ARCHIVE 011      
       
The Zimbabwe Story
Die Simbabwe-Geschichte
 
 
25.03.03

Torture in Zimbabwe
Folter in Simbabwe

     
  AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

AI Index: AFR 46/001/2003 (Public)
News Service No: 015
24 January 2003

Amnesty International is calling on the Zimbabwean authorities to end immediately the cycle of harassment, arrest and torture of those who peacefully oppose the government.

"Those who expose human rights violations become themselves at risk of arrest and torture. Those who defend an independent judiciary or the right to peacefully express opinions also become themselves the victims of intimidation or unfair legal process. The authorities must enable human rights activists and opposition parliamentarians to work without fear of harassment, arrest or torture," the organization said today

An Amnesty International delegation has just returned from Zimbabwe where it met human rights activists and gathered evidence of the latest clampdown on opponents.


Mehrere hundert Zimbabwer sind seit dem Massenstreik in der vergangenen Woche verhaftet und teilweise schwer gefoltert worden. Dabei wurde die Anwältin der Zeitung "Daily News" auf einer Polizeistation von der Ehefrau des Armeechefs persönlich misshandelt.

 


Eyewitness: Zimbabwe torture victim

Zimbabwe has seen hundreds of arrests since last week's strike, with allegations made of brutal treatment. Patricia, an official with the Movement for Democratic Change in Harare, told the BBC of her ordeal.




Wife of Mugabe's Army Chief as Torturer

Lawyer and director of the publishers of the Daily News Gugulethu Moyo says she was beaten by five men in Harare central police station after going there to enquire about a Daily News photographer who had been arrested. The 28-year-old lawyer endured vicious beatings and two nights behind bars on the whim of the wife of Zimbabwe's army commander, Jocelyn Chiwenga.

 
 

Who is responsible for organized violence and torture in Zimbabwe?

A P Reeler.
Former Director, Amani Trust.
Executive Committee Member, The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims.

31 January 2003

Since the beginning of the Zimbabwe crisis in February 2000, an enormous number of reports have been published on the gross human rights violations that have been perpetrated upon the people of Zimbabwe. The vast majority have come from within Zimbabwe, and mostly from the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and its member organisations. There have also been corroborating reports from highly respected international human rights organizations: Amnesty International, the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), Human Rights Watch, and Physicians for Human Rights (Denmark). These latter reports have universally corroborated the reports of their Zimbabwean counterparts.

These reports, taken together, paint a very grim picture of the organized violence and torture that has afflicted Zimbabwe since February 2000. They confirm that gross human rights violations have become routine in Zimbabwe, unrepudiated in general by the government, and certainly do not show that there have been any credible attempts by the government to prevent or stop these violations from occurring. The reports overwhelmingly implicate supporters of Zanu PF as the major perpetrators, as well as showing an alarming degree of involvement by state agents such as the police, the intelligence services, and, to a lesser extent, the army.

Terrible things have been done, the former Chief Justice of Zimbabwe, Anthony Gubbay, put it, and they continue to be done. The evidence shows that all the following gross human rights violations have been perpetrated on the citizens of Zimbabwe, and especially the supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC):

- Summary executions
- Extra-judicial killings
- Disappearances
- Torture
- Mass psychological torture
- Political rape
- Rape
- Illegal arrests
- Unlawful detentions

Click here to access the complete document

 

 
 
26.02.03

UN blames Mugabe for humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe
UN macht Mugabe f
ür Hunger-Krise in Simbabwe verantwortlich

 
  The United Nations food agency has said that the Zimbabwe Government is largely responsible for the humanitarian crisis there. The Zimbabwe crisis was "almost beyond comprehension" and could easily have been avoided, said James Morris, head of the World Food Programme. He pointed to President Robert Mugabe's land redistribution programme, which has left thousands of normally productive farms lying idle. Up to seven million people - half the population - need food aid, donors say. The government has also been accused of diverting food aid away from opposition areas.



During his three-day trip to assess the humanitarian response in Zimbabwe, Special Envoy James Morris was driven to a child supplementary feeding programme run by World Vision at Dzivarasekwa - a densely populated suburb on the outskirts of the capital Harare.
Mr Morris said that he had held six meetings with Mr Mugabe in the past six months but had failed to persuade him to alter his economic policies or remove bureaucratic obstacles to food production or aid distribution.
Der Chef des UN-Welternährungsprogramms, der Amerikaner James Morris, hat nach einem Besuch in Simbabwe und nach Gesprächen mit Präsident Mugabe vor allem dessen Politik der Landumverteilung für die humanitäre Katastrophe im Lande verantwortlich gemacht. Viele einst produktive Farmen lägen brach.
  Starvation maliciously engineered in Zimbabwe
By Ben Freeth
Friday, 17 January 2003
 
 
 
09.01.03
 

Half of Zimbabwe’s wildlife wiped out by poachers
Hälfte aller wilden Tiere in Simbabwe Opfer von Wilderern

 
Wildlife industry officials estimate that at least 50 percent of Zimbabwe’s wildlife has been wiped out by poachers in the past two years, and that the country has lost more than $6 billion in revenue. Most of the poaching has been blamed on war veterans, who began occupying white-owned farms in February 2000, and on beneficiaries of the government’s controversial land reform programme. Disregard for the country’s wildlife in the implementation of the agrarian reforms has resulted in the loss of not only wildlife but vegetation and animal habitats that conservationists say will only regenerate after many years.   50 Prozent aller wilden Tiere in Simbabwe sind nach Schätzung von Experten während der vergangenen beiden Jahren Wilderern zum Opfer gefallen. Das entspricht einem Einkommensverlust von 6 Milliarden Zimbabwe-Dollar (ca. 4 Mio. €). Verantwortlich dafür seien sogenannte Kriegsveteranen, die Farmen besetzt hätten und eine ungeordnete Politik der Umsiedlung.
Die Regierung habe jetzt vor, das Mangement von wilden Tieren in ihre Landreform einzubeziehen.
     
     
08.01.03
Zimbabwe runs short of banknotes
In Simbabwe gehen die Geldscheine aus
 
 
 
22.12.02

Zimbabwe fuel crisis looming over holiday season
Treibstoffmangel überschattet Feiertage in Simbabwe

 
Zimbabwe's fuel crisis looked set to spill into the Christmas holiday season, further dampening the mood of a nation grappling with its worst economic crisis in decades. A two-week fuel shortage has nearly paralysed public transport and left motorists waiting in long fuel queues.
Ein Höhepunkt der Treibstoffkrise wird in Simbabwe zum Jahresende erwartet, womit ein Zusammenbruch der bereits stark angeschlagenen Wirtschaft nach dem Jahreswechsel absehbar ist.

 

 
 
29.08.02

Zimbabwean radio building blown up
Simbabwe-Radiostation in die Luft gejagt

 
A security guard at the offices of 'Voice of the People', which records educational and current affairs radio programmes and news bulletins, said that he was held at gunpoint by one man while two others smashed windows and threw two explosive devices inside. No one was hurt, but what experts said was a professional incendiary demolition left only the walls of the ten-room building standing. “Everything is destroyed,” Sarah Chiumbu, treasurer of the Voice of the People Communication Trust, said. “Our computers, all our recording equipment, files, tapes.” Since the station started broadcasting a little more than two years ago, it has sidestepped a government ban on independent radio stations by having its programmes beamed through transmitters of Radio Netherlands based on Madagascar.

 
 
 
  Listen to a feature about Voice of the People as broadcast on
Media Network
3 August 2000 (8'40")
     
  Listen to Abel Mutsakani, Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, talking to Newsline's Josh Maiyo
30 August 2002 (4'07')
  In einem Wohnviertel der Hauptstadt Harare ist in der Nacht zum 29.08.02 ein Haus gesprengt worden, in dem regierungskritische Radioprogramme produziert worden waren. Es wurde niemand verletzt, aber die Produktionseinrichtungen wurden zerstört.
"Voice of the People" umging das repressive Mediengesetz des Landes, indem das Radio-Programm per Internet in die Niederlande geschickt wurde. Von dort aus wurde es per Kurzwelle über Sender auf Madagaskar nach Simbabwe ausgestrahlt.

     
  A report on the ZBC Web site described VOP as a "pirate radio station", which "churns out anti-Zimbabwe propaganda from Europe." The government is quoted as describing VOP as "nothing short of a criminal and terrorist group." The Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the Office of the President, Professor Jonathan Moyo, said the setting up of the Voice of the People was an example of European interference in Zimbabwe's affairs.
     
  Zimbabwe's government clamped down on domestic dissent when, after fire-bombing of an independent radio production company’s offices, police raided the Amani-Trust, a charity for torture victims and arrested its doctor. Soldiers also held about 20 displaced farmworkers who were building a camp outside Harare for a local charity to accommodate hundreds of other labourers forced from their homes by President Mugabe’s seizures of white-owned land. The three developments came three days after Mr Mugabe swore in on 26.08.02 what he called 'a political and economic war cabinet'.

Drei Tage nach der Einrichtung eines "Kriegs-Kabinetts" durch Präsident Mugabe sind in Simbabwe Andersdenkende Ziel eines Bomben-Anschlags und Opfer einer Verhaftungswelle geworden. Nach der Sprengung einer Radioproduktionsstätte in Harare ging Polizei in Harare gegen den Amani-Trust vor. Der Trust kümmerte sich um Opfer politischer Gewalt in Simbabwe; eine Ärztin, die Folter-Opfer behandelte, wurde verhaftet. Soldaten stürmten am Stadtrand ein Lager, das durch eine lokale Hilfsorganisation für die Familien von Landarbeitern errichtet wurde, die durch das Landnahme-Programm der Mugabe-Regierung von Farmen vertrieben wurden, die Weissen gehörten.
 
 
21.08.02
Goverment turns back Foreigners
Regierung verweigert Ausländern Einreise
 

New Harare Airport
  Die simbabwische Regierung verweigert seit einigen Tagen europäischen und amerikanischen Staatsbürgern die Einreise ins Land. Auch zwei deutsche Touristen waren betroffen.



Four British citizens have recently been refused entry to Zimbabwe, the Foreign Office has confirmed. The first two incidents happened on 8 August, followed by another on 11 August and the most recent on 15 August.

     
"Flying into Zimbabwe is a pleasant new experience with the opening of the striking new Harare International Airport. The spacious new international terminal is linked to the old one, which will be completely refurbished and converted into a domestic terminal."  
 
 
 
19.08.02
Mugabe orders white farmers to leave
Mugabe befiehlt weißen Farmern zu gehen
 
The Zimbabwe Government has urged black settlers to begin working on land being left by white farmers. The call comes as many white farmers, who were arrested for refusing to give up their land, pack their bags as part of bail conditions which order them off the farms. Around 2,900 white farmers had to leave their land by 8 August but most of them stayed put, risking fines and jail terms of up to two years.

In Simbabwe hat die Polizei nach Angaben des Farmerverbandes JAG in den vergangenen Tagen 130 weiße Großgrundbesitzer wegen der Weigerung verhaftet, ihre Höfe für schwarze Bauern zu räumen. 38 von ihnen wurden dem Gericht vorgeführt und nach Zahlung einer Kaution wieder auf freien Fuß gesetzt. Nach Einschätzung des Farmerverbandes dürfte sich die Zahl der Festgenommenen in den kommenden Tagen weiter erhöhen. Die offizielle Frist zur Räumung der Anwesen war Mitte August abgelaufen.

 
 
  President Robert Mugabe
"Zimbabwe is not for sale"





     
  Zimbabwe's first lady, Grace Mugabe, has chosen the white-owned farm she wants and has ordered its elderly owners and residents off the land. Mrs Mugabe has picked the Iron Mask Estate, 30 miles north west of Harare, which belongs to John and Eva Matthews, both in their seventies.

Präsidentengattin Grace Mugabe wird eine Farm übernehmen, deren weiße Besitzer, ein Ehepaar in den Siebzigern, gezwungen wurde, das Land aufzugeben.
     
  Arrested Farmers Status

Who Got Which Farm?
     
  < Who owns the land?
     
  < The Position of the Zimbabwe Government
     
  < Hintergrund der Landreform
     
  < Le Monde diplomatique, 17.5.2002
 
 
09.08.02
Does Mugabe trade white farms for Gaddafi's oil?
Tauscht Mugabe weiße Farmen gegen Gaddafis Erdöl?
 
  President Mugabe may be forced to give Libya much of the prime land he is seizing from white farmers in order to pay for an oil deal with Colonel Gaddafi, diplomatic sources said yesterday. The full extent of the bizarre arrangement between the Zimbabwean and Libyan leaders was revealed hours before Mr Mugabe's midnight deadline for 2,900 white farmers to leave their properties. The sources said that Mr Mugabe owed Libya so much for imported oil that he was preparing to give thousands of acres to his "friend", Colonel Gaddafi, to repay his debts and to stay in power.



Nach Recherchen der "Londoner TIMES" mag sich Simbabwes Präsident Mugabe gezwungen sehen, bestes Land, das weissen Bauern weggenommen wird, zur Bezahlung von Erdöl-Lieferungen aus Libyen zu verwenden. Wenige Stunden vor Ablauf des Ultimatums für rund 2.900 Farmer, ihr Land zu verlassen, seien aus diplomatischen Quellen Einzelheiten eines bizarren Vertrages bekannt geworden, wonach Mugabe soviel für das importierte Erdöl schuldet, dass er bereit sei, seinem "Freund" Gaddafi tausende von Hektar zu übereignen, um an der Macht zu bleiben.

 
The Libyan leader, with his ambition of becoming a pan-African leader, has been engaged in acquiring substantial assets in Zimbabwe for some time. The Times reported earlier this year that Colonel Gaddafi had acquired a significant shareholding in Noczim, Zimbabwe's state-owned energy company. He was also given a controlling interest in the oil pipeline that runs to Zimbabwe from Beira in Mozambique and in two of the country's biggest oil refineries. Colonel Gaddafi had also made it clear that he wanted shares in a state-owned hotel at Victoria Falls and the Sheraton Hotel in Harare, the capital, The Times reported. He was also understood to have presented a gift of £1.3 million to Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party, even though there was supposed to be a ban on any political party receiving foreign donations. Mr Mugabe was alleged to have given 10,000 Zimbabwean passports to Libyan citizens, making it easier for them to travel abroad. Up to 1,500 Libyans were said to have been given homes, work permits and jobs in Zimbabwe. The diplomatic sources said that the Libyan leader's wholesale asset-grabbing in Zimbabwe was part of his dream of spreading his personal power and influence in Africa.  

Der libysche Führer, der sich als panafrikanischer Führer profilieren möchte, hat schon seit längerer Zeit beträchtliches Eigentum in Simbabwe erworben. Dazu gehören strategische Erdöl-Einrichtungen und Hotel-Ketten. Präsident Mugabe soll 10.000 Libyern simbabwesche Pässe zur Verfügung gestellt haben.
 
  ZIMBABWE and Libya are deadlocked over demands by Tripoli that it takes over Harare's entire beef quota to the European Union (EU) and gets compensated with goods such as unprocessed tea as part of the US$360 million oil-for-goods deal struck between the two countries, government sources said this week.
     
  Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gadhafi, in an ultimate expression of the pan-Africanism he holds so dear, is driving from South Africa back to Libya. It is a journey that began on July 10, after the launch of the African Union in Durban, South Africa. But ever conscious about his security, Gadhafi is travelling in a heavily armed convoy, with bodyguards armed with at least 28 sub machine guns and 40 pistols, according to South African security officials.
     
  The South African president, Thabo Mbeki, was the official host and chairman of the inaugural summit of the African Union (AU) in Durban earlier this month. But the leader who stole the limelight in the South African Indian Ocean port city was undoubtedly Libya’s Muammar al-Gaddafi.
 
 
16.07.02
War Vets Split From Zanu Pf Party
Kriegsveteranen trennen sich von Zanu PF-Partei
 


Contacted for comment, war veterans secretary-general, Andy Mhlanga, denied that some members of his association were defecting from Zanu PF. "I don't know about that. I am hearing it for the first time, maybe it's being done behind the back of our executive. The true war veterans remain loyal to Zanu PF and President Mugabe because we fought the liberation war together. It is a marriage for life.

Der Generalsekretär der Kriegsveteranen-Vereinigung, Andy Mhlanga, hat auf Nachfrage erklärt, er höre zum ersten Mal davon, dass Mitglieder sich von Zanu PF abwendeten. "Die wahren Kriegsveteranen bleiben loyal mit Zanu PF und Präsident Mugabe," sagte er. "Wir haben zusammen im Befreiungskampf gefochten, das ist eine Ehe für's Leben."
  WAR veterans, disillusioned with the land seizure exercise which has seen top government officials reap huge benefits, have decided to break away from Zanu PF and form their own political party, the New People's Party (NPP). This break with President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu (PF) party is being seen as a move that if carried through could deal a mortal blow to the 78-yearold's iron hold on power.





Kriegsveteranen, die führenden Regierungsmitgliedern vorwerfen, sich bei der Landumverteilung in Simbabwe zu bereichern, haben sich von der regierenden Zanu PF abgewendet, um eine eigene Partei zu gründen. Dies könnte nach Einschätzung politischer Beobachter im südlichen Afrika dem Regime des 78 Jahre alten Robert Mugabe den Todesstoß versetzen.
     
Source: BBC, Tuesday, 20 February, 2001

The Other Side of the Story as told by...
Die andere Seite der Geschichte, erzählt von...

The Zimbabwe Liberators' Platform (ZLP) was formed in protest at the anarchy that accompanied the farm invasions which were supposedly led by former freedom fighters.

The ZLP dismisses veterans as cowards for attacking unarmed civilians during peacetime. "There was a song that we used to sing in the war, that a people's soldier should by no means go out and beat civilians," recalls Bernard Manyadza, who was one of the top commanders of Mr Mugabe's Zanla army during the independence war.


"We're surprised that the war vets are being trafficked to suppress political opposition by force,'' he said. ''They've turned from liberators to oppressors of the people they're supposed to have liberated."

The ZLP's opposition to Mr Mugabe and his right to speak for the veterans has its roots in the war of independence.

At the time fighters from the Zanu and Zapu liberation movements initiated the formation of a joint Zipa army.

They believed the politicians were tired of the war, so they wanted to re-start the armed struggle themselves; and they wanted national unity at all costs, so as to avoid the kind of civil war that followed Angola's independence.

They won the backing of the neighbouring frontline states' leaders, especially President Samora Machel of Mozambique who allowed them to fight from his country. But clashes soon occurred in the Zipa camps between cadres of the two liberation movements.

Mr Mhanda and his comrades from Zanu were convinced that their lack of political leadership was contributing to the tensions in the united army.

President Machel asked them to draw up a list of 10 names of potential leaders. At the top of their list was Robert Mugabe, who was then under house arrest in Mozambique because Mr Machel was hostile to his anti-unity sentiments. Reluctantly Mr Machel agreed to release Mr Mugabe, and that is how he came to lead Zanu and later Zimbabwe.

The fighters soon grew disillusioned with Mr Mugabe, but by then it was too late because he'd secured the backing of Mr Machel.

In order to gain control of the army and prepare the way for negotiations with the Rhodesians, Mr Mugabe persuaded Mr Machel to allow him to detain his own men, claiming they were plotting against his leadership.

Mr Manyadza and Wilfrid Mhanda, a senior officer under Mr Mugabe and now the ZLP spokesman, were among the 50 top commanders arrested. Later hundreds more junior soldiers were arrested.

The two were kept in cells in terrible conditions for the first six months - packed in the dark, with no toilet. For the last two-and-a-half years of the war they were held in a detention camp.

'Mr Mhanda recalls the words of a Holocaust survivor to describe their ordeal: "He who has not experienced it cannot believe it; he who has experienced it cannot understand it."

The so-called dissidents, who were never charged with any offence, have waited 20 years for the whole truth to come out.

"Probably we could have forgiven without forgetting, but the events of the last year forced us to regroup," says Mr Mhanda. "He did it to us but he has no right to do it to the country."
  ZLP spokesman
Wilfrid Mhanda



Die Anarchie bei Farmbesetzungen durch angebliche ehemalige Freiheitskämpfer führte schon im Jahr 2000 zur Bildung einer Organisation von Kriegsveteranen. Sie nannten die Farmbesetzer "Feiglinge", die sich von Freiheitskämpfern zu Unterdrückern gewandelt hätten.

Die Opposition gegen Mugabe und seine Partei begann während des Befreiungskampfes als Kämpfer von ZANU und ZAPU sich zu einer gemeinsamen Streitmacht vereinigt hatten. Deren Führer warfen der alten Elite vor, kriegsmüde zu sein. Sie wollten vor allem nationale Einheit und nicht einen Bürgerkrieg wie er nach der Unabhängigkeit in Angola ausgebrochen war.

Dafür erhielten sie die Unterstützung der Frontlinien-Staaten; Präsident Samora Machel erlaubte ihnen, von Mozambik aus den Kampf um die Befreiung Rhodesiens weiter zu führen.

Doch in den Camps kam es zu Streitigkeiten zwischen unterschiedlichen Fraktionen. Wilfrid Mhanda und seine Kameraden aus der ZANU machten das Fehlen poltischer Führung dafür verantwortlich. Machel bat sie, zehn Namen potentieller neuer Füher aufzuschreiben. Ihre erste Wahl war Robert Mugabe, der in Mozambik unter Hausarrest gestellt war, weil Machel ihn beschuldigte, die erforderliche Einigkeit zu sabotieren. Auf Machels Weisung wurde Mugabe freigelassen, so wurde er Führer der ZANU und später Simbabwes.

Die Freiheitskämpfer, die ihn an die Spitze geholt hatten, waren bald desillusioniert, aber Mugabe konnte Machel überzeugen, sich seinem Weg zu Verhandlungen mit dem rhodesischen Regime anzuschliessen. Ihm wurde erlaubt, all jene in Haft zu nehmen, denen er vorwarf, ihn stürzen zu wollen.

Wilfrid Mhanda war einer der leitenden Offiziere unter Mugabe. Zusammen mit 50 Kommandeuren und später vielen hundert Soldaten wurde er verhaftet und unter unmenschlichen Bedingungen in einer Zelle festgehalten. Die letzten zweieinhalb Jahre vor Kriegsende war er in einem Gefangenenlager.

Mit den Worten eines Überlebenden des Holocaust sagt Mhanda über seine Erfahrung: "Der, der es nicht erlebt hat, kann es nicht glauben; der, der es durchgemacht hat, kann es nicht verstehen." 20 Jahre haben die sogenannten Dissidenten darauf gewartet, dass die Wahrheit ans Licht kommt. "Vielleicht hätten wir vergeben können, ohne zu vergessen. Aber die Ereignisse des letzten Jahres zwangen uns, umzudenken," sagt Mhanda. "Er hat das uns angetan, aber er hat kein Recht, es dem Lande anzutun."
 
  Interviews:
Wilfred Mhanda, former freedom fighter Helen Suzman Foundation
How Mugabe came to power R.W. Johnson talks to Wilfrid Mhanda
 
 
 
25.06.02
Hunger in Zimbabwe
Starvation in Simbabwe
 
 



 

People are dying as a direct result of the food shortage in Zimbabwe, villagers in rural areas say. Residents of Matabeleland, one of the worst affected provinces, say that elderly people are starving to death, while children have died of poisoning after eating the wrong leaves as a substitute for food.
  Als direkte Auswirkung einer Lebensmittelknappheit verhungern immer mehr Menschen in ländlichen Regionen Simbabwes. Betroffen ist vor allem das Matabeleland. Dort sterben vor allem ältere Menschen und Kinder, die auf der Suche nach Nahrung oft giftige Blätter essen.
         
  Für die Versorgung der notleidenden Bevölkerung in Malawi, Sambia und Simbabwe hat das Bundesentwicklungsministerium 5,6 Millionen € bereit gestellt. Dürren und Überschwemmungen in diesen drei Ländern im südlichen Afrika haben zu massiven Ernteausfällen geführt. Verstärkt wurde die Nahrungsmittelknappheit in Simbabwe noch durch die Misswirtschaft des Mugabe-Regimes.
     


Sperrfrist: 25. Juni 2002 12:00 MEZ
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
hat am 25.06.2002 in einem speziellen Bericht die Straffreiheit für Menschenrechtsverletzer als das zentrale Problem Simbabwes herausgestellt.
Die simbabwesche Regierung habe systematisch sichergestellt, dass jene, die für Folter, Entführung und politische Morde verantwortlich seien, nicht vor Gericht gestellt würden. Menschernrechtsverletzungen würden fortgesetzt, deren Opfer und ihre Familien würden keine Gerechtigkeit erfahren, bevor dieser Teufelskreis nicht durchbrochen werde, betont ai.
  Embargo Date: 25 June 2002 10:00 GMT
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: AFR 46/035/2002 (Public)
News Service No: 103
25 June 2002


Zimbabwe: Impunity enables ever more human rights violations

The Zimbabwean government has systematically ensured that those responsible for torture, abductions and political killings are never brought to justice, Amnesty International said in a new report released today; The Toll of Impunity.

"Impunity has become the central problem in Zimbabwe where state and non-state actors commit widespread human rights violations without being brought to justice. Unless the cycle of impunity can be broken, human rights abuses will continue unchecked and victims and their families will not see justice," the organization said.

 
 
20.04.02      
Zimbabwe - Election Aftermath
Simbabwe - Nach der Wahl
 


Zimbabwe:
Covering The Vote


Were the media prevented from enabling Zimbabweans to make informed choices in the just concluded elections?
Will evidence of press intimidation influence election outcome?
 

 

A new law curbing
the activities of independent
and foreign news media in
Zimbabwe has been
enacted by the government.

Nach der Wahl hat die Regierung ein neues Gesetz zur Einschränkung der Presse in Kraft gesetz

"On the whole, despite all that has happened so far, Harare has remained relatively peaceful - which we cannot take for granted. There was such scary talk about all hell breaking loose that being able to get around and go about our normal business (not that it can ever be really normal) is itself a good thing. I guess we shall have to watch for a while longer. But the government is moving fast, as might be expected, to consolidate its position. You may have heard that Mugabe is being sworn in tomorrow Sunday (17.03.02). He has been strangely quiet ever since the results were announced, so we are all wondering what he has up his sleeve. We will await and see."
RBO-source in Harare

"Trotz allem, was bisher geschah, Harare ist insgesamt relativ ruhig geblieben - das muss so nicht garantiert bleiben.
Es hatte soviel beängstigendes Gerede gegeben über die Hölle, die ausbrechen würde, daß jetzt die Tatsache, herumlaufen zu können, normalen Geschäften nachgehen zu können, schon in sich eine gute Sache ist (obwohl es nie wieder wirklich normal sein kann). Ich denke, wir müssen noch eine Weile die Entwicklung beobachten. Wie zu erwarten, ist die Regierung rasch bemüht, ihre Position zu konsolidieren. Mugabe wird an diesem Sonntag eingeschworen (17.03.02). In befremdlicher Weise hat er seit Bekanntgabe der Ergebnisse geschwiegen. Wir alle wundern uns, was er noch vorhaben mag. Wir warten ab und sehen dann weiter."
RBO-Quelle in Harare

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been sworn in for a new six-year term, amid continuing criticism of his disputed election victory.

Simbabwes Präsident Robert Mugabe ist für eine weitere sechsjährige Amtszeit eingeschworen worden, während internationaler Disput um seinen Wahlsieg anhält.

The Commonwealth has suspended
Zimbabwe from the councils of the organisation for a year with immediate effect.

Nach den Unregelmäßigkeiten und Manipulationen bei der Wahl und angesichts der anhaltenden Gewalttaten gegen die Opposition hat das Commonwealth Simbabwe für ein Jahr aus der Organisation ausgeschlossen.

Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been released on bail after being formally charged with treason in a court in the capital, Harare.

Simbabwes Oppositionsführer Morgan Tsvangirai ist gegen eine hohe Kaution auf freiem Fuß, nachdem er formal wegen Hochverrat angeklagt wurde.

Erzbischof Tutu, Südafrikas Friedensnobelpreisträger, verurteilt die Haltung seines Landes gegenüber den umstrittenen Präsidentschaftswahlen in Simbabwe.
  South African Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised his country's decision to recognise the result of Zimbabwe's recent controversial presidential elections.

THOMAS MAPFUMO
From RBO's Audio Archive

       
Singer, composer and bandleader, Zimbabwe's world famous musician, Thomas Mapfumo, slams election, calls for protests.

Simbabwes bekanntester Musiker, Thomas Mapfumo, ruft zu Protesten auf.
 
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) said on Friday it was interested in investing in Zimbabwe as part of the region's economic integration plans.     International financier and an investment advisor to President Thabo Mbeki, George Soros, says he is disturbed to learn that some of Zimbabwe's neighbours have recognised President Mugabe's election victory.


Zimbabwe's High Court has ordered the release of jailed journalist Peta Thornycroft, a reporter for the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
She was imprisoned last week on accusations of violating Zimbabwe's new media laws.

    Das höchste Gericht Simbabwes hat die Freilassung von Peta Thornycroft angeordnet. Sie ist die simbabwesche Korrespondentin der britischen Zeitung "Daily Telegraph". Vergangene Woche war sie für mehrere Tage unter dem Vorwurf inhaftiert, falsche Informationen verbreitet zu haben.

05.04.02:
Human rights group Zimbabwe in Crisis appealed for urgent assistance on Friday for at least 50,000 people who it says have been displaced by political violence and land seizures

Die Menschenrechtsgruppe "Simbabwe in der Krise" hat dringend zur Hilfe für mindestens 50.000 Menschen aufgerufen, die durch politische Gewalt und Landnahme vertrieben wurden.


07.04.02:
Zimbabwe police break up demos this weekend

  At least 22 people are reported to have been arrested in a crackdown against anti-government protests across Zimbabwe.

Die simbabwesche Polizei hat am Wochenende Proteste gegen die Regierung aufgelöst und mindestens 22 Teilnehmer festgenommen.
       



Simbabwes Präsident kontrolliert einen mächtigen Partei-Konzern, dessen Verflechtungen weit über die Landesgrenzen reichen



Robert Mugabes Milliarden-Imperium

Zimbabwe's main opposition party went to court to try to overturn the results of last month's controversial presidential election.

 

Simbabwes MDC-Opposition hat beantragt, die Ergebnisse der kontroversen Präsidentschaftswahlen vom März gerichtlich für ungültig zu erklären.
       



Die Gewaltherrschaft von Präsident Mugabe hat Simbabwe an den Rand des Ruins getrieben. ARD-Korrespondent Stefan Schaaf beschreibt die Auswirkungen der brutalen Landreform, die Einschränkung der Pressefreiheit und die Willkürtaten Mugabes.



  The children of destitute opposition supporters in Zimbabwe are being refused food aid in the latest round of reprisals after Robert Mugabe's disputed election victory last month. Pro-government thugs are driving children from feeding centres in drought-hit areas because their parents are suspected of supporting the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
       

Marking Independence Day on April 18th with a speech to thousands in Harare, President Mugabe said, "the white man is a second citizen, you are number one, he is number two or three now - and that must be taught to our children".



  Zum Unabhängigkeitstag Simbabwes am 18. April hat Präsident Mugabe in einer Rede vor einigen tausend Anhängern erklärt, "der weisse Mann ist Bürger zweiter Klasse, ihr seid Nummer eins, er ist jetzt Nummer zwei oder drei, und das muss unseren Kindern beigebracht werden".
 

In what traditionalists have described as a bad omen, the Independence flame blew out as soon as it had been lit by President Mugabe at the occasion to mark the country's 22nd birthday on April 18th.

    Ein "böses Omen" sehen Traditionalisten in einem Zwischenfall bei der 22. Feier zur Unabhängigkeit Simbabwes am 18. April. Die von Präsident Mugabe entzündete Unabhängigkeitsflamme war von einem Windstoss unmittelbar danach ausgeblasen worden.
         

Zimbabwe's Traditional Healers' spokesman, Peter Sibanda:
"When a fire or light blows out, it means there is no guidance or light, only darkness..."

    Der Sprecher der traditionellen Heiler Simbabwes, Peter Sibanda:
"Wenn ein Feuer oder ein Licht verlischt, heisst das, es gibt keine Führung, kein Licht, nur Dunkelheit..."
         
Simbabwes Präsident Robert Mugabe istzu einer UNO-Konferenz in der italienischen Hauptstadt Rom eingetroffen, ohne dass ihm dort die Einreise verweigert worden wäre. Die Europäische Union und die USA haben als Folge von amtlich sanktionierter Rechtlosigkeit in Simbabwe gegen führende Politiker und Beamte Simbabwes ein Einreiseverbot verhängt und offizielle Entwicklungshilfe eingestellt. Ausgenommen ist die Teilnahme an offiziellen Konferenzen der Vereinten Nationen.  



Saturday, 8 June, 2002
  Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has arrived in Rome for a United Nations conference, despite a ban on him travelling to Europe, according to officials.

The restriction was imposed by the European Union, but under United Nations rules, heads of state are allowed access to all UN conferences.


From RBO's Multimedia-Bridge Africa-Europe

  Peter Sibanda: Profile of a Traditional Healer
  Peter Sibanda: Porträt eines traditionellen Heilers
Traditional Medical Practitioners Seek International Recognition
2001: The first solar eclipse in more than 100 years brought fear
     
 
From RBO's Multimedia-Bridge Africa-Europe:
Stories about life in Zimbabwe
Geschichten über das Leben in Simbabwe
  From RBO's Archive:
Mugabe's Anti-Gay-Campaign
Mugabes Anti-Schwulen-Kampagne
         
  From RBO's Archive   Famine looms in southern Africa
Hunger droht im südlichen Afrika