Tuesday Zim-date: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (though not necessarily in that order)

Despite previous assurances by the ZEC that the results of Zimbabwe’s presidential elections would be released by Monday, the “verification process” for the ballots has yet to commence—whodathunkit? The UN Security Council will address the Zimababwe crisis today, and is expected to recommend the appointment of a Special Representative to monitor the violence and assist a transitional government. As the UN Dispatch writes, this is a huge blow for Mugabe, as South Africa, his long-time ally, is currently the president of UNSC.

Zimbabwe’s ambassador to the UN said that a unity government will be necessary in the near future, regardless of the outcome of the election, as neither party has the ability to control parliament. This is interesting for two reasons, at least: First, it appears that not everyone in the ZANU-PF political machine is operating in sync—one day the newspaper publishes an article calling for a unity government, the next day an article argues against it (see previous posts), and the same goes for a variety of ZANU officials. Secondly, I can’t help but wonder if the thought of getting Mugabe to commit to any kind of power sharing agreement isn’t a tad delusional.

Over 200 MDC supporters were released from jail, after MDC lawyers obtained a court order stating that the police had no basis to hold them after their arrest last week. A BBC contributor also reports that the bodies of two abducted opposition supporters were found near the southern town of Masvingo.

In an article recapping the sequence of events involving the Chinese weapons shipment, which was finally recalled by the Chinese government, the BBC remarks on the incredible victory for the civil society groups, who were able to mobilize public opinion and prevent the ship from unloading its dangerous cargo. It’s astonishingly simple—all it took was a group of outraged citizens working in concert to stand between two governments and their abusive agendas. It makes you think—look at what we’re capable of, and how much more can we do?

Seventy-seven tons of weapons. Think about how many lives were saved.

Tuesday News for the Blues

• DRC: In a shocking blow to the integrity of UN peacekeeping missions—and a serious glass-half-empty moment for human rights activists everywhere—UN troops in the DRC are accused of engaging in illegal gold-trafficking and re-arming rebel groups in the eastern DRC. The UN denies that it tried to cover-up the misconduct. In other DRC news, the International Criminal Court made public a 2006 arrest warrant for Bosco Ntaganda, known as the “Terminator,” for the conscription of child soldiers.
• Mozambique: A new Amnesty International report documents excessive violence used by police against citizens with “near total impunity.”
• Tibet: Chinese courts sentenced 17 Tibetans to jail, for sentences ranging from 3 months to life, for participation in March protests against Chinese authoritarianism. BBC reports that the number of Tibetans still awaiting trial is unknown.
• Kenya: The army is accused of torturing more than 400 people in a recent offensive to flush a rebel group from the Mt. Elgon region.

The Zim-date

• Former Zambian president Dr. Kenneth Kaunda said that British PM Gordon Brown “does not understand what he is talking about” and should refrain from criticizing and calling for sanctions against Zimbabwe. He added that the West should leave Zimbabwe to resolve its own issues—because that clearly is the proper response to rising state violence against its own people.
• Another vitriolic column in The Herald, Zimbabwe’s state newspaper and ZANU-PF mouthpiece, highlights the delusions of grandeur of Mugabe’s government. The column was written as a response to the international uproar over the attempted Chinese weapons delivery, but is all over the map, from a long and senseless rant about sovereignty to the “unjust” trial of former-Liberian dictator Charles Taylor to a supposed-SADC plan to invade and topple Mugabe.
• An editorial in the Zimbabwe Standard calls for the MDC to boycott a run-off election, should one occur, in protest of both the election fraud and the violence over the past month. I’m not overly familiar with the ins and outs of electoral politics, but it seems to me that boycotting might be counterproductive—even if the run-off is the result of fraud, and is fraudulent itself, non-participation will allow ZANU to win outright. But what do I know?
• The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said that it will allow all presidential candidates to verify the results of the election before they are made public. I’m not really sure what this will accomplish, as the ZEC has already had ample time for all kinds of vote-rigging fun. I’m thinking it’s probably an empty gesture to feign democratic commitment.
• U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer reports that the US embassy has received documented evidence of one death, over 450 beatings, and over 1000 displacements as a result of state-sponsored violence against opposition supporters.

Sunday Morning News

• South Africa: Happy Freedom Day! President Thabo Mbeki commemorated South Africa’s first non-racial, democratic elections with a speech arguing that South Africans are not truly free so long as racism still exists.
• Sri Lanka: The Tamil Tiger rebel group bombed two military targets in north-east Sri Lanka, continuing a fresh wave of violence in the country’s 25-year civil war.
• Zimbabwe: The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced that it will finally release the results of the March 29 presidential elections. The ZEC chairman commented, "We trust that by Monday 28 April this process will have been concluded," he said. Read: We trust that by Monday 28 April we will have had sufficient time to tamper with and rig the ballots. South African news source IOL speculates that Zim may be on the brink of civil war, after Human Rights Watch documented the beginnings of retaliation by MDC supporters against ZANU antagonism.
• World Food Crisis: The rapidly increasing prices of basic food commodities such as wheat, rice, and corn are creating a ripple effect throughout the world, with dramatic implications for peace and stability.
• U.S. of A.: The Justice Department is arguing to Congress that the Geneva Convention protections against “outrages against personal dignity” do not have universal application to all individuals, but rather the “definition of humane treatment can vary, depending on the detainee's identity and the importance of the information he possesses.” [WaPo] Selective application of rights? Seems a tad undemocratic. Dear Justice Department, I refer you to our very own, very fabulous, Declaration of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Perhaps it’s just me, but it seems that the universal applicability of the right to not be tortured is implied by that statement.

News: Report cards, watch lists, and a huge success for international human rights

• The Olympics: Dream for Darfur released a report card scoring the actions of corporate Olympics sponsors regarding China’s human rights record. The vast majority failed the make the grade.
• Darfur: The War Crimes Watch List is using Facebook as a tool to search fugitives indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in Darfur.
• Burundi: President Nkurunziza requested assistance from the international community to help quell the latest active offensive by the FNL rebel group. Grenade and bomb attacks on the capital city killed at least 33 people this week.
• Zimbabwe: Human Rights Watch released a report further documenting increased violence by ZANU-PF militia and the military, and a New York Times reporter describes his arrest and time in captivity in Harare for the “crime of committing journalism.” The UN Security Council is set to discuss the crisis for the first time next week. Multiple news sources report that the Chinese “ship of shame,” carrying 77 tons of weapons for the Zimbabwean military was allowed to dock in Angola, but not to unload its cargo. As the New York Times comments, this is a “surprising success” for the international movement that rallied against the ship, as Angola is a long-time ally of Robert Mugabe. Kudos to my friends in ZA who participated in the protests—this is really quite a remarkable feat.

Busy Friday: Zim update, and others

Amnesty International reports that five police officers raided the offices of the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (ZESN) with a warrant authorizing a search for "subversive material likely to cause the overthrow of a constitutionally-elected government.” The ZESN chairperson and staff members are in hiding to evade arrest. Amnesty and the New York Times also report that MDC headquarters were once again raided, resulting in the arrest of 375, including people taking refuge from increasing violence by ZANU-PF and government actors. SABC writes that the MDC supporters, including “pregnant women and children,” were herded into government trucks and taken away. MDC Spokesman Nelson Chamisa pled, “We have a dictator in this country, we have a person who is so determined to murder all of us. He is a man who is prepared to slaughter all of us - his lust for power is far more than for the love for the country and the people of this country and the continent - Please we need help!”

In an unexpected move, U.S. Undersecretary of State Jendayi Frazer, who is currently in southern Africa to work on the Zimbabwe election crisis, told reporters in South Africa that MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was the “clear” victor in the March 29 presidential elections. She also added her support to the call for an international arms embargo. A Namibian newspaper claims that “documentary evidence” refutes China’s assertion that its arms deal with Zimbabwe was signed last year, but has not yet provided the evidence to support the allegation.

But as I said yesterday, just because the arms deal was signed last year does not mean the government of Zimbabwe did not have its eye on potential future unrest. If crazy dictators know how to do anything, it’s to use the skill of foresight to plan how to stay in power.

In other news…

• Renewed violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo region of North Kivu: UN News Service, Rwanda News Agency
• The UN is pissed off at the Joseph Kony: The Monitor (Kampala)
• A bus explosion kills 10 in Sri Lanka: BBC
• Human rights organizations launch “Justice for Darfur” campaign: HRW

(Apologies for the scant news brief—busy day, and I spent most of it so far thinking about Zimbabwe.)

Ranting Before Coffee: Morning Zim Update

The Chinese “ship of shame” was recalled to China after being denied port by every country in southern Africa. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu claims that the consignment was part of a contract "signed last year and has nothing to do with the latest developments inside Zimbabwe." Excuse me, don’t you think that Mugabe saw this coming? These elections weren’t planned in a week. If anything, ordering such a massive supply of weapons could indicate advance planning for who-knows-what. Jiang continued, "Some people in the US are always critical, positioning themselves as the world's policeman, but they are not popular in the world.” First of all, the strongest protests on this matter are NOT coming from the US (unfortunately). Secondly—I’ve got news for you honey—China isn’t all that popular in the world, either.

Even better, Jiang commented, "I'd like to stress that the Chinese Government always adopts a prudent and responsible attitude towards arms export and one of the important principles it adheres to is non-interference in the internal affairs of recipient countries." Who are you kidding? Responsible attitude? Sending 77 tons of weapons to a country renowned for its human rights abuses is neither prudent nor responsible—not to mention Chinese arms trading with Sudan, Burma, Sri Lanka, etc. Nor can you engage in such activities and claim “non-interference in the internal affairs” of the countries.

Case in point: “Jiang was asked on Tuesday about Chinese soldiers seen on the streets of Zimbabwe. She said that ‘several Chinese professors are teaching at Zimbabwean military schools. What you mentioned might be some teaching activities conducted by the schools.’” Is it just me, or is that explanation a tad difficult to swallow?

…………

Moving on.

If you’re interested in Mugabe and ZANU-PF’s propaganda efforts, check out this editorial from the state-run newspaper The Herald. Here’s a preview: “Western media have been titillated, maybe even physically aroused, by the idea of Zimbabwe going the Kenya way in both the violence and "national unity" phenomena and the MDC-T waltzing into Munhumutapa Building on the back of negotiations rather than votes.” The author does make a valid point about the philosophies and practices of ZANU-PF and MDC being diametrically opposed, though not in the manner described in the article.

More reports of violence, including photos, in the Washington Post.

Good God, y’all.