RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE : No Sign of Improvement as 2003 Ends

by Chris Msipa published on November 24, 2003 in IPS

Zimbabwe is winding up another bitter year, and Samson Tawona, a teacher in the capital - Harare - is a depressed man.

”Prices of essential goods - food, soap, fuel, you name it - are going up almost every hour. Buy a bar of soap for one amount in the morning (and) when you go to the same supermarket at lunch, the price will be higher,” he says.

Hundreds, if not thousands of Zimbabwe's young, educated nationals have gone abroad, and most of those who remain at home are an angry lot. Their country is enduring its worst economic and political crisis since independence in 1980.

Dozens of human rights activists and trade unionists were arrested in various parts of Zimbabwe last week to prevent them from staging protests against human rights abuses - and the deteriorating economic situation.

This follows two mass arrests last month - the second on Oct. 22, when members of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) gathered in support of calls for a new constitution.

According to the British-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International, about 200 NCA activists were detained overnight in Harare under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), which bans demonstrations that have not received police clearance.

Last month, Zimbabwe's sole privately-owned daily - the Daily News - was shut down again after it made a brief reappearance on the streets of the capital.

Prior to this, the paper had been closed for about two months under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which requires all journalists and news organisations to register with a state commission. Freedom of speech groups have denounced the act as a bid to muzzle the press.

Zimbabwe is also experiencing severe food shortages attributed to drought and mismanagement of the land redistribution process. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 5.5 million people will require food aid in the course of 2004. The UN Human Development Report for this year puts Zimbabwe's population at around 13 million.

To date, efforts to provide emergency assistance have been marred by allegations that the ruling ZANU-PF party is manipulating food aid for political ends.

At the beginning of August, authorities in Harare said they would restrict non-governmental organisations (NGO's) from distributing supplies. The government later softened its approach, telling donor countries that it would not intervene in distribution.

Nonetheless, the international sanctions imposed on President Robert Mugabe's government to bring about a change in policy are receiving little support from some in the country.

Samson Tawona vehemently criticises these so-called ”smart sanctions”, which are meant to target Mugabe, as well as some members of his government and ZANU-PF.

His colleague, Zebron Madunge, agrees. ”Those sanctions are hurting us, the general public,” he says, ”They are not upsetting the government as planned. It is now clear they (Western powers) wanted to drive us into (a) frenzy (to) remove Mugabe, to make way for Morgan (Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC).”

”That (is) a silly and dangerous dream. This government adopted, mastered and perfected one of the most ruthless laws in the world,” says Madunge. ”The Law and Order Maintenance Act, LOMA, of the 1970s - now the Public Order and Security Act - is a very effective weapon to silence opposition and protests. 'Order' is the word.”

Harare businesswoman Martha Mudziki says the smart sanctions are a global shame: ”Look at how the people are suffering. You cannot restore democracy and human rights in a country by punishing its people.”

Leaders of the Southern African Development Community have added their voices to this call for sanctions to be lifted.

The European Union (EU) joined Australia in imposing sanctions on the Zimbabwean government after the 2002 presidential poll in which Mugabe was, controversially, re-elected.

In September this year, the EU denied that it was responsible for the worsening situation in Zimbabwe. It maintains that sanctions are focused on key officials, not ordinary citizens.

Zimbabwe began occupying the international spotlight at the start of 2000, when veterans from the country's war of independence and pro-government militants started occupying farms.

Most of these properties were owned by minority whites, who then controlled the majority of prime agricultural land in Zimbabwe. Officials claim that more than 300,000 black families have so far been resettled on the occupied land.

Mugabe endorsed the land invasions - this ahead of parliamentary elections in 2000, where the ruling party faced its first-ever credible challenge from an opposition party, the MDC. The President claims the MDC is a front for western - particularly British - interests.

Tennyson Nani, a senior war veteran resident in the Midlands mining town of Shurugwi, says ”Mugabe knew he was not going back to State House if he ordered the army against us. Soldiers would have been divided. Most of their seniors are war veterans.”

”For 20 years we had been dwelling on empty promises, of which we were only reminded towards elections. This time we were prepared to fight for the land,” adds Nani.

Later, he says, ”All hell broke loose.” Judges resigned or were fired after ruling in favour of the farmers, and the rule of law was applied selectively.

Election observers from the EU grudgingly accepted the outcome of the legislative vote, which saw ZANU-PF retain its parliamentary majority. However, African leaders by and large declared the poll legitimate.

While South African observers gave tentative approval to last year's presidential election, the Commonwealth team accused authorities of vote-rigging and bearing prime responsibility for election-related violence. This prompted Zimbabwe's suspension for 12 months from the Commonwealth, which represents about 1.8 billion people, mainly from former British colonies.

The suspension was later extended until this December, when leaders from the group will meet in Nigeria to review the Zimbabwe issue.

During a previous meeting of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers held in Nigeria in Sep. 2001, delegates agreed that land was, due to historical reasons, at the core of the crisis in Zimbabwe.

However, the meeting also resolved that this matter could not be separated from other issues of concern to the Commonwealth, like the ”rule of law, respect for human rights, democracy and the economy”.

Zimbabwe's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stan Mudenge, says the country - even though it has no case to answer - has served its punishment and should be readmitted to the Commonwealth. President Mugabe has described the current suspension as a racially-driven initiative, spearheaded by Britain and Australia.

But the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, an NGO based in New Delhi, India, maintains that Zimbabwe must remain suspended until it respects Commonwealth principles, including the protection and promotion of human rights.