Kiongozi wa upinzani nchini Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai anashikiliwa na polisi baada ya kukamatwa wakati akifanya kampeni za uchaguzi wa Rais wa duru ya pili. Taarifa hizi zimetolewa na chama chake cha MDC.
Kwa mujibu wa msemaji wa chama hicho cha Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Bwana Tsvangirai alisimamishwa katika kizuizi cha barabarani kwenye eneo la kaskazini mwa mji wa Bulawayo mapema leo asubuhi.
Polisi wenye silaha walizingira msafara wa chama cha MDC na wakakataa kuyaachilia magari yao kwa muda wa saa mbili na baadaye kuwapeleka kwenye kituo cha polisi
Hatua hii imekuja wakati ambapo Zimbabwe inajiandaa na uchaguzi wa Rais wa duru ya pili unaowahusisha bwana Tsvangirai na Rasi Robert Mugabe hapo tarehe 27 ya mwezi huu.
Tsvangirai akamatwa Zimbabwe.
Baada ya aibu kule Italy ni vizuri Mugabe kumkamata Morgan na kumuweka ndani, Robert amefilisika.
Police in Zimbabwe detained US and UK diplomats for several hours as they investigated political violence there, US ambassador James McGee has said. Mr McGee told the BBC there had earlier been a bid to force their convoy off the road in the town of Bindura when they refused to go to a police station. He said their tyres were also slashed and a Zimbabwean driver beaten up.
The US and UK governments denounced the incident and demanded an explanation from the Zimbabwean authorities. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Earlier, the South African government said Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, had been released by the police on Wednesday after the intervention of President Thabo Mbeki. A spokesman for Mr Mbeki, Mukoni Ratshitanga, told the BBC that Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had contacted the president "to inform him about the arrest".
"Immediately thereafter, President Mbeki contacted the Zimbabwean government and appealed to them to release Mr Tsvangirai," he said.
Threats Mr McGee told the BBC that five US embassy officials, two local staff, and four officials from the UK High Commission had been in Bindura, 80km (50 miles) north of Harare, when they were stopped by police. When they refused to go to a local police station and drove away, they were chased, he said. Later at a roadblock nearby, police slashed their tyres. The ambassador said so-called war veterans allied to the government had tried to forcibly remove the diplomats from the vehicles and, when they refused, had stolen a camera and a satellite telephone. "The war veterans threatened to burn the vehicles with the people inside unless they removed themselves from the vehicle," he said.
A Zimbabwean driver working with an US embassy security official was also beaten up by the group, he added. A police spokesman, Wayne Bvudzijena, insisted its officers had merely been trying to rescue the diplomats from a dangerous mob. "It's unfortunate when diplomats behave like criminals and distort information," he told the Associated Press. "It is a very sad situation."
'Lawless country' Mr McGee described the incident as extremely serious and a violation of all diplomatic protocols, and that his government would raise it at the very highest levels with the Zimbabwean authorities. Zimbabwe is now a lawless country," he said. "They are not following their own laws. They are not following international law." "The government is trying to intimidate diplomats from travelling to the countryside to witness the violence they are perpetrating against their own citizens." Last month, Mr McGee and diplomats from five other missions, including the UK, were briefly detained by Zimbabwean security forces. The White House denounced Thursday's incident as "completely unacceptable".
"It's outrageous, and we are contacting the Zimbabwean authorities about the matter," said US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe. The US envoy to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad said he would raise the issue at the Security Council later on Thursday, and that he hoped it would express outrage about the actions of Zimbabwean police. The UK government meanwhile said it had summoned Zimbabwe's ambassador in London to explain what happened. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the diplomats were unharmed and that no violence had been directed at them, but nevertheless described the incident as "serious".
"I think that it gives us a window into the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans, because this sort of intimidation is something that is suffered daily, especially by those who are working with opposition groups," he said. The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Johannesburg says the incident comes as human rights groups talk of an escalating campaign of state-sponsored violence ahead of the presidential run-off vote between President Robert Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai at the end of the month. The MDC has said at least 65 of its supporters have been killed since the election's first round in March. Mr Tsvangirai resumed his campaign after spending eight hours in detention, but there are growing fears about the credibility of the election, she says. The US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer, told the BBC that the "conditions in Zimbabwe are not yet present to have a free or fair election on 27 June".
"We have to step back and stop the fiction that somehow we are going to be prepared for a run-off, unless there is some sort of aggressive action taken not only by the South African government but also by Sadc (Southern African Development Community) as a whole," she said.
Tendai Nyoni Independent said:
Saturday, 7 June 2008
In rural areas torn by political violence the people have never seen anything like this. The levels of brutality are shocking. A 76-year-old woman told me just a few days ago that her son had been beaten to death on suspicion of being a supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
She lived in Chiweshe, central Mashonaland, a former stronghold of Zanu-PF
where the "war vets" have been active because of opposition gains. I saw one woman whose hands and buttocks were raw. I saw a man with severe
injuries on his hand and leg. The people are warned not to seek medical help
on pain of death. That means that the hospitals are receiving people with
week-old wounds, their flesh rotting.
Travelling around Mashonaland I am struck by the number of military vehicles
intimidating people. You see soldiers everywhere. The army's tactics are quite clear: they call in the village headmen with a list of voters to make them personally responsible for the votes of their people. One way or another, they must deliver the vote for Mugabe. Some headmen have already been beaten or even killed.
I went to one meeting run by army officers in a church mission where people's ID cards were taken and the details noted. The 400 people who
showed up were told that when they vote on 27 June, they should say they are illiterate and need help with the ballot. The soldiers had their guns and ammunition on display so that everyone is stricken by fear. Many people have left their homes because of the violence, or threat of violence. They are so scared they sleep in the hills. Some I spoke to were resolute they would return to vote. But others would not. The old lady said to me: "What's the point, when they are bent on war?"
The writer is a Zimbabwean lawyer whose name has been changed to protect his identity
Harare - A vote for opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe's June 27 run-off election will be akin to an act of war, Zanu-PF's vice president Joseph Msika was quoted as saying on Thursday.
"Voting for the MDC in the run-off will be like voting for Rhodesia and the British which means voting for war," Msika told a rally in the southwestern town of Zaka on Wednesday, according to a report in the state-run Herald daily. "However when I say voting for the opposition is like voting for war, it does not mean that once an MDC government is elected we will take up arms but trouble will definitely start if whites take advantage of that, if they try and reverse the land reform programme.
"I will never accept to be ruled by an MDC government that is keen to sell the country's birthright. I would rather die fighting." Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is hoping to topple veteran President Robert Mugabe in the election at the month end after narrowly failing to win an outright majority in the first round in March.
Mugabe and his top lieutenants have frequently accused Tsvangirai of being a puppet of the former colonial power Britain. The 84-year-old president, who played a leading role in the 1970s liberation movement when the country was known as Rhodesia, has ruled uninterrupted since independence in 1980 but now faces the biggest challenge to his grip on power. Zimbabwe's economy has been on a downward spiral since the turn of the decade when Mugabe launched a controversial land reform programme which saw some 4 000 white-owned farms expropriated by the state.
Msika said that Tsvangirai would try and reverse the changes in the country since independence were he to triumph in the ballot. "We almost lost our sovereignty and all the gains of our independence but we have got another chance to redeem ourselves on June 27," he said. "On June 27 let's go and vote for President Mugabe and shame the West and its imperialist machinations."
New Statesman said:Peter Hain
Published 12 June 2008
A man determined to cling to power, writes the former Cabinet Minister Did anyone seriously imagine that Robert Mugabe would tolerate a democratic Presidential election on 27 June? Having lost the last election, he and his party were never going to risk another defeat.
In March, no amount of poll rigging, intimidation or brutality against opponents could stifle the bravery of Zimbabweans voting against him. For the first time, local election results were posted up in public. For the first time people were able to safeguard the ballot by sending these results to independent monitoring centres - a process that revealed a clear win for the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. Now Zanu-PF is determined not to get caught a second time, and they are leaving nothing to chance. Hence the double arrest of Tsvangirai on patently spurious grounds; the banning of NGOs; the harassment of British and US diplomats on observer work; and the torture and extra-judicial killings of those suspected of being Mugabe's opponents.
Diplomats question whether the army and the security services would countenance a Tsvangirai victory, since the state is indistinguishable from Zanu-PF. So it will not surprise anyone if Mugabe wins this month's run-off, despite the resounding call of his long-suffering people for an end to their nightmare of widespread starvation, economic collapse and tyranny. Mugabe is determined to cling on to power regardless: he always was. What diplomats and southern African leaders have been unwilling to acknowledge is that Mugabe is not open to conventional diplomacy. The truth is that Zimbabwe represents an epic failure of policy: for Britain, for South Africa, the African Union, EU, UN, Commonwealth - indeed, for everyone concerned.
What has long been needed is an African solution to this African crisis, and an end to the prevarication and complicity of African leaders. Though embarrassed by Mugabe, African leaders have deferred to him as the heroic liberation leader of the 1970s, rather than condemning him for the corrupt tyrant he has become. It is true that Archbishop Desmond Tutu has denounced Mugabe for betraying the freedom struggle he once so bravely led
against racist white-minority rule. But Tutu has been a lone voice.
This has been a tragedy not just for Zimbabweans but for Thabo Mbeki, and
his noble vision of an "African renaissance". The ultimate irony is that millions of refugees have escaped across the Limpopo river into South Africa - only to become victims of xenophobic violence, perpetrated by South Africa's own poor and dispossessed. Meanwhile, southern Africa's discourse on Zimbabwe evokes memories of attacks on the anti-apartheid movement:
Zimbabwe's "problems" are an "internal matter" and there should be no "outside interference". European criticism of Mugabe is tantamount to "colonialism" or even "racism". The UN assistant secretary general, Haile menkerios, has tried to facilitate a solution (possibly a government of national unity).
So, what is the solution?
International observers must be allowed to monitor the election, and must be
given full access to the country. If Mugabe loses, there must be both an internationally managed exit plan, and an orderly transfer of power. This will require global engagement: from the UN, EU and, above all, from Zimbabwe's neighbours in the Southern African Development Community.
Mugabe must be left with no alternative but to respect the democratic will of the people. Peter Hain is MP for Neath and a former Africa minister
...Huyu mzee anang'ang'ania madaraka kwanini, anatesa wananchi wake kwanini, kwanini asijiudhuru kwa manufaa ya taifa la zimbabwe na kuwaachia wenye uwezo wa kuendesha nchi wakaendesha nchi, kwanini asiwaachie wanaokubalika kwa nchi wafadhili wakaendesha nchi hata kama ni wa chama chake.
botswana imekuwa ni nchi ya kwanza ya kiafrika kukemea kinachoendelea zimbabwe. imemwita balozi wa zimbabwe nchini humo na kumueleza live kuhusu udikteta wa mugabe. kwa upande mwingine ina maana kama b-52 za waamerka zitatumwa zimbabwe wanaweza kutumia botswana kama camp ya kivita. itakuwa vita ya muda mfupi sana huenda ni ya masaa machache na wanaojiita veterani watalala mbele vibaya sana
link: [media]http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080614/ts_afp/zimbabwevotemugabe_080614120934[/media]
Mugabe says opposition will never govern in his lifetime
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said Saturday the opposition would never govern in his lifetime and he was ready to go to war to ensure it does not oust him from office in a June 27 run-off election.
"Should this country be taken by traitors... it is impossible," Mugabe said, referring to the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in a speech at the burial of a former independence fighter.
"It shall never happen... as long as we are alive and those who fought for the country are alive," he added. "We are prepared to fight for our country and to go to war for it."
Mugabe also raised the spectre of war on Friday if MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who fell just short of an outright majority in a March first round, wins the run-off poll in just under a fortnight's time.
The veteran president, who has ruled since independence in 1980, has frequently portrayed Tsvangirai as a puppet of former colonial power Britain and wealthy whites, thousands of whom lost their land when he launched a controversial programme of farm expropriations at the turn of the decade.
"Once again we want to make it clear to the British and Americans that we are no one's subjects and will never be," said Mugabe.
"This country shall not again come under the rule and control of the white man, direct or indirect. Never, ever.
"The British rule has gone, gone for ever. The white man is gone, never, ever will this country be ruled by a white man again."
Mugabe also launched a new diatribe at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who called on Friday for "an end to violence, an end to repression ... and for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe."
"Brown, prime minister of Britain, continues to interfere in our internal affairs, making us a subject matter of British policy as if we remain a permanent colony of Britain," said Mugabe.
The MDC has accused Mugabe and his security forces of trying to cripple Tsvangirai's campaign, with the opposition leader detained on numerous occasions.
The opposition also says more than 60 of its supporters have been killed by pro-Mugabe militias since the first round of voting while thousands more have been hospitalised.
Once seen as a post-colonial success story, Zimbabwe's economy has been in freefall since Mugabe began his land reforms at the turn of this decade.
Inflation, officially put at 165,000 percent, is thought
Afrik.com said:Financial constraints force them to opt for something else Zimbabwe's presidential run-off poll might be scrapped this week in favour of a five-year transitional government.
Monday 16 June 2008, by Bruce Sibanda
It is understood that the move would see the incumbent leader Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change working together for the first time, with Mugabe as president and Tsvangirai as executive prime minister. However, sources at the weekend said progress is being hampered by Mugabe and Tsvangirai jostling for the presidency and wanting to dictate terms related to the functioning of the government of national unity, sources claimed this week.
Zimbabwe abolished the position of prime minister in 1987 when Mugabe, then
prime minister, took over as president from Reverend Canaan Banana, who had been ceremonial head of state since independence from Britain in 1980.
Officials in the MDC were tight-lipped on the exact details of the impending
political settlement. But Tsvangirai, who was represented by party secretary-general Tendai Biti at three meetings in Pretoria last week to broker the deal, denied plans to call off the elections. "I am here campaigning and meeting our supporters in preparation for the election, which we will win despite these senseless arrests and acts of intimidation," he said He admitted that they met with Zanu PF for talks, "but that was not the direction of the negotiations."
South Africa's Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi chaired the talks,
in which Mugabe was represented by his justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa,
and his right-hand man, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Thabo Mbeki is said to have been briefed by a team of retired generals he sent to Zimbabwe to assess the conditions ahead of the runoff. "They told him it is impossible to have a free and fair run-off, that the violence has crippled any chance of a smooth election," a top Zimbabwean politician said.
Mbeki has also briefed Zambian leader and SADC chairperson Levy Mwanawasa on the "worsening" conditions ahead of the polls, which have seen Tsvangirai arrested several times. Zambia media reported at the weekend that Mwanawasa's spokesperson, Mike Mulongoti, saying he had "no information" on the talks. "I can neither confirm nor deny the talks. I can confirm the facilitator has had ongoing discussions with the Zimbabwean leadership, but as to what they discussed, I do not know," he said.
But a reliable source said: "The deal is done and awaits Tsvangirai and
Mugabe's signatures. Both Mbeki and the SADC do not believe the conditions
will produce a free and fair election. "Mbeki has told Zanu-PF and the MDC that the best way to solve the impasse is to work together. It is now up to Tsvangirai and Mugabe to put aside their egos and put the country first."
Another source said: "The sticking point at this stage is that Tsvangirai
wants to be the president and to have the powers to decide who in Zanu-PF he should be working with. Mugabe, on the other hand, wants Tsvangirai to be prime minister and he wants to decide who in the MDC he should work with in the new government." The news of the impending Kenya-style political settlement comes barely two weeks before the June 27 polls and as Zimbabwe's economy crashed to new lows, with funds sorely lacking to finance the run-off.
"There is not even a cent left in the kitty," a senior Zimbabwean government
official said on Friday. "There isn't even money to print the ballot papers,
let alone pay the polling agents. "In that scenario, a negotiated political settlement makes sense and Zanu-PF is not hostile to that idea. It's a matter of time," said the official. "I do not see us going ahead with an election."
Norbert Jacobs said:zimbabwemetro.com ⋅ June 15, 2008
Former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano and Grace Machel are among 40 prominent African personalities who have signed an open letter calling for
an end to the current political violence in Zimbabwe, and for a free and fair second round in the presidential election.
The letter was published here on Metro
The letter declares we are deeply troubled by the current reports of intimidation, harassment and violence. It is vital that the appropriate conditions are created so that the Presidential run-off is conducted in a peaceful, free and fair manner. Only then can the political parties conduct their election campaigning in a way that enables the citizens to express freely their political will.
The signatories call, not only for an immediate end to violence, but for the restoration of full access for humanitarian aid agencies. The regime of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has shut down the operations of international NGOs, even though an estimated four million Zimbabweans (almost a third of the entire population) are in need of food aid. It is feared that, by concentrating distribution of food aid in its own hands, the regime plans to use food as a weapon against opposition voters.
The letter also calls for an adequate number of independent electoral observers, both during the election process and to verify the results. However, Mugabes government has banned most independent organizations,
including the Commonwealth, the Carter Centre and even the SADC Southern
African Development Community) Parliamentary Forum, from observing the elections. The letter states that Zimbabweans fought for liberation in order to be able to determine their own future. Great sacrifices were made during the liberation struggle. To live up to the aspirations of those who sacrificed,
it is vital that nothing is done to deny the legitimate expression of the will of the people of Zimbabwe. This is a clear rejection of the regimes claim that only the ruling ZANU-PF can claim the mantle of the liberation struggle and represent the will of the people.
That Chissano has signed this letter is of considerable significance, since in the past he has been very close to Mugabe (and was Mugabes best man at his marriage to his second wife, Grace). Chissano has been most reluctant to
criticize Mugabe, and the fact that he put his name to this letter shows that there are very few figures of any stature left on the international stage who are prepared to support Mugabes current behaviour. A second Mozambican signatory is Graca Machel, the wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, and widow of Mozambiques first President, Samora Machel. Without Machels commitment to the Zimbabwean liberation struggle, allowing ZANU to operate from Mozambican soil, it is rather unlikely that Mugabe would ever have attained power.
Other signatories to the letter include the two former UN general secretaries from Africa, Kofi Annan and Boutros Ghali, and Nobel laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Wangari Maathai of Kenya. 17 former heads of state and government signed the letter - several of them from SADC and thus well known to Mugabe. They include former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, two former Tanzanian Presidents, Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Benjamin Mkapa, and two former Botswana Presidents, Quett Masire and Festus Mogae,
Signatories from the arts include world-renowned Senegalese musician Soussou Ndour. The man who is arguably the most powerful trade unionist in Africa, Zwelinzima Vavi, the general secretary of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (COSATU) also signed the letter. The letter was published on the same day that Botswana became the first SADC member to publicly condemn the crackdown against leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The Botswanan Foreign Minister, Phandu
Sekelemani, summoned the Zimbabwean Ambassador to Gaberone, Thomas
Mandigora, to warn him that Thursdays detention of MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai while he was campaigning and the arrest of MDC general secretary
Tendai Biti on treason charges were unacceptable.
Botswana is alarmed by these arrests and detentions as they disrupt electoral activities of key players and intimidate the electorate, thus undermining the process of holding a free, fair and democratic election, Sekelemani said in a statement. We are deeply disturbed by this unfolding
situation of politically motivated arrests and intolerance which pose a serious threat to an outcome that reflects the will of the people of Zimbabwe.
Peter Clottey said:Washington, D.C.
16 June 2008
The African Union (AU) is reportedly getting ready to counter threats by Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe ahead of this month's presidential election run-off. Some Zimbabweans are reportedly skeptical about the prospects of an AU intervention, calling it too little too late. This comes after African dignitaries including former heads of state signed a petition calling on the Harare government to end escalated violence ahead of the run-off. But some political analysts believe the AU does not have the capacity to put pressure on the Mugabe-led government to ensure a free and fair vote. John Makumbe is a political science professor at the University of Zimbabwe. He tells reporter Peter Clottey from the capital, Harare that President Mugabe is a disgrace to the African Union.
"I think I would say that it's about time the African Union made a stand against Robert Mugabe. It's really an embarrassment to the African Union. And his utterances are very much an embarrassment to the African union because they really say he is the ultimate power in Zimbabwe, and even in Africa he is masquerading as someone who is invincible. No one can stop him from doing whatever he wants, and I think that is very embarrassing to the African Union," Makumbe pointed out.
He said there are many options the African Union can employ to pressure incumbent President Mugabe into ensuring an end to the escalating violence and a free and fair vote later this month. "For starters, the African Union can flood Zimbabwe with observers for this run-off election, and they can make sure that the people they send into Zimbabwe go to the rural areas as well as to the urban areas. That is the second thing they could do, and the third thing they could do is to give Mugabe the ultimatum to stop the violence that he is perpetrating in Zimbabwe or else they might do the forth thing. They might have to put together a standing army, which can be flown into Zimbabwe to do peacekeeping work during the elections and after the elections. They can do any of those things, and they can do them reasonably quickly," he said.
Makumbe said the inability of the African Union to help end the violence and ensure a free vote in the upcoming run-off would be seen as a failure.
"It will impact very negatively on the African Union, it will clearly send a message that the African Union is a toothless bulldog. It has a really loud bark, but its bite is completely impotent. And it will also send a message to the people of Zimbabwe, which will say even though the election will be
neither free nor fair it can still be won. Robert Mugabe can still lose this election in spite of and sometimes because of his utterances and the action
that he has taken against the people of Zimbabwe. People normally don't vote for the contestant who will have beaten them up, burnt tier house down, raped them and kill them," Makumbe noted.
He said although the opposition faces have an uphill task of unseating incumbent President Mugabe in the run-off, the MDC could still win the election. "I think I expect the MDC to win with a huge margin. I expect the people of Zimbabwe to be courageous enough to say yes we have been beaten, we have been harassed, we have been tortured, but we know how to vote and we will vote for change. And to vote for change is to vote for the MDC, it is to vote for Morgan Tsvangirai and it is to vote against Robert Mugabe because he has proved over and above all else that he is not fit to govern this country," he said.
Basildon Peta in Johannesburg said:Monday, 16 June 2008
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has secured a comfortable head start of at least 130,000 votes through rigged voting by members of the security forces in this month's run-off election against the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, according to information obtained by The Independent.
Members of the army, air force and police have been forced to cast ballots in favour of Mr Mugabe at their barracks and stations. It is not unusual for members of the security forces to cast their votes ahead of polling day. But the decision to force them to fill the ballots for Mr Mugabe in front of their station superiors is unusual, and is blatantly illegal, sources said. Although coercive voting of this kind has been attempted before, military sources said it was considerably worse this time, with spouses and children - particularly those living in barracks and police camps - also being forced to fill ballots for Mr Mugabe.
It is estimated that Mr Mugabe could have at least 130,000 to 150,000 votes
before actual balloting begins on 27 June. That would give the President a comfortable advantage in what could be a close election. In the strongest condemnation so far of the Mugabe government, David Miliband, the Foreign
Secretary, attacked what he called the "sadism" of the regime. Mr Miliband
also warned the South African government that it had a responsibility to
take decisive action in the face of the worsening crisis in neighbouring
Zimbabwe.
"Some things can be done and the first thing is to be clear about the sadism - and I use that word advisedly - going on in places, especially north of Harare," Mr Miliband said. "People are being killed, people are being tortured, people are being beaten. Election observers are being stripped out. It is hmportant that we speak plainly and frankly about that," he added.
Mr Mugabe declared yesterday that he was prepared to hand over power, but
only to an ally from within his own ruling party. Such an ally must nevertheless have demonstrated his ability to "keep Zimbabwe away from the
white man". His remarks, which followed a threat on Saturday to "declare war" if he is voted out of power, further entrench fears that Zimbabwe will be plunged into bloodshed if he loses the run-off. Shocking incidents of political
violence have already been recorded including cases of suspected opposition
supporters being brutally beaten, tortured, burnt and killed. Meanwhile, aid agencies have been ordered to stop distributing aid as the regime uses starvation as a tactic to secure the poll.
The state-sponsored violence has forced tens of thousands of opposition
supporters to flee their homes. This, in effect, disenfranchises them, because of a requirement, being stringently enforced, that voters can only cast their ballots at polling booths in the wards in which they are registered as voters.
Mr Mugabe has flatly rejected a proposal by the opposition to convert the whole country into a single constituency for the purposes of voting in the
presidential run-off. Since voters will not be selecting candidates for specific parliamentary seats, the single constituency system would have allowed voters to cast their ballots anywhere in the country on production of their identity cards without resort to a defective voters roll. The simplified system was used in a national referendum on a new constitution that Mr Mugabe resoundingly lost in 2000.
In the presidential election, Mr Tsvangirai won the first round of voting on 29 March by 47 per cent to Mr Mugabe's 43 per cent. In presidential elections in 2002, condemned by the world as flawed, Mr Tsvangirai lost to Mr Mugabe by a narrow 400,000 votes. The early rigging of votes therefore spells a danger to opposition hopes. Since his return to Zimbabwe, Mr Tsvangirai has been arrested on a daily basis and his campaigning disrupted. His deputy, Tendai Biti, is in jail and is expected to be charged with treason for declaring that his party had won elections before the results were officially released. The charges potentially carry the death penalty.
Several retired African presidents including Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, Joacquim Chissano of Mozambique and others have joined the former UN secretaries general Kofi Annan and Boutras Ghali in signing a petition calling upon Mr Mugabe to ensure free and fair elections.
ANGUS SHAW said:1 hour, 45 minutes ago
HARARE, Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe, campaigning for re-election in a presidential runoff June 27, warned he would not cede power to Western-backed opponents, the state media reported Monday. "We shed a lot of blood for this country. We are not going to give up our country for a mere X on a ballot. ............................................................
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Monday threatened to arrest the leadership of the opposition over an increase in violence ahead of a June 27 presidential run-off.
"Sooner rather than later we are going to accuse the MDC and the party
leadership of being liable and responsible for those crimes of violence," he
told a rally south of Harare of the Movement for Democratic Change
opposition.
"We are telling them we will arrest you in broad daylight," he added.
Mugabe, referring to the violence, said "there is now a pattern across the
country that has to stop."
An MDC spokesman responded by throwing the charge of responsibility for the
violence back at the president.............................................................
Tererai Karimakwenda said:
Police officers who voted for the MDC in the early voting that took place
last week have already started being victimised by state agents. Desperate for votes in the coming presidential runoff poll between MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe, the ruling party is forcing police officers and soldiers to cast early ballots, in front of their superiors. This is after warning them that they would be fired if they do not vote for Mugabe.............................................................
Tichaona Sibanda said:
There was wanton destruction of property in Mbare on Sunday after Zanu-PF
youths reacted angrily to the visit to Matapi police station by a group of
observers from the Southern African Development Community. ............................................................
iafrica.com said:[/size=3]
Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:53
Zimbabwe police on Monday searched the home and computer of the opposition's number two leader, who is facing a treason charge ahead of a 27 June presidential run-off, his lawyer said.
Tendai Biti, Secretary General of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
opposition, was due in court on Monday, but police were likely to delay the
appearance, said Lewis Uriri.............................................................
Harare/Johannesburg - President Robert Mugabe has indicated clearly for the first time that he will disregard the result of elections if his Zanu-PF party loses, according to reports in the state press Monday. Britain threatens to block Zimbabwe's electricity supply if Mugabe rigs poll Daily Mail, UK............................................................
Diplomats and allies are urging South Africa to block electricity lines to the country amid fears Mr Mugabe will cling to office. The 84-year-old ruler has threatened violence if the opposition party wins the election run-off on 27 June. He warned last week that supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF party will take up arms to stop the Movement Britain, US slam 'desperate and criminal' Mugabe ............................................................
By Our Correspondents said:
HARARE - President Robert Mugabes militia, operating in the farming areas of Mashonaland provinces, are allegedly applying highly toxic herbicides to the injuries of their victims, especially those sustained in the buttocks, to exacerbate pain as well as increase the chances of fatality. The Mashonaland constituencies are former strongholds of Mugabes Zanu-PF which swung to support the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the March 29 harmonised elections.
In making the shocking disclosures of alleged Zanu-PF brutal strategies, nine days before the presidential run-off, which pits Mugabe against favourite candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC next week, sources claimed the use of the chemicals had so far not come to light as doctors have only been content with treating the injuries instead of investigating the causes of their extent, particularly the peeling of the outer skin, blistering, ulceration and cell death in skin tissues.
Sources in Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East identified widely used herbicide Paraquat as the agent being used. Paraquat is a highly toxic herbicide which medical experts say can be fatal if it enters the bloodstream or when swallowed by accident even in small measures. According to the findings of our research, the presence of scratches, cuts, and sores substantially increases fatality risks.
The sources said Zanu-PF militias, led by war veterans and armed state security agents, had been administering this kind of punishment on victims of violence since the retribution started after Mugabes loss to Tsvangirai in the presidential election held on March 29. The sources said Paraquat, described as a quick-acting, non-selective herbicide, which destroys green plant tissue on contact and, by translocation within the plant, was widely used in the farming areas to kill any green weeds in preparing land for planting.
When they beat up perceived MDC supporters they then proceed to pour cold water laced with Paraquat on the injuries. Apart from increasing the pain, this inflames the injuries and prolongs the healing process, said a government source, familiar with operations of the militia, speaking strictly on condition he is not named due to the sensitive nature of the issue.
If you carefully look at the injuries sustained by some of the opposition victims, especially those sustained in the buttocks through beating, you can see that they are unusual and not consistent with beating. Bones in buttocks are left exposed and grisly. The herbicide eats through the tissues, hence the horrific sight of the injuries.
He said there were MDC supporters in the hospitals that have been brought in with life-threatening injuries consistent with the application of Paraquat.
I witnessed two incidents in Chiweshe last week, he said. Research revealed that Paraquat is generally used as a quaternary ammonium herbicide. It is dangerously poisonous to humans if swallowed. Paraquat was first produced for commercial purposes in 1961 and is today among the most commonly used herbicides. Paraquat has, however, been banned in 13 countries including Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the UK. Its use is highly restricted in the United States due to its acute oral toxicity and ill-health associated with its operations particularly on the farms and plantations. It is, however, widely used in developing countries, including Zimbabwe.
The European Union approved the use of Paraquat in 2004. Sweden, supported by Denmark, Austria, and Finland, brought the European Union commission to court to challenge the approval. In July, 2007, the court annulled the directive authorising the use of Paraquat as an active plant protection substance. Experts say even a single swig of Paraquat, immediately spat out, can cause death as a result of fibrous tissue developing in the lungs leading to asphyxiation. Long term exposures to paraquat would most likely cause lung and eye damage.
Statistics show that 93 percent of fatalities from Paraquat poisoning worldwide are cases of intentional self-administration; that is suicides. The pesticide is regarded as a major suicide agent in Third World countries.
Paraquat is such a widely used suicide agent in Third World countries due to its widespread availability, low toxic dose - two teaspoons being enough to kill - and relative cheapness. There are campaigns to control or even ban Paraquat outright globally, and there are moves to restrict its availability by requiring user education and the locking up of Paraquat stores.
There is a chemical war against supporters of the MDC which no-one has been aware of, another government insider said. Douglas Gwatidzo, the spokesman for the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights, said while his organization has not been alerted on the use of the Paraquat on victims of political violence, the medical fraternity was baffled by the gravity of the injuries and length of time they were taking to heal despite the fact that some of the wounds were not burns.
We have been wondering why they are taking so long to heal, said Gwatidzo when approached by The Zimbabwe Times. We are now going to take samples to toxicology to find out why. I will not be surprised if herbicides are detected because most of the victims claim that water was poured on them after they were beaten. I will be informing my colleagues to check this route.
According to Gwatidzo, doctors were presently attending to more than 5 000 victims of political violence hospitalized in private hospitals in Harare.
David Parirenyatwa, the minister for Health and Child Welfare was not available for comment. The MDC claims over 70 of its supporters have been killed while 25 000 have been displaced by the Zanu-PF campaign of retribution and intimidation. A Zimbabwean toxicologist based in the United States confirmed the severely toxic nature of Paraquat on humans. He says at least three levels of toxicity to humans can be defined; these being acute (or immediate effects), chronic toxicity (long-term effects) and reproductive toxicity (effects on unborn children or children subsequently born to previously exposed individuals).
At the worst, acute toxicity due to exposure to Paraquat can lead to death by respiratory failure. Over the long term, Paraquat affects the Lungs and liver and can also lead to kidney failure. These are but just a selection of a whole range of effects that can be seen as a result of toxic exposure to Paraquat, he said. Reproductively, the levels of Paraquat to which the victims are reportedly being exposed to, coupled by the route of such exposure, which increases access to the blood stream can lead to increased fetal deaths, as well as to incomplete development of fetuses.
The particular fetal abnormality that doctors can expect to see long term is incomplete bone development in children born to parents exposed to high doses of Paraquat.
Chris McGreal said:Reports from the centre of the country, where violence and intimidation are increasing ahead of the run-off elections
Chris McGreal
The Guardian,
June 18 2008
Teachers who were beaten for supporting the opposition after the first round of elections hide their faces for fear of being targeted again.
Photograph: Robin Hammond
The soldiers and ruling party militiamen herded the people of Rusape to an open field at the back of the local sports club and made their point crystal clear. "Your vote is your bullet," a soldier told the terrified crowd.
Everyone knew what he meant. "They are saying we will die if we don't vote for Robert Mugabe, that there will be war if we don't vote for Robert Mugabe," said a wary young woman holding a small child. Mugabe says it too in speeches across the land ahead of next week's run-off presidential election against the man who beat him in the first round, Morgan Tsvangirai.
But the woman was not waiting around to discuss that. Darkness had fallen in Rusape, a small town in bloodied Manicaland, and she grew alarmed as she realised she might not make it home before the unofficial curfew put in place by the ruling party militia.
Already the Mitsubishi pick-up trucks filled with young men carrying sticks, spears and knives were out on the streets preparing to move door-to-door, beating, and sometimes killing, anyone associated with the opposition.........................................
The degree of freedom and fairness in Zimbabwe's presidential election on 27 June will be judged according to a 10-point guideline enshrined in the Principles for Conducting Democratic Elections of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
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June 17, 2008 Edition 3
Botswana has broken ranks with Zimbabwe's lethargic neighbours and issued the strongest condemnation yet by any serving African government against
President Robert Mugabe's reign of terror. It has also become the first African country ever to summon Zimbabwe's high commissioner in protest.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) yesterday welcomed the statement as a progressive step by a brotherly African government, but expressed concern that the media barely noticed it. Botswana's stance has created the possibility that some African governments will withhold recognition of Mugabe as leader of Zimbabwe if he succeeds in rigging the June 27 run-off. For now, though, Botswana remains alone, although Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has branded Mugabe a "disgrace to Africa". Zimbabwe's high commissioner to Gaborone, Thomas Mandigora, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation last week. He received Botswana's official protest over the continued arrests and detentions of many senior MDC officials, including party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, and secretary-general Tendai Biti.
Botswana charged that Zimbabwe was in violation of a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) protocol on the holding of free and fair
elections. President Ian Khama's government said in a statement that "The repeated arrests and detentions are unacceptable and deserve condemnation ."