Zimbabwe Inclusive Government Watch : Issue 11
December 8th, 2009
November saw news on Zimbabwe dominated by the on-going political differences between the Zimbabwe’s three main parties. More than a year after it was signed, the Global Political Agreement (GPA), which was meant to address the many crises facing Zimbabwe, has yet to be fully implemented. In amongst the many media reports discussing the persistent tensions and debates between the parties, there were other reports reflecting the unavoidable reality that Zimbabwe is still a nation in turmoil. These news reports do not speak of failures to implement the process, but point instead to brazen breaches of sections in the agreement.
An overview of the November news items highlighting breaches of the GPA throws up repeated mentions of wide-ranging human rights abuses involving Zimbabwe’s soldiers.
At the start of the month, The Zimbabwean newspaper described a horrific incident at the Chiadzwa Diamond Fields, where army personnel took it upon themselves to ‘punish’ three men who had entered a secure area. The men were taken to the army base where they were severely beaten. The next day they were taken back to the mines where they were reported to have been forced to carry four corpses (the bodies of civilians allegedly killed by the army) from the mines and back to the bases.
Christopher Mushowe, former Zanu PF Minister of Transport who was this year controversially appointed to be the Governor of Manicaland, was accused this month of instructing soldiers to harass and intimidate villagers in Muromo, Mutare West constituency. The soldiers have been active, and villagers have complained and pointed out the partisan nature of the harassment, saying that those citizens who are seen to attend MDC-T functions and rallies have been specifically targeted.
Soldiers have also been accused of targeting villagers in Chivi (Masvingo Province). According to one news report: “Chivi villagers were [...] forced to abandon their day-to-day duties to attend [...] meetings called by soldiers from 4.1 infantry battalion in Masvingo.” The meetings were to force villagers in these areas to accept the Kariba Draft constitution as Zimbabwe’s new constitution – this being the draft favoured by the Zanu PF party. In another constitution related incident, a man wearing a “No To Kariba Draft” T-shirt was attacked by soldiers who tore off his shirt and beat him using their hands and booted feet.
An orphanage in Bulawayo received an unwelcome and unpleasant visit by soldiers who accused the authorities at the centre of harbouring MDC activists. It was reported that the soldiers were armed with AK-47 rifles, they arrived in an army truck, and they apparently ransacked Thuthuka Orphanage, beating up orphans in the process.
In Banket, Father Wolfgang Thamm, a priest in his late 60s, was viciously assaulted by a soldier at a roadblock:
The armed man ripped off his glasses and gave him a full punch to the right eye [...] He was then hauled out of the bakkie, punched again and shoved into a large muddy puddle, where he was kicked in the stomach twice and beaten again. They then used a container to pour muddy water over him from head to toe, until even his shoes were full of mud. He was then told to get out of there.
The GPA demands that “all state organs and institutions strictly observe the principles of the Rule of Law” and that “laws and regulations governing state organs and institutions are strictly adhered to and those violating them be penalised without fear or favour”. The law does not permit Zimbabwean soldiers to beat orphans or attack elderly priests at roadblocks. The GPA also specifically requires state organs and institutions to and “remain non-partisan and impartial” – the use of soldiers by Zanu PF loyalists to campaign for acceptance of the Kariba Draft is a blatant violation of this clause.
There was much made in November news reports about so-called “pirate” radio stations operating outside Zimbabwe, with increasing pressure and calls from the Zanu PF party for them to be ‘shut down’. These demands ignore some fundamental points about the media environment in Zimbabwe, and again, the ZIG monitoring project highlighted breaches which illustrate why, even now, the “pirate” stations still provide a service to information starved Zimbabwean citizens.
In early November the media reported on a potentially serious air accident: one of Zimbabwe’s Chinese-made MA60 passenger planes crashed into a warthog on take-off. It took the emergency services five minutes to reach the plane but, in an act which exemplifies the suppression of freedom of expression and denial of news to Zimbabwean citizens, the rescue team were beaten to the scene by a contingent of secret police, “whose first act was to arrest two passengers for taking photographs”. The two passengers were interrogated until 1am in the morning and were eventually released, but without their cameras.
If photographing a plane that crashed into a warthog is enough to attract arrest and intense interrogation, it is not difficult to understand why it was reported in November that journalists within Zimbabwe avoid investigative journalism. The Zimbabwe Independent assistant editor Dumisani Muleya was quoted as saying that Zimbabwean journalists should weigh the excitement of publishing a ground breaking story against the cost of exposing the murky activities of powerful individuals and organisations in society [...] because they did not know what would befall them if they wrote controversial but revealing stories.
Journalists who are aware of terrible atrocities and want to honour their mandate to the public only need to look to the experiences of The Zimbabwe Independent Editor, Vincent Kahiya and News Editor, Constantine Chimakure to get a sense of what might befall them. Both men were arrested for publishing a story that exposed the role of named CIO agents and police officers in the highly publicised abductions of human rights activists. It’s worth noting that one of the abductees, Jestina Mukoko, has since won a case that acknowledges her human rights were violated and that she was viciously tortured. Despite this, Kahiya and Chimakure’s ordeal drags on: in November their case was further remanded to February 2010 pending a constitutional challenge. Journalists have reason to be fearful, and this obviously impacts on the quality and type of information Zimbabwean citizens have access to via the media.
These tensions are not limited to the independent media: employees of the state-controlled media, much maligned for its partisan and biased reporting, have expressed dissatisfaction and concern at the amount of power wielded over their work. An Open Society Institute of South Africa report released in November revealed that journalists, editors, and board members were unhappy with the control that Robert Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, had over their affairs and that some were ‘afraid of him’:
One journalist who refused to be named said that Charamba was running the corporation like his personal fiefdom and this was demoralising staff as they felt that the core business of the broadcaster was no longer taking precedence [...] All this has made journalists believe that whatever they do they have to be answerable to the government or individuals in the ministry rather than the general public.
If it is recognised and understood that the role of the media is to provide impartial, objective and factual information to Zimbabweans citizens, then it is only fair to argue that the role of “pirate” radio stations has to be considered in the light of Zimbabwe’s broader media environment. The examples cited above are drawn from reports in November alone, and these are enough to point to a fundamental problem within Zimbabwe. It is reasonable to suggest that external radio stations currently broadcast news into a country where the news circulated is limited or not trusted. One could argue that addressing the media issues within Zimbabwe – issues which impact on the personal security of journalists and the integrity of their broader profession – is of far greater significance to the fundamental rights of Zimbabwean citizens than calls for the dissolution of “pirate” radio stations.
This issue has primarily discussed breaches of the GPA involving soldiers and Zimbabwe’s suffocated media environment. The scope of this mailing does not permit extensive discussion of the other breaches that occurred in November. These, plus links to original sources for all cases mentioned above, are available online at www.sokwanele.com/zigwatch. Brief examples of other breaches occurring in November have been provided below.
Please note: ZIG Watch Issue 12 will be mailed at the end of January 2010 to accommodate the holiday period
Zanu PF Threatens To Interfere In Relief Food Distribution
RadioVOP: 02/11/2009
The Zanu PF executive in Chimanimani has threatened that no relief food will be distributed in the area without the presence of the party’s members. Secretary for External Affairs in the youth league, Joshua Sako, is said to have said this at a Chimanimani rural district council meeting. [...] An official of Save the Children, who spoke to Radio VOP strictly on condition of anonymity, said his organisation will pull out of the area if the directive is enforced. “We will be definitely pull out if politicians are allowed to interfere with our operations. We have our own strict and open way of identifying beneficiaries of aid and we will not succumb to politicians‘s wishful orders,” he said
- ARTICLE XVI : HUMANITARIAN AND FOOD ASSISTANCE
- ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE
MDC Living In Fear In Zaka
RadioVOP: 17/11/2009
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) provincial officials here on Tuesday said they were living in perpetual fear following abductions of their members in recent weeks. [...] “The general membership in the province is now in a state of shock. We are receiving reports that some of our supporters are being persecuted by war veterans, soldiers and Zanu PF youths,” he said.
- ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
- ARTICLE XII : FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
- ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE
Four men survive planned execution – ROHR
Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe: 19/11/2009
Four MDC activists from Muzarabani south have fled their homes after they were tipped of a death threat on their lives following a resolution to wipe out all MDC party position holding activist was passed from a ZANU PF meeting that was held on Friday the 13th of November at Chawarura business centre in Muzarabani. [...] Kiswell Masimbisa, MDC district secretary for Muzarabani South told ROHR Zimbabwe that six men, two of them armed with guns stormed his home the night of the ZANU PF meeting around 12 midnight looking for him. The six men gang is said to have paid a visit to Masimbisa’s other three colleagues Jackson Rumero- district vise chairman, Stefan Sado- organizing secretary and Joram Frank- director of elections but could not find them at home.
- ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
- ARTICLE XII : FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
- ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE
Tortured MDC employee applies for bail after charges dropped
SW Radio Africa (ZW): 19/11/2009
The MDC transport manager, who was severely tortured after he was abducted by state security agents last month, was finally allowed to apply for bail on Thursday, after serious charges laid against him were dropped this week. [...] Bail could be the only way Gwezere will be able to receive private medical care, care he urgently needs after being severely tortured while in the custody of his abductors. His lawyers have been fighting for Gwezere to be seen by private doctors and transferred to a clinic for treatment. But Gwezere is still being denied the necessary care, in what his lawyers say is a ‘calculated’ and ‘deliberate’ act by the state.
- ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS
Consultation Period on Constitution cut
Zimbabwe Independent, The (ZW): 19/11/2009
Public consultations on the crafting of a new constitution are now expected to start in January, with a referendum pencilled in for September — cutting by nine months the timeframe for the constitution-making process set out in the Global Political Agreement.
- ARTICLE VI : CONSTITUTION
State Invokes Act To Keep MDC Transport Manager In Custody
RadioVOP: 20/11/2009
The State has invoked the notorious section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) to deny Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) transport manager Pascal Gwezere, who is being accused of stealing 20 AK47 riffles and a shotgun from an army barracks, his freedom. High Court Judge Justice Charles Hungwe had granted Gwezere a US$500 bail. Tawanda Zvekare, representing the state, invoked the section , saying to appeal against the judgment. The State is given seven days to appeal against a judgment by invoking section 121 of the CPEA and the suspects will have to remain in custody during the same period.
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS
- ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE
Lands Officer Kunonga leading a seige on another farm in Chegutu
Sokwanele.com: 26/11/2009
26 November 2009: Lands officer Kunonga along with invader Hanyani and other thugs arrived early at the Beattie’s home early in the morning to demand that the Beattie’s vacate their home. A report was made to police. At time of writing the situation is very threatening and Chegutu police still refuse to stop the harassment. Strategic fires have been lit around the thatched double storey homestead and the threat of being burnt out is very real. The member in charge Chegutu Police Station, Inspector Zengeni, the stood down lands officer Kunonga and Edna Madzongwe are all allegedly involved in this lawless attack.
- ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH
- ARTICLE V: LAND QUESTION
- ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
- ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE
Mahoso invades Mutare farm
Zimbabwean, The (ZW): 27/11/2009
President Robert Mugabe’s former chief media policeman Tafataona Mahoso has invaded a commercial farm near Mutare, giving the white owner only 48 hours to vacate the property that had been his home for years. [...] Earlier Bezuidenhout had accepted a government offer to subdivide his farm between himself and state-appointed “settlers”, an arrangement government officials assured the farmer would allow him to continue farming. But that was until Mahoso turned up demanding the piece that Bezuidenhout had kept after subdivision of his farm. Mahoso did not answer his phone when The Zimbabwean on Sunday tried to contact him last Friday for comment on the matter.
- ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH
- ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
