Zimbabwe

[brianold]

the situation in zimbabwe is one of complexity. robert mugabe has undertaken a massive land re-distribution project.

some say he is kicking his own people, black folks, off of their land or the homes that they've set up in public spaces because they cannot afford to buy private land. this is common known as squatter settlements and can be found in almost every african country. really, any country, period.

others say that mugabe is rightfully kicking out white farmers who benefitted from colonialism from the british on zimbabwe. they say that he is simply performing some sort of affirmative action or reparations campaign.

this space is dedicated to zimbabwe.

[brianold]

BLACK AND WHITE ARE NOW UNITED AGAINST MUGABE'S BRUTALITY
BY Christina Lamb, author and journalist
When I hear anyone defending Robert Mugabe, a series of images come into my head

The first is of a skinny lady called Precious arrested and beaten for selling sadza on the streets of Harare to pay her children's school fees. The second is a rather large woman called Glory crying amid the pink rubble of her Hair Palace where once she had braided hair and dispensed advice on matters of the heart with equal skill.

Both were among the hundreds of thousands of victims of Operation Murambatswina, or "Drive Out the Filth". A year ago this week I arrived in Zimbabwe to find much of the country turned into an apocalyptic landscape wreathed with plumes of smoke and scattered with fleeing refugees clutching the scant belongings they had managed to salvage in bundles on their heads or strapped onto wheelbarrows.

As a foreign correspondent who has covered wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Angola and Liberia, I have seen some pretty shocking things. But nothing has affected me so profoundly as wandering through the smoking ruins of Mbare, the southern suburb of Harare that sprawls around Zimbabwe's oldest and largest market. It looked as if a tsunami had passed through, reducing the famous market into drift-piles of smashed wood, twisted metal and trampled tomatoes.

As I watched Mugabe's police with bulldozers and axes smash the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, I realised this was a man who does not care what he does to his own citizens in order to stay in power. The victims were not beggars or criminals, but those like Precious and Glory who had struggled to make a decent life for themselves and their children.

Mugabe has been successful in the rest of Africa as portraying himself as fighting against the injustices left by colonialism. We in the Western media played into his hands by focusing on the plight of the white farmers who were beaten, kicked off their farms and 18 of them murdered. But the real victims were the hundreds of thousands of black farm-workers who lost their homes and jobs and were forced to flee to the Remote Areas where today they survive on baobab pods and fried termites.

What is happening in Zimbabwe is about power not race. In August 2002, at the height of the land invasions, I went to an ostrich farm in Wenimbi Valley, the only farm in the area still in white hands. The farm had been invaded by war vets, but not yet taken over. We had a rather surreal tea on the lawn, nibbling Madeira cake as we looked over the huts of the squatters who at night terrorised the family. To my surprise, the farmer Nigel Hough invited his black maid Aqui to join us and I was impressed by their relationship.

BETRAYAL

A week later, the farm was taken over. Shortly afterwards Nigel came to London and we met for a coffee across the road from Highbury station. To my shock he told me that Aqui had led the takeover, spitting and yelling at him. Clearly, her betrayal had hurt him more than the actual loss of the farm.

Aqui was later to regret her action and redeem herself. Over the last four years, on repeated clandestine visits to the country (Mugabe does not welcome foreign journalists) I have spent many days talking to both her and Nigel. They were born within six months of each other, but in completely different circumstances - she in a mud hut in the Remote Areas, an hour's walk from the nearest well while he on an affluent farm with swimming pool and tennis courts. They grew up through the liberation war - but on opposing sides - and were 18 as Zimbabwe became Britain's last African colony to become independent.

Today Mugabe's brutal actions has put them on the same side and I realised that through their experiences, white and black, perhaps I could tell the real story of Zimbabwe.

Christina Lamb's new book, 'House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-Torn Zimbabwe' is published by Harper Press (£14.99)

Story from Voice-Online
http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=9327
Copyright © GV Media Group Ltd 2006. All rights reserved.

[Nathaniel]

Zimbabwe: Govt Critics Still Being Tortured, Says Report

Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)

June 11, 2006
Posted to the web June 12, 2006

Our Staff


STATE security agents continue to use torture to punish government critics, The Standard has established.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum said this when it unveiled its April 2006 Political Violence Report which shows that Zimbabweans are still being subjected to inhumane or degrading treatment at the hands of security agents.

The purpose of the monthly reports is to record the nature of the politically motivated violence and intimidation that continues to prevail in the country.

These reports are primarily based on victims' accounts, accompanied by medical evidence where possible, and obtained from member organisations of the Human Rights Forum and other partner organisations.

"The month of April saw torture being sustained," the latest report says. "On 14 April, Nixon Nyikadzino, an NCA (National Constitutional Assembly) activist was tortured by Military Intelligence agents. The Human Rights Forum deplores the torture of Nyikadzino and urges the Government to bring to book perpetrators of this shameful and unlawful act.

"The Forum further urges the Government to comply with international norms on torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment as stipulated in the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)."

Relevant Links

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The report added that 11 NCA demonstrators were allegedly tortured for demonstrating peacefully in support of a new constitution for the country.

"The Human Rights Forum urges the Government to respect the rights of people to freedom of assembly, expression and association as enshrined in the Constitution and international instruments to which Zimbabwe is a party."

The Human Rights Forum also expressed concern at reports of intra-party political violence between the two MDC factions, the Arthur Mutambara-led and the Morgan Tsvangirai-led factions. "This violence, coupled with repression from the Government, has led to a situation where Zimbabweans believe it is a crime to participate in the politics of the country, a right which is protected by the Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other international instruments."


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Copyright © 2006 Zimbabwe Standard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). Click here to contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material.

[brianold]

kofi annan (u.n. commissioner) and thabo mbeki (south african pres.) are going to be meeting with mugabe soon to try and convince him to resolve the human rights violations going on in his country.

good to see african leaders checking eachother. mbeki was acting scared for so long.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200606160131.html