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Mugabe tortures human rights activist

12 June 2010
STATEMENT FROM MAGUWU’S LAWYER TINOZIVA BERE
FRIDAY

Yesterday Johane Zviuya and myself (Tinoziva Bere) returned to Mutare and left Trust Maanda to process the High Court Bail Appeal and the review application. We had been on this case daily since 3 June 2010 and in Harare since Sunday morning.

We completed our Bail Appeal papers but could not file because the record of proceedings was not available for us to double check some of our grounds. The courts were not fully operational because of the start of the World Cup. Trust gave up around 4.00 p.m. any hope of getting the court record. We will file on Monday first thing.

SATURDAY - FARAI ILLEGALLY SNATCHED FROM REMAND PRISON LAST NIGHT!
We have just received bad news from friends and relatives of Farai who we asked to keep an eye on the ground that Farai was taken illegally or without our knowledge or consent and without his consent from Harare Remand Prison to Mbare's notorious MATAPI POLICE cells.

We deployed our Harare based team member, Trust MAANDA to investigate and he rushed to Harare Remand Prison demanding to see FARAI and if he has been taken then the identity of the person or persons who took him, where they took him too and what authority they had. Sadly, Yes, its true, FARAI was taken last night by CID Law and Order, where the investigating Officer (Detective Inspector Dowa) is based. The team operates under the notorious MAKEDENGE, now a Chief Superintendent. Trust Maanda is now headed to Harare Central Police Station, to Law and Order to demand the immediate return of Farai to Remand Prison and access to him to assess his condition. Beatrice Mtetwa has kindly agreed to assist and is also headed to Harare Central Police station and will meet Trust there. The plan is to seek an urgent High Court order for FARAI to be produced if he is not produced on demand now.

We have reason to fear this is for purposes of interrogation and or torture considering the complaints by FARAI's brother of torture by some in the same team of investigators. We prevented FARAI's possible torture or harassment last week by being present at almost all normal times and at the police station. We stopped the costly surveillance and visits because normally once remanded the Police no longer have control or access to the ACCUSED. But Zimbabwe is not normal and so anything is possible. We noted the exasperation of the POLICE with our constant high powered presence at the side of FARAI and are not surprised, (just infuriated) that they have acted as they did.

If FARAI has indeed been taken from PRISON to MBARE or any other place and should FARAI suffer any harm to his rights or person, the LESSON for the court who could have and should have liberated FARAI is that the courts that do not act to protect the innocent and desperate victims of this repressive systems do bear the blame for the wounds and or blood of victims. These authorities are determined.

KIMBERLEY PROCESS MONITOR ABBEY CHIKANE
Chikane may not be responsible for the actions of the ZIMBABWE authorities but he bears full responsibility for exposing and reporting FARAI whom he (CHIKANE) knows and or must have known is an innocent human rights advocate. It was wrong, unprofessional and irresponsible for an INTERNATIONAL process monitor to report FARAI or anyone to any authority.

It was especially irresponsible for him to have personally attacked and denigrated FARAI in the media on issues brought to him and which he had NOT and has NEVER investigated per his duty. When one reads the part of his report about MAGUWU one is left with a distinct disgust of a kind a human rights defender feels when listening to the POLICE law and order persecutors of FARAI or to the hate talk of politicians that rule this country.

I hope this Abbey Chikane can sleep in peace every night knowing that an innocent human rights defender is daily being persecuted at the instance of and or the complaint of one he took into his confidence. I also hope that the KP community realizes what is happening and how brutality has been unleashed upon an innocent advocate for transparent inquiry into allegations of blood letting and human suffering in CHIADZWA.

As I have said before, whether true or false... the mouth that brought alarm is being silenced before any transparent or thorough inquiry into the allegations. Chikane made the allegations and the authorities have given FARAI no peace ever since. In the meantime Chikane continues a relentless personal and unfounded media attack on an innocent defenseless incarcerated human rights defender. The authorities bolstered by Chikane's public support have put maximum resources to imprison and silence FARAI and announced NOT a single independent or judicial inquiry into these serious allegations. If any sort of weight is placed on what Chikane is advocating then it will be a shame to all concerned including the Kimberly Process community. I hope Chikane can look at himself in the mirror and feel proud...I hope when time to sleep comes he has peaceful nights, otherwise how else could he live with himself!

We will send you an update as events unfold and pray that he is safe. Please do keep FARAI in your prayers. He needs them most now.

Tino Bere & Team

 

 

MDC Chief sees the truth about Mugabe and ZANU at last

But has yet to open eyes on Mugabe's plans on elections

 

By Basildon Peta

 

PRETORIA – Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Thursday it was now clear that ZANU PF never had the intentions to honour its commitments in the global political agreement (GPA) which ushered the coalition government last year.

 

Tsvangirai shared his continuing frustrations in his “marriage of convenience” with President Robert Mugabe at a packed meeting of regional civic society activists in Pretoria yesterday.

 

Despite the frustrations, he nevertheless defended the coalition arrangement as a strategic necessity.

 

“Being a partner in this marriage of convenience has been a painful experience but a strategic necessity that will enable us to reach our destination albeit uncomfortably,” he told the meeting organised by the Southern African Liason Office, regional NGO dealing with social issues.

 

Tsvangirai said it was now abundantly clear that Mugabe’s ZANU PF never intended to implement much of what it signed up to in the GPA.

 

“Being in government with a partner who does not respect the very agreement which they signed up to as a basis for that partnership is a challenge, to put it mildly,” said Tsvangirai.

 

The Prime Minister cited Mugabe’s appointment last week of five new judges, including a judge president, without consulting him as a clear sign that Mugabe paid scant regard to the GPA.

 

He said there was a section of the bureaucracy that continued to resist any changes to the status quo and a “security establishment leadership that no longer feels safe in the unfolding new political dispensation”.

 

“Whether it is resistance to implement agreed democratic reforms, or the looting and misuse of state funds and resources, or the lack of respect for the rule of law and the constitution, or simply the ruthless determination to retain power or usurp power at all costs and by whatever means . . . all of this shows how fragile this marriage is and how fragile the transition process is in Zimbabwe,” he said.

 

But fortunately, Tsvangirai said, the one thing he and Mugabe agreed upon was the holding of fresh elections next year to give effect to the will of the people.

 

It was therefore important to embark on a road map to those elections without a return to violence and to ensure that they are free and fair and the people’s will is respected. It was possible to achieve free and fair elections with the support of the region.

 

He cited a few examples to point to the direction of the possibility of free and fair elections. These were the constitutional reform process, that had been delayed but was now underway, the reform of the electoral system and this week’s decision by authorities to licence five new newspapers including the popular and banned Daily News that is now set to hit the streets.

 

He said his party’s tenure in the new coalition had been a steep learning curve and admitted to making mistakes.

 

“We (the MDC) have had to learn the difficult business of government and the messy business of coalition politics at the same time . . . ” he said. “We have made mistakes and I am the first to acknowledge these and to commit to learning from these mistakes.”

 

He said his party has at times been too caught in its own problems and thereby “distanced ourselves from our traditional partners and our allies. That is a mistake”.

 

“At times, too, we have been so distracted by the daily battles we fight in government that we have lost some of the focus on the clear principles for which we were elected. That is a grave mistake.” – ZimOnline

 

 

 

MDC-T resolutions

17th May 2010 00:36 GMT

By MDC Harare

16 MAY 2010

Resolutions of the MDC National Council

Harvest House, 16 May 2010

A Party of Excellence to deliver Real Change

On the 16th of May 2010, the National Council of the party met in Harare and
held an intense meeting in respect of which the following reports were
received;

a. The report of the Commission of Inquiry on the disturbances at Harvest
House.

b. A report and recommendations from the National Standing Committee of the
14th of May 2010.

c. A report by the Secretary General on the state of the party, the state of
the State and the strategic position of the party.

d. A report by the Organizing Department presented by the Organizing
Secretary Hon. Eng. Elias Mudzuri.

In addition to the above reports discussions were held on the following
matters; a. The issue of indigenization in Zimbabwe,

b. The issue of diamonds and the mining of the same in Chiadzwa, c. The
state of the economy and in particular the issue of the conditions of
service for the civil servants, and

d. The issue of human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

Following extensive discussions, the following resolutions were made;
Violence and disturbances at Harvest House

1. That the party has a zero tolerance towards violence and condemns the
events of the 12th and 14th of April 2010.

1.2 That the following youths who were at the epicentre of the violence are
forthwith expelled from the Party; Rhino Mashaya, Shakespear Mukoyi, Stephen
Jahwi, Todini Todini and Francis Machimbidzofa.

1.3 That the above youths shall not participate in any activities of the
Party and that no member of the Party shall, within the context of Party
activities, associate or entertain the above.

1.4 That the Party condemns violence and offer training on non-violent and
non-confrontational programmes.

1.5 Initiate a process of dealing with trauma for victims of violence and
Party members.

1.6 The Party must adopt a progressive and robust approach on the cases of
employment and welfare.

1.7 Implement a non-violent conflict management and team building programmes
throughout the structures.

1.8 Develop, adopt and implement a sustainable cadreship programmes that
ensure that the party's core values of democracy, human rights, including
women's rights and solidarity are inculcated in all members.

Dialogue

2. That, the parties and the Principals of the parties must take measures to
implement and execute the agreed positions as reflected in the Negotiators
report dated the 3rd of April 2010 and more importantly, must enforce and
uphold the Implementation Matrix as prepared by the Negotiators.

2.2 That on the outstanding issues, which include the following matters; i.
The swearing-in of Roy Bennett,

ii. The issue of the RBZ Governor and Attorney General,

iii. Provincial Governors,

iv. National heroes,

v. Review and reallocation of ministerial mandates,

vi. The chairing of Cabinet,

vii. The unilateral alternation of ministerial mandates, and

viii. The position of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of

Information and Publicity doubling up as the Spokesperson of the President.

2.3 The party urges the immediate convening of a SADC Summit to resolve the
matter which SADC Summit should clearly discuss the roadmap to an election
and the guarantees to the legitimacy of this election.

Indigenization

3. On indigenization, the MDC believes in broad-based empowerment for the
people and for this reason condemns the current proposed indigenization
regulations on the basis that they are elitist, selective and a mere vehicle
for further enrichment of the rich few, self aggrandizement, patronage,
clientelism and further destruction of the economy.

3.2 The MDC recognises that the country currently suffers from lack of
growth, lack of capacity, lack of jobs and weak aggregate demand. To this
extent therefore, the major imperative should be that of growing the economy
so that more jobs are created, foreign direct investment flows in and
capacity is increased. The focus and attempt to redistribute a tiny sick
economy is wrong and misplaced.

3.3 It is our firm view that the original indigenization and empowerment act
should be repealed and be replaced by a new law that balances the
overwhelming imperator of growing and investment in the economy against the
fundamental obligation of broad based empowerment.

3.4 In any event, it is important to marry the indigenization programme with
the experience of the land reform programme. It is important to conclude the
land reform audit urgently so that lessons from the same are properly
applied to any programme that seeks to address the plight of previously
disadvantaged Zimbabweans.

Diamonds and Chiadzwa

4. The party notes with concern the lack of transparency and due process in
the handling of diamonds at Chiadzwa and in the granting of concessions and
mining rights in the same.

4.2 The MDC demands that all concessions and mining rights should be granted
on the principle of transparency and openness involving public auctioning or
public tender processes to be carried out by an independent authority.

4.3 That the current investors at Chiadzwa should comply with Zimbabwe's
laws, in particular the Zimbabwe Investment Act and are prepared to make
equity investment to the State, failure of which their rights should revert
to the State.

4.4 That due process of the law and all court orders issued in respect of
the Chiadzwa claims should be honoured and respected.

4.5 That all income from Chiadzwa should be accounted for transparently to
the State to enable the same to attend to capital and recurrent expenditure
and in particular the adequate remuneration of civil servants.

4.6 That the Zimbabwean government must speed up compliance with the
Kimberly Process and those concerned must equally speed up the process of
certification.

4.7 That the interests of the Marange people must be made paramount and due
process, decency and fairness must be applied in the processes of
compensations and relocations of affected Marange communities.

Resolution on violence and the rule of law

5. As a party, we are aware of the re-emergence of violence in the provinces
and the mushrooming of pungwe bases in the country.

5.2 We are also aware of increased intimidation and the threats and promises
that violence will be unleashed after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

5.3 We are also aware that attempts will be made to violently force citizens
of Zimbabwe to propagate for the adoption of the Kariba draft in the current
constitution making process.

5.4 The MDC strongly condemns violence and coercion in any form whatsoever
and demands that Article 18 of the GPA must be respected and honoured.

5.5 The MDC is also concerned about the selective application of the law
including the Attorney General's failure and reluctance to prosecute
perpetrators of violence following the March 2008 elections in clear breach
of Article 18.5 (c) and (j) of the GPA.

5.6 On another note, the MDC condemns the slow rate of work by the
Constitution Commissions appointed and sworn-in in March 2010. Three months
down the line, the MDC believes the Media Commission in particular ought to
have tangible results of its work.

5.7 The MDC further notes and condemns the continuous breach of Article 19
of the GPA and notes the hate speech and corrosive propaganda propagated in
the Herald.

Resolution on the state of the economy and conditions of service of civil
servants and workers in general

6. The MDC is a social democratic party born from the struggle of the
working people of Zimbabwe. To this extent, the MDC strives to uphold and
improve the living conditions of workers including the paying of reasonable
and equitable wages. The right to a basic wage being a fundamental right.

6.2 The MDC however recognises and abhors the destruction of the Zimbabwe
economy by years of Zanu PF mis-governance and misrule. In the last 13
years, the Zimbabwe economy has lost 60 percent of its value, has seen
continuous negative growth rate and has witnessed capacity utilization
shrinking to 4 -10 percent with unemployment reaching 85 percent.

6.3 In addition, a huge debt continues to stifle an economy that virtually
has no savings and no Foreign Direct Investment.

6.4 The MDC however feels that space can and should be created through
revenue arising from the transparent and professional handling of mining
resources and in particular income from diamond mining in Chiadzwa.

6.5 The MDC is also aware of thousands of ghost workers and Zanu PF militia
on the civil service wage roll. It is important that the civil service audit
be concluded as a matter of urgency. In this regard, we find it unacceptable
that the Public Service Commission continues to stall the same by refusing
to supply critical information to auditors.

6.6 We also express unhappiness with profligate government expenditure in
particular millions of dollars haemorrhaging through travel and subsistence
as well as huge amounts being spent on acquisition of non-productive capital
in particular motor vehicles.

6.7 The MDC also finds unacceptable the charges being levied by public
utilities and local authorities. These charges are high and bear no
reflections to a cost structure but rather to high wages and allowances that
are being paid to senior management in these service providers and local
authorities.

6.8 The party also finds unacceptable the huge speculative rentals being
charged on the people by greedy landlords in many residential areas. These
rentals are eating into the disposable income of the people of Zimbabwe.

6.9 In light of all the above, the MDC recognises the imperator of strong
and decisive leadership and discipline in the management of this economy if
the structural issues raised above are to be overcome.

Committing our Party, our country to God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mix of hope and resignation about the return of independent press

Reporters without Borders

Fed up with years of inactivity because of forced closures and still waiting for their newspapers to be given licences to start working again, Zimbabwe's independent media journalists are drifting in limbo - between hope and resignation - Reporters Without Borders found during a fact-finding visit to Harare from 20 to 23 March, its first trip to Zimbabwe after years of being denied visas.

"The Zimbabwean press has endured enough repression in recent years," Reporters Without Borders said, pointing out that Zimbabwe is ranked 136th out of 175 countries in its press freedom index. "It is time for the government of national unity to demonstrate its will to reform press legislation and liberate the country's media. There have been enough statements. We urge the Zimbabwe Media Council to quickly grant licences to the media that request them."

During the visit to Harare, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk met Jameson Timba, who is the deputy minister of media and information and an adviser to the prime minister, human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, photojournalist Shadreck Anderson Manyere and members of the management and staff of The Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard, NewsDay, The Financial Gazette and the defunct Daily News.

Reporters Without Borders also met a foreign press correspondent, a state media representative, and representatives of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, the Zimbabwean Chapter (Misa-Zimbabwe), the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ), Zimbabwe Journalists for Human Rights (ZJHR) and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR). Reporters Without Borders regrets being unable to meet the head of the Zimbabwe Media Council (ZMC), who did not want to give an interview.

Iniquitous laws

The Zimbabwean press was still one of the most vigorous in Africa at the start of the past decade. The public read the newspapers avidly every day, especially The Daily News. Privately-owned and run by experienced journalists, it was known for its independence and its serious, reliable reporting. "It was a vibrant newspaper and when it came on the market, it was a sell-out almost every day," said Annie Musemburi-Musodza, who used to be former editor Geoffrey Nyarota's assistant. "It sold more copies than The Herald, the state-owned daily."

But President Robert Mugabe, who has been on the Reporters Without Borders list of "Predators of Press Freedom" for years, had the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) passed in 2002. It banned foreign investment in Zimbabwe's media with the sole aim of killing off The Daily News, one of whose shareholders was Scottish. It was followed on 6 August 2007 by the Interception of Communications Act, which made it easier for the political and police apparatus to give free rein to its paranoia by allowing the authorities to monitor email messages and mobile phone calls without having to seek court permission.

This repressive legislation, enabling close surveillance of journalists and constant control of the press, is one of the biggest obstacles to media development in Zimbabwe, an obstacle that the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) is determined to combat. By means of its Media Law Reform Project, this NGO coalition is trying to get parliamentarians to completely overhaul the press laws. It also wants to get "freedom of the media" added to freedom of information in the Zimbabwean constitution.

When Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai reiterated his government's priorities at the end of March, the presentation of a Freedom of Information Bill (to replace the AIPPA) and a Media Practitioners Bill to parliament were mentioned prominently. The 21 March issue of The Standard, an independent weekly, said the government hoped to complete these reforms by the end of the year.

Zimbabwe Media Council and return of independent press

The Zimbabwe Media Council (ZMC), which has replaced the Media and Information Commission (MIC), is supposed to issue newspapers with licences and thereby open the way for the independent press to re-emerge. The promise has hung in the air for months without materialising. "Let's be clear about this," said lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa. "The ZMC is there to save the media. It should be doing its job"

Created in 2009, the ZMC did not officially get under way until its inaugural meeting on 18 March 2010. It was only after months of prevarication and negotiations between Zanu-PF, President Mugabe's party, and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Prime Minister Tsvangirai's party, that the ZMC's nine commissioners were named. They are Godfrey Majonga (chairman), Nqobile Nyathi (deputy chairperson), Chris Mutsvangwa, Matthew Takaona, Chris Mhike, Henry Muradzikwa, Lawton Hikwa, Miriam Madziwa and Millicent Mombeshora.

They are the ones whose job it is to receive and examine the applications submitted by news media. At a meeting with the editors of all of Zimbabwe's newspapers at the start of March, no less a person than the president asked the ZMC to begin to work, fulfil its role and create a space for the media. The prime minister, for his part, insisted that nothing is tying the hands of the ZMC's commissioners. Nonetheless, nothing is happening and it looks as though the ZMC is playing for time.

Reporters Without Borders hoped to meet with the ZMC's chairman, Godfrey Majonga, during its visit. Several requests for an interview were made, but without success. At first, Majonga insisted that he had nothing to add to what was said at the 18 March inaugural meeting. Then he said he could not give an interview on his own as the ZMC was a collective commission. "He has held the position for only seven days," the deputy media and information minister, Timba, said. "Give him a bit of time."

Jethro Goko, the head of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), the company that owns The Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday, pointed out that it obtained favourable high court ruling in 2006. "We are ready," he said. "We are just waiting for the ZMC to give us our licence but we will not reapply because a ruling confirmed four years ago shows we have everything in order. The ANZ does not have a lot of resources but we are dedicated to providing the Zimbabwean people with credible quality newspapers."

Another privately-owned daily, NewsDay, decided not to wait for its licence in order to start working. When the newspaper threatened to begin publishing without a licence in 2009, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of media and information, George Charamba, warned that its journalists would be arrested. NewsDay has gone ahead and hired journalists, who are currently producing a four-page insert that is distributed inside the weeklies The Standard and The Zimbabwe Independent.

Government control of state media, persecution of independent media

Meanwhile, until the ZMC starts issuing licences, the media landscape continues to be dormant and subject to heavy government control.

In the state-owned media, for example, the hands of the journalists are tied by their editors, who take their orders from the government. Amid a constant fear of unfair dismissal, self-censorship is widespread. Six journalists employed by the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) were fired in 2008 for allegedly not giving President Mugabe enough coverage during the election campaign.

ZBC's management took radio presenter Godfrey Gweje off the air in March 2010 for making "subversive political comments" after he criticised the low pay (189 US dollars a month) received by civil servants, then on strike for better pay. The previous week, Wellington Toni was fired as the Sunday News sports editor for referring on a website to corrupt practices in the regional state-owned weekly The Chronicle.

"We cannot express our opinions," a state media representative told Reporters Without Borders on condition of anonymity. "We are men, with weaknesses, and we are afraid."

Freelance journalists and those working for the privately-owned weeklies are often harassed or threatened. Constantine Chimakure and Vincent Kahiya of the Zimbabwe Independent, for example were arrested together in May 2009 and were subsequently the target of judicial proceedings for a year before charges were finally dropped.

Freelance journalist Stanley Gama was summoned to Harare central police station on 30 March, just two days after communication minister Webster Shamu said the harassment of journalists should stop, and was questioned by Chief Superintendent Chrispen Makedenge about his sources for a story in the Zimbabwe edition of South Africa's Sunday Times about a cabinet minister's alleged corrupt practices.

Two months before that, on 15 January, Makedenge made a death threat against freelance journalist Stanley Kwenda over one of his articles for the privately-owned newspaper The Zimbabwean. Makedenge, who has been implicated in the abduction of journalists and MDC members, told Kwenda: "You are not going to last this weekend." Kwenda fled the country.

Nick Maunze, an official in the Zimbabwean government's Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), publicly threatened Godfrey Mutimba, The Standard's correspondent in the south-eastern province of Masvingo, in March. "You must be careful young man, very, very careful because I will reduce you to nothing," he told Mutimba. "I do not care what your papers write about me; they are useless and will not change anything. What I need to tell you and your other reporters is that you should know that I have dealt with even bigger fish which had thick heads."

Referring to opposition activist Job Sikhala, Maunze added: "I am the one who forced Sikhala to drink urine when he was arrested and it is not hard for me at all to deal with an even smaller fish and useless reporters like you. What will you do to me?"

These are just a few examples of the threats and harassment to which Zimbabwean journalists are routinely subjected.

Hounded news photographer Shadreck Anderson Manyere

Kidnapped in December 2008, freelance news photographer Shadreck Anderson Manyere, was subjected to an ordeal comparable to what was inflicted on leading journalist and human rights activist Jestina Mukoko during his next four months in detention. Charged with banditry, sabotage and terrorism, he was held in appalling conditions, brutally interrogated and tortured.

In the year since his release on 18 April 2009, he has had to report to a police station in the capital under pain of being arrested again. This is a major handicap for a freelancer as it means he cannot accept a job in the provinces.

At the same time, Manyere is hounded whenever he works in the capital. He was arrested while covering a demonstration by members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) on 18 January 2010 and then released without charge. On 24 February, he was forced to delete his photos of a demonstration by pro-Zanu-PF activists against western government sanctions against party leaders including President Mugabe. He was arrested at a Harare court on 1 March for taking pictures of detainees as they arrived to face charges of plotting against the government. Told he did not have permission, he was taken to the central police station. He was released the next day after paying a 20-dollar fine but his camera was confiscated.

Manyere told Reporters Without Borders: "Whenever I cover a demonstration or an event, the police ask me: 'Are you working for The Herald or for ZBC?' As soon as I reply that I am a freelancer, they try to confiscate my camera and they often take me to a police station."

"They are after him, that's obvious," lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said. "They want to push him to the limit and force him to give up his profession."

Three years of silence about cameraman Edward Chikomba's death

On 23 March, the last day of Reporters Without Borders' visit, the police raided a Harare art gallery and removed more than 60 photos that had been put on display by the human rights group ZimRights. Most of the photos were taken in the run-up to the 2008 elections and showed the use of violence to disperse demonstrations. They also showed the current prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, with his face swollen from being beaten while in detention.

Freelance cameraman Edward Chikomba, a former employee of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), was one of the people who took the photos of Tsvangirai. He was found dead in Darwendale (60 km west of Harare) on 31 March 2007, two days after being kidnapped by four men suspected of being intelligence officials. They went to his home in Glen View, a high density suburb of Harare, and forced him to get into their four-wheel-drive vehicle at gunpoint.

Chikomba was accused of selling his footage of Tsvangirai to foreign news media. Since leaving the production team of "Vision 30," broadcast by ZBC until 2001, Chikomba had been making documentaries independently for individuals or news media.

According to his wife, who witnessed his abduction, Chikomba knew he was in danger. "I am dead," he said, when he saw the four men arrive outside their house.

No proper, independent investigation has ever been carried out into his death.

Given the current state of the Zimbabwean media and the urgent need to restore press freedom, Reporters Without Borders makes the following recommendations:

 To the Zimbabwean government: Put a stop to the frequent police violence against journalists, quickly foster a climate more favourable to free expression for privately-owned independent newspapers, and open up broadcasting, currently monopolised by ZBC. The two parties, Zanu-PF and MDC, must work in a more determined and concerted fashion. It is time to pass from words to action.

 To the Zimbabwe Media Council: Immediately issue licences to newspapers that request them and conduct itself in a more transparent manner by ceasing to be uncommunicative about its activities, which are not known to the public.

 To the international community (SADC, African Union, European Union, UN and bilateral aid agencies): Put more pressure on Zimbabwe to ensure that opening up the media sector is one of the reform timetable's priorities.

 To South African President Jacob Zuma (as the person mandated by the SADC to ensure full implementation of the Global Political Agreement, a power-sharing agreement between Zanu-PF and MDC): Be firmer with President Mugabe and Zanu-PF. By not cooperating fully with the MDC, President Mugabe and his party are the source of several obstacles to implementation of the power-sharing agreement and are thereby preventing Zimbabwe from advancing with determination down the road of democratisation.

 To Zimbabwean journalists: Try to avoid the very marked polarisation of political life by not taking a pro-Zanu-PF or pro-MDC position and by respecting the principles of neutrality and objectivity in order to provide the Zimbabwean people with better reporting.

 

 

 

War vets fed up with Mugabe

War veterans in Mutoko say they are fed up with
President Robert Mugabe violent policies and are seeking ways of breaking
free although they don't know how to do that.

Mutoko is in Mashonaland east, a stronghold area for Mugabe's Zanu PF.

"There are many of us who are fed up with the system but are afraid that if
they join ranks with the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change ) then they
will lose all they get from Mugabe such as land," said a spokesperson of a
group of war vets who say they are now facing persecution because they want
to break free, Misheck Nyakudanga.

According to Nyakudanga over a 100 bona fide war veterans in Mutoko and
Murewa are fed up of the system of violence but are unable to untangle
themselves from Mugabe's shrewd bondage.

"What we want as war veterans is a platform that will guarantee our safety
from Zanu PF, we are sick and tired of the intimidation in
rural areas," said Nyakudanga.

This comes hardly a few days when a Masvingo man, claiming to be a central
intelligence officer, Innocent Makamure said he felt used by the Mugabe
government and publicly apologised to villagers in his home area in Buhera
for taking a role in state sponsored violence that resulted in some MDC
activists beaten, tortured, harrassed and killed.

Nyakudanga said this group of war vets in Mutoko that had refused to
denounce and persecute MDC supporters in the bloody 2008 Presidential
Election run-off had their war benefits withdrawn, which include pension
funds and education assistance for children.

"We were called up and told that we should denounce the MDC. ...some of us
refused because we believed in the freedom of choice," he said.

According to Nyakudanga several war veterans were taken to Warwick Building,
a Harare Office of the Central Intelligence and threatened in a typical CIO
fashion to be thrown through the windows of a tenth floor building.

"We were summoned several times to Kangaroo Courts for re-vetting, some of
us we were declared that we never participated in the war of liberation,
even though I benefited from the Zd 50 000 grants that were given to war
veterans in 1997 and my membership number was 3545-08," he said.

Many war veterans in the area who faced the racist regime of Ian Smith, have
vowed that they will no longer be used by Mugabe to perpetuate his
stronghold on the nation for 30 years, said Nyakudanga.

Contrary to widespread belief that Mugabe is helping in the welfare of war
veterans, the former freedom fighters in Mutoko say they are
in fact living as paupers.

This is the price for opposing Mugabe in Zimbabwe

11 March 2010

HUMAN RIGHTS IN ZIMBABWE: ONE YEAR INTO THE GOVERNMENT OF

NATIONAL UNITY (GNU) - TIME TO RATIFY CONVENTIONS.

 

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) calls on the Government of

Zimbabwe to ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel,

Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and the International Convention on the

Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Zimbabwe has a protracted and infamous history of gross human rights violations.

Violence, enforced disappearances, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment has become endemic in Zimbabwe particularly, around major political events

like elections and referendums. The Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed between

the three political parties on 15 September 2008 acknowledges these challenges. The

principals to the agreement recognized the multiple threats to the well-being of the

people of Zimbabwe, the polarisation, divisions, conflict and intolerance that

characterised the socio-political environment in the past and undertook to take

effective measures to stop, remedy and ensure non-recurrence of these violations.

In Article XVIII (5) of the GPA, the parties committed themselves to inter alia “promote

the values and practices of tolerance, respect, non-violence and dialogue as a means of resolving

political differences.” This provision reaffirms a determination expressed in the preamble

to “act in a manner that demonstrates respect for the democratic values of justice, fairness,

openness, tolerance, equality, respect of all persons and human rights”. Given the commitment

and determination shown by the parties to the GPA to reform the human right culture

in the country, the Forum is of the opinion that a first step towards this would be the

signing and ratification of all international human rights instruments. In particular the

Forum implores the GNU to ratify the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel

Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and the Convention for the Protection of all

Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Wherefore a year after the inception of the GNU the Forum urges the inclusive

government to ratify these Covenants as a demonstration of its determination and

commitment to building a culture of human rights as envisaged in the GPA.

 

 

 

 

The Voice for Democracy’s message to the MDC, SADC and the Friends of Zimbabwe

on the First Anniversary of the Inclusive Government

Speaking Truth to Power

LET THE JURY OF THE PEOPLE DECIDE

The MDC did not enter into a marriage of convenience, but one of abuse. For all its goodwill, compromises and appeasement, the MDC has been repaid with contempt, provocations and lawlessness. Robert Mugabe has not just been reluctant to implement the provisions of the GPA, he has deliberately set out to sabotage and destroy it. Yet, even as he flexed his muscles and hurled abuse, a battered and deeply compromised MDC smiled for the cameras, vowing never to leave its faithless partner. The Prime Minister soothed the worries of the Friends of Zimbabwe, reassuring them that its rocky marriage was still working, that Robert Mugabe was part of the solution, and that their marriage – the Inclusive Government – should be blessed by the removal of sanctions and rewarded with development aid for its achievements.

 The diplomatic dilemma

 Having won the March 2008 elections, the MDC surrendered wide presidential powers to the very man, Robert Mugabe, who had brought nothing but violence, ruin and misery to the people of Zimbabwe – and left Western diplomats groping for an adequate response. How are the Friends of Zimbabwe to reward the MDC for its efforts to bring peace and recovery while pressuring Mugabe to restore human rights and the rule of law under the GPA? How can they provide development aid to the MDC while maintaining sanctions on Mugabe and ZANU(PF)? In truth, they cannot. The MDC and ZANU(PF) forged an Inclusive Government in which they became two sides of the same coin.

The International Crisis Group’s sanguine belief that increased development aid would reward the moderates while isolating the hardliners was always illusionary. As long as Mugabe maintains his grip on power, any attempts to increase development aid or foster trade and investment will inevitably be captured by ZANU(PF). Similarly, any development aid or the lifting of sanctions to reward the Inclusive Government for achieving a modicum of economic stability will send an unmistakable message to Mugabe: that he and his supporters will not be held accountable for continued human rights violations and their disregard for the rule of law. Their very impunity will be rewarded.

This conundrum for Western powers is now being played out within the EU. Divisions have emerged between Germany and the Denmark that want sanctions eased and Britain and the Netherlands that want them maintained. The expectation is that they will reach a tepid compromise and again urge the Zimbabwean parties to implement the GPA in full. Whatever their decision, the EU and the MDC should disabuse themselves of any hope that easing sanctions will coax Mugabe into meeting his GPA commitments.  There is none.

Western donor countries face similar contradictions in their diplomatic relations with SADC and the African Union, which have repeatedly supported the Inclusive Government’s call for the lifting of limited sanctions and the resumption of development aid. How then do Western governments align themselves to the policies of African countries when SADC, as the guarantor of the GPA, has proved unable to enforce its provisions? Indeed, how can the donors align themselves to SADC decisions when the underlying reasons for imposing targeted sanctions in the first place remain unresolved? The question is: how can the Friends of Zimbabwe extricate themselves from these diplomatic dilemmas and realign their policies with SADC and the African Union?

 International realignment behind a democratic transition

 The first is to face the facts. The international donor community should resist repeating the tired mantra that the parties must implement the GPA in full. The self-evident fact is that the GPA is dead in letter and spirit. Second, they should listen carefully to the voices for democracy.  When the MDC disengaged from their ‘dishonest and unreliable partner’ in October 2009, Morgan Tsvangirai said that the obvious solution would be the holding of a free and fair election to be conducted by SADC and the AU and under UN supervision. As Mugabe still refuses to comply with the GPA, Tsvangirai now says that the only solution is to agree on a road map to an election.

 This presents the international donor community with an ideal opportunity to realign itself with the MDC’s democratic principles and with key advocates of a democratic transition within SADC, notably President Khama of Botswana. Given South Africa’s frustration over the painfully slow implementation of the GPA, diplomatic efforts should be redirected towards convincing an increasingly impatient President Zuma that elections provide a compelling alternative to the GPA. It would not only bring finality to a festering regional problem, but it would enable Zimbabwe’s full reengagement with the international community. Almost immediately, targeted sanctions could be lifted, debts rescheduled, and international development aid resumed. Crucially, it would bring the international community’s policy towards Zimbabwe into alignment with those of the SADC countries.

 The Responsibility to Protect

 Yet, for all the possibilities of democratic elections bringing peace, recovery and growth to Zimbabwe, there stands Robert Mugabe, ready to unleash his dreaded state security and militia on any who dare challenge his self-proclaimed right to rule. And here the Friends of Zimbabwe should heed the words of Finance Minister and the MDC General Secretary, Tendai Biti, when he called for the “holding of free and fair elections under the protection and supervision of SADC to ensure that the dreams of the people are never again dashed nor denied.” Unless the citizens of Zimbabwe are protected to cast their ballots in peace and security there can be no guarantee of free and fair elections: not now, not when we have a new constitution, nor in 3 or 5 years hence.

Gareth Evans, President of the International Crisis Group, has been the boldest advocate of the international community’s responsibility to protect citizens who are threatened with crimes against humanity by their own state. Having realigned themselves behind a democratic transition, western donors and SADC countries should immediately start building a ‘Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect’ that allow Zimbabwean voters to cast their ballots in peace and security during the next election.

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) has already called for the immediate deployment of a SADC delegation to secure an end to political violence. Theirs is an urgent appeal for a comprehensive, standing presence of SADC to be stationed in Zimbabwe until the draft Constitution has been submitted to a referendum and that free and fair presidential and legislative elections have been held. The Voice for Democracy has gone further. We have called for this security presence to be in place until there has been an incontrovertible and peaceful handover of power to the winners of the next election.

 We the Jury 

The MDC has bravely endured endless public humiliations by its arrogant and abusive partner. It must now drop any pretence that its marriage is working and file for divorce by taking its case to SADC and the international community for adjudication, who must let the jury – the people of Zimbabwe – decide on its own leaders through free and fair elections. Therein lies our hope, dignity and freedom.

---

Wednesday 11 February 2010

Mugabe and ZANU latest criminal act

 13,000 ZANU thugs on government payroll

MDC Statement: Zanu PF’s Indigenisation Bill unacceptable criminality

The MDC dismisses the clandestine and nicodemous gazetting of regulations calling for all foreign investors to cede 51 percent of their investment to ‘indigenous people.’

Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, whose ministry is yet to explain how it illegally foisted 13 000 Zanu PF youths on the government payroll, has decided to rail-road controversial, anti-investment regulations without the knowledge of Cabinet and the Head of Government, the Prime Minister.

It is simply a unilateral Zanu PF Bill which has failed to meet not only the basic components of procedure, but has far reaching negative and dire consequences on the much-needed investment in Zimbabwe.

The MDC views these provocative and anti-investment regulations as a deliberate attempt to undermine the country and its people. At a time when Zimbabwe desperately needs foreign direct investment, it is an affront to recovery efforts for the Ministry of Youth and Indigenisation to nocturnally and unilaterally gazette these anti-people and anti-Zimbabwe regulations.

Zanu PF simply wants to create a new arena for looting and abuse. The so-called “indigenous people” who are set to benefit from this criminal Bill are not the ordinary man and woman, but the well-connected elite and the Zanu PF chefs.

 The people of Zimbabwe want real change. They want hope, security, dignity, freedom and prosperity. They want investment so that they can have jobs, food, better health care and education. They want real change yesterday and not cheap politics meant to extinguish hope and undermine the inclusive government.

The MDC calls upon the inclusive government, in the national interest, to reverse all such destructive

 

 

WOZA release report on state of democracy in Zimbabwe one year after formation of GNU

• February 10, 2010

In 2009, WOZA started discussions on what we think the building blocks of democracy are with over 11,000 members, urban and rural, through workshops and a booklet - Building democracy with WOZA. The objective was to raise awareness that Zimbabwe needs a democratic form of government committed to making sure that all the building blocks of democracy are in place for all citizens to enjoy social justice.

As 2009 closed, we conducted a further consultation of the state of our democracy after the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) in February 2009. 4,016 people gave us their views. The results have been released in a report entitled, ‘Hearts starve as well as bodies - give us bread but give us roses too! Democratising Zimbabwe - an opportunity to shine! A WOZA perspective on the state of democracy in Zimbabwe.’ The report is a snapshot of our community activists’ views on the state of democracy in Zimbabwe one year after the GNU was formed.

The main findings of the report include:

• The belief that the power-sharing government has decreased democratic space in Zimbabwe.
• There has been some change for those who are rich but for the poor nothing has changed. It has remained survival of the fittest. The dollarisation of the economy stabilised prices and the economy in general but the gap between rich and poor widened.
• Many expressed no confidence in an election before the constitutional process is complete.
• People want to give their views and write their own constitution but worry that the current consultation process has too many loopholes that can be manipulated to change their views into those wanted by politicians.
• Most agree that they believe that public funds should go through the Ministry of Finance but the Minister must also be transparent about what he does with it.
• The personal security situation for ordinary people is still very insecure.
• Most people polled believe that the rule of law in the country has worsened.

The report also contains a list of steps that WOZA, the mothers of the nation, would like to see before we can believe that democracy is alive and well in Zimbabwe. These include:

1.     Elections - Before the referendum, we need to have confidence that a voter’s roll will be transparently prepared and displayed for viewing. We need a truly independent electoral commission.

2.     Opposition - we need to see democracy in action - a genuine welcoming of different political voices.

3.     Civil rights - we are citizens with rights and must be allowed to enjoy all our rights without fear or harassment. We look forward to the passing of the bill amending POSA. We need to see the promised security sector reform with special attention on police reform because it is police who abuse our rights on a daily basis.

4.     Rule of law - start to prosecute perpetrators of politically motivated violence urgently - everyone must obey the law or be punished.

5.     Separation of powers - The presidential appointment of Tomana and Gono has resulted in a further mixing up of the functions of government. For judicial reform, Tomana and other political appointees in the Attorney General’s office must go and be replaced by professional people who will balance the scales of our justice system.

6.     Equality - we are writing this into our new constitution. Please Parliamentary Select Committee do not betray this ideal by cheating us when we give you our views.

7.     Transparency and accountability - As long as we have a politically partisan Reserve Bank governor, there will be no investor confidence, jobs will not be available and workers receive a living wage - therefore Gono must go. Minister Tendai Biti, we need more transparency and accountability from you. Studying your strategy from the trenches, it looks like you want to squeeze money out of poor people’s pockets to fund the recovery. You need to do better to cushion the poor! You must stop the police from criminalizing informal traders. Please don’t forget about the children’s education, they are our future.

8.     Participation of the people - our report is called hearts starve as well as bodies - give us bread but give us roses too!  We want our ‘rose’, which is our own constitution! Allow a genuine people-driven process for the constitutional consultation for our full participation. Disband militia camps and let our children come home. The police must stop arresting people without good reason; police officers are crucial to allowing people to feel free. To the three principals, you promised us a “society free of violence, fear, intimidation, hate, patronage, corruption and founded on justice, fairness, openness, transparency, dignity and equality.” Now it is time to deliver on what you promised

Showdown at high noon: Biti hits out at ZANU.

STATEMENT BY MDC SECRETARY GENERAL, HON. TENDAI BITI

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Over the past 12 months the MDC has repeatedly shown its willingness
to work with Zanu PF to rebuild Zimbabwe, restore the people?s
freedoms and deliver real change as agreed in the Global Political
Agreement (GPA).

In this government, the MDC has unleashed its positive energy for the
benefit of all Zimbabweans to restore basic services, and deliver hope
and real change to our nation. Despite the sincerity we have displayed
(some would say naivety) and the legitimacy we bring to the government
as a result of the overwhelming support we have from the people of
this great country, Zanu PF has refused to acknowledge that their
failed policies of the past have been soundly rejected by the masses
and that process of change is irreversible.

Instead, they have continued to use the inclusive government to wage
war against the MDC, our supporters and the people at large.  Zanu PF
continues to use the public media, the constitutional process, the
commercial farms, the diamond mines and the civil service as the
battlefields for its destructive agenda aimed at perpetuating their
selfish grip on power.

Their determination to enrich themselves at the expense of national
development risks keeping all our citizens mired in poverty.  In
addition, they have committed themselves to conducting an overt
onslaught against the person, principles and agenda of the President
of the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai, to thwart his vision of delivering real
change to the people of Zimbabwe.

Rather than blaming President Tsvangirai for imaginary wrongs, it is
time that Zanu PF took responsibility for the dark decade of poverty
and violence their policies unleashed on the innocent people of this
nation.  In the last four weeks, following the Zanu PF congress, we
have seen an acceleration of destruction and insanity on the part of
the former ruling party. We have seen an increase in the decibels of
destabilisation and recklessness. This has been manifested in unlawful
farm invasions, disobedience of lawful court orders, the above-
referred vitriol against the President of the MDC and intransigence at
the negotiating table.

It is clear as a pikestaff that Zanu PF is creating the conditions for
the total breakdown of the inclusive government. It is clear to us
that Zanu PF are making a case for the establishment of irreconcilable
differences amongst the parties leading to a total breakdown of this
relationship.  Our message to Zanu PF is that we will not be baited by
these nocturnal acts of self-destruction. However, we will also not
allow ourselves or the people of Zimbabwe to be bullied or abused by a
coterie of men and women who have never put Zimbabwe first.

This government was born out of hope, courage and the commitment of
the people to peaceful, democratic change. It is clear that Zanu PF is
trying to strangle this fledgling authority on its first birthday and
if they continue their regressive policies they must be prepared to
take full responsibility for the irretrievable breakdown of the
inclusive government.

Zanu PF must however understand that there is a price to everything.
The inevitable consequence of their homicidal actions would be the
holding of free and fair elections under the protection and
supervision of SADC to ensure that the dreams of the people are never
again dashed nor denied.

The MDC is ready for this election.

Zanu PF cannot continue to have their cake and eat it. They cannot
continue to be normative members of this government when in fact they
are working against it at every turn. It is simple. Either they are in
or they are out. If they are in, the onus is on them to cease their
violations of the laws of Zimbabwe, start respecting our party
President and implement the commitments they signed up to in the GPA.
If they are out, then bring on the election.


Zimbabweans are tired of political bickering and their hope for 2010
is that all members of this government will have one common vision,
that of rebuilding our economy, creating jobs, restoring food security
and promoting the people?s freedoms. Whatever choice they make, the
process of change in Zimbabwe is irreversible and the MDC remains
committed to standing by the people and by the ideals of the
liberation struggle to deliver hope and real change to every
Zimbabwean.

Together to the end, marching to a New Zimbabwe.