Justice Ben Hlatshwayo of the High Court judge has deferred until Monday the bail ruling on the case involving the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions leaders. Their lawyer Alex Muchadehama said Secretary General Wellington Chibebe and President Lovemore Matombo are being accused of communicating falsehoods, when they allegedly told workers during May Day celebrations this year that two teachers had been murdered at Kondo School in Guruve. Both deny that they ever said this.

The runoff for Zimbabwe's presidential election will be held June 27, Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission said Friday. The runoff is the second round of voting after the March 29 election, which saw opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai receiving more votes than President Robert Mugabe.

Mr. Fletcher did you protest against the illegal sanctions placed Zimbabwe? [Zimbabwe: Black America must not be silent; []

Did you write that African-Americans should not be quiet about these illegal sanctions? Furthermore, I feel that you should speak to the leaders in that region, if you have not already done so, because they have not put great pressure on Mugabe. In fact, President Mbeki of South Africa said there is no crisis. Many African-American leaders really scare me because of their love for Rome (I mean America). They are usually used against the interests of African people.

As long as the legacy of Apartheid has not been fully erased, and the playing field levelled so that ALL South Africans benefit from the alleged Independence and the end of apartheid, I would say, Jeremy Cronin - Why South Africa will never be like Zimbabwe; better believe that the Jewish saying, "from your mouth to God's ear," is in place.

I am always fascinated by those who regard the current state of South Africa as being the best that can be, for the masses of black and brown South Africans. I even went to a lecture at an American graduate school, where a white American had gone and used a pool of 1000 different people. He came back to give a talk on how South Africans of color are wishing apartheid would return, since things were better for them. I also find alot of skilled black South Africans still in exile, or in the diaspora, because they are being told that dual citizenship is the problem or some other excuse. I see nothing in the quality of life of the majority of South Africans of color to make me believe that their patience with the "Tommorrow" that even one of my siblings used to describe the slow changes will continue indefinitely.

There is also something else, the world is getting very hostile to those of a different hue, setting up Fortress Europe, and the Fence along the US border, etc. etc. It becomes harder and harder to accept that we, Africans, who have been exploited and abused for so long, and even after the alleged dismantling of apartheid, will continue to tolerate the stories that come out, throwing the kaffir to the lions, abuse on farms, forcing workers to eat...

We read about South Africans being used as laboratory animals for experimental drugs, and then read about the disasters created by this. We read and hear about South Africa being turned into a place where Brazilians are brought for the their organs to be harvested for a market that is not in South Africa, and knowing the legacy of apartheid; this is just a small part of what is really happening.

We see the disasters that are happening in the mines, and the fact that many miners where let go to a bleak future whilst DeBeers moved its trading to the UK and now has a huge flagship store in New York...

The only constant is change, and South Africa still has the chance to avoid a Zimbabwe, but from what one hears and sees, Apartheid is still alive and well, and doing a brisk business. So, I do not see anyone forcing the redressing of wrongs, whites never give up what they deem theirs by some right of skin, or belief in a god that has made the earth theirs. I do not see or hear anything from South Africa that shows that the "droit de seigneur" that whites feel has changed. Instead, one sees the slow attempts to continue the 'cape to cairo' fantasy of Rhodes and the other imperialists. The recolonization of Africa that is now being implemented.

My parents gave up alot in leaving their homeland, and took us with them. I was born a month before Apartheid became the law, and saw what it did to ALL of us of color. I was also in Zimbabwe when the Federation of Rhodesias and Nyasaland was dismantled, and the Ian Smith era.

I still have not been fortunate to go home, though my siblings have returned. I do not read or see anything that makes me in a hurry to go home, though life in the diaspora is no paradise. My father advised me on his return to South Africa, not to come home yet, and I will follow his advice, it would be difficult to go home to the same "For Whites only" system. So, Jeremy Cronin, I do hope you are right, and believe the redressing of a lot of the wrongs of the Apartheid era would go far in preventing a Zimbabwe, but from what I hear, "it is too soon, ten more years!!" I find myself not as optimistic, the Wheel turns, and lost opportunities can come back to haunt those who believe that "South Africa will never be like Zimbabwe," it could in fact be a lot worse.

I have been avoiding the feeling that there is an agenda at work here, in which Southern African countries, i.e., Zimbabwe and South Africa, are in the crosshairs. I do not see any article on Bongo, in Central African Republic, or the Cameroonian President who is going to be declared the lifetime "head of state", the fact that in Liberia, local elections were called off the reason being given, " a lack of resources" yet these "resources" could be found to entertain and welcome President Bush.

I have wanted to avoid the feeling that pambazuka was being financed and used as a tool, but find myself wishing to have a question answered by the Editor, "Why is the focus solely on Zimbabwe and South Africa, and all the issues being discussed are those on the agenda of the alleged, "civilized world"? Why does one not see articles on the plight of the Somalis who have been invaded by a foreign state, and are being bombed from US warships along the coast? Why are we not hearing of the plight of those Somalis starving, and let us not forget those in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia? When the focus of your organization is solely on countries in the crosshairs of neo colonialists and imperialists, who now covert the wealth of Africa, and are concentrating all their resources into destabilizing and undermining legitimate African governments, one wonders who are you serving? AFRICA or foreign interests that are hostile to African aspirations?

I do not wish to discontinue receiving your newsletter and other information, since it does provide a window into just how entrenched and scary the control of information and real news on Africa and real African interests is. I mean for what one is now constantly reading on your website, one could as easily read the BBC, New York Times, Daily News, New York Post and all the other corporate controlled media in the West.

Just throwing this out there. Keep on sending the stuff, it is, for lack of a better word, "fascinating!!!!"

Editors: We look forward to your articles on the topics you feel we are not covering adequately.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/370/48056women.jpgAs a result the terror campaign by the military and the youth militia, the most affected are women and children as 80% of Zimbabwean women live in the rural areas. This statement urges women in Africa and the world to take action against the Mugabe government.

On March 29,2009 Zimbabwe went to the polls to elect its next government until 2013.Results for the Presidential elections were announced a month later and people in Zimbabwe maintained peace. From 2 April 2008 the government organised a retribution campaign to target those who allegedly voted for the opposition and since then there has been terror in mostly rural Zimbabwe with youth militia under the command of the army and police have gone on to unleash terror in a campaign to teach the rural people how to correctly vote in the forthcoming presidential run off supposed to take place on 23 May according to the law but whose date remains unannounced

As a result the terror campaign by the military and the youth militia, the most affected are women and children as 80% of Zimbabwean women live in the rural areas. So far, over 800 homes have been burnt down, over 10 000 people have fled their homes, over 40 people have been shot dead in cold blood, over 7000 teachers have fled their schools as a number have been beaten in the eyes of parents and pupils, Doctors for human Rights report that over 2000 serious cases of physical torture and beatings have passed through their hands and a lot of those they treated have suffered serious fractures to an extent that most are permanently handicapped. The oldest victim of the post election violence is an old woman with 12 grandchildren all of them orphaned and whose son is alleged to have campaigned for the opposition. The youngest female victim is a 15 year old girl who was stripped naked together with her pregnant mother forced to lie down and beaten on the breasts and buttocks. Many women including the old have been forced to strip naked and beaten on the breasts and buttocks. 7000 teachers, a third of them women have fled their homes and several schools mostly in rural areas are closed. Several girls and women are feared raped. The youngest child seriously assaulted is only 3 years. Despite calls from all corners of the world for the violence to stop, it has become worse and we fear more and more people are getting killed and buried

Our situation is such that an estimated 5 million Zimbabweans mostly professionals and the young have left the country. An estimated 3 million are in South Africa with half being illegal immigrants facing inhuman deportations daily. Women cross border traders cross over the crocodile infested Limpopo River and many have been allegedly raped. HIV and AIDS prevalence is 60% among women and girls and their life expectancy is 34 years. Domestic violence is rife with a woman killed or left dead weekly. Unemployment is 80% and inflation is 165 000 % and the highest in the world. 95% of women of the 200 000 women made homeless and jobless by the government 2005 Operation Restore Order which demolished their homes and markets that earned them an income has left them in the open cold and in commercial sex work since then and now the same women are alleged to have voted opposition and have gone through torture.

At least 6800 girls get raped annually and with the current displacements the number is expected to treble. Most female teachers have been displaced and many have fled the country and a lot more have sought refuge in the cities. Access to the rural areas has always been a big challenge for humanitarian organisations but now that women in rural areas are held hostage by the militia and the army and the rural areas have been declared no go areas we have seen it almost impossible to assist. Women Directors of NGOs are on government hit list that seeks to arrest, detain and destroy the organisation.

Zimbabwean women in rural areas constitute women abandoned by husbands and dumped in the rural areas because of HIV status, they have gone through the war of liberation in the 1960s and 1970s and war songs by the youth militias at their doorsteps have left them semi slaved. The worst is that they have been beaten because their husbands, brothers, uncles, boyfriends ,grandsons and other male relatives allegedly campaigned for the opposition. Old grandmothers struggling to feed orphans and sickly, women who are bed ridden, orphaned HIV positive children, the poorest and weakest have been tortured, terrified, displaced from homes and the organisations that normally help them are denied access and with most of the leaders on the government hit list.

OUR URGENT APPEAL FOR ACTION TO AFRICAN WOMEN AND THE WOMEN WORLD ALL OVER THE WORLD

- First we come to you because we have exhausted all channels and have failed to get help and urgent attention .Please help us find how best we can deal with the situation and appeal to anyone you know who can help victims get immediate help like medication, safe shelter, counselling and support leaders of women’s groups with security as they are also under threat and have been victimised and most of them are on the government hit list for those to be tortured and eliminated

- Reach out to SADC and AU Countries to put in place measures to protect women and girls fleeing Zimbabwe to take refuge in neighbouring countries

- Help us to see how we can use the AU protocol for women’s rights for protection of women and girls. Zimbabwe ratified the AU protocol

- Help us get SADC and UN put in place a security and protection plan for women and girls and help demilitarise the youth militia and stop torture of ordinary citizens

- Get our case on crimes against humanity taken to the UN security council. We have all the documented evidence since the terror started in 2000 to have the perpetrators brought to book

- Mobilise female ministers and female vice Presidents to convene an urgent meeting in the region and make appeals to the Liberian President Her Excellency Ellen Johnson to help us broker peace talks in Zimbabwe with leaders of women’s groups in the continent

- Help us set up African women in solidarity with Zimbabwe women focal point persons in African countries who go to their Presidents to lobby them to come to the urgent rescue of Zimbabwean women

- Pass on this message to any networks you know and those who can assist should email [email][email protected] or [email][email protected] and we will refer you to all the women in Zimbabwe working in various areas.

**Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

I must express deep appreciation to Jeremy Cronin for his piece on the Zimbabwe election struggle (Why South Africa will never be like Zimbabwe: ). His use of the rural site of struggles (for Zanu PF) in contrast to the urban-township sites (for ANC combatants), to struggle from, is most helpful in understanding the possible power of the mass-base to monitor and discipline their post-freedom leaders.

That analysis does, however, have problems when compared with the experience of TANU/Chama Cha Mapinduzi in Tanzania (with its predominantly rural base); as compared to Kenya, where KANU under Kenyatta's determination to create a "Kenya aristocracy" (according to an interview he gave to Sunday Times Magazine in London 1967), met a different fate. In the former, Nyerere used various devices, including his stepping down from Prime Ministership for one year to tour among the rural majority so as to devise strategies for holding elected politicians accountable and committed to the implementation of "one-party democratic elections" as well as to "Ujamaa". In Kenya, Kenyatta ruthlessly demobilized the party and its branches; and eliminated all effective challengers among the political class, including Tom Mboya. Pio Gama Pinto and J.M. Kariuki.

In this regard, Cronin's quip about Fidel Castro not blaming the failure of Americans to subsidize Cuba's tobacco or sugar-based economy, is most apt in highlighting the role of bold and ideologically focused leadership. He, however, fails to bring in that invisible but creatively lethal force called the rump of the White Settler political class that had known power and political management, including electoral competition ( albeit within a limited racial electorate), since the 1920s. Their combination of control of economic power, deep political experience and bitter but resurgent ambition for power, must not be left out of the picture.

Mugabe had made the mistake of failing to constantly call attention to this critical mass of race-located economic and political energy whose critical location made them a vital entry-point for any external British, American and European Union "sabotage" initiatives against Mugabe. As an example, the political skills of this class was demonstrated during the summit of Commonwealth leaders when they met in Abuja, Nigeria's capital. The efforts of their agents to capture the debate on Zimbabwe at sessions held by civil society groups, was formidable; if crude in parts when white individuals found it hard hiding their commandist relationship with the black activists in their team.

A critical focus on this group, and its much larger and more complex sector in South Africa, must not be hidden by a form of analysis that appears like a form of 'tribalism by silence' by analysts who share or do not share their aspirations for a return to the front row in post-Mugabe Zimbabwe and post-Mbeki South Africa. Such silence inhibits a creative and continuous engagement of this group for the challenge to undertake internal regeneration towards contributing to building de-racialized political and economic cultures in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Seen in this light, their possible success in exploiting Mugabe's disadvanatges since 1980, should not be glorified without drawing attention to poisonous racism that drives it; and their failure to join hands in creating rehumanized freedom and equality-rooted new societies.

President Obasanjo went on television in Nigeria to take some of the blame for Mugabe's difficulties. He told Nigerians that in 1980 and 1990 African leaders pressurized Mugabe and Zanu PF to stay their hands off land-reform. In 1990, African leaders begged Mugabe to make it easy for the conservative white settlers in South Africa to go along with getting Nelson Mandela out of prison; and for the elections, that gave power to the ANC, to be held. This information should be put on the table as we judge Mugabe. That, as Cronin rightly insists, must not exonorate the policy failures and crimes against the people of Zimbabwe by Mugabe and the Zanu PF's class of 'primitive accumulationists'. But my stomach did get some bitter knots when I watched Jacob Zuma on a BBC interview dismissing the political delays of the election agency in Zimbabwe while failing to acknowledge shackles that Mugabe was pressured to wear by other African leaders in the interest of ANC.

I deeply appreciate Cronin's drawing attendion to the gap in the political education that the ANC went through in comparison to the highly compressed military-combat dominated schooling of Zanu-PF. A deeper exploration of such factors would give value to his analysis; and be a useful guide for comparative studies of experiences with succession traumas in other African countries.

Finally, it is not honourable to treat Mugabe as if he had tripple machine-gunned MDC challenegers. He is also decades away from Idi Amin's treatment of Asians in Uganda and Amin's use of massacres of opponents as a form of remuneration for his killer squads: from the first night of his grabbing power in 1971 to his last moments of panic and flight in 1979. Put the credit on the Catholic priests who gave Mugabe education, or Ian Smith's barbaric refusal to let Mugabe see his sick child when he was in detention; but do give Mugabe credit where he deserves it. That will help us build a healthy tradition of critical review of leadership and governance in Africa while plucking off warts from out plumes.

Henning Melber looks at the possibilities for a people-centred opposition and ultimately a true liberation in Namibia and Zimbabwe, after years of misrule by the liberation movements-turned-ruling parties.

‘There is a need for a healing of the nation. The process of national healing and reconciliation is unlikely to proceed as long as society is still polarised. In addition, without also addressing past crimes, corruption, marginalisation and poverty, it is unlikely that reconciliation can be achieved.’

This insight was contained in the Kenya mission report of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). It was submitted by the APRM panel of eminent persons to the continent’s heads of state at the African Union summit in July 2006.[1] One and a half years later, Kenyan society was traumatised by the worst violence since independence and its people more divided than ever. The (allegedly orchestrated) civil war-like situation erupted over disputed election results. It showed that, beneath the surface of a seemingly peaceful society, deep-rooted antagonisms could be mobilised to unleash blind hatred and massive destruction of property and lives between people who had hitherto lived in relative peace with each other. In such circumstances an assumed socio-political stability proved to be treacherous, fragile, and prone to easy manipulation.

Many societies in Africa are confronted with similar challenges. Since the mid-1990s national reconciliation initiatives have emerged in a series of African countries. These were inspired by the widely praised Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa, which symbolised the country’s collective effort to come to terms with a past that still dominated its present and could have a lasting impact on its future. Despite all its limitations, the TRC has been widely perceived as an encouraging initiative, as a lesson in bringing skeletons out of the closet and dealing publicly with the lasting effects of violence and counter-violence. Far from solving structurally rooted historical legacies and their daily impact on the lives of ordinary citizens, or ending discrimination, or bringing to task many of the perpetrators, it brought to the fore the need to address history in the present.[2] Similar initiatives were taken in other war-torn societies marred by organised repression and mass violence, which had left festering wounds and scars among people now longing for healing and seeking a common future.

Two former settler societies neighbouring South Africa are among the countries whose governments did not follow this trend and refused to seek national reconciliation by means of public debate and transitional forms of justice and reconciliation. Zimbabwe and Namibia achieved their independence through long anti-colonial struggles led by liberation movements. In both cases the final defeat of colonialism was not achieved through the barrel of a gun (although the military dimension had an important role in forcing the colonial power to the negotiating table) but through agreements reached between the parties for change. These provided a transitional framework which limited the space for social transformation and the redistribution of wealth.

As a result of this negotiated decolonisation, the former liberation movements (Zanu PF in Zimbabwe and SWAPO in Namibia) were elected as legitimate governments in 1980 and 1990 respectively and have held absolute political power and control over the state bureaucracy since then (although, as we can currently see in Zimbabwe, not for eternity). In contrast to South Africa’s democratically elected government under the ANC, the Zimbabwean and Namibian political leadership never pursued anything similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Instead, they proclaimed national reconciliation as some kind of pragmatic agreement which became effective with independence. Their policy was to leave the past behind, with no public debate or dialogue over the injustices committed (although selective reference to colonial crimes was made when needed and commemorated as part of the liberation gospel).

In both societies the justification for casting this kind of official smokescreen over the colonial past was rooted to some extent in the argument that the repressive machinery of colonial occupation had been staffed and executed by many who at independence could no longer be held accountable. This was either because of an amnesty declared for those on all sides of the conflict, or because some of the worst abusers of human rights had retreated to their British or South African countries of origin. National reconciliation was defined in terms of closing the colonial chapter without seeking justice through institutionalised hearings or other forms of coming to terms with the past. The cleansing process, which to some extent was initiated and implemented in the South African TRC, was conspicuously absent. Not so, however, the collective blame placed on colonialism for all subsequent failures in post-independence nation-building and re-structuring of society, which (despite some relevant aspects) was often used as an excuse to evade responsibility for ‘good governance’.

This seemingly pragmatic (and rather self-righteous) approach denied the need and missed the opportunity to deal with failures in the ranks of the liberation movements themselves. This had never been the main issue in the TRC, but was unavoidably brought to the fore when the excesses of the apartheid regime were laid open. Even though the degree of self-critical examination of human rights violations within the ANC was rather limited (and hampered the final process of publicising the TRC report’s findings), it nevertheless became an issue for which President Nelson Mandela apologised to the victims and their families. Having been imprisoned for almost three decades since the early 1960s, Madiba was a charismatic leader and moral role model who could apologise for failures in the exiled ANC, for which he was obviously not personally responsible, nor perhaps even aware. This sign of remorse and indirect moral responsibility only added to his aura.

In contrast, both Robert Mugabe of Zanu PF and Sam Nujoma of SWAPO were active leaders in exile, deeply involved in internal power struggles. They were not only an integral part of the authoritarian hierarchy but its personification. In ultimate charge of the command structures dominating their liberation movements, they were to some degree personally accountable for the abuses and malpractice within their ranks. As heads of state they were not inclined to address such issues. Instead, past injustices on all sides would be put to rest. By doing so, however, the liberation movements sacrificed the moral high ground they had been able to occupy vis-à-vis the oppressive colonial regimes. Their own failures remained unfinished business and left festering wounds within the new post-colonial societies. The dominant mindsets emerging at independence represented more of an old order than a new one and showed the limits to liberation.[3]

In Zimbabwe, violence within and between the liberation movements escalated soon after independence in organised massacres in Matabeleland (the western part of Zimbabwe occupied mostly by Ndebele-speakers considered in large part to be supporters of the Joshua Nkomo-led ZAPU, which competed with Zanu PF for power). Between early 1983 and late 1986, an estimated 20,000 people were killed in horrific acts of barbarism carried out by the Fifth Brigade of the Zimbabwe National Army, trained by North Korean military advisors. Although known and reported at the time, the massacres went largely ignored, even by the former colonial power. Described by Robert Mugabe as Gukurahundi (‘the rain that washes away the chaff before the summer rains’), this organised mass violence was a defining moment for his regime. The Catholic church in Zimbabwe was a lonely voice in revealing the scale of the atrocities.[4] Since then, the openly violent character of Mugabe’s rule has drawn worldwide attention. However, it only became a concern for the international community (represented by Western countries) when the so-called fast-track land reform process dispossessed most of the commercial farmers and portrayed the conflict (misleadingly so) as one between a remaining white settler minority and the government. This suggests a moral selectivity in Western perceptions, which the populist rhetoric of the despotic regime managed to exploit.

As part of the Namibian independence process, several hundred members of SWAPO in exile, who were accused of being South African agents, were released and repatriated in mid-1989. Known as ‘ex-detainees’, they shared their plight with the Namibian public at home. Since the early 1980s several thousand were thought to have been imprisoned, tortured and raped in camps in southern Angola. Many did not survive the ordeal; others remain missing. Ever since their return, these ex-detainees have asked for rehabilitation and an apology from SWAPO for the human rights violations committed.[5] But the liberation movement in power has applied a policy of denial, on the grounds that this would open wounds and thereby put peace and stability at risk. Moreover, SWAPO argued, the atrocities by the South African regime and its local collaborators would also need to be scrutinised in return, which would undermine national reconciliation. Instead, and similar to the official narratives cultivated by Zanu PF in Zimbabwe, SWAPO started a ‘nation-building project’ guided by what has been termed ‘patriotic history’, which cultivates the gospel of an organisation and its leaders as the morally impeccable liberators of the people.[6]

In both Zimbabwe and Namibia the former liberation movements in political power were also granted the power of defining the national interest. But the political and ideological hegemony assumed at independence is now deteriorating, with governments failing to maintain control over the one-dimensional collective identity constructed and imposed earlier on. This has been evident since the turn of the century in Zimbabwe, with the emergence of the MDC as a meaningful political opposition, suggesting that the liberation gospel has an expiry date. The coerced legitimacy of the government has been eroded, provoking intimidation, an ever-growing culture of fear, and ultimately rule based on state terror. As we know from history, these kinds of dictatorial regimes sooner or later come to an end through the same popular movements that they intimidated and oppressed for so long.

In Namibia, an opposition emerged towards the end of 2007 from within the belly of the beast. Former high-ranking SWAPO officials formed the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) to challenge the undisputed dominance of the former liberation movement. The next presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for the end of 2009, could result in SWAPO’s loss of its two-thirds majority in parliament, and hence absolute control over the country’s political and legal decision-making process. Nervousness is mounting. Leading office-bearers in the Namibian government warn of a Kenyan situation and blame the new opposition for fuelling ethnic rivalries. This is an argument which resorts to the culture of fear rather than seeks reconciliation and common ground; it names and shames others rather than identifies common denominators as Namibians. Such a knee-jerk response to political challenge also suggests an inability to deal with one’s own shortcomings and failures.

Leaders of the Namibian Lutheran churches have responded to the growing polarisation by means of a pastoral letter read out during sermons on 23 March 2008 and later published. In light of the violence that erupted between the two main rival parties, triggered by a local election campaign, the bishops of the three churches expressed their fear that the country is moving backwards rather than forwards in terms of freedom and democracy. The bishops wrote in their letter of ‘intolerance, verbal and physical attacks and counter attacks’. They warned that ‘failure to redress this situation now can lead to mass loss of lives country wide’. ‘What we say as leaders… is the seed which bears the consequential behaviour for violence and peace… Political opponents are not enemies, but participants in a democratic set-up.’[7] This is the first time since independence that the church has commented on the country’s politics in this way. Alarm bells are ringing, but Namibians still have the opportunity to learn from the sad lessons in Kenya and elsewhere – not least in neighbouring Zimbabwe, which in many respects is so close to home.

*Henning Melber is Executive Director of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in Uppsala, Sweden. A son of German immigrants to Namibia, he joined SWAPO in 1974. This text is a contribution to 'New Routes – A Journal of Peace Research and Action' vol. 13, no. 2, 2008, to be published by the Life & Peace Institute.

**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

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http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/370/48047zim.jpg Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights issued this statement concerning escalating cases of organised violence and torture, and the intimidation of medical personnel.

Since the last report on the 25th of April, our members have reported a dramatic escalation in incidents of organised violence and torture with the number of victims documented in the post election period now standing at over 900. This figure grossly underestimates the number of victims presenting countrywide as the violence is now on such a scale that it is impossible to properly document all cases. There have been 22 confirmed deaths but at least double that number have been reported but are yet to be confirmed. It is alleged that some of those killed have been buried on the orders of state agents before documentation can take place.

There has been a dramatic increase in violence since the beginning of May. In the last 24 hours alone, 30 victims of violence have been treated for limb fractures in Harare hospitals and clinics and supplies of Plaster of Paris bandages are reported to be exhausted in most health centres.

One hospital in Harare has treated an average of 23 victims a day over the last week. On the 8th of May, there were a total 53 more seriously injured patients (13 females and 40 males) admitted to wards in 3 Harare hospitals. These included one 30 year old man on life support in the intensive care unit with severe, irreversible head injuries and a 30 year old man with severe soft tissue injuries to the buttocks and secondary renal failure, also on life support. Both of these patients died later that day. Also admitted was a 3yr old boy with trauma to his R eye from being struck with a rock and a 78 year old man with a fractured lower leg from blunt trauma. One young breast-feeding mother had bilateral fractures of her hands and was unable to hold her baby to feed her. Among the other patients, 20 had defensive, forearm or hand fractures, 5 had leg fractures and 1 fractured ribs. Fourteen patients had severe injuries to the buttocks from blunt trauma which required surgery for the removal of necrotic (dead) tissue. The perpetrators in all cases were alleged by the victims to be war veterans and Zanu PF supporters. Similar patterns of injuries are being reported from other hospitals.

As emphasised in the previous ZADHR reports, the cases documented by our members represent only a fraction of the total number countrywide. ZADHR is concerned that many victims of current violence are not receiving treatment. Numerous incidents of violence are being reported from remote rural areas where there is no access to transport and there are also widespread reports of the injured being denied treatment at health centres where staff have been intimidated and/or are acting under specific instructions from state agents not to treat victims of violence. It was reported from one district (Headlands) that medical care was being provided only if the victim had a letter from the police authorising this. Accounts have also been received of ambulances, sent to collect seriously injured victims, being turned away by war veterans. Under these circumstances, it is likely that many of those with less severe injuries are not seeking medical attention. This seems to be confirmed by increasing reports of victims presenting with complications such as wound infections or infected haematomas which are directly attributable to delayed treatment.

Doctors and nursing staff at rural hospitals are working under conditions of severe stress and many health workers have reported intimidation with some having been specifically instructed by state agents not to treat opposition supporters. These health workers, who, according to some reports are treating up to 60 victims of torture and violence a day, are emotionally traumatised and depressed. One nursing sister treating victims in a rural clinic was observed to be shaking so violently with fear that she was unable to write.

Government spokespersons have repeatedly claimed that they have not received reports of violence or of deaths from the police. However, there is evidence that the police themselves are being intimidated. ZADHR has eyewitness statements that on the 24th of April, at Mayo Police Station in Headlands District, a high-ranking police officer from Harare physically assaulted the Member in Charge, accusing him of being sympathetic to the opposition. The police post had been taking statements from victims and referring them for medical treatment. The Member in Charge was summarily transferred out of the district.

The current pattern of organized torture and violence being perpetrated by state agents in the rural areas of Zimbabwe is similar to that documented prior to the 2002 elections. However, the current violence is dramatically more intensive and unrestrained. The level of brutality and callousness exhibited by the perpetrators is unprecedented and the vicious and cowardly attacks by so called war veterans on women, children and the elderly shames the memory of all true heroes of the liberation struggle.

It has been clearly documented that much of the violence has been specifically directed against members of the opposition party, particularly those who acted as election agents or monitors in the recent elections. Villagers and school teachers from districts where the opposition predominated in the elections have also been targeted even though they have no political affiliations. Without exception, victims treated by our members have identified the perpetrators either as war veterans, armed security force members or Zanu PF youth militia or varying combinations of the three. The few acts of violence attributable to opposition members appear to have been retaliatory or defensive. It is clear from the widespread and coordinated nature of the violence and the consistent pattern of injuries inflicted, that state agents including elements of the security forces are organizing and directing this campaign of terror.

It is now obvious that the intent of the campaign is to secure victory for President Robert Mugabe in a run off election. As in the 2002 election, it may be anticipated that the violence will be halted just prior to the arrival of international election monitors, to create the illusion of a peaceful and fair election, although state agents will maintain an intimadatory presence throughout the rural areas.

ZADHR again appeals for the immediate cessation of acts of violence and for the restoration of the rule of law in Zimbabwe. To this end it calls for:

1) the immediate, large- scale deployment of teams of SADC and other credible international observers to all districts where violence is being reported.

2) attested members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police to assume sole responsibility for the enforcement of law and order, and for the protection of the law be extended to all Zimbabweans irrespective of political affiliation.

3) the immediate withdrawal of all military personnel, both regular and irregular to barracks and the arrest of those war veterans and those posing as war veterans who are instigating violence.

4) the withdrawal of uniforms and arms from all irregular police and army militia not formally attested into the service and not entitled under law to bear arms.

5) the postponement of all run off election activities until the above conditions have been achieved.

Finally, ZADHR again appeals to the international community of health workers, including the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and the Zimbabwe Medical Association to bring whatever effective pressure is within their capability to bear on the Government of Zimbabwe to stop these grotesque, cruel and shameful acts of violence, and to be prepared to actively defend their colleagues facing intimidation and physical threat.

**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Zimbabwe's opposition MDC will not participate in a presidential run-off against Robert Mugabe, a top party official said on Thursday, after reports of escalating violence deepened a post-election crisis. The Movement for Democratic Change believes its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the outright majority in the March 29 election he needed to avoid a second round. But if he does not contest, Mugabe is automatically declared the winner.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for the release of Davison Maruziva, the editor of a privately owned weekly The Standard, who has been arrested and charged with "false statements prejudicial to the state and contempt of court" after his paper published an opinion piece by a leading opposition politician.

Head of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) Observer Mission to Zimbabwe Marwick Khumalo told reporters on Wednesday that a run-off election, if decided upon, could be held within the next 12 months. "... last night [I] spoke to the Chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission [George Chiweshe] who told me that it is not practical to organise a run-off election within the stipulated 21 days after the election results were announced.

Keep your critical eye focused on the grindstone of Zimbabwe's land reform and training of its people to restore the country to its former capacity as the breadbasket of the region. [The complexities of Zimbabwe].

Be suspect and examine the programs or propositions of the unions (local and international) who I suspect are itching to plant their paws in the soils of Zimbabwe.

Remember Indonesia and other places in the world where the unions have done nothing but dug underground paths for corporate interests to slide in and have their way.

We can be sure that lurking behind the scenes are salivating entities, poised and ready to usurp and exploit the people, the land and your beautiful country. Do not let this happen. Keep hammering away about this most important issue.

Peace and Love

Lawyers from East Africa and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) are seeking legal action against the Chinese government over arms supplies to Zimbabwe. The East African Law Society and the Law Society of the Southern Africa Development Community say they have finalised preparations to institute legal action at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

www.pambazuka.org

This article [Complexities of Zimbabwe, is right on the money. Yes, it highlights, 'the various competing interests in Zimbabwe, the MDC, Zanu-PF, Mugabe and the West in relation to what the Zimbabweans are hoping to get out of democracy'. The core of the matter is ‘what is in it for the people of Zimbabwe?' I pray for the people of Zimbabwe to be rescued from all those devouring animals. Let the world know that there are those despots and their cronies who seek not just power but use that power to subdue, intimidate, beat/ torture/ abuse and kill their own people – our brothers and sisters in many parts of Africa: Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan … People PRAY! Do not be prey.

Reading this brought back many painful memories. When will it ever stop?

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/368/47866zim.jpgIn this plea, Maxwell V Madzikanga argues that Zimbabwe belongs to the many ‘courageous daughters and sons of Zimbabwe who in their prime paid the ultimate price in the inaugural Chinhoyi battle, in Tanzania, Nyadzonya, Chimoio and Tembwe, and across the breadth of Zimbabwe during the war for liberation.’

I read about the situation in Zimbabwe and saw images of what is happening there in the 23 April edition of the Zimbabwean newspaper. l cannot continue to betray my country by keeping silent on the need for total respect of human rights and human dignity in Zimbabwe. The reports and pictures show the extent of the shocking degradation of our humanity as peace-loving and civilised Zimbabweans. I feel that this enjoins me to visit a number of historical and current issues relating to the situation in Zimbabwe.

The UN must intervene immediately and comprehensively in Zimbabwe rather than holding meetings as if everything is okay. It does not help for the UN and world leaders to sit around gold-plated tables and diamond-coated chairs, sipping wine and salivating for and savouring fat cheques of per diem allowances while Zimbabwe goes up in smoke, burning the dried remnants of humanity. Hiding behind diplomatic nuances does not help either; the situation in Zimbabwe is a crisis of unimaginable proportions. The position taken by President Thabo Mbeki is very disheartening. The call that he step down as mediator in the crisis is valid. President Mbeki has let Zimbabweans down over the last two years of ‘quiet diplomacy’. I am, however, quite encouraged by the mature and courageous (albeit unpopular) comments made by the ANC President, Jacob Zuma. These are words for progress and for the future, not just for South Africa but for Zimbabwe, SADC and Africa as a whole.

Zimbabwe does not and will never belong to Morgan Tsvangirai; Robert Mugabe will never own Zimbabwe’s title deeds. This sacrosanct country belongs to our forefathers, to ourselves, and to future generations. Our forefathers had a deep respect for human rights that is reflected in our culture, traditions and customs. They worshipped the sanctity of human life and dignity in every aspect of our society. They were noble people who understood that leadership is not a lifetime calling but a duty and responsibility that had to be cherished and perfected for passing on to subsequent generations. So why are our current leaders refusing to acknowledge this, and to play their part in upholding our age-old democracy in Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe belongs to those many fine and courageous daughters and sons of Zimbabwe who in their prime paid the ultimate price in the inaugural Chinhoyi battle, in Tanzania, Nyadzonya, Chimoio and Tembwe, and across the breadth of Zimbabwe during the war for liberation, majority rule and human rights. Zimbabwe belongs to all of us Zimbabweans. It is our duty to uphold values of life and dignity and responsible leadership for our generation and for generations to come. None of us owns these values. We are custodians and conduits for the evolution of the history of our people from the last to the next generation.

There is no justification for inflicting the amount of fear, pain, and injury on innocent women, men, grandmothers, grandfathers, girls and boys that has been witnessed in Chiwundura, Musana, Murehwa or Zvimba communal areas simply because they voted for MDC or Zanu-PF. Every Zimbabwean who has attained the age of suffrage has the constitutional right and freedom to select representatives and leaders of their preference without fear of reprisal whether before, during or after the election process. Zimbabwe belongs to the many invisible millions who should exercise their right to vote freely and to live dignified lives. Unfortunately our leaders do not see this, beyond political rhetoric.

The leadership in SADC in general has been a great disappointment. Despite isolated utterances, very little has come by way of tangible action, making all the regional initiatives ineffective. There is a clear need for more action, openness and courage from SADC, otherwise Zimbabwe will continue to bleed socially and economically – but not because Gordon Brown is tightening his grip on Zimbabwe. Harare is burning because we have turned against each other, torched our beautiful home, maimed innocent villagers and killed for no justifiable cause. We have turned Zimbabwe into a land of mourning, fear and uncertainty where painful, unnecessary and undignified death has become an ever-attendant reality.

Torture in all its forms is an abomination to human existence, whether perpetrated by the military, war veterans, Zanu-PF or MDC. A day of reckoning will come when all human rights violators will be called to account. Running to the east or flying to the west will not help. Going down into the abyss will not save the perpetrators from inevitable justice. This resonates with Zimbabwe’s culture, traditions, and beliefs, according to which no crime can be concealed forever, the truth will always out, and justice will be served. Zimbabweans are intricately bound by blood, tradition, ethos, totem, region, history and race. To decimate such a rich and strong heritage is an unforgivable crime; it is anti-Zimbabwe. Our children should be able to admire and be proud of the beauty of our land. Every citizen should be able to cross the breadth and explore the depth of our beautiful country without fearing the cruelty and harm now associated with the darkness. Zimbabwe’s youth should be able to hold hands in the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood and enjoy bright prospects for their future.

Zimbabwe’s schools need to function again and achieve the high standards and reputation that they are capable of attaining and so richly deserve. The health system needs to be rejuvenated to deliver effective, equitable and sustainable services for all citizens in urban and rural areas. The clergy and worshippers of all persuasions should be able to worship in genuine peace and security. The army, police and other security agencies should carry out their roles professionally and impartially. One should be able to stand under and salute the Zimbabwean flag in the full knowledge and confidence that it represents the sovereignty of the country, and that all our political leaders respect and value this sovereignty and conduct their duties with integrity. Our economy should be resuscitated so that prosperity starts flowing through its arteries and veins again. Our rivers should flow with freedom and life. That to me is what our people are asking for from their political leaders, not the violence and abuse of human rights that resulted from the March elections.

I cannot underscore the importance and significance of breathing life back into all spheres of Zimbabwean society, a society l love and am attached to so deeply. My father was tortured for a long period during the liberation struggle. As he lies in his grave, I wonder what he makes of the Zimbabwe of today. I guess one question he would ask is whether it was worth his suffering for the liberation of the country. Josiah Magama Tongogara, the late freedom fighter, famously implored the liberation military wings to return home and rebuild Zimbabwe when the war was won. What happened to the liberation slogan ‘we are our own liberators’ that we chanted from an early age? Do our leaders now want us to be liberated from ourselves? We must always cherish our liberation from oppression and tyranny.

I write with passion because the situation in Zimbabwe tortures me and l cannot remain silent. Nor can I be silenced. Our leadership has made glaring mistakes and continues to act as if they own our people, as if only they can and will determine our people’s destiny. They continue to transact hatred and hate speech. They continue to grandstand, whether from the safety of exile or of government.

We need a new Zimbabwe: a Zimbabwe that upholds basic and fundamental human rights, a Zimbabwe that reflects on its past and present experiences with wise counsel, a Zimbabwe that breathes life into the future, a Zimbabwe that values the life and dignity of the poor, impoverished and marginalised members of its society.

Zimbabwe deserves a visionary leadership that carries out its role of national stewardship – a leadership that can swallow its pride and say, ‘Morgan, you are my brother. I know we have fought for supremacy in the past, but our people are bleeding. For their sake let us sit together at the table of brotherhood and plan for the future of our beloved country.’ A leadership that can swallow its pride and hatred and say, ‘Robert, you are my brother. I know we have fought viciously and bitterly for dominance and caused suffering to our people because we neglected our responsibilities as leaders. Let us sit down as brothers, put our differences in the past and create a legacy for future generations – a legacy for them to cherish and be proud of, a legacy that will make our country a great nation again.’ Zimbabwe deserves a leadership that acts with humility, courage, honesty and wisdom – a leadership that is God-fearing and peace-loving and that identifies with the suffering, wounded and dying. Are our leaders suggesting that these values are beyond them?

We all love our beautiful country. Let us all play our part in accepting the mistakes we have made and start rebuilding the ruins. We must negotiate with sincerity, persuade honestly, pray humbly, advocate with conviction, live our daily lives with integrity and honour and treat our sisters and brothers with fairness and compassion. If we don’t, there will be a Zimbabwe that we will neither be proud to talk about nor identify with. Let us remember that this is not about Thabo Mbeki declaring that Zimbabwe is crisis-free, or Levy Mwanawasa, Kofi Annan and Gordon Brown declaring that the crisis exists. It is about Zimbabweans, with the support of the international community, standing up and saying that the current Zimbabwe is not what we as Zimbabweans want or yearn for – that we as Zimbabweans long for a genuinely free, peaceful and prosperous Zimbabwe where all its citizens are respected and can live in dignity.

I would like to end by calling on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to execute its mandate fully and impartially. Sooner or later the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will be called to collective and individual account for the deeds it has done. It is not too late to avert total erosion of the trust placed in this august body by the people of Zimbabwe.

In conclusion, let us not tire in seeking justice, freedom and prosperity for our country, and in seeking to serve our country with commitment and integrity. Zimbabwe belongs to the dead and the living, to you and to me, but more importantly to the ‘invisibles’ among us and to posterity.

*Maxwell V Madzikanga is a senior HIV/AIDS and human rights researcher at the Human Rights Centre, Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom.

**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Thanks for the excellent piece [The Complexities of Zimbabwe, by Chido with which I am very much in agreement. Perhaps there is one small element not addressed though in the line up of the players. Whilst of course there is massive Western (and indeed African) leaders' hypocrisy in relation to Zimbabwe, there is also a strong element of Western (Northern?) civil society that is often conflated by outsiders into an undifferentiated 'West'. Although solidarity and anti-imperialism have been massively undermined, it is entirely consistent to be anti the Iraq war as well as the excesses of Mugabe etc - as indeed Pambazuka testifies. Indeed it seems only correct to be opposed to both neo-liberalism and authoritarian economic nationalism - which seem the different sides of the same coin

A luta continua.

Teachers have become the latest targets in Zimbabwe's post-election violence, in which abductions, intimidation and beatings have already left two dead. "We have received bad news. As we speak, two teachers have been killed - beaten to death," Wellington Chibebe, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, told a gathering of workers in Harare, the capital, on 1 May.

Morgan Tsvangirai has emerged on top of the presidential elections, polling 47.9% of the vote against President Robert Mugabe's 43.2%, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has confirmed on Friday. Former Finance Minister and former key figure of Mr Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party, Simba Makoni, ranked third. Makoni, who is widely expected to back Mr Tsvangirai in the election re-run, polled 8.3% of the votes.