Zimbabwe: MDC say Mossad rigging Elections

[TonyGosling]

Zimbabwe opposition accuses Mossad of helping Mugabe
Mar 29, 2008 22:28 | Updated Mar 29, 2008 22:39
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

An aide to Zimbabwean opposition leader Simba Makoni alleged ahead of Saturday's election that the Mossad had been hired by President Robert Mugabe to ensure he won by computerized rigging of the vote.

Ibbo Mandaza, a senior member of Makoni's campaign team, told the Mail & Guardian that the voters' roll had been manipulated to favor the ruling ZANU-PF and that the format of the voter's roll was devised by the Mossad on instructions from the Zimbabwean government.

Information technology expert Valentine Sinemane told the South African newspaper that the electronic version of the voters' roll, sold to the opposition by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for $2,400, was compiled by an Israeli company named Nirkuv Projects. Mandaza said that ZANU-PF asked for Mossad help because of the intelligence agency's experience with elections in other countries.

"They have expertise in vote-rigging. Also, Mossad is looking for any kind of support and alliances and therefore Zimbabwe is the obvious target," he said. He said that the opposition was aware that Mossad had been active in Zimbabwe over the past six months and that two weeks ago, six Mossad agents arrived in Harare and held top-secret meetings with government officials involved in state security. There was no comment from Israeli officials.

Meanwhile, the dwindling Jewish community of Zimbabwe expressed pessimism about the future in the country. There are an estimated 300 Jews left in Zimbabwe, most of them living in Harare and Bulawayo, and many of them elderly. At its peak in the 1960s, the community numbered about 7,500. "Many senior community members find it increasingly difficult to make ends meet," Clive Posen, a community leader and industrial psychologist, told The Forward.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1206632361825&pagename=JPos t%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[karlos]

Surely Mossad hates Mugabe
because Mugabe has taken back much of the land and goldmines and property which was owned by the Jewish landowners.
Mossad is more likely to be plotting against Mugabe hoping to get control of the mineral reources again.

[insidejob]

I've travelled to Zimbabwe last year.

I would suggest that people should to take the rubbish talked about Zimbabwe seriously. Please note, that reporters are now admitting that Mugabe has support in the rural areas. Indeed, one reporter on BBC News24 last night said this and said the majority of voters were in the rural areas! Even the CFR admits that Mugabe is popular in Zimbabwe and Africa. Reporters are making this admission because the elections are being obseved by SADC, a regional grouping of nations. If the elections are rigged they would have to say that SADC is part of the fraud.

Watch out for an attempt to replicate the Kenyan situation in Zimbabwe if Mugabe wins.

The people behind the attack on Mugabe are white Zimbabwean farmers, supporters of apartheid in South Africa, and right-wing Western capitalists. They have managed to form an alliance with white and black (duped) liberals. One person putting funds into the opposition is George Soros.

For the opposition, a government in Africa forging a path independent of the Western elite is unacceptable.

And tell me, why would a 'brutal dictator' like Mugabe hold elections at all?


"One will never hear them address the point of former Assistant Secretary of State on African Affairs, Chester Crocker when he said in a testimony to the US Senate "To separate the Zimbabwean people from ZANU-PF we are going to have to make their economy scream, and I hope you senators have the stomach for what you have to do." [Democracy Now!, April 1st, 2005]"



http://raceandhistory.com/selfnews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1206618350,80516  ,.shtml
ZIMBABWE ELECTION DEJA VOUS, 27mar08
Posted: Thursday, March 27, 2008

By Netfa Freeman
March 26, 2008

African people let's wake up! Just as they did three years ago detractors of Zimbabwe's governing party ZANU PF and President Robert Mugabe are already forecasting that the election in Zimbabwe is rigged, even though it has not happened yet. All of the propaganda machines are in motion to plant misgivings about any outcome that announces victory for Mugabe.

One Mary Ndlovu, a Zimbabwean "human rights" activist has been feverishly providing anti-Mugabe articles and analyses to set the stage for whatever happens. In one published by Pambazuka News she supports her prediction with a diatribe of misinformation and over simplifications asserting, "there is no minutest possibility of a 'free and fair' election. Those observers from SADC who boast that it can still be so are only destroying their own credibility."

Logic dictates that such thinking by an African places their faith in and aligns them more with the neo-colonizers, the United States and European Union, led by Britain than with Africa embodied in this case by entities like Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), and the African Union mission (AU).

As it is today, so it was in 2005 when Zimbabwe held elections for seats in parliament. The US, EU, the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), a slew of Western beholden "civil society" or non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and Britain all cried foul prior to the election and grasped for anything that could remotely be called evidence of rigging. While painting their movement as something popular in Zimbabwe, these so-called social justice NGOs/ "civil society" advocates keep claiming their agenda and that of imperialism are not one and the same.

Never mind their rabid contempt for Mugabe mirrors in words and deeds that of officials from the US State Department or the British government. One will never hear them address the point of former Assistant Secretary of State on African Affairs, Chester Crocker when he said in a testimony to the US Senate "To separate the Zimbabwean people from ZANU-PF we are going to have to make their economy scream, and I hope you senators have the stomach for what you have to do." [Democracy Now!, April 1st, 2005]

This not only proved that the sinister intent of US imperialism has been to destabilize Zimbabwe, it also indicates that they believe the government of ZANU-PF is a popular one. Elections in spring 2005 had also reflected the will of the Zimbabwean people and those results were confirmed so by observers from the SADC, the AU, and others like the US based December 12th Movement who were not afraid to speak truth to power.

It should be pointed out that although the MDC had lodged unsubstantiated claims of fraud back then, their ballot counters signed off on the results from each polling station. They later admitted publicly that elections were not rigged. "In first signs of yet another possible split within the opposition party, (Isaac) Matongo (3rd highest ranking MDC leader) publicly acknowledged that the MDC had no grassroots support and that was the major reason the opposition party was losing elections." [Daily Mirror, February 5th, 2006]

So why are ZANU-PF and Mugabe detractors so insistent in repeating over and again the lie that Zimbabwe elections are fraudulent?

On Tuesday I was interviewed about Zimbabwe on The Breakfast Club, a Kingston Jamaica radio talk show, and the fellow guest, Prof. Richard Hull at NYU made the baseless claim that Zimbabwe's 2002 presidential election was fraudulent. I couldn't be surprised. Because it was barely disclosed, it would be hardly surprising if Hull were unaware that the renowned NAACP has a report bearing witness that those elections too were free and fair. Like the parliamentary elections of 2005, Zimbabwe's 2002 presidential elections were certified by SADC, the Union of African States, Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and more.

Prof. Hull also believes Zimbabwe should revert back to depending on its cash crops like tobacco and exotic flowers as a way to get much needed foreign currency. But people cannot eat tobacco, flowers or currency. A Pan-Africanist realizes that the cash crop set up is what keeps us away from using our land to produce for our needs. It is under that neo-colonial set up that unfair trade persists and why the masses of African people continue to suffer.

However, the arrogant and shameless measures of imperialism to affect the outcome in Zimbabwe this Saturday should not be underestimated. They've wanted Mugabe out at least for the last ten years. Those who think that the British and US governments confine their contempt for an independent country and its leaders to public denunciations and lip service are wallowing in the height of folly. If this were the case they would have simply needed only to talk negatively about Saddam Hussein and not invade Iraq, or orchestrate a coup against Kwame Nkrumah, or assassinate Patrice Lumumba, or bomb Libya.

Some Western media pundits have been dangerously forecasting for the last month or so that Zimbabwe elections hold in store the same intense and fatal violence we saw in Kenya. Even though Pan-African Parliament's observer mission, now on the ground in Zimbabwe, has said that the current environment in the country is conducive to free and fair elections. "After what Africa witnessed in Kenya, we are encouraged by the pre-poll situation in Zimbabwe… The mood is good and it brings hope to the continent that we are moving in the right direction" [BuaNews, March 25, 2008]

Those making such comparisons between Zimbabwe and Kenya are playing on the already tarnished image of democracy in Africa and want to prevent the public from asking the hard questions and doing thorough investigations when all is said and done. However, unlike Kenya, there is already motive and prior conviction for African people to more than suspect interference by the iron fist and velvet glove of imperialism in Zimbabwe. Some were surprised when, on April 5th 2007 the US State Department admitted to sponsoring opposition in Zimbabwe but allowances for this policy had already been written into the text of the US' hypocritical Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2000, aka ZIDERA.

This is why when the imperialist beholden "civil society activists" speak or write about the leading figures opposing Mugabe these figures seem almost surreal. They speak of Morgan Tsvangirai and his faction of the MDC as if he is not the same person who plotted an assassination of Zimbabwe's president as a prelude to a coup; as if it is not unusual for Tsvangirai to be flanked by young thugs from urban areas who just over a year ago went on a terrorizing spree around the country fire bombing buses, kombis, police dormitories, and attacking citizens and police in the streets. All of that was part of imperialism's modus operandi to make Zimbabwe ungovernable. One won't hear the "civil society activist" mention these things. If they mention Archbishop Pius Ncube, a vocal critic of Mugabe, one can be excused for not realizing from them that Ncube is a discredited amoral who has shamelessly advocated for the British and their allies (imperialism) to invade Zimbabwe in order to "remove Mugabe by force".

Likewise when this imperialist beholden "civil society" speak or write about Robert Mugabe, one might never understand from them that he was against the Lancaster House Agreement that tied the hands of the ZANU PF government from reclaiming the land from white settlers; that the 1989 conditions and constraints that led to Zimbabwe's acceptance of loans and the Economic Structural Adjustment Program of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund were largely due to the collapse of the Soviet Bloc and felt by all countries trying to pursue an independent path. You will never hear from them that Mugabe spearheaded the abolishment of said Economic Structural Adjustment Program, something done nowhere else in Africa. One would think a land reform program like none seen since the days of Sekou Ture in Guinea or Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso, was not under the leadership of Mugabe; or that there is nothing positive in the new law he signed that mandates majority ownership of all businesses to "indigenous" Zimbabweans.

Such a listing of facts by an African (person of African descent) is often belittled as a one-sided and romantic worship of an old liberation fighter, turned tyrant. However, when these things are completely omitted, then a bias befitting of a racist Western perspective is the result. No one thinks criticism should not be placed where criticism is due. However, the usual suspect detractors more often list the symptoms of economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the US, EU and Britain making no attribution to the sanctions. They keep peddling the lie that the sanctions are "smart" sanctions, targeting only certain Zimbabwe officials.

Could they be totally ignorant to what Brandon Stone has been able to assess in his well-documented paper, An Investigation of Zimbabwe's Different Path?

Stone reveals "the results of the sanctions were severe, as foreign trade plummeted towards near zero, and "foreign direct investment in Zimbabwe plunged by over 99 percent." Inflation soared, and the lack of foreign exchange devastated Zimbabwe's manufacturing sector, causing unemployment to rise to over 70 percent. These factors - the external campaign by great powers to cripple Zimbabwe's economy - are rarely discussed by Western academics or journalists, who instead portray the crisis in Zimbabwe solely as the result of the land reform, or Mugabe's mismanagement."

The intensely biased propaganda campaign has been no less damaging. One example can be seen when comparing Guinea and Zimbabwe which both have a head of state who has been in power since early-mid 80's; Lansana Conte in Guinea and Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Conte, however became leader through a military coup following the death of the democratically elected Pan-Africanist President Sekou Ture. Mugabe on the other hand was democratically elected after earning his place as a freedom fighter in the struggle against British settler colonialism. But only Mugabe receives a heavy degree of patented denunciations for being "in power too long".

Further, a year ago both Guinea and Zimbabwe experienced some internal unrest but again not equal consideration by the media or these "civil society activists". As part of the aforementioned terrorizing spree in Zimbabwe by opposition thugs, the MDC disguised a protest as a prayer vigil during a temporary ban on demonstrations.

When an out numbered group of police --who are rarely armed with guns-- were attacked by the mob they were provoked into killing one of them, the police still received a brutal beating and had to flee. The incident earned a flurry of attention from the international media that spun its coverage as a Mugabe crackdown on dissent completely omitting the actions of the mob. The imperialist governments and "civil society activists" all chimed in unison with condemnations of Mugabe and ZANU PF.

However, the brutal and unprovoked attack by Conte, which occurred roughly at the same time, went relatively unnoticed. Advancing on a crowd with tanks, Conte's forces sprayed a mass demonstration of thousands with rapid-fire automatic weapons killing just fewer than 200 people. The same benevolent Western governments and their NGO agents uttered hardly a critical murmur.

Now after 8 years of sanctions against Zimbabwe the election outcome is uncertain. The intended affect of "making the economy scream" as Crocker put it has transpired. Whether or not sisters and brothers in Zimbabwe react the way imperialism wants remains to be seen. As African people we should hope not.

At this juncture the question should not be whether or not Mugabe stays in office but whether or not an imperialist beholden opposition could ever bring resolution to Zimbabwe's problems. The answer should be obvious. And if the people do hold strong and see through the designs and machination of imperialism by once again voting in Mugabe, we must still be wary of how imperialism and its agents will react. And we must understand that as goes Zimbabwe, so goes Africa and her Diaspora.

Only fools sleep in a burning house and only bigger fools watch while arsonist burn.

Netfa Freeman is currently the director of the Social Action & Leadership School for Activists at the Institute for Policy Studies. Freeman is a longtime activist in the Pan-African and international human rights movements and is also a co-producer/co-host for Voices With Vision, WPFW 89.3 FM, Washington DC. He can be reached at netfa@hotsalsa.org.

[andyb]

what has this conjecture got to do with 9/11 Truth News????? There is a general section!!!!

[TmcMistress]

Outside of seconding that this should be moved to General or O.C., I'd like to ask insidejob for some of these supposed "articles" with the mainstream media admitting to popular support for Mugabe. Because I'm not seeing it.

After 30 years of rule, Mr. Mugabe, you're stretching it a bit thin to still be blaming all your countries' problems on latent colonialism. 3,791.3% inflation rates that are destroying farms and livelihoods, horrid campaigns against homosexuals in the country, a parliament that pushes through amendments that had been defeated by voters and allowing for the seizure of land without recompense, etc. etc. etc. etc.

Why am I bothering with this? I'm sure you lot will just come out with something about how he opposes the West / Bush / boogeyman-of-your-particular-choice-so-long-as-you're-not-forced-to-ac tually-think, and therefore, he's a "good guy".

karlos, nice to see that you continue your trend of supporting dictators so long as they oppose the US. Your nievete is truly astounding.

[insidejob]

TmcMistress,

Mugabe and Zanu-PF had responsibility for the desruction of Zimbabwean industry. There was no economic crisis in the early 1990s that led Zimbabwe to the IMF. They did, though, want foreign exchange to buy equipement to upgrade industry and ensure it performed better. They went to the IMF and it destroyed their industry. This eventually led to the land seizures and the Western funded opposition. Zanu-PF put two fingers up to the IMF in 1998 and the West has had it in for them ever since.

If you have an explanation of the economic crisis in Zimbabwe that points the finger at Mugabe and Zanu-PF alone and is not total gobbledygook then please point me to it. Mostly, I don't hear any explanation.

White Rhodesians stole land from black people during colonialism (I guess I'm having to explain this to you because you're either white or a black person who lets white people do the thinking for him.) Taking it back at the point of a gun is not the ideal solution, but understandable. Few white farmers were killed in Zimbabwe. Many are being killed in South Africa (perhaps TmcMistress thinks this is a better solution.) White Zimbabweans did not grow food, they grew tobacco. Most food grown in Zimbabwe was by black farmers.

White reactionaries, and white and black liberals and radicals may not like it, but Mugabe has a lot of support throughout Africa because of his land reform policies.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/15874/zimbabwe_waits.html
Zimbabwe Waits
March 31, 2008
Author: Stephanie Hanson

'...Informal results and news reports indicate that the opposition gained ground in the presidential vote in rural areas traditionally loyal to Mugabe...'

http://raceandhistory.com/selfnews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1196452026,78304  ,.shtml
ZIMBABWE: MORE THAN JUST A MILLION MARCH
Posted: Friday, November 30, 2007
By Caesar Zvayi
November 30, 2007
The Herald
'...Even established journalists like the Briton-turned-Zimbabwean, Peta Thorncroft now openly acknowledge that Zanu-PF has massive support.

In a recent interview with one Violet Gonda of the pirate radio station SW Radio Africa on November 13, Thorncroft had this to say about Zanu-PF in response to a question on whether the MDC was the party people thought it was:

"I wonder if we ever knew what it (the MDC) was. We just accepted it, didn't we? I wasn't there in 2000, I went to one of its rallies in 2000 and I came in July 2001 and I think I just accepted that the MDC had been cheated at the elections and that this was a party that had the majority support in the country and it was only long afterwards that I discovered that in fact of course Zanu-PF had enormous support in certain rural parts of the country.

"I first saw that demonstrated to me in the March elections of 2005, I was actually astonished by that and it is in my copy. I then saw it again demonstrated in the Budiriro by-election when 4 000 people continued to vote for Zanu-PF and it was quite a peaceful by election…'


On 7 April 2007, The Sunday Mail's (in Zimbabwe) front page story was: 'Mbeki defends Zim, stuns West', 'South African President Mr Thabo Mbeki has reportedly defended Zimbabwe against the attacks that some Western governments have launched against the country, saying the onslaught is part of a broad strategy to topple liberation movements in the Sadc region and replace them with 'puppets'.

'President Mugabe revealed this while addressing Zanu-PF supporters before the 69th Ordinary Session of the party's Central Committee in Harare on Friday.

'Comrade Mugabe said Mr Mbeki told heads of Sadc states meeting in Tanzania last week that the strategy to topple liberation movements would succeed if the West was allowed to have its way in Zimbabwe.

'Other countries targeted under the broad strategy included South Africa, Angola and Namibia, Mr Mbeki said.

'The African National Congress (ANC), the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and Swapo are the liberation movement reigning in South Africa, Angola and Namibia respectively...'

[karlos]

[TmcMistress]

[Linda]

How the Organised Zimbabweans are catching out Mugabe's massive election fraud live Online

'Mugabe's various opposition groups as well as the NGO's (Non-Governmental Organisations), have developed a downright brilliant strategy to catch Mugabe's election cheating in the act. Essentially, what everyone has done, is they've taken the results from the polling statins (since notices were to be posted at the polling stations themselves), and they collated it all together and they have done their own independent counting and they're publishing the results live online.'


http://www.africancrisis.co.za/Article.php?ID=24885&

[insidejob]

I’m not sure what on Earth goes on in the heads of the anti-Mugabe people (at least outside of Zimbabwe).

[TmcMistress]

[insidejob]

It is quite clear that Mugabe and Zimbabwe are obstacles to the New World Order. This is why there was more news around the world about the MDC win than there was of the recent crisis in Kenya.

Many people would have read Huntingdon’s ‘Clash of Civilisations’. He said that in the future Africa would not present any problems to Western hegemony. He was wrong on Zimbabwe. And given the hostility of the Western elite to Mugabe and Zanu-PF, the hostility of the Neo-Cons, Blair and Brown, the EU, the CFR and the Royal Institute of International Affairs, most people on this site should be at lease sceptical of the media portrayal of the Zimbabwe situation. Why is this not the case?

People repeat without thinking, the claim that Mugabe massacred 20,000 people and need very little evidence for it. They unthinkingly accept that the issue in Matabeland in the 1980s was tribal and again with little evidence. White people and many black people have been conditioned to accept this as an explanation when the brutal dictatorship of the apartheid regime sought to use tribe and killings as a means to undermine Zanu-PF.

People may claim that they are not hostile to black self-determination but when it rears it’s ‘ugly’ head, their first reaction is to kick it in the teeth.

I repeat, white people’s hostility to Mugabe and Zanu-PF is based on their resistance to white domination. I suspect black liberals’ attitude and their hostility to Mugabe, is different and is deceptive. They conclude that they must remain close to white power and influence to personally prosper. Mugabe’s opposition to white supremacy just brings trouble. So, they want white finance and support to get rid of Mugabe but with that done, they don’t want white people to run Zimbabwe. Thanks to Zanu-PF, black Zimbabweans are educated and the most educated feel they can see off white arrogance. I say this because when I was in Harare, I asked a black person hostile to Mugabe why there are no white Zimbabweans as Presidential candidates. He accepted white support of MDC. Yet, this man recalled what it was like under Ian Smith and said if a white person took over, he would take up arms.

[karlos]

Zimbabwe has large gold production.
As well as huge amounts of Platinum, Palladium, Zinc, Nickel and Rhodium.
This is what the UK and America want to get their hands on.
Control of the world's resources.

[ian neal]

Your enemy's enemy is not necessarily your friend or even necessarily truly the enemy of your enemy.

IMO Mugabe is another tyrrant dutifully fulfilling the role assigned to him by his NWO puppet masters just like numerous tyrrants before him.

The hyper inflation and chronic food shortages result from Mugabe's land reform policies. Next you will tell me the 'war veterans' are truly war veterans as opposed to mugabe goons.

Smoke and mirrors, smoke and mirrors

[insidejob]

Ian said:

[ian neal]

[karlos]

Good post Ian i agree totally.
Mugabe was put into power by us and despite all the rhetoric he has not nationalised all the goldmines or other resources.
And he is still playing ball. Rio Tinto, Lonmin, and other UK mining companies still make huge profits from extracting copper, zinc, gold, platinum etc.
But i do think there is an alternative game being played.
Mugabe targeted mainly Jewish landowners.
He has not targeted western companies.
Dont forget Mugabe's colleague the veterans leader was called 'Hitler' Hunzvi and stated publically that he admired Hitler.
So i think that is the reason SKY and the BBC which are both beamed into Zimbabwe are wall to wall anti Mugabe.
I also think it is not a stretch of the imagination to allege that the MDC which has promised to return the lands to the 'whites' must be funded by external sources.
Zimbabwe has a huge AIDS epidemic and sanctions.
Whatever way we slice it we are actually causing the starvation and misery.
Mugabe is alleged to have killed many african tribal people who were supporters of Joshua Nkomo. Yet at the time he was still our best friend and the blue eyed boy. Only when he gave a hint of anti 'semetism' by confiscatiing the land from the Jews did he become percieved as an evil dictator.

[insidejob]

You need to do your own research to find out the rubbish that is talked about Zimbabwe.

I don’t think the hostility against Mugabe is about any supposed anti-semitism even if Hunzi called himself Hitler. What does the US State Department say about anti-semitism in Zimbabwe?

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78765.htm
ZIMBABWE, COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES - 2006
‘Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Anti Semitism
There were no reports of societal violence, harassment, or discrimination against members of religious groups, including interreligious and intrareligious incidents.
There were approximately 270 Jews in the country. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.’

Karlos’ references to mining companies operating in Zimbabwe is valid but simple minded:
‘Trilaterlaists attempts to defuse conflict. Their strategy is that of initiating dialogue with their enemy – certain that ultimately the sheer economic hegemony of the international capitalist system will neutralize, by coercion and co-optation, the ideological fervour of the nationalists.’ p396, ‘Trilateralism and the Rhodesian Problem: an effort at managing the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle’, Prexy Nesbitt’ from‘The Trilateralism Commission and Elite Planning for World Management’, edited by Holly Sklar

The idea that the West put Mugabe in power is just silly. He was voted into power and I have heard no evidence of manipulation of that election. Also, there is no evidence of any significant tribal conflict or oppression in Zimbabwe. Just ask the US State Department:

‘National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
According to government statistics, the Shona ethnic group makes up 82 percent of the population, Ndebele 14 percent, whites less than 1 percent, and other ethnic groups 3 percent. There was some tension between the African majority and the white minority, between the Shona majority and the Ndebele minority, and among the various Shona subgroups.’

If Mugabe is carrying out a NWO plan, I’m clueless as to what it is.

Much of the reports on human rights in Zimbabwe heavily depend on unsubstantiated allegations made by MDC supporters. Below is more on what the US State Department say about Zimbabwe. Please compare this with what could be said about the US, particularly what black people or Native Americans could say about the US.

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78765.htm
ZIMBABWE, COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES - 2006

‘a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of politically motivated killings by the government or ruling party supporters…

b. Disappearance
There were no reports of disappearances during the year…

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Although the constitution prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, security forces continued to engage in such practices. Police reportedly used excessive force in apprehending and detaining criminal suspects, as well as ordinary citizens, for holding meetings or participating in demonstrations. Government supporters continued to assault suspected opposition members. Violent confrontations between various youth groups aligned with either the government or the opposition continued…

Prison and Detention Center Conditions
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening…

d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, some laws effectively weakened this prohibition, and security forces repeatedly arbitrarily arrested and detained persons…’

This is a report of a fact-finding mission by US politicians in 2002:
http://www.swradioafrica.com/Documents/zimtripreport.htm

One of their conclusions is:
'We found the media accounts to be exaggerated in many respects when dealing with the modalities of the land reform program, freedom of the press and human rights conditions. In fact, despite its current financial difficulties through a combination of drought and external sanctions, Zimbabwe remains one of the most stable countries in Africa. Its economy also is still the largest on the continent after South Africa’s.'

[zimboy69]

has Mugabe just shown us that the first elections were not fair


funny how when he losses it takes weeks for the result to come out

and even after much fixing he can only get a run off


but when he wins oh yeh the results are out in 2 days

i wonder what the swing in voting was

[cem]

[cem]

This is a compilation of cartoons that have been published in the British press since March 2008.

[insidejob]

The right and the Left have been united in attacking Robert Mugabe as a vicious, corrupt dictator. They said his land reform program was basically theft designed to benefit his cronies. A British study refutes the claims about land reform:

[conspiracy analyst]

Its more to do with the social environment.
Britain used to be a colonial power there and the role of Empire is embedded within the school curriculum, comedy (eg Pub Landlord), in the language of the Foreign Office.

The fact of the matter is that what is behind it all is S Africa. What happened in Zimbabwe is a precursor to what will happen in S Africa. As there are
around 3-4 million whites there it will become an issue as to where they have to go. Also the West no longer has priority on resources and the local elites under pressure from the crisis are forced to bargain hard which is what they are doing.

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

The Crocodile bites back: Deposed vice-president who has seized power from Mugabe is a London-educated Chelsea fan and former spymaster who orchestrated 1980s massacre of 20,000 opponents
By Iain Burns For Mailonline
10:17 15 Nov 2017, updated 01:25 16 Nov 2017
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5084379/Deposed-Zimbabwe-VP-75 -London-educated-ex-spymaster.html

Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, has had a long and varied political career in country
Feared in Zimbabwe as a brutal spymaster who suppressed opponents in 1980s
'Crocodile' has been chief of the justice, defence, housing and finance ministries
He got his nickname after leading the 'Crocodile Group' fighters in the civil war

Mnangagwa (pictured with Mugabe), 75, has had a long and varied political career, leading at one point the justice, defence, housing and finance ministries as well as being the speaker of the lower house and spymaster
The man believed to be behind the coup in Zimbabwe is the country's recently sacked vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa - also known as 'The Crocodile'.

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Mnangagwa, 75, is a notorious and much-feared figure in Zimbabwe, having led a vicious crackdown on opponents in the 1980s with the help of the dreaded North Korean-trained Fifth Army brigade.

Thousands of civilians were killed during the Gukurahundi campaign, but Mnangagwa has always denied involvement.

His reputation for cruelty is so legendary that he was one of the few leaders of Zimbabwe known to drive around the country without security.

He is also known for his unpredictable darting eyes and is understood to be a Chelsea supporter due to his admiration of the club's former striker Didier Drogba.

He has had a long and varied political career, leading at one point the justice, defence, housing and finance ministries as well as being the speaker of the lower house and a spymaster.

Mnangagwa was widely viewed as Mugabe's successor until he was ditched by the president last week and fled to South Africa.

Mugabe had accused his former deputy of plotting to take power from him, while his ambitious wife Grace referred to him as a snake that 'must be hit on the head' after the two clashed.


In 1983, Mnangagwa led a major crackdown in Matabeleland, in the southwest of Zimbabwe. Tens of thousands of people were killed. Pictured: Bodies found in Matabeleland after the massacre

Zimbabweans sitting in front of Salibury prison (where Mugabe and Mnangagwa met and forged their political alliance) in 1968 after the triple hanging of James Dhlamini, Victor Mlambo and Duly Shadrack, was ordered by Ian Smith's government - despite Queen Elizabeth II issuing a royal reprieve
Mnangagwa was mentioned by, among others, the tycoon Roland Rowland at the time of the Gukurahundi massacres. Pictured: Mugabe (centre) and Mnangagwa (right) together
Mnangagwa's reputation for cruelty is so legendary that he was one of the few leaders of Zimbabwe known to drive around the country without security. Pictured: The former vice president claps after being presented with a fake crocodile as homage to his nickname
He is a leader of the so-called 'Lacoste' faction - named after the clothes firm's crocodile logo, which matches Mnangagwa's reptilian nickname - within Mugabe's party. The group enjoys strong support among military figures. Pictured: Mugabe with Mnangagwa
Mnangagwa was sentenced to ten years in jail, being kept at Salisbury Prison, Grey Prison, Khami Prison and Harare Prison. While imprisoned in Salisbury (later renamed Harare), he became close to Mugabe and other nationalist leaders. Pictured: Mnangagwa with Mugabe and Josiah Tongogara, a guerrilla commander
Mugabe had accused his former deputy of plotting to take power from him, while his ambitious wife Grace referred to him as a snake that 'must be hit on the head' after the two clashed. Pictured right: Mnangagwa with Mugabe in 2004
University of London-educated Mnangagwa has been close to Mugabe since the two were involved in the struggle against racist white-minority rule in then-Rhodesia. Pictured: Mnangagwa (right) being sworn in as vice president by Mugabe (left) in 2014
He earned his 'Crocodile' nickname when he returned to Zimbabwe and led a gang of fighters called the 'Crocodile Group' during the civil war. Pictured: Mnangagwa in 2016
First Lady: Grace Mugabe, 52, pictured with her husband, has been seen as being a successor to her husband after her opponent was fired. With the events of last night, the struggle between Grace and Mnangagwa to succeed 93-year-old Mugabe appears to be shifting in the Crocodile's favour
But Mnangagwa, who recently survived a poisoning attempt blamed on ice-cream from Mugabe's own dairy, has been telling allies he would return rapidly and everything would soon be 'sorted'.

He is a leader of the so-called 'Lacoste' faction - named after the clothes firm's crocodile logo, which matches Mnangagwa's reptilian nickname - within Mugabe's party. The group enjoys strong support among military figures.

It is locked in a struggle with Grace's G40 group.

Gukurahundi atrocities of the 1980s

After Mugabe won the election of 1980 and became Zimbabwe's first prime minister, there were fears a potential takeover of the country by the Ndebele ethnic minority may be afoot.

In 1983, Mnangagwa led a major crackdown in Matabeleland, in the southwest of Zimbabwe.

Matabeleland was the stronghold of Mugabe's political rival, Joshua Nkomo. Mugabe blamed members of Nkomo's party for a series of murders and attacks on property in the country.

During the operation between 1983 and 87 - later known as the Gukurahundi (or 'the early rain which washes away the before the spring rains') - tens of thousands of civilians were killed.

The agreement between North Korea and Mugabe for the training of the Fifth Brigade was signed in October 1980, when the Zimbabwean prime minister met with Kim Il Sung. Pictured: The Fifth Brigade in 1982 at Independence Day celebrations in Salisbury. The banner overhead reads: 'Let Us Lay Down Our Lives for Cde. R.G. Mugahe'
The North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade was responsible for the atrocities, which also included the torture and rape of tens of thousands of in Matabeleland.

Showing that they had learned from their Communist teachers, the Fifth Brigade troops summarily detained and executed Ndebele men of fighting age, who were automatically deemed guilty of subversion.

Many were also marched to re-education camps, a popular tactic employed by Stalinist North Korea as well as Communist China.

The North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade (pictured training in 1984) was responsible for the atrocities, which also included the torture and rape of tens of thousands of in Matabeleland
On one occasion, in March of 1983, the Fifth Brigade slaughtered 55 people - apparently at random - on the banks of the Cewale River.

The soldiers reportedly forced their victims to dig their own graves before being shot.

The agreement between North Korea and Mugabe for the training of the Fifth Brigade was signed in October 1980, when the Zimbabwean prime minister met with Kim Il Sung.

Over a hundred North Koreans arrived a year later to train the elite troops.

The agreement between North Korea and Mugabe for the training of the Fifth Brigade was signed in October 1980, when the Zimbabwean prime minister met with Kim Il Sung. Pictured: The two dictators meeting in 1993
But by 1988, the reputation of the brigade - whose soldiers were identifiable by their distinctive red berets - was deemed so toxic that it was disbanded.

None of the perpetrators of the atrocities has ever been brought to justice, with those implicated including Mugabe and Mnangagwa.

Mnangagwa was mentioned by, among others, the tycoon Roland Rowland at the time of the massacres.

He wrote to the US ambassador that Mnangagwa, as security minister, was 'fully aware' of the slaughter going on in the country's south.

With the events of today, the struggle between Grace and Mnangagwa to succeed 93-year-old Mugabe appears to be shifting in the Crocodile's favour.

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Born in the southwestern Zvishavana district on September 15, 1942, he completed his early education in Zimbabwe before his family relocated to neighbouring Zambia.

His grandfather was a traditional leader and his father a political agitator for the repeal of colonial laws that disadvantaged blacks.

In 1966, Mnangagwa joined the struggle for independence from Britain, becoming one of the young combatants who helped direct the war after undergoing training in China and Egypt.

University of London-educated Mnangagwa has been close to Mugabe since the two were side-by-side in the struggle against racist white-minority rule in then-Rhodesia.

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Not long after ZANU-PF, modern Zimbabwe's ruling party, was formed in 1963 Mnangagwa was sent for military training in Communist China.

He earned his 'Crocodile' nickname when he returned to Zimbabwe and led a gang of fighters called the 'Crocodile Group' during the civil war.

The gang blew up several trains during their operations against the Rhodesian government and, as a consequence, Mnangagwa was arrested in 1965.

He confessed to revolutionary activity and was savagely tortured, but escaped the death penalty after successfully arguing that, because he was under 21, he should not be executed.

Instead, he was sentenced to ten years in jail, being kept at Salisbury Prison, Grey Prison, Khami Prison and Harare Prison.

Members of the black nationalist guerrillas of the Zimbabwe African Liberation Army (ZALA), led by Robert Mugabe, stage a rally on February 6, 1980
Pictured: Opponents of white rule demonstrate at a rally in Zimbabwe in 1980, the same year Robert Mugabe won power and became prime minister
While imprisoned in Salisbury (later renamed Harare), he became close to Mugabe and other nationalist leaders.

After being deported to Zambia, Mnangagwa studied law and - in the late 1970s - became a senior member of ZANU-PF.

When Zimbabwe became independent in 1980, Mnangagwa was named as Prime Minister Mugabe's national security chief.

Seven years later, when Mugabe made himself president, Mnangagwa was made justice minister.

His loyalty to Mugabe was rewarded in 2000 when, having lost his seat in parliament, he was appointed to an unelected seat and made speaker of the lower house
He is a notorious and much-feared figure in Zimbabwe, having led a vicious crackdown on opponents in the 1980s with the help of the dreaded North Korean-trained Fifth Army brigade. Pictured: Mnangagwa with his wife Auxilia in January
Military vehicles were seen patrolling the streets of the capital Harare today after it emerged that Mugabe and his family had been arrested
Overnight, at least three explosions were heard in the capital, Harare, and military vehicles were seen in the streets
This was the scene in the centre of Harare in Zimbabwe this morning as soldiers patrolled the streets after a 'bloodless transition' of power
This was the scene in the centre of Harare in Zimbabwe this morning as soldiers patrolled the streets after a 'bloodless transition' of power
Checkpoint: Tanks were scene on the streets of Harare this morning after it emerged that the president, Robert Mugabe, had been detained
His loyalty to Mugabe was rewarded in 2000 when, having lost his seat in parliament, he was appointed to an unelected seat and made speaker of the lower house.

Mnangagwa repaid Mugabe for his support during the 2008 elections, with the Crocodile said to have steered the president to victory after Morgan Tsvangirai won the first round.

Hundreds of Tsvangirai's supporters were killed in the political violence blamed on Mugabe's regime, forcing Tsvangirai to step aside and giving Mugabe a clear run at the presidency.

Mnangagwa was then made defence minister and, in 2013, vice president.

He once remarked that he had been taught to 'destroy and kill' - although he later claimed to be a born-again Christian.

Takavafira Zhou, a political analyst at Masvingo State University, previously described Mnangagwa as 'a hardliner to the core'.

Mnangagwa reputedly has deep pockets should he decide to launch a political comeback.

Tensions over the succession of Zimbabwe's ageing president, Robert Mugabe, have erupted into the open, pitching First Lady Grace Mugabe against Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa
A US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks in 2008 claimed Mnangagwa had amassed 'extraordinary wealth' during Zimbabwe's 1998 intervention in gold- and diamond-rich Democratic Republic of Congo.

He appeared to be on course to become the country's next leader, but First Lady Grace Mugabe did not approve,

Last month she warned of a possible coup being orchestrated by Vice President Mnangagwa amid a heated power struggle.

She claimed his allies were threatening to kill people who did not support his bid to succeed Mugabe.

Grace recently told supporters: 'In 1980 this person called Mnangagwa wanted to stage a coup. He wanted to wrestle power from the president.

'He was conspiring with whites. That man is a ravisher.'

[insidejob]

What is Behind the Military Coup in Zimbabwe?

https://www.globalresearch.ca/what-is-behind-the-military-coup-in-zimb abwe/5619110

[TonyGosling]

Mnangagwa skips to China
11 November 2017 11:18AM
https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2017/11/11/mnangagwa-skips-to-chi na

HARARE - Former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa is now holed up in China after fleeing his home country within hours of being given the boot by his long-time ally, President Robert Mugabe.

The Daily News can report that the 75-year-old politician, who was once tipped to succeed the incumbent, arrived in China on Thursday night from South Africa.

It was still not clear though at the time of going to print whether China would be his final destination given that Mnangagwa has vast contacts not only in the East Asian nation but across the world.

During his short-lived tenure as vice president, he had established ties with countries such as Belarus, Russia, Mozambique and South Africa.

China is, however, regarded by Harare as an 'all-weather friend', because of the support it continues to render to the governing Zanu PF party pre and post its attainment of independence.

Before the advent of majority rule in 1980, China was one of the communist States that backed the liberation war effort to dislodge the colonial Ian Smith regime.

Even in the wake of Harare's fallout with colonial master Britain and its allies in the west over Harare's human rights deficit, China stood by Zimbabwe through its support of the southern African State's economic initiatives.

At a personal level, Mnangagwa is highly regarded in China, after making an impression in Beijing during his visit to that country between July 6 and 10, 2015.

China also has admiration for him for masterminding the 'Command Agriculture' initiative, lauded for the bumper harvest achieved in the 2016/17 farming season.

The programme, however, became one of the sources of friction between him and Mugabe's influential wife, Grace, who claims the idea was stolen from her.

Apparently, Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander, Constantino Chiwenga - a close ally of Mnangagwa - is also in China and it remains unclear whether the two would meet.

Respected University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Eldred Masunungure said Mnangagwa will not be safe in China as the host country would be forced to deport him back to his home country.

He said it was very difficult for any country to give asylum to someone who is considered a fugitive following Mnangagwa's threats to grab power from Mugabe 'soon'
There is no place where he is really safe. We have seen Rwandan refugees being targeted in countries they would have sought asylum, this is a risky game for his allies, they will be repercussions, and there will be a lot of collateral damage. I foresee problems for his allies. Even countries that are not in good books with Zimbabwe could find it difficult to host him, said Masunungure.

Apparently, Mnangagwa is now a wanted man back home, facing up to 27 charges ranging from murder to money laundering.

Higher and Tertiary Education minister Jonathan Moyo, one of Mnangagwa's fiercest critics, wrote on his Twitter account that Mnangagwa would have his day in court even though he has run away.

When a senior official is fired from a high-ranking government office and they jump the border into self-exile within hours of their dismissal, you know that they are running away from being legally held to account for heinous crimes they committed and covered up while in office, wrote Moyo.

He added; 'In terms of truth and justice, the law has a long arm, which can reach anyone, everywhere, any time. You can run but you can't hide'.

The Higher Education minister has previously accused Mnangagwa of having crippled a journalist in the 1980s while fighting for a woman.

On Thursday, Moyo also wrote on micro-blogging platform, Twitter, that businessman and Mnangagwa's ally, Larry Mavhima, should also be locked up.

Mavhima is being accused of delivering Mnangagwa's hard-hitting press statement to the private media.

So the so-called ED press statement issued today, which has a poor scan of his signature, was personally delivered to newsrooms as an advert by Larry Mavhima who chairs the NRZ board & who fronts for ED at Hanawa Foods. This makes Mavhima an accessory to treason, said Moyo.



Political scientist Maxwell Saungweme said with numerous cases hanging over his head - the most sensible thing for Mnangagwa to do was to engage with China and not other regional countries.

I think China is the safest haven for a 75-year-old Zanu PF political hoodlum who pillaged the country with his erstwhile boss. China is also strategic as Ngwena was Defence minister when diamonds from Marange were controlled by his ministry, and Chinese were the major investor when the $15 billion from the gems supposedly disappeared.

So you can draw the military-diamonds-China-missing $15 billion nexus. Hence he finds China, the safest harbour. Apart from China or Russia, he has no other options. Sadc is out of question. You know Mugabe is regarded as big brother by most Sadc heads of States who would extradite Ngwena back to Zimbabwe to face Mugabe's jungle justice.

A few countries like Botswana will not even entertain the idea of harbouring a Zanu PF goon in their country given Ngwena's role in plunder and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. So China is his best bet; said Saungweme.

Blessing-Miles Tendi, a lecturer of African politics at the prestigious Oxford University, opined that one of the contributing factors to Mnangagwa's dismissal was the fact that the United Kingdom, especially its ambassador to Harare, Catriona Laing, were considering it fait accompli that the former vice president would become the next president and pursue engagement policies.

The politician, who was already clearing the way for his ascendancy, had been opening up to countries such as the UK, which views him as a reformist and the one who was meant to succeed Mugabe.

There are several reasons why . . . Mugabe fired Mnangagwa on November 6. Many were likely to do with Zanu PF infighting over who will eventually succeed the 93-year-old leader. But one external factor that contributed to Mugabe’s decision was Mnangagwa's relationship with the UK.

Beginning in the 1980s, Mnangagwa has assured London that he would be a more effective and technocratic leader than Mugabe. More recently, this led British diplomats in the UK embassy and some in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to see the decades-long Zanu PF insider as the candidate they could best work with and the figure most likely to implement urgently-needed economic reforms, said Tendi.

But with Mnangagwa out of Zanu PF and government, Tendi wrote in the African Argument, it would be difficult for the UK to maintain those old ties that date back to the 1980s.

Mnangagwa's sudden dismissal from Zimbabwe's political scene will require the UK to come up with a new strategy. This is necessary but also desirable. Laing made a fatal mistake by openly siding with the subordinate of a president who is extremely sensitive to perceived colonial intrusion, said Tendi.

Interestingly, most of Mnangagwa's allies have withdrawn into the shadows.

Outspoken Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association chairperson Christopher Mutsvangwa is now holed up in South Africa amid indications that he may be assessing the situation from there before coming back home.