Video shows 'intimidation' by Mugabe’s party ahead of election cycle

http://observers.france24.com/content/20120803-video-showing-intimidation-mugabe-party-fans-fears-over-next-election-zimbabwe-zanu-pf-tsvangirai-politics

03/08/2012 / ZIMBABWE

A video has emerged showing what appears to be evidence of intimidation on the part of members of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party. With an election expected in the coming year, this video - along with reports of similar incidents - has stoked fears that the party is returning to the same intimidation tactics used in the run-up to the 2008 election.

A speaker in the video tells a crowd of people, “If MDC [the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party] comes here and you, as a ZANU-PF member, participate [in their meetings], I promise I will beat you.” Another speaker asks people gathered around him to each divulge a name of an opposition supporter they know. [Our Observer, below, explains that people who don’t necessarily agree with the party’s politics are sometimes pressured to attend these meetings].

The video, which was procured by a human rights organisation that FRANCE 24 has decided to keep anonymous for security reasons, includes footage of two separate political meetings, which were reportedly held in the central district of Chirumhanzu on May 17 and in the northern district of Chinhanga on May 23. We have shown this video to several of our Observers in Zimbabwe, who were able to confirm that the dialects spoken match those used in these areas.

FRANCE 24 has asked ZANU-PF for comment on this video, but we have not yet received a reply.

Incidents of intimidation against opposition supporters have been reported with increasing frequency as the next presidential election, expected in mid-2013, draws nearer. The outgoing US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray, recently said that, judging by the recent atmosphere, he fears the coming elections could once again descend into violence.

During the last election, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew a week before the second round, claiming that a campaign of violence by Mugabe’s supporters had turned the process into “a sham.” However, under pressure from the international community, the two ended up at the head of a coalition government, with Mugabe as president and Tsvangirai as prime minister. In 2013, both men will once again compete to become president.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe with an iron first since 1987. Zimbabwe is currently ranked 154 out of 182 countries on Transparency International’s corruption index.

Contributors

Mugove

“This sort of intimidation is quite typical of what’s happening all over the country”

Mugove (not his real name) is a Zimbabwean human rights activist. FRANCE 24 has decided to keep him anonymous for security reasons. [Activists are frequently the targets of harassment in Zimbabwe].

“I am convinced this video is authentic, not only because meetings were indeed scheduled in these places on these dates, but because I recognized the dialects being spoken as belonging to these regions.

This sort of intimidation is quite typical of what’s happening all over the country these days; I have received many reports of similar incidents, both in cities and in rural areas. The threats of beating heard in the video are not mere talk – on May 26, an opposition supporter was lynched by ZANU-PF supporters. [Witnesses reported that the police on the scene did not intervene]. I believe this was a clear result of these types of intimidation tactics.

Intimidation can take multiple forms. The most common are direct threats to people who sympathise with the opposition or their family members, which includes threats of beatings and destruction of property. Many people are also forced to attend political meetings and buy party membership cards. Another common threat in rural areas is banishment – village leaders have the power to expel people from their communities. People who rent stores or stands in markets are also often required to pledge allegiance to a party in order to keep their spots.

“People who are threatened cannot count on the help of the police”

In Zimbabwe, people cannot count on the police if they are threatened by supporters of political parties. Police chiefs have openly expressed their support for ZANU-PF, so that makes it difficult for rank-and-file police officers to go against this party’s interests. Moreover, there is an atmosphere of impunity. Vigilante groups have been roaming the streets of cities causing violence; the police clearly have the capacity to deal with them, but it seems that they have decided to ignore it when it’s in the interest of the politicians they support. The policing system needs a major overhaul. Currently, too many people who took part in or allowed the 2008 violence remain in positions of power.

As we approach the elections, more and more political meetings are taking place, and tension is increasing. I think it’s quite likely that intimidation will once again give way to bloodshed.”

Position on the temporal jurisdiction of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission

11 July 2012

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) continues to follow closely, and
with interest, the progress relating to the operationalisation of the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC).
ZLHR commends the renewed commitment by the Minister of Justice & Legal
Affairs, and Parliament, to finalise the legislation required to make the
ZHRC functional. This is long overdue. It is also in line with
recommendations to ensure that the ZHRC can commence its operations as soon
as possible, as accepted by the Government of Zimbabwe during the United
Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Zimbabwe
held last year, and as strongly expressed by UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Navi Pillay, during her visit to Zimbabwe earlier this year.

The importance of having an operational commission to deal with protection
of human rights cannot be over-emphasised, particularly in a society where
violations of fundamental rights and freedoms remain prevalent. The urgency
of having a functional mechanism to investigate and deal with violations is
further heightened where elections loom, and bearing in mind previous trends
in Zimbabwe where such violations escalate in the run-up to, and following,
key electoral and other political processes.
So too, Zimbabwe remains a country with immense challenges relating to the
continuing culture of impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations.
Without providing mechanisms to investigate and deal with past human rights
violations – whether through trials, national enquiries, reparations,
memorialisation, amongst other means – our society will never be able to
escape the vicious cycle of impunity or ensure non-recurrence of such
heinous crimes.

There has been much debate and speculation in relation to the emotive issue
of the temporal jurisdiction of the ZHRC, which has been set in the ZHRC
Bill as 13 February 2009 – a date agreed by the three negotiating political
parties.
ZLHR has also noted the intention of the government to establish a national
mechanism that will deal with issues relating to post-conflict justice,
healing and reconciliation separately from the ZHRC, although precise
details as to the ambit of such a mechanism remain sparse. This accords with
regional and continental good practice, where human rights institutions and
truth/justice/reconciliation commissions have traditionally been separate
mechanisms.

ZLHR is of the considered view that there is urgent need to approve the
legislation that will operationalise the ZHRC and allow it to substantively
commence its functions. It is a critical institution in the difficult battle
to reduce, stop and/or prevent ongoing and future human rights violations in
Zimbabwe. It must be fully functional in order to play its role as elections
approach. Resistance in relation to the issue of temporal jurisdiction is
delaying such operationalisation and ensuring that the ZHRC cannot act on
any ongoing and future human rights violations.

At the same time the political parties in government must, with urgency and
guided by the recommendations made by survivors of past human rights
violations, establish an independent mechanism to deal with issues relating
to past human rights violations and atrocities. The mandate of this
independent mechanism must be to deal with all past human rights violations
that have occurred in Zimbabwe, including the pre-Independence era, as well
as the post-Independence atrocities of Gukurahundi, Operation Murambatsvina,
and electoral-related crimes, amongst others.

It is the role of government to ensure the speedy establishment of such an
independent and credible mechanism. However political parties, trade unions,
the broad civil society, non-governmental organisations, and survivors of
violations and their families, must also ensure that they play their role in
ensuring that sufficient pressure is brought to bear on the government to
make this a reality and to do so with urgency.

Further, and for the avoidance of any doubt, it must be clearly understood
and stressed that crimes committed in the past remain crimes, whether or not
a national human rights institution or other mechanism exists to deal with
past human rights violations. Government, political players and other
perpetrators of violations must disabuse themselves of the notion that the
creation of such mechanisms removes responsibility and punishment for such
crimes.

There is a constitutional and legal obligation on the police, the
prosecutorial authorities and the judiciary to respectively investigate and
arrest, prosecute, and punish convicted perpetrators. ZLHR expects these
constitutional duties to be carried out without fear or favour, and will
continue to exercise its watchdog role in this regard. 

Police accused of murdering suspects

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

There are chilling allegations that police eliminate wanted criminals at
stage-managed field investigation exercises in the countryside, a highly
placed source told The Zimbabwean.
11.07.1208:59am

by Staff Reporter

According to the source, suspects regarded as dangerous criminals by police,
would be taken to remote areas and shot dead or left with permanent
disabilities. Investigating officers would claim that the suspects met their
fate as they attempted to flee lawful arrest.

“Such ill-fated field investigations are common place and hundreds of
suspects – mostly those accused of serious offences such as armed robbery
and political activists - have fallen victim to them. Dangerous criminals
with connections within the police were spared. The practice has forced a
number of junior CID officers to resign or seek internal transfer to the
uniformed section, as the gruesome practise was against their conscience,”
said the high-ranking police source.

When The Zimbabwean visited Harare Remand Prison recently, a number of
people visiting detained relatives complained about how some suspects were
either killed or injured during such investigations.

“An inmate accused of committing a serious crime was recently shot in the
leg as he reportedly attempted to flee from police custody at an undisclosed
location. Several others sustained serious dog bites under similar
suspicious circumstances,” said a concerned visitor at the remand prison.

Meanwhile, some former detainees accused plain clothes Criminal
Investigations Department officers of continuing to use severe torture as
means of extorting confessions from the accused

 Zimbabwe remembers 27 June 2008.

June 27th, 2012

Today is 27 June 2012, a very significant and memorable day for the people of Zimbabwe as it brings sad memories of how Zanu PF, dripping with blood, stole the people’s will and elections on 27 June 2008.

Exactly four years ago today, the people of Zimbabwe witnessed a very sad event as Zanu PF and its president, Robert Mugabe claimed to have won an election that was contested by one presidential candidate.

This was despite the fact that Zanu PF had been trounced heavily by the MDC and President Tsvangirai in the harmonized elections held earlier in March.

Today, we sadly remember the hundreds of MDC members and their families who were murdered, tortured and maimed at the hands of Zanu PF and State security. Families were left broken, homeless and destitute as Zanu PF hoodlums went on a rampage looting and raping innocent people.

The country was brought on its knees by a ruthless Zanu PF regime that wanted to cling to power at all costs despite losing its popularity through dictatorship, corruption and disregard of the people’s freedom.

Human Rights Still Suffer In Zimbabwe

Chinofunga Ndoga

Freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association and movement have been restricted.

 Flawed elections, restrictions on the freedom of expression, assembly or association, media censorship or intimidation and attempts to control the activities of civil society and non-governmental groups indicate eroding respect for human rights in some countries.

Continued abuse of basic human rights in Zimbabwe is a concern to the United States and the entire world community. United Nations Human Rights chief Ms. Navi Pillay said the extreme polarization in Zimbabwean politics is “a major impediment on a number of fronts, including the advancement of human rights.” It is critical that all political parties and leaders join together in upholding and enforcing the protection of human rights.

The 2011 U.S. Human Rights Report, states that over the previous year human rights abuses in Zimbabwe continued to be led by ZANU-PF supporters and the security sector.  These power centers targeted members of other political parties, journalists and civil society activists for harassment, arrest and physical abuse, sometimes leading to death like of in of 67 years old MDC local chairman Cephas Magura in Mudzi area of Mutoko. Despite calls by President Mugabe and other leaders for an end to political violence, security forces have operated with impunity. Freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association and movement have been restricted, and groups of thugs operating under the ZANU-PF banner have invaded private farms and demolished homes and informal marketplaces.

For the sake of the nation, it is critical that all political actors and the security sector follow the president’s directive, immediately halt their involvement in human rights violations and hold other perpetrators accountable. It is equally important that President Mugabe insist that the government enforces his directive.

VOTE ZANU-PF KLEPTOS AND MANIACS OUT

Chinofunga Ndoga

For a long time the complaint in Zimbabwe has been the thievery of state resources by politicians from a party that still claims relevance three decades after proving it has no business steering this ship. And the thievery has virtually become an official exercise.

One will recall a time when local papers splashed the now Defense Minister’s wealth valuing it at billions of dollars, a time when the Zim dollar was considered useful. Of course it was asked where the hell he got that kind of money considering the salaries of government ministers were – and still are – public knowledge.

Time was the Kumbirai Kangais grabbed news headlines with allegations of sweeping clean the national GMB silos.

Time was when senior government officials claimed incredible disability gratuities from the War Veteran Compensation Fund, some claiming up to 100 percent disability, never mind they continued to occupy such lofty positions as government ministers and top cops. Talk about equal opportunity and the spirit of “disability is not inability!” If only that were true!

And then it took the woman who bashed lawyer Gugulethu Moyo, screamed profanities about then opposition gadfly Morgan Tsvangirai’s manhood, to be scorned for Zimbabweans to get a look see into the wealth amassed by Constantine Chiwenga. Of course Jocelyn deliberately and vindictively made the public claims in order to shock and awe and prompt us to ask where the heck all that wealth came from, considering the scorned woman knew the kind of bread the soldier brought home on his salary.

And then the Vice President Mujuru’s point man Sylvester Nguni’s domestic troubles also became what let us in on the kind of wealth that has been amassed on what would be a measly government minister’s salary.

And then Ignatius Chombo who seeks to rival real estate don Donald Trump and his stupendous wealth that only became public after a bitter woman who all along enjoyed the same trappings at the drooling of “ordinary” Zimbabwean.

And then Obert Mpofu, who does not need hostile domestic waters to have his wealth splashed ostentatiously, owning prime Bulawayo real estate and big business (acquired on the advice of Saviour Kasukuwere to borrow from banks, he says), feeding 10,000 people on his “birthday bash” and seeks to put to shame the wealth of your typical amoral African politician.

Of course there are many more.

And then Finance Minister Biti complains about the kleptocracy that has become rooted in the diamond fields.

One would think these are issues that would inform voters and determine how they use their franchise, yet Zimbabwe offers many bad examples about how the politics do not necessarily have to reflect the people’s sentiments. A politician can go on looting the people’s wealth and still expect those same people to vote for him! Crazy isn’t it?

If the people decide they have had enough and show this through the ballot, these same people are accused of being influenced by external forces who are imposing Western models of democracy that are not applicable here! But you still have to ask what culture under the sun has ever accepted thievery, what kind of voters gleefully embrace the  kleptocracy of their leaders when this kind of behaviour is impoverishing millions.

It should be quiet a simple exercise really to connect the dots, and it does not need any racking of the brain: if people complain about lousy amenities, raw effluent on their doorsteps because of archaic water and sewer systems, living with the threat of disease every day, school children failing to be looked after by the State, pensioners being abandoned by the State, if the people see the brazen posh lifestyles of the political elites, surely the only way to address these and other issues must be to vote for someone else. But then for some reason, it does not work that way here.

A politician is a devil’s quilted anvil. He fashions all sins on him, and the blows are never heard. John Webster, English dramatist

 SHOW RED CARD TO MUGABE AND ZANU PF HATE SPEECH THIS ELECTION

Written by Chinofunga Ndoga

With talk of elections on the horizon and political parties going around the country holding campaign rallies, the season of hate speech by ZANU PF and Mugabe is again upon us. Hearts are sinking into troughs of despair. Hate speech by this geriatric ZANU PF leader has been one of his favoured weapons in attacking those that do not agree with his policies of doom and gloom. Hate speech has become an endemic and poisonous epidemic that has fractured and polarised society by promoting extreme levels of political, social and economic intolerance and hostility towards any group or individual that disagrees with Mugabe and ZANU PF perspective.

Inflammatory, intimidating and abusive propaganda peddled and spewed raw by Mugabe and members of his presidium, politburo, central committee and cabinet has by far and large translated into political violence carried out by militia groups like the notorious Chipangano and renegade security forces. This fanatical extremism propagated by ZANU PF career politicians has relentlessly become the diet for the ill-fed Zimbabweans. Songs by the like of Chimurenga Mbare Choir, Chinx Chingaira, Brian Muteki and the late musicians Andy Brown, Simon Chimbetu, Elliot Manyika and Border Gezi daily incite tribal and racial hatred through slogan and dance. Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and all the print media under the Zimpapers stable broadcast and publish inflammatory stories that fill the minds of the vulnerable unemployed youths with hatred and lust for blood.

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s dictator at the helm since 1980 is guilty of some of the most vicious racism with a disastrous policy of state sponsored terrorism which led to criminal acts of stealing and looting of farms and businesses. ZANU PF has planned and promoted through hate speech the systematic annihilation of opposition supporters and sympathisers. This maximum hatred for a minimum of reason has led to a meticulous plan of massacre and extermination. Opposition supporters of every creed and caste continue to be killed and dumped into rivers, dams, disused mine shafts and even at hospital morgues during the dead of the night. Others are reported to be cruelly fed to crocodiles alive.

Through hate speech white commercial farmers became scapegoats for failed socialism policies and were violently removed from their properties. The High and Supreme Court judges were terrorised and assaulted by mobs in their chambers. The offices of the daily news newspaper were bombed. The arbitrary arrest and torture of government critics intensified. This reckless promotion of racial hatred led to imprisonment of the likes of Roy Bennet on flimsy charges. Human rights activist like Jestina Mukoko who dared to document such acts of brutality by ZANU PF were not spared the wrath of systematic torture. Journalists and editors continue to be arrested and tortured on a daily basis for daring to expose ZANU PF corruption and intransigence. Pastors and Clergymen are arrested for praying for peace and justice.

Under Robert Mugabe’s racist and tribal regime tens of thousands of Ndebele tribesmen were massacred. The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace report put the figure of the Gukurahundi genocide at 20000. During the madness of the shambolic 2008 harmonised elections, it is reported that over 500 MDC supporters and sympathisers were callously killed. Today state security agents continue to stifle debate on Gukurahundi genocide. Politicians, civil society workers, media personnel and clergy continue to be harassed, intimidated and locked away for daring to speak about the evils of 5^th Brigade in the systemic persecution of ZAPU supporters and opponents of ZANU PF.

“Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true”. Martin Luther King Jr.

The afore-mentioned from the great Afro-American Human Rights defender is an apt description of the traits exhibited by Mugabe and his ilk. Zimbabweans of every caste, hue, ethnicity and tribe inside and outside the country borders should show the red card to hate speech. ZANU PF politics of divine, rule and conquer is as old as Mugabe and should be despised during this forthcoming plebiscite.