Updated 30 June ~ 10.15 - Action Alert : Farm attacks taking place in Chegutu today
Update from this morning
Mike, Angela and Ben were dumped in Kadoma at around 01h30 this morning.
This update was from last night - a forwarded email
Police at Chegutu have now provided six armed personnel after receiving instructions from PROPOL (Provincial Police Officer. They have attended on Stockdale and cannot locate the Campbells and Freeth. The police and Bruce Campbell have been out to Bronkhorst’s whose farm was looted. The maid at Bronkhorst confirmed seeing the Campbells and Freeth badly beaten up. They were in the back of a red pick up truck. The satellite device to track Mike Campbell’s Prado is not functioning.
The police and Bruce Campbell are now attempting to gain access to Mount Carmel to ascertain what has taken place. En route to Mount Carmel, Joe Gono, claiming to be from the President’s Office asked Campbell and others a number of questions concerning the shots fired at Mount Carmel and elsewhere. Campbell’s vehicle has been struck with bullets, when the abductors were chasing him.
The registration number for Gono has been recorded by Bruce Campbell. The combi previously mentioned is in fact a white bus (bigger than a combi) with doors that open at the back. A white twincab vehicle has also been seen and is part of the group that has abducted the Campbells and Freeth.
The police at Chegutu are armed and now appear to be fully cooperative and indicate that they will get the Campbells and Freeth back during the course of the night and seem fairly determined. The operations led by Moyo appear to be systematic and pre-planned. Further updates will be provided as soon as practicable.
Original post
A Zanu PF thug named Gilbert Moyo, responsible for a lot of violence in Chegutu, is wreaking havoc there tonight. A farmer by the name of Frank Trott was beaten by Gilbert Moyo who then headed over to the neighbouring farm where Angela and Mike Campbell live.
SW Radio Africa spoke to the Campbell’s daughter who is extremely distressed and said she had been told by a farm employee that her parents had been badly beaten. Angela and Mike Campbell are two farmers who have taken an appeal to the SADC tribunal over the illegal attempts to take over their property. Apparently the Campbells son went to their assitance and was shot at by the heavily armed gang who fired 40 rounds at him.
The gang was travelling around the area with three vehicles, including a red pickup.
The daughter’s farm was then attacked, and she and her family managed to escape by cutting through the back fence of the farm as the attackers arrived at the front.
Angela and Mike Campbell’s son was shot at again.
Ben Freeth another farmer in the area was also attacked (you can read about the Freeth’s previous experiences in this article in The Times).
As far as we know, at this stage, the Campbells and Ben Freeth have been taken away in a vehicle - abducted - and no one knows where they are.
This wave of farmer related violence is happening on the eve of Mugabe’s rushed inauguration after an obviously rigged election, and just before he jets off to Cairo to meet with the African Union. It’s far too convenient for words.
Robert Mugabe’s mantra through all of the horrors he has inflicted on Zimbabwe is that the country is under threat from the British, and that his entire political agenda is about returning the land to the landless majority.
Anyone following this story needs to consider and act in accordance with these guideliness:
Consider these points before you respond:
- Take imediate action to help the people affected. Lives may be at stake here.
- Alert the press to Mugabe’s agenda. Ask them to support the families affected but to also make sure they do so in such a way that it doesn’t play into Mugabe’s agenda. Mugabe wants to see the Western media frothing at the mouth with indignation over the assaults of white farmers; instead, the media must express extreme anger at yet another grotesque violation of human rights in Zimbabwe within the broader context of all the human rights violations going on in the country.Please ask them to not be fooled by this. Ask them to talk about these farmers and to fight for their safety, but also talk about everyone else who has suffered too. Their experience is not unique but the colour of their skin turns them into a useful tool in Mugabe’s unsubtle political arsenal. We can assure you that the farmers affected will want the experiences of their employees and everyone in their community to be heard too.
- Ask African leaders at the AU if they are not insulted by the inherent presumption behind Mugabe’s tactics; that he assumes they are racist and that he can cloud their visions through pathetic tricks like this.
- Keep in mind that Mugabe and Zanu PF use the attacks on white farmers as a smokescreen.
This incident is about humanity and the Zanu PF’s propensity to use violence and terror to impose their will on their people. Our job as human rights activists is to protect everyone in our country equally, as much as we can, and to ask that the Western media do the same. Mugabe’s success has been to create divisions in Zimbabwe, to deliberately try and whip up race hatred and to convince the world that their reactions and response to his behaviour is because they are racist too. In Zimbabwe, this has failed.
Take Action! to help the Chegutu farmers and their families
The Member in Charge at Chegutu Police Station is Inspector Ganyani:
Tel: Member in Charge: +263 (0)53 2974
Cell phone: +263 (0)11 562 759 or +263 (0)91 264 0537 (both of these are Cell numbers)
Chegutu police: +263 (0)53 2411 or 2209
Hotline: +263 (0)53 2343
CID: +263 (0)53 3699
District Attourney : +263 (0)53 3473
Please, as always, be very polite to the person you talk to. Remind them that they have a duty to protect Zimbabwean civilians. Tell them that the world is watching and that the whole world knows that the main organiser of these attacks is Gilbert Moyo, and we expect the police to find him and hold him accountable for his actions today, and that we expect to hear news soon that all the farmers have been released.
Remind them that the phrase ‘I was just doing my job‘ has no bearing in International Law; they risk being held accountable one day if they do not act. Warn them not to be made responsible for the crimes of senior officers and political loyalists.
Assure them you wish nothing but peace and prosperity for them and all the people of Zimbabwe.
June 30th, 2008 05:05
If only the AU delegates could read this before they hear Mugabe say that there is no more violence.
June 30th, 2008 05:24
The rest of the world is watching. This inhumanity will not last. You are not alone. Mugabe is a tyrant you has ruined a beautiful country. Democracy will prevail. Justice will prevail.
June 30th, 2008 07:35
So now the curtain opens on the first scene of the last act. Violence towards white farmers, then whites genereally, will be used to whip up media frenzy to overshadow state sanctioned barbarism towards black Zimbabweans that are perceived to be MDC supporters. Mugabe is already clearing his jails to make even more room for his torturers and their victims. And Mugabe will again thank Mbeki for his support.
And the world will ‘tut tut’ and do nothing.
June 30th, 2008 20:20
The World is watching and there are many, many people demanding change and left speechless by the lack of spine shown by the other African leaders who could affect change if they only chose to.
I thought you might like to see this BBC Mugabe cartoon at this link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/programmes_the_summer_2008_barker_gallery/html/1.stm
I hope the link works.
June 30th, 2008 21:17
We in the UK and the so-called developed world watch the news sickened and horrified - this is too much for most people to take on, and they just don’t know what to do in support. I don’t know where you find the courage to continue. Follow me back on Twitter and let’s use that service to push your messages. I will pass this on as widely as I can, and I wish you all the best in your struggle.