's previous position on the issue, has brought a torrent of criticism down on Mbeki's head: its rationale, quite clearly, has been to secure Russian and Chinese support in heading off any attempt to galvanise the UN on the issue of Zimbabwe. Such terrible loss of life in a country which is a once and future Commonwealth member might be expected to produce some response from the other Commonwealth states. But the Commonwealth, like the US, defers to Britain on this issue and Blair appears to have decided to do nothing. During the Rwandan crisis >Clinton fiercely opposed intervention and looked hard the other way while the genocide proceeded. Then, in March 1998, with his term ending, he issued an apology for his inaction, showing those who wished to be convinced that he had a heart after all. Maybe Blair will end his term with a similarly self-serving expression of regret."

Read the whole devastatingly powerful essay by R.W. Johnson if you can.

35 Perish in Bus-Train Accident in Harare

It happened on Tuesday at a place in greater Harare called Dzivarisekwa.  The President of the anti-Senate opposition MDC faction, Morgan Tsvangirai visited bereaved family members yesterday and the MDC released the following statement:

President Tsvangirai visits bereaved families in Dzivarisekwa

President Morgan Tsvangirai, his deputy Thokozani Khupe, deputy national chairman Lovemore Moyo, information secretary Nelson Chamisa, several MPs and senior MDC officials today visited the homes of the 35 people who perished in a road accident in Dzivarisekwa yesterday morning.

The President spent three hours talking to several bereaved families in the slums of Dzivarisekwa extension, 20 kilometres south west of Harare where the whole community was plunged into deep sorrow and mourning following the untimely death of their breadwinners.

Before visiting the homes, the President and senior party officials visited the scene of the accident, where scattered baskets, broken watches, cell phones and blood-stained broken windows told their own sad story of hard-working people who had died while trying to eke out an honest living.

The President, who provided financial assistance in line with the African tradition, later told mourners that there had to be a coordinated national response to give the dead a decent burial. He said it was clear that the people were struggling to survive and could not afford to bury their loved ones who had died partly because of human error and partly because the government had failed to upgrade the road and railway systems. The President took the opportunity to meet and comfort the survivors of the accident who said they could not afford the medical fees. The President pledged to leave no stone unturned in making sure they accessed medical treatment.

Once again, 35 people, including a child, have perished in yet another road accident barely a year after our roads and railway tracks claimed over 100 lives in separate carnages.

The MDC President and leadership share with the nation and the bereaved families this deep moment of sorrow and grief. We share the nation’s deep sense of loss over the breadwinners who perished while on their way to fulfilling their parental duty to honestly fend for their families in a hostile economy described by the World Bank as the worst in the world outside a war zone.

Our thoughts are with the deceased, including innocent hard working women who were struggling to eke out a living in this hostile economy; their unfulfilled hopes and aspirations indeed invoke a deep sense of shock and concern to all of us who are familiar with what it now takes to provide for our families.

Yesterday’s accident exposed the lip-service that the Zanu PF regime continues to pay regarding the upgrading of our roads and railway systems to mitigate the carnages that have claimed countless lives  over the years.  While human error could have been a contributing factor, it is clear that there were no signaling systems at the scene of the accident. Despite receiving hard currency from the central bank, purportedly to equip and upgrade various roads and the collapsing railway system, it appears the National Railways of Zimbabwe and the responsible ministry have nothing to show for the handouts except the innocent souls that we continue to lose on our roads which have indeed become highways of death.

It will take another accident for the responsible ministry and RBZ officials to once again appear before the nation claiming to be doing something to upgrade our poor road network and a collapsed railway system with a non-existent signaling system.

Work on the dualisation of the busy Harare-Bulwayo road has since stopped but it will take another accident on that road for the Chinese company contracted to do the job to move back on site with one front-loader and a drum of tar to give the impression that something is being done. The regime must stop being jolted into a semblance of action every time an accident happens on our roads.

The MDC believes that a responsible government should provide adequate funding to upgrade the collapsing road and railway network. We believe in a proper road and railway network that is conducive for safe and reliable travel. We are determined to save our country.

Paurina Mpariwa Gwanyanya, MP

Secretary for Transport and Welfare

Journalists writing about Zimbabwe's repressive government have found a new way to circumvent their censors: sending text messages via cell phone.

That is the subtitle of a story on how some exiled journalists are circumventing Zimbabwe government censoring through the use of SMS messaging.  The article appeared on cnet news last month;  here is the link.

Jenni Williams, WOZA Leader, Honored by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in Washington

Zimbabwean Womens' Rights and HUman RIghts Activist, Jenni Williams, was honored in Washington D.C. yesterday with a "Women of Courage" Award that was presented to her by U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice:

Secretary Rice spotlights Jennifer Williams, founder of WOZA

By Jim Fisher-Thompson

Washington

-- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spotlighted the achievements of Zimbabwean human rights activist Jennifer Williams with an International Women of Courage Award presented at the State Department March 7.

Williams, founder of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) -- a civil society organization established in 2003 to protest government abuses -- accepted the award in the name of the group's more than 45,000 members.

"The award is a great honor, but the real award will be a free and independent Zimbabwe," Williams told USINFO during an interview at the State Department on the day of the ceremony.

The Zimbabwean was one of 10 recipients of the courage award chosen from among a field of 82 women activists nominated by U.S.embassies worldwide.

The ceremony was held on International Women's Day, during a month that the United Statescelebrates as National Women's History Month.

Announcing the award for Williams, the department cited the "harassment and physical abuse" she suffered under President Robert Mugabe's regime and commended her for "providing an example of courage and leadership by working for change through peaceful and nonviolent means."

In establishing the award in 2006, Rice said, "Women of courage are standing up for freedom and human dignity and the United States stands with them.  We must not forget that the advance of women's rights and the advance of human liberty go hand in hand."

Arrested more than 25 times for leading protests against Mugabe's regime, Williams said, "Zimbabwe supposedly got independence in 1980."  But under "dictator" Mugabe's disastrous land-seizure policies the economy is being destroyed and the country is turning into a beggar of international food aid.

Because of resulting malnutrition and lack of proper health care, she said, "Women are dying at age 34 [median age]; men, at 37.  You can't earn a living.  The authorities tear down houses that are not squatter houses and stop you from making a living."

Hardships fall especially hard on women, Williams said, because it is the children "who beg mama for more food or want to know why they can no longer go to school" when there is no money for school fees.

Williams, a Matabele from Bulawayo, has paid a high personal price for her social and political protests.  She received death threats following her arrests.  Her thriving public relations business is defunct and her husband and children live in "economic exile" in Britain. A Matabele is a member of the Bantu people native to southern Zimbabwe.

Despite the personal sacrifices, the activist said she feels empowered because WOZA's strength lies in its community members "who have ownership" in the organization.  "It is because of our united struggle, hand in hand, that we are going to get the Zimbabwe we want," she said.

"Another very important aspect in saving our [protestor's] lives is the solidarity we get from people around the world," Williams said.  And in that regard "the American Embassy in Harare has been very helpful."

"On the 12th of December I was arrested along with 300 others at parliament," she related.  "It was an incredible thing to see a U.S.Embassy vehicle parked right there where we were seated on the ground under arrest.  One police official after another tried to get the Americans to move but they just kept sitting there saying, 'we are just here to observe the process.'"

"That gave us a lot of courage," Williams said.  "We had been brutally beaten just two weeks before at a demonstration and we just needed to know that someone was watching out for us this time around.  And at the demonstration at parliament, the police allowed us walk away free, which had never happened before.

"So, we think it is important for the diplomatic community to play a role in helping us achieve our struggle," she added.  "We can do it ourselves but it helps when the Mugabe authorities know the world is watching."

In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe is starving political opponents to death.

That is the subtitle of an article in the liberal American weekly magazine, the New Republic, that was published yesterday under the title "Killing Them Softly; Africa's Other Genocide" by James Kirchick.

The author follows the same line of reasoning presented by R.W. Johnson in his recent essays (and he quotes from Johnson), and one that the authors of this blog also adhere to, which is that as a result of what we have called a combination of "malign neglect" and repression (destruction of the agricultural sector; denial of food assistance to opposition areas of the country or those that are perceived to be hostile to the ruling regime; destruction of the homes and businesses of at least 700,000 urban dwellers--affecting "indirectly" another 2 million persons; pursuing a campaign of repression including arrests, intimidation, organized violence and torture against pro-democracy movement; and driving at least 3 million persons into exile), Mugabe's policies have directly resulted in increases in mortality rates that translate to at least 2 million extra deaths since 1999.

Read the New Republic Article on the silent genocide taking place in Zimbabwe.

MDC Statement of Solidarity with Familes and Friends of the Victims of the Harare Bus-Train Accident.

The MDC "pro-Senate" faction has released the following statement of solidarity and sympathy with the families and friends of those killed in last week's bus-train accident:

Press Statement

6 March 2007

MDC Mourns The Death Of Thirty-five (35) Commuters In Road Carnage

The MDC is deeply shocked and saddened by the untimely loss of thirty-five (35) precious lives through road carnage in which a commuter bus collided with a goods train at a railway junction in Dzivarasekwa this morning. We extend our condolences to all the bereaved families during this painful period of sadness.

It is sad that our roads have become a terrifying jungle that is cutting short the lives of our loved ones. It is a jungle that all Zimbabweans must make their contribution in order to tame.

We know that the ZANU PF government has totally abdicated its responsibilities and has shown its incapacity to address the sad state of our transport system. We know that the responsible minister will just issue condolence statements, blame the accident to human error and nothing more. This is highly irresponsible on the part of government. It is no secret that the transport system in our country needs a complete overhaul otherwise more precious lives will continue to be lost. Most vehicles on our roads are not fit to be on the roads and the trains’ signaling system in the country is completely obsolete, dilapidated and out of order and needs complete revamp and yet this government continues to take a carefree attitude. This is unacceptable and the people of Zimbabwe must demand an efficient transport system.

May the souls of those who have departed rest in eternal peace.

Edwin Dzambara

MDC Secretary for transport

MDC Says: Harare Residents Must Demand Elections To Replace Illegal Commission.

Below, a press statement from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, on the recent decision by a High Court Judge who ruled that the commission set up by ZANU-PF to govern the capital city's affairs, after the democratically elected opposition MDC Mayor was forced out, is illegal and must be disbanded.

MDC calls on Harare residents to demand fresh elections for the position of Mayor of Harare immediately.

MDC Press Statement

6 March 2007

Harare Residents Must Demand Elections To Replace Illegal Commission.

The High Court last week made a judgment in which it declared that the Commission running the affairs of Harare headed by Sekesai Makwavarara is illegal. Justice Kamocha also declared that the re-appointed commission was invalid. The judgment was expected and has in-fact been long over due.

The attempt by Ignatious Chombo, the Local government Minster to appeal against the judgment is a mockery to democracy and a slap in the face of the residents of Harare who have resisted the corrupt, inefficient and illegal Makwavarara commission that has been imposed on them by Chombo himself. The residents have long been calling for an elected and accountable council to run the affairs of the city but their calls have fallen on deaf ears as Chombo is determined to stifle democracy at any cost. It is sad that in-spite of the overwhelming evidence of down right incompetence on the part of the illegal commission, typified by heaps of garbage that have not been collected for months, un serviced roads with portholes all over and broken sewer pipes in almost all residential areas of Harare, Chombo still believes that the illegal Makwavarara commission is doing a fine job. It is inconceivable that the illegal commission wants to cover up its failures by making it mandatory for the residents of Harare to install lights at the gates of their residence. It does not matter how noble the idea might be, it should not be forced onto the people. They should be consulted. The imposition should thus be resisted by all.   

The MDC is aware that the government of ZANU PF is stiff scared of calling for elections in Harare because they have no support and are resorting to all kinds of dirty tactics to stall democracy by circumventing elections. The regime of Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF have long been rejected by the people of Zimbabwe and the more the regime delays the inevitable the angrier the people of Zimbabwe become with the regime and its appendages.

We call on the residents of Harare to stand up and demand elections to replace the illegal Makwavarara commission as a matter of urgency. The residents should refuse to pay service rates until their demands for an elected council have been complied with. They should avoid legitimizing the illegal commission by attending the so-called report back meetings that are called by Chombo and his front, Sekesai.

Timothy Mukahlera

MDC Deputy Secretary for Local Government. 

People Power Overwhelms Police in Highfields: Security Forces Kill MDC Activist; Most Senior MDC Leadership Arrested (Tsvangirai, Mutambara, Biti, Chamisa, Etc.)

People Power overwhelmed the security forces in Highfields yesterday during a Prayer-Meeting cum Demonstration organized by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign.  Security forces shot dead one MDC activist and rounded up most of the senior leadership of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Eye-witness reports from one Z.O.O.T. contributor who was at  Highfields confirm that the police were overwhelmed by protesters who fought back against the water cannon and tear gas attacks from the security forces.  Highfields residents provided assistance to the pro-democracy demonstrators, for example, by placing tubs of water outside their homes, which demonstrators used to wash their eyes and to soak cloths with which to cover their mouths in response to the teargas attacks.

There are unconfirmed reports that Morgan Tsvangirai was badly beaten and sustained head injuries.  He was reportedly moved multiple time during the night from one police station to another.

The government propaganda rag, the Herald, is at sixes and sevens with regard to how to portray the latest display of pro-democracy defiance of the Mugabe regime and its disinformation machine is in high gear. 

At one turn (in its descriptions of the "banned" rally at Highfields several weeks ago), it attempts to portray the the movement as being without support and turnout to be low; yesterday, when it became clear that they could no longer pretend that large numbers of persons were not in the streets, they describe the pro-democracy demonstrators as "thugs." 

More information as it arrives.

Washington Post Article on Highfield Demonstration and Police Killing and Arrests.

The Washington Post is on the story this morning. 

The only glaring error in their coverage is their description of Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the so called "anti-Senate" faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, as a "robotics professor".  Tsvangirai is a trade unionist, former Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and former chief of the National Constitutional Assembly;  Arthur Mutambara, head of the so called "pro-senate" MDC faction is a former robotics instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

US Condemns Arrests, Death At Zimbabwe Opposition Rally.

That is the title of a story broadcast on VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe program yesterday.  You can read it here.

The United States Department of State released the following statement of condemnation with regard to the government's killing of an opposition party activist and its arrest of opposition party leaders yesterday in Harare:

Press Statement
Sean McCormack
Washington, DC
March 11, 2007

Zimbabwe Government Arrests Opposition Leaders

The United States Government condemns the brutal and unwarranted actions of the Government of Zimbabwe March 11 in attacking its citizens peacefully gathered to exercise their legitimate democratic rights at a prayer meeting in the Harare suburb of Highfield.

The Embassy reports that one person was killed, a number were injured, and over 100 were arrested. Police have refused to inform lawyers of the whereabouts of those arrested, including Movement for Democratic Change leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara; and Lovemore Madhuku, head of the National Constitutional Assembly.

We hold President Robert Mugabe and the Government of Zimbabwe accountable for the government’s actions today, and for the safety and well-being of those in custody. We call for the immediate release of those detained, and for the provision of medical treatment for those injured.

2007/181

"Save Zimbabwe Campaign" Press Conference this Morning in Harare.

At the Bronte Hotel in Harare, this morning, the "Save Zimbabwe Campaign" (SZC) held a press conference to comment on the violent repression yesterday by the Mugabe regime of a prayer meeting/rally called by the SZC.

Jacob Mafume, coordinator of the Crisis Coalition and Pastor Moyo, a leader of the Christian Alliance, the convenor of the SZC, condemned the security forces' deadly reaction to the peaceful assembly of pro-democracy Christian and secular forces in Highfield that led to the shooting death by police of one person, Gift Tandare (who leaves behind a wife and 3 children).

Pastor Moyo noted that the police had been informed in advance of the prayer meeting.  He also emphasized the peaceful nature of the gathering and the fact that all Zimbabweans had been welcomed to the meeting--opposition, ZANU-PF alike. These facts are in contrast to the propaganda being spun by the desperate Mugabe regime in the state controlled Herald, where pseudo-journalists attempted to portray pro-democracy participants in the church meeting as the aggressors.   

The pastor also noted the odious fact that security forces stormed a Roman Catholic Church in Highfield on Sunday morning, interrupted mass and forced congregants to disband the service.  The Police Officer in charge of this raid on the church service was Chief Inspector Membere.

Raymond Majongwe, Secretary General of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) delivered an impassioned comment at the press conference, beseeching his ZCTU colleagues (who were absent from the meeting, unfortunately) to declare a work "stay-away" immediately and demand the release of civil society and opposition leaders arrested.

According to Jacob Mafume, more than 100 pro-democracy and civic leaders were arrested and were being held at 14 detention centers at police stations across the city.

Lovemore Madhuku, the leader of the the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), was among the arrested and was said to have been severely beaten and to have suffered a broken arm.

Morgan Tsvangirai was also severely beaten and was said to have lost consciousness. He was transferred multiple times during the night from police station to police stationa nd is now said to be being held in Borrowdale.

Arthur Mutambara, President of the Pro-Senate faction of the MDC is said to be being held at a Police Station in Marlborough.

Mike Davies, leader of the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) and Nelson Chamisa, Secretary General of the anti-Senate MDC faction are said to be being held in the notorious prison at Goromonzi, a favorite torture site of the ZANU-PF.

Lawyers for the detained have up to now been prevented from having access to their clients.

The U.K and U.S. Ambassadors to Zimbabwe are rumored to have presented themselves at the police station in Borrowdale shortly before midnight, demanding to see Tsvangirai.  They were reportedly turned away.  The same diplomats also reportedly attempted to visit Arthur Mutambara at the police station in Marlborough where he is reportedly being held.  They were also denied their request there as well.

More news as it arrives.

Zimbabwe lawyers for Human Rights Information Alert on Arrested Civil Society and Opposition Leaders.

12 MARCH 2007

INFORMATION ALERT

ZLHR lawyers denied access to opposition leaders AND CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVISTS

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) outrightly condemns the flagrant disregard of fundamental rights, police brutality and other despicable conduct by law enforcement agents who have denied lawyers access to their clients since yesterday morning. The detainees include numerous leaders of opposition parties and civic society activists who were arrested on Sunday 11 March whilst attempting to attend the Save Zimbabwe Campaign prayer meeting which was to be held in Highfield at Zimbabwe Grounds.

More than thirty people were arrested at around 1100hours on 11 March 2007

and taken to Harare Central police station. The detainees included Arthur Mutambara, St Mary’s MP Job Sikhala, Morgan Changamire, Frank Chamunorwa, Linos Mushonga, Godfrey Gumbo, and Clever Kafero (all office-bearers from the Mutambara-led MDC), together with Mike Davies (Chairperson of the Combined Harare Residents Association), Madock Chivasa (Spokesperson for the National Constitutional Assembly), and Gladys Hlatswayo (Information Officer for the Crisis Coalition).

Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested together with other members of the Tsvangirai-led MDC, including MP Tendai Biti, MP Nelson Chamisa, Sekai Holland, and Grace Kwinjeh. ZLHR member, Harrison Nkomo attempted to gain access to Tsvangirai, but was denied entry into Machipisa police station where Tsvangirai was alleged to be held. Nkomo was beaten on the left shoulder with a baton stick before being forced to leave Machipisa police station and his client/s.

Lawyers, including ZLHR Acting Director Irene Petras, Otto Saki, Andrew Makoni, Alec Muchadehama, Charles Kwaramba and Harrison Nkomo, who attempted to attend to clients at 1400hours at Harare Central police station, had initially been granted access to the detainees. The Officer in Charge, Law and Order, Detective Inspector Mavunda instructed the six lawyers to return at 1600hours as the detainees had not yet been processed and the charges to be preferred were still unclear.

When they returned to Harare Central at 1600hours, the lawyers were denied access to the police station by armed uniformed police who stated that they were acting on instructions from their superiors. Attempts to provide food to the detainees were fruitless at 1700hours, and they were told to return at 1800hours. At this time, they were informed by Detective Inspector Mavunda that all detainees had been removed to Southerton police station. However, lawyers who had just returned from there had been told by the Officer Commanding Harare South District that all detainees had been taken to Harare Central. This indicates clear bad faith and obstruction by the highest law enforcement authorities in Harare.

Machipisa Police Station was also inaccessible due to heavy police presence and road blocks.

It has also subsequently emerged through instructions provided to Irene Petras by Honorable Tendai Biti, who she managed to access at Rhodesville police station at 1300hours on 12 March 2007 with ZLHR lawyer Rangu Nyamurundira, that all those who had been held at Machipisa police station had been removed after thorough assaults and torture by police there to Harare Central police station the previous day at between 1500hours and 1600hours when lawyers were attempting to gain access to the station and were being told that no detainees were being held there at that time.

Detective Inspector Mavunda eventually relented, and admitted that they were holding 19 people of those initially detained at Harare Central. Lawyers were denied access to their clients, but were allowed to leave food with police at the entrance to the cells at around 1900hours on 11 March. A list of names can be provided on request.

As at 2200hours on 11 March 2007, when an urgent habeas corpus application was being finalised by Beatrice Mtetwa (seeking production before the courts of all persons detained in connection with the Save Zimbabwe prayer meeting) people had been separated were being held in at least 15 police stations throughout Harare, including Harare Central, Southerton, Machipisa, Warren Park, Rhodesville, Highlands, Borrowdale, Avondale, Mabvuku, Matapi, Hatfield, Braeside and Chitungwiza police stations. The urgent application was filed at the High Court at around 2230 hours on 11 March 2007.

On 12 March 2007 lawyers continued their attempts to gain access to various detainees scattered around Harare. Save for Rhodesville police station where Tendai Biti is being held with four (4) others, all detainees were denied access to their lawyers and to much-needed emergency medical treatment. Biti was subjected to severe assaults by police at Machipisa and described a scene of torture of detainees, including Tsvangirai, Sekai Holland, Grace Kwinjeh, Elton Mangoma, and Nelson Chamisa, which is beyond comprehension.

Grace Kwinjeh was removed from Machipisa, via Harare Central, to Braeside police station. She was brutally assaulted at Machipisa and has lost a portion of her ear after being assaulted with a metal rod. She continues to be denied medical treatment together with others in custody with her. Lawyers and medical doctors were denied access to her by the Officer in Charge, despite seeing her outside the cells, and in obvious pain.

Arthur Mutambara and Sekai Holland are being held at Avondale police station, where Irene Petras and Otto Saki were denied access to them this morning, although police officers accepted food on their behalf. Lovemore Madhuku and Job Sikhala were seen at

Marlborough police station by Petras and Saki around 1100hours this morning. Madhuku confirmed that he was taken to Parirenyatwa Hospital at around 0400hours this morning for treatment. He has a broken arm in a cast, bandages over his head and a swollen face from assaults suffered at Machipisa. Both he and Biti confirmed the serious torture of detainees, particularly Tsvangirai, who has not been seen by lawyers, private doctors or family since his arrest. Lawyers Saki, Muchadehama, Makoni, Mugabe and Chimbga attended Goromonzi police station after reports that Nelson Chamisa and Mike Davies were being held there, but were told that no people were being held there. Their whereabouts therefore remain unclear. Attendances at Southerton police station today confirmed the presence of Crisis Coalition employee Rashid Mahir, and Sydney Chisi from the Youth Democracy Initiative of Zimbabwe. 

The urgent chamber application has been set down before Justice Bhunu at 1800hours today, and covers all people currently in custody throughout Harare.

ZLHR is extremely concerned at the actions of the police and the unlawful obstruction by Officers in Charge of the various police stations, to both legal representation and medical assistance. Police have in the past moved detainees from one police station to hide the fact that they are torturing them in apparent disregard of agreed international standards against torture. Police should recognise as stated in the United Nations Convention Against Torture that “torture is a punishable offence and a crime under international law”.

ZLHR condemns this conduct by the police and reminds them that their role is the protection not the oppression of the people of Zimbabwe. Police should uphold the following internationally acceptable standards of treatment of untried prisoners as prescribed in the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted Aug. 30, 1955 by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders:

a)    Every prisoner shall be provided by the administration at the usual hours with food of nutritional value adequate for health and strength, of wholesome quality and well prepared and served.

b)    An untried prisoner shall be allowed to be visited and treated by his own doctor or dentist if there is reasonable ground for his application and he is able to pay any expenses incurred.

c)     For the purposes of his defence, an untried prisoner shall be allowed …to receive visits from his legal adviser with a view to his defence and to prepare and hand to him confidential instructions.

Attorney General Orders Release of all Detainees; 5 more persons injured by police fire in Glenview; Morgan Receives Hero's Welcome in Court.

Following are some happenings from the last 2 days which we want to get down on paper.  With all of the excitement yesterday, we were unable to do any blogging and events have been coming fast and furious.

On Monday evening, a funeral was held in Glenview for Gift Tandare, an MDC civil society activist who was shot in cold blood by security forces on Sunday in Highfield. At around 4:00 A.M. in Glenview Monday night, following the funeral, security forces opened fire on mourners, wounding one in the back and the other in the ankle.  Both were being treated on Tuesday morning at Avenues clinic.

Last night, in Glenview again, police shot and wounded an additional 5 persons.

After spending nearly 48 hours in police custody and having suffered vicious beatings at the hands of the police, MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai ("anti-senate" faction), National Consitutional Assembly Chairperson, Lovemore Madhuku, MDC "pro-senate" President, Arthur Mutambara, MDC Secretary General and member of Parliament Tendai Biti, MDC Information Shadow Minister and Member of Parliament, Nelson Chamisa, among others, were remanded to the custody of their attorneys on the order of the Attorney General and finally allowed access to doctors for medical attention.

Morgan Tsvangirai suffered massive head injuries and was suffering from internal bleeding.  Lovemore Madhuku suffered severe head injuries and a broken arm. A Z.O.O.T. contributor who visited Tsvangirai and other civic and political leaders of the pro-democracy movement last evening was shaken when he saw the extent of severe injuries. Morgan's face, as most have by now seen on international news broadcasts and in the newspapers was swollen, both eyes nearly shut, and the right side of his head had been shaved as part of the treatment for the head injuries.  The MDC President decribed the security officers who perpetrated the beatings as "sadists."

The ZOOT contributor who visited Morgan last night at the Avenues clinic discribed him as looking like someone who had just gone 15 rounds with Joe Frazier.

International press coverage has been intensive and mostly on target--in spite of the fact that most agencies are banend from reporting directly from Zimbabwe. 

Both CNN and BBC led with the story of the violent attacks and detentions of the pro-democray leaders in Zimbabwe on Monday and Tuesday.

South Africa's STAR newspaper's Tuesday morning edition has a picture of Tsvangirai's battered face on its front page.

The Secretary General of the Commonwealth and Ghanian President John Kufor were both interviewed on CNN on Monday night and condemned the Mugabe regime's savage reaction to the pro-democracy prayer meeting.

A South African Government spokesperson, finally, on Tuesday, released a statement condemning the state-sponsored torture and violence targetted against Tsvangirai, Madhuku and other civic and political leaders.

Also according to the Z.O.O.T. contributor, Morgan Tsvangirai received a hero's welcome in court after he left the hospital yesterday following medical treatment. Crowds outside the courtroom sang, danced and chanted their support.

A spontaneous demonstration in front of the Zimbabwean Embasssy to South Africa that drew several hundred persons was organized by Zimbabweans resident in South Africa, also on Tuesday.

More news as it arrives. 

   

Press Statement by the Combined Harare Residents' Association (CHRA) on the Regime's Brutalization of Pro-Democracy Activists this Week.

This just received by email:

12 March 2007

PRESS STATEMENT: POLICE BRUTALITY

THE brutal attack on the leadership of the opposition, civic leaders and individual residents gathered for a prayer meeting organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign on Sunday 11 March 2007 at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield by State security agents on must inspire Zimbabweans to take the struggle a giant step forward. Save Zimbabwe is a grouping of individuals and concerned citizens from all walks of life trying to find a lasting solution to the crisis of governance in Zimbabwe.

The Combined Harare Residents' Association (CHRA) is shocked by the callous murder of Gift Tandare, the Chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) in Glen View and the vicious attack of opposition and civil society leaders by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).

The arrest of the opposition and civic leaders, including the Chairperson of CHRA Michael Jeffrey Davies by the police is an uncalled for attack on the citizenry of Zimbabwe, who are merely demanding their stolen democratic space, in this case, through a prayer meeting for divine intervention..

Israel Mabhoo, the CHRA Vice-Chairperson said: “The arrests cannot stop the struggle. This marks the beginning of a sustained Third Chimurenga struggle to liberate Zimbabwe from the bondage of Zanu PF after the end of colonial rule in 1980”.

“Zanu PF and even President Mugabe know that this was how the Second Chimurenga started in Zimbabwe,” he said. “The grievances are almost similar. The masses are driven by poverty, unemployment, high cost of living, dictatorship and a justified desire to end lawlessness.”

The resilience and bravery of the people demonstrated their resolute position on tyranny, abuse of power and corruption in government. The message is clear and unequivocal.

Not again shall members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and other state security apparatus be allowed to attack helpless citizens in the name of restoring law and order. The ruling party utterances that the current wave of resistance is inspired by cash incentives are a fallacy and inane political gimmick.

The ruling ZANU PF and President Mugabe must be reminded that the liberation struggle was funded by known local businessman and other countries such as Russia and China and is the same way the current struggle and its demands will be funded. Such utterances are a mockery of the genuine history of liberation and will neither tarnish the image of, nor deter bonafide Zimbabweans in the fight for the restoration of democracy and good governance in Zimbabwe.

CHRA demands;

1. The immediate release of the opposition and civic leaders, including Mike J. Davies, CHRA Chairperson.
2. Access to medical care to the detainees
3. The holding of elections in Harare in line with the High Court ruling by Justice Kamocha on 2 March 2007.

Failures to heed our demands, residents have resolved to consider various options that are at their disposal.

“CHRA for Enhanced Civic Participation in Local Government”

Student Solidarity trust Statement on Arrests of Student Leaders at Magistrate's Court in Harare.

Also just in:

Student leaders arrested at magistrate court

Riot Police have arrested 5 student leaders at the magistrates courts
for singing in solidarity with the battered leaders this afternoon. They
include Promise Mkwananzi, ZINASU President and Washington Katema the
coordinator of the students body.

A sombre atmosphere engulfed the Harare Magistrates this afternoon as
leaders of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign were being arraigned before the
courts.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the President of the Movement for Democratic showed
signs of being brutally beaten, with a swollen face and gushes in the
head
- his clothes were bloody.  Lovemore Madhuku, the NCA chairperson had a
plaster and and spotted torn and bloody clothes.

The other leaders, notably Grace Kwinjeh, Elton Mangoma and Sekai
Holland had to be ferried by ambulance as they could hardly stand.

As Tsvangirai, Madhuku walked out of the court, it dawned on everyone
that Mugabe and his Zanu PF regime are a rogue kleptocracy, devoid of
any aesthetic appreciation.  Immediately, all the people broke into an
athem, in solidarity with the leader, badly bruised - they sang Ishe
Komborera Africa.

It was at this point that riot police dispersed the crowd, and in the
process, arrested Promise Mkwananzi, ZINASU President, Washington
Katema, Z INASU Coordinator, Tellington Kwashira, a student activist,
Emily Mukungwa an Intern at the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and Rodrick
Chiroodza, a driver with the Crisis Coalition as well as Chiedza, a
student activist.

They are still in police Custody

Issued by SST Information Department



The Students Solidarity Trust, is a service trust for the Students
Movement in Zimbabwe, that works on promoting and providing solidarity
for the students movement in Zimbabwe.
Email: [email protected]
http: www.studentsolidarity.org
0026391913418

Eddie Cross: "Beaten With an Iron Bar."

We've been travelling the past 5 days, which explains  our silence during this extremely  tumultous period.

One update is that Nelson Chamisa, member of Parliament and the MDC's Shadow Minister of Information, was savagely beaten in broad daylight this morning in a public area of Harare airport by state security agents as he attempted to catch a flight to Belgium for the ACP-EU normal round of parliamentary consultations.  His skull was fractured, his eye socket shattered, and he is reported to be in critical condition at hospital.

Is such an unprovoked attack on a sitting member of Parliament not sufficient grounds for Mr. Mbeki, Mr. Mandela and other regional leaders to judge it time to speak out against their sanguinary neighbor in Harare?  Shame on Mbeki, Mandela and the rest of the region's leaders!

Eddie Cross's account from last week on the violence and torture meted out by state security forces on pro-democracy leaders is a must-read:

Beaten with an Iron Bar

So much is going on right now that it is difficult to keep track. But for me one incident stands out in the past two days – the fact that whilst in Police custody and under Police "protection" one of our most able activists. Grace Kwinjeh, a single mom who is very active in the field of women’s rights, was severely beaten and at one stage a policeman took an iron bar to her head. She now has head injuries and has lost part of her ear.

Now an iron bar is not a weapon of interrogation, or intimidation, it is a murder weapon, nothing less. When you pick up an iron bar and move to strike someone on the head with it – your intention is to kill not maim.

Grace is a very determined and outspoken woman – but she is also an active Christian and young. I cannot think of anything she might have said or done to justify such an act.

Then you have to look at the case of Morgan Tsvangirai – he was not even arrested on the street. He and his PA went to the Machapisa Police Station to ask what was happening to others who had been arrested in the prayer march that morning. Both of them were then arrested and both have been beaten.

Morgan is 55 (birthday the day before), a quiet family man who is devoted to his wife and children. I have never seen him, in 10 years, ever lose his temper or even get angry. He has a calm temperament and this could not have been more evident than the weekend before when he found himself barred from entering the City Hall in Bulawayo where he was scheduled to speak to local residents. He remonstrated with the Police details on duty, then turned to the many hundreds of people on the street and said they should disburse and not cause any trouble. We outnumbered the police by a 100 to 1. We could easily have taken them on – water cannon or not.

But this time he was not on the street; he was in a Police cell and in their hands. No crime committed, no charges laid, no violence at all at that stage of the game. Just pure vindictive hatred of a man who has stood for justice, human and political rights and freedoms for most of his life. The only man in fact who offers any chance of an exit out of this Zanu led morass. This time they outnumbered him and the crowds, which normally follow him, were locked out.

What did they do with the opportunity? Talk about the way forward? Talk about the state of the economy and how difficult things were for themselves and their families?

No they just beat him until he fell unconscious on the floor, they did that three times and in the process they battered his body and his head so that when his wife went to see him, he could not see properly, could not feed himself and was almost unrecognizable.

They did that despite the fact that they knew the whole world was watching – we have been headlined on the CNN, NBC, Sky and BBC for almost 48 hours now. They did that despite the fact that everyone knows we are close to the time when Zanu PF will have no choice to speak to this man they were beating. What was the intention? They know he will not bend or go back on his mission. They know that what they did will inflame the people even more outside those Police cell walls. Do they want anarchy so they can impose marshal law and abandon any pretext of government by consent of the people? You must answer those questions because I cannot.

What I do know is that South Africa continues to behave in a totally inexplicable manner. First they ignored the story altogether and then when the storm of worldwide outrage grew, they reluctantly allowed some mention on the news. Even then the story was put together so badly I wondered just who was doing it – even today at 13.00 hours their coverage was appalling and badly put together – the faces of the presenters who are very professiona,l told another story all on its own.

So far President Mbeki has yet to say a word. No comment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Just stony, inexplicable silence! Yet no country in the world has more responsibility for the situation here, no country in the world has more to lose. Still silence. Only Tony Leon commented that he also could not understand why the South African President remained silent why the crisis in Zimbabwe plummeted to new lows.

Maybe the guys in that Police cell with Morgan know that the end is in sight; that their privileges and special status are all under threat because of this man in the cell with them? Maybe they thought they would not be brought to justice and had total impunity. Maybe the senior political figures responsible for this sort of thing – Mutasa, Gotche and Moghadi had told them to go ahead – have fun and beat the daylights out of the man, that they would guarantee that there would be no investigation, no recriminations even – perhaps a hefty reward.

Well I have news for them – we are keeping a list and one day soon, there will be justice for all the victims of this regime. As I write the funeral of Gift Tandare is underway in Harare. Early this morning the Police/Army opened fire with live ammunition on a crowd of mourners at the house. They injured two young MDC members in the process. What is this about the use of live ammunition against defenseless, unarmed civilians? Are they crazy?

As for regional leaders – especially Mbeki, we hold them responsible for this situation. For 7 years they have sat on the sidelines and done little to defend the rights of ordinary Zimbabweans in the face of a tyranny every bit as evil as that which confronted the ANC in South Africa and the Zanu and Zapu movements in Rhodesian days. They have connived and protected that tyranny so that it felt it was immune to global pressure and could do what it wanted inside the country – and get away with it. They have left the ordinary people of Zimbabwe to suffer, their only recourse being flight to other countries.

Even now as we near the time when this Zanu PF led regime is about to collapse in a heap, there is evidence that they seek, not a democratic solution to our crisis, allowing the people here to determine who will take them out of this mess. But they work quietly (that is the meaning of "quiet

diplomacy") behind the scenes to engineer a "reformed" Zanu government to take over from Mugabe, who even they, now see as being at the end of his tether.

Eddie Cross

Bulawayo, 13th March 2007

Nelson Chamisa Critically Injured at Harare Airport this Morning as He Attempts to Catch a Flight to Brussels to Attend EU-ACP Parliamentary Consultations.

My apologies in advance to the squeamish for the photo, below, of the shattered face of the brave young Zimbabwean patriot and sitting Member of Parliament, Nelson Chamisa, who was savagely attacked by Mugabe's security forces at Harare airport this morning--in broad daylight and in public--as he attempted to catch a flight to Brussels to attend a ACP-EU Parliamentary consultations.

The ruling party ZANU-PF members of Parliament, also attending the consultations, were allowed to catch their plane.

Will these ZANU-PF members of Parliament speak out, in horror and condemnation, at the treatment that their fellow Parliamentarian received this morning in Harare?

Will the E.U. and A.C.P. also speak out with regard to this horor and the multitude of others that have occurred over the past 2 weeks and over the past 8 years in Zimbabwe?

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Zvakwana!  Sokwanele!

The names of the ZANU-PF MPs Who Pranced Off to Brussels while their Co-Parliamentarian, Nelson Chamisa, Was Being Brutally Beaten by ZANU-PF Security Forces at Harare Airport.

At about 1.00pm today (Sunday 18th March) the following MPs from Mugabe’s ruling party ZANU-PF were seen leaving Harare Airport on an Air Zimbabwe flight bound for London (arriving at 10pm).

Forbes Magadu, Senator for Chitungwiza

Walter Mzembi, the MP for Masvingo South

Enita Maziriri, the MP for Chivi North

Edward Chindori-Chininga, the MP for Guruve

Nelson Chamisa MP for Kuwadzana for the opposition MDC was attacked when en route to the airport to attend the same ACP-EU meeting of parliamentarians.

Following the early morning attack on Hon Nelson Chamisa while on his way to the airport to catch a flight to Belgium for the ACP-EU normal round of parliamentary consultations, we are told police have moved into his Kuwadzana constituency, west of Harare, and sealed off the impoverished suburb. Church services were disrupted; flea markets forced to close ad ordinary people ordered to remain in doors. Several MDC activists in the area are being targeted for routine beatings.

Initial reports indicate that his skull has been cracked, his eyes smashed, his bags looted and seized, he is in a critical condition. Chamisa's trip is part of a regular parliamentary, government business and was known to the authorities for long before today's attack. Last week, Chamisa was attacked together with Morgan Tsvangirai and many other senior officials in Highfield. He was hospitalised for four days following a brain concussion and other injuries.

Arthur Mutambara, Leader of One MDC Faction, Sekai Holland and Grace Kwinje Arrested at Harare Airport on Saturday; En Route to South Africa for Medical Consultations

We are catching up on some of the many events that have been occurring over the past 3-4 days.  Their passports were reportedly seized as well.

Below is an MDC Press release on the arrest of Mutambara:

MDC Press Statement

17    March 2007

Update on The Arrest Of The MDC President Mutambara

Following the statement that we released this afternoon, we hereby advise that we have since established that the MDC President  Professor Arthur Mutambara who was arrested by the Zimbabwe Republic Police at Harare International Airport on his way to South Africa to visit his wife as he regularly does every week or every fort night, is being held at Harare Central Police station on the same allegations that he was previously arrested for on Sunday 11 March 2007.We are made to believe that the allegations/charge that is being leveled against him and the colleagues he was arrested with on Sunday 11 March 2007 is that he incited MDC supporters to commit acts of violence on the same day.

It will be recalled that there is an operative High Court Order issued by Justice Bhunu, which directed that unless the MDC President together with those he was arrested with were produced before a magistrate before midday on 13 March 2007 and charged, he together with the colleagues he was arrested with were to be released from police custody.

He together with his colleagues were neither brought before the magistrate before midday on 13 March 2007 nor charged as a result of which failure he together with his colleagues were obliged to be released. In the circumstances the arrest of the MDC President flies in the face of the effect and spirit of the High Court Order. Once again we see the regime acting in defiance and contempt of Court Orders.

We reiterate that the high handed use of force and the deliberate arrests of people at the weekend to maximize the abuse of law is the hallmark of a dictatorship which is scared of the people.

We demand the immediate release of the MDC President

Welshman Ncube

Secretary General

More on Sekai Holland and Grace Kwinjeh.

Sekai Holland, 64 and Grace Kwinjeh, 33, had since their detention and torture in police custody made repeated requests for further medical attention at a location outside of Zimbabwe. Sekai had expressed the wish to be in Australia, where her children and grand children are. Grace had expressed the wish to be in the United Kingdom, where her partner and children are.

Doctors attending to the two had provided letters detailing their current health status and possible further medical needs. The Secretary General of the MDC, Tendai Biti who is member of parliament for Harare East constituency had supported the choice of the two women and requested support from those with the ability to facilitate the medical needs.

Next of kin for Grace Kwinjeh and Sekai Holland were also anxious that the two women have access to medical options not presently available to them. They offered to accompany the two to ensure that they would have family support.

A variety of individuals and institutions went about fulfilling the various logistical requirements to turn the choice into reality.

Immigration and President's Office representatives at Harare International Airport cleared Kwinjeh and Holland's passports for travel. The Medical Air Rescuse Services, MARS representative paid airport departure tax to the relevant authorities at the airport.

At approximately 3.15pm the ambulance carrying Kwinjeh and Holland pulled up to the air ambulance on the tarmac at Harare International Airport.

At this point one Detective Inspector Mabunda (and another male officer both in plain clothes ) of the Central Intelligence Department CID Law and Order Section impounded Kwinjeh and Holland's passports. He instructed the ambulance to go to Harare Central Police Station. Mabunda has been identified as being among those who masterminded the brutal torture in police custody of Kwinjeh, Holland and some 48 others on March 11, 2007.

At Harare Central Police Station the ambulance was instructed to take Kwinjeh and Holland back to the Avenues Clinic. It was accompanied by additional plain clothes detectives in an unmarked white car with tinted windows and Singapore number plates.

Armed uniformed officers have been deployed at the Avenues. There are several other plain clothes police at the Hospital. Kwinjeh and Holland have effectively been placed under hospital arrest and their passports have been impounded.

Both women are in fear for their lives.

Harare, March 16, 2007

Letter from Arnold Tsunga to Tanzanian Newspaper Editors Correcting Them on Their False Characterization of Save Zimbabwe Prayer Meeting as an "Illegal Meeting."

Arnold Tsunga, Human Rights Lawyer and President of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), has sent a letter to the editor of a Tanzanian newspaper correcting their gross misrepresentation of the nature of the pro-democracy movement's recent actions:

The Editor

Your recent articles on President Kikwete's visit to Harare have prompted me to forward to you this information. I was particularly unhappy with the characterisation that the opposition people in Zimbabwe were assaulted after holding what you choose to judge as an "illegal rally".  The pictures of Nelson Chamisa a Zimbabwe Member of Parliament here show him after being battered by State agents at the Harare International airport today 18 March when he was about to fly to the EU-ACP Parliamentary meeting as a Member of Parliament in Zimbabwe. How can this be justified in independent Africa? Is this African leadership? Please take time to look at the report by doctors on the injuries that were sustained after unarmed people were brutalised by a police force which increasingly operates as an extension of the ruling party. There is absolutely nothing pan-African about a government brutalising its own people. It is a shame if media practitioners in Africa seemingly condone violence against unarmed civilians by uniformed forces merely because of sympathising with the past history of the modern day oppressor. Other fueling impunity it also creates opportunities where oppressors feel encouraged to continue on their campaign of state violence on the perception that other Africans are buying into the propaganda of a colonial ghost haunting Zimbabwe. Let us all be responsible Africans. Let us demand accountability from our leaders as Africans. Let us not condone impunity and organised violence by states against their own unarmed citizens. Let us encourage African governments to respect Court decisions and to respect the dignity of African people. We need to speak out against evil, even if it is perpetrated by people who may have been our liberators before. Zimbabweans are tired of oppression and need to be given a chance to pursue their full human potential.

President Kikwete needs to be applauded for sharing his views as frankly as he could with a very difficult African President. His efforts should not be diluted by reporters who mix infantile judgment with facts based on a false sense of a pan African ideology.

The campaign of state violence continues unabated in Zimbabwe with impunity against legitimate political opponents and human rights defenders. No peaceful and legitimate method of expression is being permitted. There is a scorched earth policy under implementation. What can Zimbabweans do about this?

Arnold Tsunga
Executive Director:Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Executive Secretary: Law Society of Zimbabwe (Acting)

Washington Post on Chamisa Beating

The Washington Post is on the story this morning with regard to Nelson Chamisa's brutal beating at Harare Airport yesterday. You can see a picture of the damage done to the young Member of Parliament's head in this post from this blog yesterday.  

You can link to the Washington Post article here.

According to doctors treating Chamisa contacted by Z.O.O.T., Chamisa "has sustained serious orbital fractures of the skull following the CIO attack on him this morning when they smashed his face and head into the tarmac road."

As we stated yesterday:  Is such an unprovoked attack on a sitting member of Parliament not sufficient grounds for Mr. Mbeki, Mr. Mandela and other regional leaders to judge it time to speak out against their sanguinary neighbor in Harare?  Shame on Mbeki, Mandela and the rest of the region's leaders!

Will these ZANU-PF members of Parliament speak out, in horror and condemnation, at the treatment that their fellow Parliamentarian received this morning in Harare?

Will the E.U. and A.C.P. also speak out with regard to this horor and the multitude of others that have occurred over the past 2 weeks and over the past 8 years in Zimbabwe?

At about 1.00pm today (Sunday 18th March) the following MPs from Mugabe’s ruling party ZANU-PF were seen leaving Harare Airport on an Air Zimbabwe flight bound for London--arriving at 10pm (while Nelson Chamisa was lying in a semi-coma in hospital):

Forbes Magadu, Senator for Chitungwiza 

Walter Mzembi, the MP for Masvingo South 

Enita Maziriri, the MP for Chivi North

Edward Chindori-Chininga, the MP for Guruve 

Glenys Kinnock, Member of the European Parliament from The Labour party (Wales, U.K.) Says: EU must condemn Zimbabwe violence "urgently and strongly."

See, below a statement from a member of the EU Parliament, Glenys Kinnock, calling for EU condemnation of Zimbabwe Government violence against pro-democracy members of civil society and the opposition.

She has called for Zanu-PF officials to be banned from entering Europe for
the ACP-EU meeting which begins in Brussels on Tuesday.   

G l e n y s  K i n n o c k   MEP
L a b o u r ,  W a l e s

N e w s   f  r o m   L a b o u r
M a r c h   1 8   2 0 0 7

F O R   I M M E D I A T E   R E L E A S E
EU must condemn Zimbabwe violence "urgently and strongly", says Kinnock

GLENYS Kinnock today called for urgent and strong EU condemnation of the
violence in Zimbabwe after the latest brutal attack on an opposition
official, en-route to a EU meeting.

Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was
arrested and beaten by suspected state security agents at Harare airport on
Sunday morning. He was on his way to attend an Africa Caribbean Pacific
(ACP) - EU meeting in Belgium.

Euro-MP GLENYS KINNOCK, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary
Assembly, called for Zanu-PF officials to be banned from entering Europe for
the ACP-EU meeting which begins in Brussels on Tuesday.

GLENYS KINNOCK said:

"The German EU Presidency and President Barrosso must condemn this action
urgently and in the strongest possible terms. The African Union commission
chief Alpha Oumar Konare Konare has already spoken out. The EU must also
make it clear that Mugabe and his cohorts cannot continue with their current
brutal wrecking spree. Not least, Zanu-PF must be refused entry to Europe -
through Brussels or Paris -  for the Joint Parliamentary Assembly bureau
meeting this week.

"All tyrannies can be broken and Mugabe is no different. The EU has a vital
role to play in this; in orchestrating the diplomatic pressure that South
Africa, Mozambique, Zambia - and China too - must apply on Zimbabwe and in
strengthening existing and imposing new, targeted personal sanctions against
Zanu-PF and its business associates.

"The EU must stand up against the brutality and devastation that Mugabe is
wreaking on Zimbabwe."

NOTES TO EDITORS:
1.Glenys Kinnock is MEP for Wales, Labour's European Spokesperson on
International Development and Co-President of the African, Caribbean and
Pacific States - EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
2.For more information please contact Lisa Stevens at the Labour European
Office on 029 2048 5305 or 079 7367 8175. Alternatively email
[email protected]

United States Senator, 2008 Presidential Hopeful, Barack Obama: "It is time for Robert Mugabe to cease repressive and divisive actions, and to allow Zimbabweans to pursue their hopes for legitimate political change and opportunity."

U.S. Senator Obama Calls Recent Events 'Outrageous'

United States Congress (Washington, DC)
DOCUMENT
March 16, 2007
Posted to the web March 16, 2007
Washington, D.C.

U.S. Senator Barack Obama delivered the following statement on the latest developments in Zimbabwe on the floor of the Senate on March 15, 2007:

Mr. President, the events of the last few days in Zimbabwe are outrageous and warrant universal condemnation. It is time for the government of Robert Mugabe to cease its repressive and divisive actions, and to allow Zimbabweans to pursue their hopes for legitimate political change and opportunity.

Since Sunday, the world has watched with horror and outrage as the Mugabe government has cracked down on legitimate opposition, detained fifty Zimbabweans attending a peaceful prayer meeting outside of Harare, and brutalized opposition leaders and ordinary citizens alike.

A protestor was shot and killed. Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, has been badly beaten and suffered severe head injuries. Lovemore Madhuku, the leader of the National Constitutional Assembly, reportedly has a broken arm and numerous other wounds. Many of their colleagues in opposition remain in Harare hospitals.

The government has responded to the outrage prompted by these attacks on human rights and legitimate expression with characteristic bluster. Once again, we are told that the opposition is to blame. Once again, we hear ominous warnings that the opposition is “set to pay a very heavy price, regardless of who they are.” Meanwhile, the true cause of the strife – President Mugabe’s disastrous rule – remains unaddressed. To the dismay even of his own party, he has declared his intention to run for a new term in office in 2008.

Mr. President, these events are shocking, but sadly they do not come as a surprise. For years, it has been increasingly apparent that the Mugabe government is interested only in its own survival and enrichment, not the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe. International observers – including the United States – concluded that the presidential election of 2002 and the parliamentary elections of 2005 were not free and fair.

The State Department reported just last week in its country report on human rights in Zimbabwe that: “The government engaged in the pervasive and systematic abuse of human rights. The ruling party’s dominant control and manipulation of the political process through intimidation and corruption effectively negated the right of citizens to change their government.”

Meanwhile, the government’s corruption and mismanagement has brought the Zimbabwean economy to the brink of ruin. Estimates place inflation at a world-high of 1,700 percent, and the IMF forecasts that this could pass 4,000 percent by the end of the year. Unemployment stands at 80 percent. Poverty rates are soaring. Zimbabwe’s economy is shrinking faster than any other country in the world that is not at war.

I am heartened, though, that this political and economic deterioration has been met with growing calls for change.

Within Zimbabwe, the opposition to Mugabe is showing resilience and courage.  Factions of Mugabe’s own party have indicated that they want a transition in 2008, and ordinary citizens are increasingly voicing their hopes for a new chapter.

Beyond Zimbabwe, frustration with the Mugabe government is mounting. The head of the African Union has expressed his embarrassment at the situation in Zimbabwe. South Africa and the Southern African Development Community, which have been slow to criticize Zimbabwe in the past, seem to be losing patience. The United States, European Union, and the United Nations were swift in condemning this latest outrage, and have been consistent in their calls for change.

Mr. President, the United States must continue to stand strongly against the Mugabe government’s abuses of power in Zimbabwe. We must join with our European allies, the United Nations, and – most importantly – the countries and institutions of the region to press for positive change in Zimbabwe. That means a peaceful democratic transition in 2008, and support for economic growth and opportunity – including the lifting of sanctions – once the dark cloud of Mugabe’s rule is lifted, and Zimbabweans are able again to reach for the new horizon they deserve.

I call on President Mugabe to immediately release all political detainees and repeal the ban on political rallies, to end the use of violence and torture in the jails, permit a free media and abide by the rule of law. His government must also urgently address the humanitarian crisis that has put the mass of his population in dire need of assistance.

Zimbabwe is a nation rich in history and rich in resources. Its talented people have known great hardship just as they have achieved great heights. When Robert Mugabe became president over a quarter century ago, there was great hope.  Zimbabwe had emerged from British rule, claiming its freedom and its future for itself.

Sadly, the freedom and opportunity for which Zimbabweans fought have been eclipsed in the last decade by repression and uncertainty. Instead of peaceful self-determination, we see Zimbabweans intimidated and beaten in the streets. Instead of the responsible management of Zimbabwe’s state institutions, we see state-sanctioned corruption, violence and property seizures. Instead of economic self-sufficiency, we see what was once one of Africa’s most promising economies in a free-fall.

Yet I am confident that the people of Zimbabwe will once again claim for themselves a better future. As they seek to hold their leaders accountable, as they try to rebuild their lives and their country, they must know that they have a strong and steady friend in the United States. The events of the last few days – and the Mugabe regime – must belong to the past, and the United States must work with the international community to help all Zimbabweans forge a better future.

More Washington Post Articles on Zimbabwe Crisis Today

One is with regard to the odious theft of the body of an opposition MDC activist, Gift Tendare, by Mugabe's security forces yesterday; Tendare was killed in cold blood by members of the security forces a week ago Sunday during a prayer meeting organized in the township of Highfield by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign (SZC).   SZC is an umbrella group of pro-democracy civic, religious and political organizations that has been in the forefront of the struggle against Mugabe's regime.

Security agents stole the body in order to prevent a public funeral in Harare from going forward. Reports are that Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) agents forced Tendare's family at gunpoint to release the body.

The second article is on the Mugabe regime's imposition of a travel ban on opposition and pro-democracy civils society and political party members.

As discussed in an earlier posts today and yesteday, a number of MDC officials including faction President Arthur Mutambara, Grace Kwinjeh, Sekai Holland and--in most barbaric fashion--MDC Member of parliament, Nelson Chamisa, were prevented from catching planes for various destinations during the past 3 days.

Chamisa was severely beaten and the passports of Mutambara, Kwinjeh and Holland were seized.  Mutambara was arrested.

Statement by Desmond Tutu Condemning African Leaders for their Silence on Zimbabwe: "They Should Hang Their Heads In Shame."

STATEMENT FROM ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU

ZIMBABWE: AFRICANS SHOULD HANG THEIR HEADS IN SHAME

"We Africans should hang our heads in shame. How can what is happening in Zimbabwe elicit hardly a word of concern let alone condemnation from us leaders of Africa. Just when one thought that the news out of Zimbabwe could not get worse, sure as anything it does.

"After the horrible things done to hapless people in Harare, has come the recent crackdown on members of the opposition. What more has to happen before we who are leaders, religious and political, of our mother Africa are moved to cry out 'Enough is enough'.

"What an awful blot on our copy book. Do we really care about human rights, do we care that people of flesh and blood, fellow Africans, are being treated like rubbish, almost worse than they were ever treated by rabid racists?

"Thank goodness that Cosatu has spoken out so courageously. I share its consternation at the silence from those we would have expected to speak out on behalf of the voiceless, the powerless ones.

"Oh Africa, my Africa, oh Africa our Africa, why are we betraying you so viciously in Zimbabwe, in Darfur, in the DRC, why are we letting you down so horribly badly?"

* Statement issued for the Office of Archbishop Tutu by Oryx Media Productions.

Mugabe Worrying About Army Coup/Revolt of Security Forces.

There are growing signs that Mugabe is being abandoned by the rank and file of the police, who are reluctant to inflict violence on pro-democracy forces.  The sadistic work of Mugabe and his henchmen is apparently increasingly being carried out by his hard-core loyalists in the Central intelligence Organization and among the brainwashed (or brainless) ZANU-PF "Youth Militias."

In a speech to those youth militias on Saturday, Mugabe, speaking almost entirely in Shona, urged them to go back to rural areas and "do whatever it takes" to "protect the revolution."

R.W. Johnson, writing yesterday in the Australian, picks up on this theme of divisions within the security forces and possible defections or even an open revolt in an article entitled "Mugabe's Biggest Threat is From Within."

   

Mugabe Rogue Regime's Violent Attempts to Purge Pro-Democracy Leadership

On Saturday night, a dark blue twin cab arrived at the home of Martin Marikeba, District organising official for MDC Glen Norah, a high density suburb of Harare.

The occupants asked the maid where Mr. Marikeba was - she said he'd only be back after work.

When he arrived home in the late afternoon he was shot in the legs with a shot gun from the twin cab, which then drove off at speed.  He is in Hospital recovering from the gun shot wounds.

The intention of the regime is to immobilise, physically and/or psychologically all those involved in the organisation of the Movement for Democratic Change.  And this is done brutally and with absolute impunity.  Well, the instructions come from the very top !

This is the Zanu PF's attempt to purge the opposition leadership and all those involved in the brave fight for peaceful and democratic change.

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Organizers Arrested

Two Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions activists were arrested in the early hours of this morning (March 20th) in the Southern town of Masvingo while distributing flyers on the ZCTU organised April 3 and 4 stay away. They were arrested together with a ZCTU staff member, Gilbert Marembo. The two activists are Tennyson Muchefa from the National Engineering Workers' Union and Douglas Dzimiri from the Zimbabwe Domestic and Allied Workers' Union. They are being held at the Masvingo Central police station.

Statement by Malawian Civil Society Organizations in Support of the ZAMBIAN (not the Malawian!) Government's Firm Stand Against Robert Mugabe's Destruction of Zimbabwe.

Applauding Zambian Government Stand on Zimbabwe and Concerns on

        Current Arrests and Torture of Political and Human Rights Activists 

                                             

                                           Press Statement

The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Centre for Children Affairs, (CEYCA), Civil Liberties Committee (CILIC) and Christian Agency for Responsible Democracy and Unity (CARDDENU) applaud the Zambian government for taking a firm stand against the deteriorating of state of affairs in Zimbabwe. It is evident that the Zambian government this time around has broken ranks with the region on the meltdown by acknowledging the serious problems in Zimbabwe and the need for intervention by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).

We note with utter respect the recent remarks made by Zambian Foreign Affairs Minister Mundia Sikatana to SADC Executive Secretary Thomaz Salomao in Lusaka indicating that Zambia was acutely affected by the political and economic collapse of its neighbor taking into consideration the hordes of Zimbabweans streaming daily into Zambia in search of a livelihood.

It is clear that Zimbabwe is exporting poverty into the region and beyond, forcing the poorest and most materially deprived communities in the region to host displaced Zimbabweans. The versatile crisis gripping Zimbabwe is therefore not only a national crisis but also a regional one. Consequently, the massive external displacement of Zimbabweans into the region has to be addressed if the SADC goals on poverty alleviation are to be realized.

It is also important to note the enthusiasm with which the Zambian government has cautioned its SADC counterparts on their silence over the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe.

As observed in the past, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) in conjunction with Centre for Children Affairs, (CEYCA), Civil Liberties Committee (CILIC) and Christian Agency for Responsible Democracy and Unity (CARDDENU) are concerned with the deterioration of political and economic situation in Zimbabwe. We are also alarmed by the introduction of draconian laws such as the Public Order and Security Act, Miscellaneous Offenses Act, Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, NGO Law and the Interception Communication Law, which infringes on fundamental rights and freedoms and civil liberties of ordinary.

Some time last year, we cited the SADC leaders August 2001 communiqué following the Blantyre summit of SADC heads of state expressing apprehension on the effects of political and economic situation in Zimbabwe on the region. The summit appointed a task force to work with the Zimbabwean government on the issues, however little or nothing has materialized to remedy the situation.

As concerned civil society, we feel time is ripe to build on the resolutions agreed by condemning in no uncertain terms the deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe. Zambia has taken the lead, we are proud of them.

In addition, we take note that Zambia’s stand is a step in the right direction noting that SADC leaders have continuously played double Standards and preferred a silent approach at the expense of the suffering people of Zimbabwe especially women and children, the hunger stricken, and People Living with HIV and Aids.

Concerns have also been voiced in the past on SADC’s soft stance against Zimbabwe. It can not be disputed that SADC leaders have failed the People of Zimbabwe as they have supported President Mugabe in championing undemocratic values, rigging elections, violent suppression of the opposition while subverting justice, trampling on the media and curtailing freedoms in every sphere of the society.

We therefore urge SADC as a body to desist from silence and publicly condemn the current human rights violations, lack of rule of law and genuine democracy. Particularly, we urge them to call on President Robert Gabriel Mugabe to:

·      Ensure the police impartially protect all Zimbabweans regardless of their political affiliation.

·      End all harassment and guarantee constitutional rights to all Zimbabweans.

·      Abandon and repeal all repressive laws that undermine the rule of law and

Rights enshrined in the Zimbabwe Constitution;

• Release all political and human rights activitists currently in custody.

We call upon:

·         SADC and in particular South Africa to stop applying double standards and pretending that all is well in Zimbabwe.

·         SADC to engage the United States and European Union inorder to pave a strategy of resolving the crisis.

·         SADC to consider convening an urgent meeting to discuss the consequences of the political and economic meltdown in Zimbabwe.

·         The United States and European Union to ease sanctions on Zimbabwe as they do not affect Mugabe and his cronies but the poor vulnerable Zimbabweans.

·         Our State President Dr. Bingu Wa Mutharika to take advantage of his personal relationship with President Robert Mugabe and take lead in convening the SADC leaders forum. Our President should cease shying away from reality as that is tantamount to betrayal of the suffering people of Zimbabwean and the SADC region.

Finally, we cannot concur more with the Zambian government, SADC should not pretend any longer that all is well in Zimbabwe. The problem is serious and ostracizing Zimbabwe will not help the country and the whole region.

Undule Mwakasungura                                    Rogers Newa

Executive Director – CHRR                     Executive Director - CEYCA

Peter Chisi                                                      Francis Antonio

Deputy Executive Director – CILIC                      Deputy Executive – CARDDENU

Lilongwe/MALAWI/15^th March, 2007   

US ENVOY WALKS OUT OF MEETING WITH ZIMBABWE FOREIGN MINISTER

US ENVOY WALKS OUT OF MEETING WITH ZIMBABWE FOREIGN MINISTER

The US ambassador to Zimbabwe walked out of a meeting Monday with that country's foreign minister after the official tried to justify a violent government crackdown on the opposition, the State Department said.

Ambassador Christopher Dell was summoned along with other Western envoys to a meeting with Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, who warned the diplomats to "remain quiet" on the crackdown of face expulsion, department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Dell "sought assurances that the minister would provide diplomats an opportunity to respond," he said in a statement.    "When the ambassador did not receive these assurances, he departed refusing to participate in the government's attempt to justify its recent brutality," he said.

   "The United States will continue to speak and act steadfastly in support of the people of Zimbabwe's right to democracy," he said.    The United States and other Western government have condemned a series of recent attacks on leaders of the opposition to President Robert Mugabe's 27-year-old government.

   In the latest incident, a senior member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Nelson Chamisa, was severely beaten as he tried to leave the country.

   "It's just another sad example of the negative turn of events in Zimbabwe in which democratic principles are trampled on a routine basis by the Mugabe government," McCormack said earlier in response to the attack on Chamisa.

   Opposition to 83-year-old Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, has been steadily mounting amid an economic meltdown with inflation standing at 1,730 percent and four out of five people out of work.

   Mugabe, however, has remained defiant in the face of virulent criticism, blaming the unrest on the MDC and its critics.

Australian Aboriginal Leaders Condemn Zimbabwe Bashings

Some of Australia’s most eminent Aboriginal community leaders, artists, educators and performers have expressed their horror at the brutal bashing and torture of Zimbabwean grandmother Mrs Sekai Holland and other opposition leaders at the hands of the Mugabe regime in Harare. Many Aboriginal Australians who were involved in the anti-apartheid movement in the early 1970s have strong and fond memories of Sekai Holland. She was a staunch supporter of the Aboriginal Land Rights movement and the 1972 Aboriginal Embassy. Naomi Mayer’s of the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service said that Sekai was and is a strong but gentle person of principle and great integrity and that it was outrageous for a grandmother to be brutalized in this manner. Mrs. Mayers said that both the Redfern Legal Centre and the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service has written to the South African High Commission (the major international sponsor of the Mugabe regime) expressing concern for the safety of Mrs Holland and other opposition leaders in Zimbabwe. Other Aboriginal rights leaders and Aboriginal community members who said that they were shocked and outraged by the actions of the Mugabe Government included, Jenny Munro, Lyall Munro, Gary Foley, Sol Bellear, Gary Williams, NSW MP Linda Burney, novelist and historian Tony Birch, Kaye Bellear (widow of Aboriginal District Court Judge Bob Bellear), novelist and Miles Franklin Award nominee Alexis Wright, artists Richard Bell and Sam Wickman, , barrister Lloyd McDermott, and veteran campaigners Lowitja O’Donohue, Evelyn Scott, Faith Bandler, Hans Bandler, Lester Bostock, Dulcie Flower, Euphemia Bostock, Joyce Clague and Colin Clague. Activist and historian Gary Foley, who knew Sekai from the late 1960s said that it was particularly ironic that the ANC Government of South Africa were propping up the Mugabe regime at a time when the Zimbabwe government is brutalizing a grandmother who once stood beside Australian Aboriginal activists to fight against South African apartheid. Mr. Foley said that Mugabe has dismissed criticism from the West as just ‘white racists’. “Well it is time for Mugabe and his thugs to realize there are black people in the west who also condemn his actions. Fascism is fascism, whether its face is white or black!” The Aboriginal Australians also called on the Australian government do more to ensure the safety and security of Sekai Holland and her opposition colleagues in Zimbabwe. They said the Australian government, which had rushed in to help depose Sadam Hussein have an obligation to take more firm action against a worse tyrant in Zimbabwe. For further info: contact Gary Foley [email protected] - 03 94821314 or 03 8344 8341 (leave message for fast return call)

Letter to Constituents and Friends from MDC Member of Parliament, Hon. Trudy Stevenson

Monday 19 March, 2007

Dear Constituents and Friends

This past week has been traumatic for the entire country, and many are still in shock, frightened or angry.  I share your emotional turmoil, but I want us all to try to get a grip on ourselves and prepare carefully for the coming weeks - because the turmoil is likely to continue, until the people - ie the majority, who are suffering and now traumatised - regain control of their lives during the transition to a new, democratically elected government.

This transition is now clearly visible, on the horizon.  The regime has cracked, and will never again have a stranglehold on power in this country.  It will never again be accepted by either SADC or the African Union as a democratic nation among equals.  It will never again be able to grandstand at the United Nations, using racism as its populist tool to divert attention from its evil deeds.  Its evil deeds are clearly visible to all, and no one is taken in by the rhetoric, any more, apart from a few apologists sadly lacking the intelligence of the majority.

Let us all mourn with the family of Gift Tandare, the NCA-MDC activist shot and killed last Sunday in the midst of the mayhem in Highfield, and let us all sympathise and stand in solidarity with all the 50+ activists arrested in Harare, many badly tortured in police custody, last week. Let us not be stupid enough to fall into the ZanuPF-CIO trap of believing that some were not tortured because they are really ZanuPF or CIO - surely we all know the classic Zanu tactic of divide and destroy, by now?!!  "The biggest scar is the scar Mugabe has inflicted on the nation to oppress us, and that is the scar that must unite us," as Arthur Mutambara said on Friday, at the Save Zimbabwe press conference.  Let us also stand in solidarity with the other hundreds of activists and innocent members of the general public who have been harassed, beaten, arrested and incarcerated in the last week or so all around the country. 

Let us also send our sympathy to the injured policemen and policewomen who were attacked - for we abhor violence, and declare that we will not respond to violence with violence, because that is the one sure way to ensure that chaos reigns, and that many will suffer and die.  We do not want chaos and anarchy.  We want peace - but real peace, not a false peace imposed by "security forces".  We want peace where people are free to move about unhindered, free to assemble to pray or even to speak out their minds without hindrance, free to nurture their families as they wish, and free eventually to vote for the government they want to represent them.

So let us keep our eyes on the prize - a free, democratic Zimbabwe.  To move towards this we need to be disciplined as citizens, and to act strategically.  First of all we need to work in solidarity with others of like mind - and one thing I have learned this week is that practically everyone is of like mind, now!  People are speaking openly in the streets, in supermarkets, on buses, on the phone - condemning this regime and calling for change.  So let us open our arms and our hearts and greet our neighbours and our fellow citizens, and share the next few weeks gladly and in solidarity, certain that a better Zimbabwe is on the way, and that we can help it to become a reality.

Secondly, let us try to prevent the escalation of violence whenever we can, by not succumbing to either their divide-and-destroy tactics or to the desire for revenge.  The unity of purpose displayed by the two MDC formations and civil society under the umbrella of the churches last Sunday in trying to attend the same prayer meeting, subsequent arrest and torture and the Save Zimbabwe press conference on Friday is what has given all Zimbabweans renewed hope that we can indeed defeat the oppressor.  We do not need violence - we need to act together as one Zimbabwean people to bring in a new, people-driven constitution to protect us, the people, against the excesses of any and all future governments - MDC, ZanuPF, and others not yet thought of  -  and which will allow us to elect the government of our choice peacefully in order to reverse the destruction of our beloved Zimbabwe.

So, friends, we stand together, strengthening each other and strengthened by God and the knowledge that we are doing the right thing for ourselves and for future generations of Zimbabweans.  We are fighting for a free and prosperous Zimbabwe, and it is right there, on the horizon!

Trudy Stevenson, MP

ALERT from the Combined Harare Residents Association: Crackdown on Opposition Intensifies in High Density Areas.

19 March 2007

ALERT: Crackdown on Opposition intensifies in High Density Areas

• Kajawu Newton, CHRA Ward 19 Chairperson was arrested on Sunday in Mabvuku New Stands for allegedly participating in an illegal meeting convened by the opposition MDC, where it emerges he is a very active member. It is believed he and several other MDC activists were taken to Goromonzi Police Station, according to CHRA Ward Coordinator Brighton Chimate.

• In Mufakose Keith Charumbira, the CHRA Ward 34 Chairperson was on Friday night severely assaulted by policemen at Mhishi Business Centre and is admitted at a private hospital in Harare nursing his injuries. He could hardly speak when he was taken to hospital.

• A CHRA representative from Ward 1, in Harare South was today warned against ever coming to Harare Central Police Station in connection with the Association. The representative, who declined to be identified, said he went to the police station with a letter notifying the police of CHRA’s intention to hold public meetings in Mabvuku and the City Centre. But when he got there and presented his letter of notification, the policeman verbally assaulted him and threatening to arrest him. “I was forced to sit on the floor,” he said. “He demanded to know if I knew how to answer police questions but I said I knew. Then he threw me the two letters and ordered me to leave his office, demanding to see some officials within CHRA.”

• Unidentified men believed to be either State security operatives  or Zanu PF supporters allegedly shot Martin Marikebo, an MDC activist in Glen Norah B’ on Sunday 18 March 2007 on his left leg. The incident occurred at House Number 6034 Glen Norah B’. The police had earlier in the afternoon visited several houses belonging to known MDC activists, among them CHRA members identified as Mrs Musoni, Timothy  Mukwengu Mufunga and Juliet Masiyambiri. Late in the evening they returned to pick up several of the MDC activists. When they arrived at Marikebo’s house, he allegedly hid himself in the house, but these assailants grabbed his son and threatened to go with him. Fearing what might happen to his son, Marikebo came out of his hiding and he was immediately shot on the left leg and left in a hurry. Relatives and neighbours took Marikebo to a private hospital in Harare where he is receiving medical attention. His condition was reportedly stable at the time of writing this report.

NB: The Combined Harare Residents' Association (CHRA) reiterates its non-partisan position. However its members have rights to become members of political parties or other groupings of their choice.

The Association continues to monitor the events on the ground and urges President Robert Mugabe’s government to uphold the rule of law by stopping this crackdown on opposition supporters and other government critics in civil society.

“CHRA for Enhanced Civic Participation in Local Government”

For details and comments please write to us on [email protected], or visit us at

Exploration House Corner Robert Mugabe Way

and Fifth Street

. You can also call us on 011 862 012, 011 612 860, 0912 249 430, 0912 924 151 and 011 443 578 or visit our website www

British Foreign Secretary condemns Mugabe government

Foreign Secretary condemns Mugabe government

Foreign and Commonwealth Office


      EDITED TRANSCRIPT: FOREIGN SECRETARY DISCUSSES ZIMBABWE ON BBC
POLITICS SHOW, SUNDAY 18 MARCH 2007

      INTERVIEWER:

      I just want to talk about the situation in Zimbabwe. You've condemned
the treatment meted out to Morgan Tsvangirai. Is there anything that we can
do?

      FOREIGN SECRETARY:

      Well we are pressing very hard for action to be taken in the UN Human
Rights Council. This is a new body fairly recently set up. This is one of
its first major tests and there's....there's general agreement that that is
the right place to call for action against the government of Robert Mugabe
and so that is what we're doing. Also we are trying to gather information
about the people who are personally responsible for the....the beatings and
what is described in Zimbabwe as the torture that was inflicted on the
opposition leader and some of his supporters in order to make sure that
those people personally are on the list of people who are, you know, being
targeted by the international community and also of course we'll be talking
to other EU colleagues about how we can strengthen the EU's targeted ban.

      INTERVIEWER:

      Do you hold Robert Mugabe responsible?

      FOREIGN SECRETARY:

      One can only hold him responsible. He is in charge of the government.
He has made it very clear that this is a deliberate act of policy on the
part of the government of Zimbabwe and that he is indifferent to the real I
think horror that is felt right across the international community.

      INTERVIEWER:

      He said "go hang" didn't he to you and to other western leaders?

      FOREIGN SECRETARY:

      I believe that is certainly what he has said, yes.

      INTERVIEWER:

      And therefore don't you think that there's a possibility that you are
seen as the old colonial power and therefore somehow it will sort of
solidify support in his country by taking a tough line against you know
British condemnation?

      FOREIGN SECRETARY:

      Well it's not only we who have condemned what is happening. One of the
cards that he has played repeatedly and unfortunately very successfully is
to pretend that this is somehow just a dispute between him and the United Kingdom. It's not. It's true that the United Kingdom is one of the biggest
donors to the people of Zimbabwe and that we are helping to keep a lot of
people alive, keep body and soul together who otherwise would die because of
the neglect and incompetence of the regime in Zimbabwe. What is not true is Britain is the only country in the world that is desperately
concerned at the plight of the Zimbabwean people and the way in which this
recent behaviour is showing diminution of their freedom, that it's not true.
Everyone is concerned and, you know, I do urge.....it's one of the reasons
why we in the British government try to approach the issue in a way which
doesn't give him the excuse to pretend it's all just about the relationship
between him and us because that way it's the people of Zimbabwe who'll
continue suffer.

Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights: Nature of Injuries of Tortured Civil Society Activists and Opposition Party Leaders.

Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights

14 March 2007

Press Statement

Nature of Injuries of Tortured Civil Society Activists and Opposition Party Leaders

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) has, having been granted extremely delayed access to Opposition Party Leaders and Civil Society Activists arrested on Sunday 11 March 2007, been able to assess the extent of the injuries they sustained.

It is highly regrettable that the medical treatment of these persons was wilfully delayed by the Zimbabwe Republic Police despite the stated urgency of the need for medical treatment. This resulted in the aggravation of injuries sustained in several persons.

In violation of the rights of the injured persons detained, medical treatment was denied on 11 March 2007 and again on Monday 12 March 2007. In default of a High Court Order granted on the evening 12 March 2007 the police further denied medical access to the injured persons. Permission to take the injured to a medical facility was finally granted on the afternoon of Tuesday 13 March 2007.

In the interim several of the persons detained were in a grave medical condition. Of the 64 persons attended to 20 are currently admitted to hospital for treatment.

The injuries documented were consistent with beatings with blunt objects heavy enough to cause the following:

·         Fractures to hands, arms and legs in 5 individuals including Lovemore Madhuku with a fractured ulna. 3 of these, Elton Mangoma, Sekai Holland and Morgan Tsvangirai sustained multiple fractures.

·            Severe, extensive and multiple soft tissue injuries to the backs, shoulders, arms, buttocks and thighs of 14 individuals.

·          Head injuries to 3 individuals, Nelson Chamisa, Morgan Tsvangirai and Lovemore Madhuku with the latter two sustaining deep lacerations to the scalp.

·          A possibly ruptured bowel in 1 individual due to severe blunt trauma to the abdomen.

·         A split right ear lobe sustained by Grace Kwinjeh.

Prolonged detention without accessing medical treatment resulted in severe haemorrhage in Morgan Tsvangirai leading to severe anaemia which warranted a blood transfusion. Injuries sustained by Sekai Holland were also worsened by denial of timely access to medical treatment which led to an infection of deep soft tissue in her left leg. Denial of access to treatment in another individual suffering from hypertension lead to angina.

Further tests are currently being carried out to determine the fuller extent of injuries in several of those currently admitted. Some will require surgical procedures as part of their treatment. Sekai Holland has already undergone a surgical fixation of the fracture in her left ankle.

2 of the individuals hospitalised were admitted due to conditions resulting from poor conditions of detention with severe diarrhoea in 1 individual and extensive and severe flea bites in 1 individual.

In addition to those tortured during the course of their arrest, 2 individuals were shot while attending the funeral of Gift Tandare, who was shot dead on Sunday March 11 2007. The two individuals sustained gunshot wounds to the left ankle and right arm respectively. One sustained a shattered left ankle from the gunshot wound and is likely to require amputation from the left ankle downwards. The other individual primarily sustained shrapnel wounds early on Monday 12 March but however was shot again in the same arm on the evening of Monday 12 March upon his return to the funeral resulting in a open fracture to the arm, the severity of which may warrant amputation of that arm.

End.

---

Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights
6th Floor,

, 100 Nelson Mandela Ave
PO Box CY 2415, Causeway

Tel: 708118, 251468
Fax: 705641
Cell: 091260380

Beverly Court

Harare

Statement by Morgan Tsvangirai on Escalation of Violence by the Mugabe Regime Against Civil Society and Pro-Democracy Political Party Members

It is reported that overnight there has been a sharp escalation in the level of violence against MDC activists across the country. In Harare small groups of Zanu PF youth league and CIO operatives in unmarked vehicles are targeting known MDC leaders and carrying out arbitrary arrests, the activists are then being held in Police custody or taken to known torture centres such as the one at Goromonzi and Hopely Farm where they are being systematically beaten. None of these individuals is being charged with any offence or brought to Court.

Today the Avenues Hospital has taken in another 35 severely injured MDC leaders - the number injured with gun shot wounds is now six, with one new case last night, the rest have similar injuries to the ones we have already seen. Severe bruising, internal bleeding, broken legs and arms and skull fractures.

Similar stories are coming in from centres all over the country. All the injured are being dealt with in private hospitals as all State hospitals are instructed not to take in MDC activists, no matter what their injuries.

This follows a meeting of Zanu PF Youth League in Harare addressed at the weekend by Mr. Mugabe where he is reported to have said that the Youth League has a "blank cheque" to sort out the leadership of the MDC in the townships.

The danger in this situation is that the people are being driven to the point where retaliation will become inevitable. One young activist in Bulawayo today reported that he was walking on the street near his home last Sunday with his son. He was approached by two policemen who after accusing him of being a MDC leader and stating that they could "come for him anytime" the one beat him with a rubber baton. When he resisted he was arrested and was held without charge for 4 days. During this time he was repeatedly beaten and a bone in his hand has been broken. He is now so angry that he is determined to get revenge.

To emphasise the deliberate and planned nature of these attacks, the Herald has now run, on two separate weekends, a open threat by Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba - writing under the nom de plume, Nathaniel Manheru, that the government was going to deal with the MDC using all the violence that is necessary to curb their activities. In the latest article he went even further to warn that there was "seething anger in camps and barracks by the uniformed forces" and "woe betide the unfortunate back on whom the blows will land."

There should be no question in the mind of observers that the violence being perpetrated by agents of the State and Zanu PF at present are either casual activities or without careful planning and direction. They bear all the trade marks of a deliberate attempt to crush all legitimate, legal and democratic resistance to the regime.

President Tsvangirai held a meeting with the South African Ambassador today during which he expressed grave concern that regional and African leaders were standing by mute while these atrocities were being perpetrated by one of their number. He said it made a complete mockery of all that South Africa had stood for since they achieved their own transition to a open, democratic society in 1994.

William Bango

On Behalf of Morgan Tsvangirai

President of the Movement for Democratic Change

19th March 2007 at 18.00 hrs

Editorial in Today's New York Times: "The Disastrous Mr. Mugabe."

The New York Times leads today with an editorial calling on Thabo Mbeki to step up to the plate and put an end to the madness in Zimbabwe:

"Will no one rescue Zimbabwe? The United States and Europe have limited influence, and risk playing into Mr. Mugabe’s racist rhetoric when they try to use it. But President Thabo Mbeki of neighboring South Africa — the region’s most prestigious political leader — has enormous leverage, and he should be using it. South Africa is Zimbabwe’s main trade partner, a big investor and the source of more than 40 percent of its electricity.

Unfortunately Mr. Mbeki has done nothing, apparently out of a misplaced sense of liberation-struggle solidarity. Zimbabwe is struggling to liberate itself from Mr. Mugabe’s deadly misrule. Its people desperately need all Zimbabweans, and the influential Mr. Mbeki, to show real-life solidarity with them — and not with their rampaging dictator."

Read the Whole Editorial Here.

Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights has sent an urgent letter of appeal to President Mugabe regarding the deteriorating situation of Freedom of Expression in Zimbabwe.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION UNDER ATTACK IN ZIMBABWE

SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN AFRICA SENDS AN URGENT APPEAL TO PRESIDENT MUGABE

Adv. Pansy Tlakula, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights has sent an urgent letter of appeal to President Mugabe regarding the deteriorating situation of Freedom of Expression in Zimbabwe.

Tlakula sent the letter following a complaint that she received from the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Zimbabwe) and the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) whilst visiting Zimbabwe at the end of last week. The complaint relates to the assault, unlawful detention, harassment and detention of a number of journalists and media practitioners. 

According to the complaint “journalists, Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and Tendai Musiyazviriyo were severely assaulted by the police following their arrest on 11 March 2007 when the police disrupted a national prayer day in Highfield that had been organized under the auspices of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign. Of great concern was that Mukwazhi’s whereabouts remained unknown until his appearance in court on 13 March 2007 as the police withheld information about his whereabouts to his lawyers who were denied access to the detained journalists. The two journalists were subsequently taken to hospital for treatment following the assaults. To date they have not been formally charged despite having spent 48 hours in police custody”.

“I actually met Tsvangirai Mukwazhi during my visit and I saw with my own eyes the serious injuries he sustained on his back during the beating by the police. Not only was he in pain but was also traumatised by the experience. His eyes were full of tears as he was narrating to me the incidents of the 11 March. His car, equipment and laptop were also confiscated by the police,” Tlakula said.

Tlakula says she also brought to President Mugabe’s attention the complaints of three other journalists who were arrested last year whilst conducting their lawful duties as journalists.

She has called upon President Mugabe to respect the rights enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Zimbabwe is a State Party, in particular Article 9 of the Charter which guarantees every individual’s right to receive information and express and disseminate their opinions within the law and the Declaration of Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa which states that “freedom of expression and information, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other form of communication, including across frontiers, is a fundamental and inalienable human right and an indispensable component of democracy.”

“There seem to be a consistent and worrying trend developing in some parts of the continent where Freedom of Expression is under attack. Initially this attack used to take the form of either undue restriction or outright ban of the private media in particular. Recently we are seeing an increase in the incidents of arrests, unlawful detention, assault, harassment, disappearances, death in detention and murder of journalists and media practitioners in countries that are member states to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. These heinous acts are sadly perpetrated against journalists while conducting their lawful duties. The Gambia, Eritrea and Zimbabweare a few cases in point”, Tlakula said.

Tlakula has called upon President Mugabe to ensure that his government upholds the rule of law and desists from wanton arrest and torture of journalists.

Radio Australia - News - Australia calls on Zimbabwe to release former citizen for medical aid

ABC Radio Australia

Radio Australia - News - Australia calls on Zimbabwe to release former citizen for medical aid

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1877234.htm]

Last Updated 20/03/2007, 22:53:07

Select text size:

Australia is calling on Zimbabwe's Government to let leading opposition figure and former Australian resident, Sekai Holland, leave the country for medical treatment.

Mrs Holland, 61, is married to Australian Jim Holland and spent 20 years in the country before returning to Zimbabwe to fight for democracy.

She is a senior figure in the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe.

It is alleged Mrs Holland was badly beaten by Zimbabwe police and arrested when she tried to leave the country to receive treatment for a broken leg.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says the Zimbabwean government should let her leave the country.

"The Zimbabwe Government will not let these people out of the country to get additional medical treatment, in particular Mrs Holland," he said.

"We urge the Zimbabwe government to permit those who are injured to obtain the necessary medical treatment."

Opposition to government has escalated

Australia joined the international condemnation of last week's beating, in police custody, of Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mr Tsvangirai was among 50 people, including Mrs Holland, detained by police.

Mr Downer said their detention was evidence of President Robert Mugabe's disregard for democratic principles.

After the assault, Mr Tsvangirai said he needed six stitches to his head. He also lost a lot of blood and suffered a broken arm.

Opposition to Mr Mugabe's regime has escalated dramatically in recent weeks, as unemployment and the cost of living has soared.

However the president Mugabe says he has no intention of stepping down.

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Andrew Meldrum in the Guardian: Mugabe threatens diplomats with expulsion

Read Andrew Meldrum's article on the Mugabe Regime's threat to expel foreign diplomats.

Criticism Rises of African Leaders' Silence on Zimbabwe

The Catholic Church in Zimbabwe has spoken out against South Africa's inaction and silence as the Mugabe regime pursues a reign of terror against the pro-democracy movement.

VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbawe has the story that also includes comments from a Zimbabwe analyst at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies, Chris Moroleng.

"The People No Longer Fear Mugabe Regime and Feel They Have Nothing to Lose."

That is what the United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell, said in an interview in the New York Times today, and he is not incorrect. 

Any observer of the events in the townships (euphemistically referred to here as "high density areas") during the past 3 weeks, the steadfastness and bravery of civil society and the pro democracy political parties here, would come to the same conclusion. The American diplomat stated that:

“The key new element in the equation that has become obvious over the past 10 to 12 days is the new spirit of resistance — some would say defiance — on the part of the people,” the ambassador said.

“The people have lost their willingness to go on; they are losing their fear,” he added. “They believe they have nothing left to lose.”