Tuesday News Round-Up: Feeling like a broken record...

The Daily Zim-date, Cliffsnotes Version: Pretty much the same bunk I’ve written about every day for the last two and a half months.

Full Version: The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party accused Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party of using state agencies, media, and state security forces to obstruct their campaign efforts. MDC leader and presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai said that Zimbabwe is “effectively being run by a military junta,” and told a press conference that talks of a ZANU/MDC unity government are premature, despite rumors that negotiations are currently underway in South Africa.

I’m all about avoiding violence and bloodshed, but it seems a tad foolish to me to think that any kind of power-sharing is even an option with Mugabe and the ZANU thugs. Why do I say this? History, my friends. Let’s learn from it. Mugabe’s rule has a nearly-30 year record of corruption and authoritarianism—what makes anyone think he will suddenly adopt a philosophy of participatory, democratic governance?

South African President Thabo Mbeki is supposedly mediating these negotiations. Perhaps he should be replace by someone with less affinity for Mugabe, and without a history of disregarding his tyrannical policies and rantings.

In other news…more warnings were issued today regarding the dire consequences of rising food prices and shortages for struggling populations. The situation is compounded by drought in Ethiopia. Children, as is all to often the case, are the first and the hardest hit.

Somalia’s transitional government signed a three-month ceasefire with a rebel group—unfortunately, there are many such groups waging war against the weak central government, and a top Islamic rebel scoffed at the agreement.

I don’t quite know what to make of this: On his last trip to Europe, President Bush told reporters that he created the wrong impression of being a warmonger, saying, "I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric" in the run-up to the Iraq war.

Uh-huh. Any other regrets?

What are we going to do about Bobby?

Zimbabwe is such a mess—I keep reading these articles and wondering…is anyone doing anything about this? How much worse will it get? Fourteen members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested two weeks ago on charges of “conducting activities that are likely to cause public disorder” and “distributing false information.” (They were protesting the delay in releasing the results of the original presidential election in March.) They were granted bail by a judge on Friday, but the state shows no sign of letting them free. Families of MDC officials are increasingly targets of ZANU-PF militias, and a minister lost an eye in a brutal attack on a group that attended an MDC meeting. Two of the country’s human rights lawyers fled to South Africa due to threats on their life, and following the death of 5 of their clients, all MDC activists.

The EU and US will call on the UN to send election monitors for the June 27 run-off, but Mr. Bobby Mugabe has an established pattern of not only disregarding pressure from the UN and the West, but vociferously blaming them for all of his country’s woes.

I would really, really love to know what goes on in that man’s head.

But, onwards, if not upwards. The last remaining rebel group in Burundi continues to recruit children into its ranks, despite moves towards peace and disarmament. (Taking cues from Joseph Kony, it seems.) Citizens in Burma are being arrested for distributing aid to cyclone victims. (Bastards.)

Monday News Brief: MN or Bust?

In Zimbabwe, Bobby Mugabe and his ZANU-PF continue to intimidate the opposition MDC party and its supporters ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off election, adding “arrest top party officials” and “ban all campaign rallies” to their stellar repertoire of campaign tactics—which already includes setting up torture camps and blocking food aid as key strategies.

A small measure of progress was made in Sudan over the weekend, with President Omar al-Bashir and southern leader Salva Kiir agreeing to an interim government and international arbitration process over the disputed Abyei region. Over 50,000 people fled the region recently after renewed fighting between the government and southern forces threatened to re-ignite civil war.

A report by the ENOUGH Project raises concerns for renewed violence in Northern Uganda, as it documents how rebel leader Joseph Kony used the relative calm of the peace negotiation process to rearm his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Ugandan and other regional governments are considering (preparing for?) military action against the threat of a new offensive by the LRA.

Quick items: A UN team is currently in the DRC to address the on-going challenges to peace in the region. Further clashes between Islamic militants and Ethiopian and Somali troops have civilians caught in the crossfire in Mogadishu. The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission will hold hearings for its diaspora in Minnesota this week. And finally, a New York Times editorial on politics and hunger, following last week’s UN food summit in Rome.

Thursday News: A few things that have me concernicus...

President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan responded to criticism from a US special envoy, accusing the US and the West of trying to “dictate” the internal affairs of his country, and asking the international community to give him a change to resolve the crises in Darfur and Abyei. Excuse me, Mr. President? Killing all of your opponents does not qualify as a legitimate policy for conflict resolution and domestic peace.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is setting up a committee, with ZANU-PF and MDC representatives, to work with police to curb violence ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off election. Because clearly it makes good sense for the people responsible for the violence to be charged with “curbing” it. The po-po have been very busy this week: They detained opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai for “rallying supporters without authorization” (if only he would have asked!), and also held a convoy of US and UK diplomats to prevent them from investigating the on-going political violence. The convoy was chased by Zimbabwe police, who then slashed the tires of their vehicle and detained them for 5 hours once they were finally stopped. The government is also reportedly preventing food distributions by international aid organizations in certain regions until after the election. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga defied a taboo by publicly criticizing Mugabe and calling a dictator.

The US called on South Africa to use its “unique position” of political leverage with Mugabe to intervene and avert further violence. South African President Thabo Mbeki has presided over such negotiations in the past, and has been accused by many of being too soft towards Mugabe. An editorial in the New York Times accuses Mbeki of abdicating his responsibility, and calls on other African governments to take his place. A civil society group also accused Mbeki of knowing about plans to transport a shipment of Chinese weapons through South Africa to Zimbabwe—delivery of the shipment, as you may remember from previous posts, was successfully thwarted by organized protests throughout southern Africa.

Rwandan rebels attacked a refugee camp in the eastern DRC, killing 6 and wounding 30 after firing indiscriminately into a crowd of unarmed civilians. The rebels, many of whom participated in the 1994 genocide, remain a major obstacle to peace in the region.

Uganda, Sudan, and the DRC agreed to join forces against the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) if their leader, Joseph Kony, continues to stall peace negotiations. The UN-led process was near conclusion in April when Kony refused to show up and sign the peace accord, presumably in protest of an International Criminal Court indictment against him. Human rights groups report an increase in the LRA’s violence activities, including the abduction of children, in the months since. Kony and the LRA are hiding in eastern DRC.

And finally…an Amnesty International report on crimes against humanity committed by the government of Burma (Myanmar) against the Karen ethnic minority.

Tuesday News: Finally broke through technical issues with Blogger, so this is a long one...

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are calling for the release of 130 prisoners from the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, ahead of the 19^th anniversary on Wednesday, June 4. HRW says the Chinese government should release the wrongfully-detained activists to uphold its commitment to improve its human rights record before the Olympics in Beijing. In other big-bad-China news, judges sanctioned attorneys who offered to defend Tibetan activists detained for their participation in protests earlier this year.

Election fun continues in Zimbabwe…and by “fun,” of course I mean violence, intimidation, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and a general crackdown on all opposition to Mugabe and his government. ZANU-PF liberation-fighters-turned-lawless-thugs, the ‘war veterans,’ told civil servants that they’ll lose their jobs if they vote for the opposition. All operations of aid organization Care International have been suspended after the group was accused of campaigning for the opposition--an allegation they deny. Our good friend Bobby Mugabe is currently in Rome for a UN food summit, and is subject to international condemnation as a result. Mugabe even spoke at the summit, once again accusing Great Britain and the West of imperialist sabotage of Zimbabwe’s political and economic affairs (his favorite line of defense, it seems).

The Zimbabwe crisis is being cited by many otherwise disparate parties in South Africa as a key reason that President Thabo Mbeki should resign ahead of the end of his second presidential term, though there are certainly many other contributors to the “governance and leadership vacuum” in the country. The recent wave of xenophobic violence are also fueling the political discord, especially as civil society groups say they warned the government last year about the possibility of such violence.

The situation in Somalia looks increasingly dire, as the United Nations Security Council embarks on a 10-day, 5-nation tour to solicit support for its peace efforts. Frequent clashes between Islamic insurgents and Ethiopian troops, in the country to back the weak transitional government, are proving to be a major obstacle to peace and cease fire negotiations.

Uganda confirmed its continued presence in Darfur, despite the killing of one of its peacekeepers. For an assessment on the current situation in Sudan, and the implications of the conflicts in Abyei and Darfur, check out the Council on Foreign Relations report, “Sudan’s Interlocking Crises.”

The US accused the military in Burma of “criminal neglect,” as an estimated one million people still have not received assistance one month after Cyclone Nargis. US Naval ships, stocked with relief supplies but not yet allowed to dock and unload, will likely be withdrawn from the region soon. The leader of the junta said the affected areas would be fully opened to international relief workers, but the government is still restricting access 10 days later.

Finally, two things to keep an eye on: 1. War and conflict have an environmental toll as well as a human one--check out this article on elephants caught in the crossfire of Sri Lanka’s civil war; 2. Thailand is experiencing a bit of economic turmoil amid mounting anti-government demonstrations and rumors of a military coup.

Monday News: "Looking Ugly"

The xenophobic violence in South Africa dominates my Google Reader this morning. Foreign refugees and workers are either fleeing the country or setting up makeshift camps--and are not only rejecting public apologies, but are vowing to fight back if attacked again. Local, provincial, and national governments are grappling with the best way to deal with both the displacement and imperative the end the violence and ensure long-term peace. President Thabo Mbeki, who remained silent on the growing crisis for nearly two weeks, called the violence an “absolute disgrace” in a speech marking yesterday’s Africa Day commemoration.

Newspaper editorials from around the African continent provide compelling critiques of the violence: The Monitor, a newspaper in Uganda, writes, “South Africa is looking ugly again,” and blames the ANC for creating unrealistically high expectations for change under democracy and majority rule. (Perhaps a new indicator for democratic consolidation should be the degree of skepticism citizens have towards politicians’ campaign promises.) While the editorial notes that the ANC government has made strides in post-apartheid economic growth, it also warns that, due to the massive scale of poverty, special attention should be paid to the urban poor in order to ward off disgruntlement-turned-violence.

The East African, out of Kenya, seems betrayed at South Africans’ rejection of their continental brothers and of the ideals of their own Rainbow Nation. The editors write, “The black South African is generally a bitter person, emotionally scarred by the brutal apartheid system. It could indeed take a generation or more for South Africans to recover from the after-effects of apartheid. But attacking fellow black Africans will not bring about quick healing; instead, it will alienate the Rainbow Nation from neighbouring countries to which it owes so much in the fight against apartheid.”

In Zimbabwe, our good friend Bobby Mugabe told a ZANU-PF rally that Zimbabwe will “never be a colony again,” invoking the same rhetoric he uses every time his rule is under attack. (Seriously, if you read his speeches from throughout his career, you’ll find new meaning in the phrase ‘broken record.’) The implication is that the MDC is back by Western interests, and a MDC electoral victory would amount to the reinstallation of colonialism. Mugabe also promised land to Zimbabweans living in South Africa if they return…and I’m wondering, after decades of his land ‘policies,’ if there’s really anyone left to steal it form?

Violence continues to two fronts in Sudan, with fears of renewed civil war between the North and the South, and government retaliation against Darfur for the rebel attack on Khartoum.

Uganda set up a special war crimes court with a mandate to try the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army for atrocities committed during its 20 year insurgency. LRA leader Joseph Kony has repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of an International Criminal Court indictment before he will sign a peace accord.

Slow progress, but progress nonetheless, continues in Burma, as representatives of 50 nations met in Rangoon to discuss international access and aid to cyclone victims.

Need something slightly more positive? Check out this UNICEF article on efforts to help Chadian refugee children living in camps in Cameroon.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...

More election trouble is brewing, this time in Angola: Human Rights Watch issued a press release calling the country’s closure of the field office of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) an ominous sign of “growing government intolerance of human rights scrutiny and other criticism in the run-up to September’s elections.” The Angolan government claims the office is no longer necessary due to the consolidation of peace and democratization, but HRW observers beg to differ.

Former vice president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Jean Pierre Bemba was arrested in Belgium on a war crimes indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Bemba’s militia was called on by the president of the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002 and 2003 to counter a rebellion. Bemba’s counterinsurgent strategy? Rape, torture, degradation, and looting of civilians and insurgents alike. Bemba nearly won the presidency of the DRC in 2006, but was defeated in a run-off.

A Somali news source reports attacks by Islamist insurgents against government troops in Mogadishu, as well as against suspected pirates in the coastal town of Hobyo. The waters off the coast of Somalia are notorious for pirates, despite a US naval presence, due to the 17-year lack of functioning central government.

Sudanese refugees in Uganda are resisting repatriationby the UN High Commission for Refugees following the collapse of peace talks between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The refugees fear renewed attacks by the LRA, which is currently across the border in the DRC, would force them to flee once again. The LRA is infamous for attacking, looting, and burning civilian villages throughout the region, as well as abducting women and children to become soldiers or sex slaves.

The Nation, a Kenyan publication, takes a harsh stance against the xenophobic mob violence in South Africa, accusing the government--as well as others on the continent--of fueling the violence through lack of decisive action. Citing a Swahili proverb that warns “if you fail to seal a crack, you will certainly have to rebuild the wall,” the editorial says that the South African government ignored signs that xenophobia was becoming a serious problem. South African news sources continue to assess the damage of the nationwide attacks, both material and human, even going as far as calling it “ethnic cleansing.”

MDC and ZANU-PF run-off campaigns are underway in Zimbabwe. Mugabe threatened to expel the US ambassador for “meddling” in the country’s internal affairs--he must’ve borrowed a Chinese political rhetoric book--telling supporters at a rally, "I am just waiting to see if he makes one more step wrong. He will get out." As discussed by MF in a previous post, Ambassador James McGee has braved police obstruction and intimidation to gather evidence of government-sponsored violence against civilians.

As the military government in Burma slowly acquiesces to international assistance to cyclone victims, aid workers are pressuring the junta for full access to the devastated region. While allowing international aid workers into the country, the government continues to deny American and French naval ships stocked with supplies to dock and unload.

And finally: A Washington Post article on the impact of the food shortage on UN peacekeeping efforts.