The Sustainability of Zimbabwe

Following last week’s debate on McCain’s proposal for a “League of Democracies”, the UN, and as earlier argued its member states, are doing a good job inviting criticism.

This week it was confirmed that Zimbabwe has been elected to chair the UN’s Commission for Sustainable Development. The decision followed a vote granting the go-ahead to Zimbabwe’s chairmanship with the slightest of margins - 26 to 21 (with three abstentions). The chair of the Commission usually rotates between the world’s regions and the decision was supported mainly by the African nations. The decision was swiftly greeted with criticism from both European and US diplomats. Although the decisions to award the chair to Zimbabwe followed all procedures and was perfectly democratic, it raises a number of issues.

First and foremost, the blatant human rights violations taking place in Zimbabwe ought to deter any support for Zimbabwe from other member states. This is regardless of the chair being for the Commission for sustainable development and not dealing with human rights. Secondly, the concept of sustainable development encompasses not only concerns for the environment, but also concerns for economic development as well as matters of equity. In a time where African nations, and developing countries in general, emphasise their right to economic development above a need for environmental protection, Zimbabwe’s record on economic development is worth questioning. With a hyperinflation running at thousands per cent a year and with a dependence on outside food aid, the former ‘breadbasket’ of Africa hardly looks a role model for economic development. Thirdly, the dubious ways Zimbabwean authorities have gone about the re-distribution of land as part of a much-needed land reform, do nothing to inspire praise. Fourthly, the support for Zimbabwe from its African neighbours raises the question of political progress in Africa in general . Why is it that African nations choose to gather around Zimbabwe when other alternatives seem more appropriate? Finally, and perhaps more pragmatically, numerous of Zimbabwean diplomats and representatives are subject to travel bans and can therefore not enter, for instance, the EU. This will represent Zimbabwe and the UN with an interesting problem.

Although the role of developing countries are not only welcomed but also much needed when it comes to international policymaking, and is in the spirit of the UN, the appointment of Zimbabwe as chair for the Commission for Sustainable Development looks to do the UN’ s reputation, its member states and the cause of sustainable development few favours.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Political issues are not always as simple as they seem from first glance. I am often cautious when I am reading reports of British or for that matter any European media concerning the situation in Zimbabwe or in any other former British colony in Africa. I believe it is necessary to read them with a little bit of salt. Whereas I would agree that widespread human rights violations have occurred in Zimbabwe on constant basis, it is necessary to be objective and ask ourselves a question why Zimbabwe situation features more frequently in British media than say human rights situation in DRC or in Darfur. It is also not that African countries would not do anything. Just today the African Union's Pan-African Parliament has decided to send a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe after widespread reports of state violence against journalists, students, lawyers, civil society and the political opposition. As Theo Mbeki said two years ago in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Europeans and others should Africans to decide themselves on their future and not to worsen situation in Zimbabwe by pursuing respective self-interest.

Jernej
Unknown said…
It looks dire indeed if Zimbabwe is asked to lead the way on sustainable development. Mugabe's leadership has undone nearly all of the good he worked so hard for in achieving independence from Great Britain in 1980.

I take the point that Europeans and N. Americans need to stop telling African nations how to conduct their own affairs. However, Zimbabwe has destroyed what was once, as Ole pointed out, the breadbasket of Africa. Though the media in the global north may often be unfair to Africa, I just do not see how they have gotten this story wrong. Zimbabwe has had a policy of randomly seizing farms from whites since 2000. This has only lead to economic decay, rampant inflation, and starvation.

How can Zimbabwe expect to do anything for sustainable development when it does not even recognize the basic rule of law? I frankly have a very pessimistic view of the UN and many of its endeavors, and this just does not help the situation. Perhaps Zimbabwe will prove the skeptics wrong, but chances of that appear quite slim.
Anonymous said…
Actually Derek you attitude is exactly describes what is wrong with American and Western approach to any part of the developing world. Zimbabwe was never breadbasket of Africa, but only breadbasket for tiny proportion of white minority. This is well documented. Zimbabwe was colonized and controlled by British South Africa Company and later by British controlled government, which committed human rights violations on a similar scale. History of African continent is extremely interesting and telling and it would be helpful if it would be read also outside Africa.
Unknown said…
I don't question the injustice perpetrated on Africa during colonization. I do not think either that you need to know too much history to reach the conclusion that the country with an AIDS epidemic over 30%, which has bankrupted itself fighting in the Congo, where inflation is 2,200% (!), and which can no longer feed itself can even hope to accomplish much in promoting sustainable development. Regardless of the colonial abuses, and I don't dispute them, Zimbabwe is a failed state. Is it the fault of the British empire? Maybe. But we could equally blame the abuses of Mugabe's government, which refuses to allow foreign journalists into the country, has bombed its own news outlets, and has taken one of Africa's most promising economies and made it one of the World's worst.

But placing blame is irrelevant. It's a country that needs to move forward. And if it can't even construct a simple economy or feed itself, what business does it have trying to lead other nations in sustainable development? It's a joke, and it makes the UN look like a joke.

Would you support George Bush leading the way in implementing a "Neo-Con" ICC? I don't think so.
Although one cannot blame African nations, and developing countries in general, for not wanting developed Western countries to tell them how to conduct their businesses, the situation remains that in order to receive aid and assistance any foreign government would want to exercise some degree of control. This is the nature of development aid and has got little to do with self-interests, as Mbeki pointed out. In fact, I am not sure that the developing nor the developed world would benefit from a different scenario.

Therefore, the lambasting of Zimbabwe for its human rights and environmental record by Western governments has got nothing to do with paternalistic attitudes or lack of historical appreciation. Instead, it is quite clear that, as was pointed out, the tragic irony in having a failed state to lead the quest for sustainable development in the UN makes everyone look a fool. Perhaps parallels could be drawn to the recent appointment of a new General Secretary of the UN. Ambitious supporters of Tony Blair were, when it became clear he was going to step down as PM, putting his name about as a successor to Annan. It takes little to appreciate the irony such an appointment would have created or to imagine the outcry it would have caused.

As for the argument of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe receiving more attention in European media than similar atrocious abuses in DRC and Darfur, simply puzzles me. Although the atrocities in Darfour are appalling and take place on a large scale, as well as the conflict in DRC has longtime ago turned into the ‘continent’s forgotten conflict’, I simple fail to see what the amount of media attention has to do with Zimbabwe’s capability to chair a commission striving for sustainable development.

Perhaps the appointment of Zimbabwe as chair of the Commission will lead to a new ground of consensus on the understanding of sustainable development in the UN. Who knows? But frankly, comments like "what has sustainable development to do with human rights?" from Zimbabwe’s UN Ambassador, does not really inspire confidence but instead points in the direction of a country clearly unfit to chair any international organisations.
. said…
Zim's election is unambiguously disappointing. Actually it's worse than that, it's simply ridiculous. Arguing in the alternative is ludicrous. How, in view of Zim's domestic situation could this have happened? Does Zim's chairing the Commission not further corrode the increasingly tenuous credibility of UN? Hmm...

ps I trawled through my Legalbrief and Legalbrief Africa subscriptions for recent articles on Zim. I think you ought to read them.

Zimbabwe: Judge rejects application to register newspaper
Zimbabwe High Court.
Judge Anne-Marie Gowora has rejected an application by the banned newspaper, The Daily News, to be deemed registered, saying the paper must submit its application to the government. Gowora said although the case had merit, the court could not assume administrative powers and declare The Daily News registered. In a report on the ZimOnline site, she suggested Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, publishers of The Daily News, appeal directly to Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu. ‘I did not hear the applicant argue that the court could place itself in the shoes of the administrative authority and deal with the application on its merits. In my view, it is clear the applicant has not made a case for the court to assume the discretion to deem the applicant is duly registered or deemed to be so registered,’ the judge said. Gowora said she believed sending the matter to the Minister would not be futile. But she said the Minister had failed to put in place new measures to allow for the registration of The Daily News following a Supreme Court ruling two years ago that the Media and Information Commission that dealt with the matter was biased.
Full ZimOnline site report
Media Institute of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe: report and background

Zimbabwe: Bill to legalise unauthorised spending
Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi will soon table a Bill in the Zimbabwe Parliament, retroactively legalising unauthorised spending by Ministries and Parliament since 2000. A report in the Financial Gazette said no reasons were given to justify the unauthorised spending, running into billions of dollars at today's prices, by the line Ministries. Given that the legislative assembly is the major culprit, the Bill is likely to sail through despite any measure of resistance that might come from opposition legislators. Recently the government gazetted the Financial Adjustments Bill, which is to be presented in Parliament to condone the expenditure. The Bill has, however, failed to meet a constitutional deadline as set out set in section 103(5) of the Constitution. According to the relevant provisions, such a Bill must be tabled in Parliament within 14 sitting days of the extent of the expenditure being established.
Full Financial Gazette report

Zimbabwe: Now lawyers are the target – but SADC still stands back
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s crackdown on opposition has tackled the last defender of basic freedoms in the country – the legal profession, writes E-Brief News. With pointed contempt for the law the police attacked demonstrating lawyers outside the High Court with riot sticks. The lawyers had been peacefully protesting against the detention of two colleagues who had taken on the defence of opposition activists. The police’s behaviour has added to the dismay of those, like Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, who see SADC’s inertia as letting Zimbabweans down and making the chances of free and fair elections next year increasingly remote.

The lawyers were wearing traditional legal gowns outside Zimbabwe's High Court when they were set upon. Police took several away and beat them, independent witnesses said. One group was corralled on to a truck and taken to open grassland, where they were made to lie on the ground and were assaulted, according to attorney Beatrice Mtetwa, head of the Zimbabwe Law Society. A Mail & Guardian Online report says that during the lunchtime demonstration in downtown Harare, some of the lawyers, in white court collars and other legal attire, were struck with riot sticks as they argued their rights against orders to disperse. They were protesting against the arrest and detention of two of their colleagues for allegedly obstructing the course of justice in their defence of opposition activists.
Full Mail & Guardian Online report

The two who sparked the protest were released after spending three days in police custody, says an SW Radio Africa report. The lawyers, Alex Muchadehama and Andrew Makoni, were held despite two court orders ordering their release granted by Judge Tedius Karwi. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said not only was the arrest unlawful but ‘… the continued contempt for court orders by the police has become an everyday phenomenon and no person is safe from those who are constitutionally obliged to protect the people of Zimbabwe. Such actions cannot be tolerated or condoned in a democratic society.’ Advocate Eric Matinenga said although the two were not physically abused, Muchadehama was held at the notorious Matapi police station under inhumane conditions. They were both denied access to their lawyers. The two are the main legal representatives for the 30 opposition MDC members who are accused by the government of a string of petrol bomb attacks. Defence lawyer Muchadehama argued that several of his clients were already in detention when the alleged arson attacks took place. Muchadehama and Makoni were arrested on allegations of obstructing justice in the case of Amos Musekiwa and others facing the arson charges.
Full SW Radio Africa Report

Police added a bizarre twist to their crackdown on legal practitioners by beating up their own lawyer. They turned on state prosecutor Richard Chikosha, who represented the police in the Muchadehama and Makoni case. A report in the Financial Gazette says officers from the Central Investigations Department's Law and Order section assaulted Chikosha at Harare Central Police station. His alleged crime was having consented to the granting of bail to Muchadehama and Makoni. Police denied assaulting Chikosha.
Full report in the Financial Gazette

‘You can see this is systematic and if there is anyone in doubt that these are the actions of dictatorship then they should think twice,’ John Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe political scientist says in a report on the ZimOnline site. ‘It is actually frightening that a government can target lawyers. But then, when you look back you can see that this has also happened to the judiciary. So it is going to be difficult, for example, for a lawyer to serve a judgment on the police because you could be locked up on trumped up charges,’ Makumbe said.
Full ZimOnline site report

These events are particularly alarming when one considers Zimbabwe is scheduled to hold elections next year, comments Muna Ndulo in a report on the ZWNews site. ‘Free, fair polls can be held only where there exists an environment that seeks to provide popular participation, promote human rights, guarantee fundamental freedoms, ensure accountability of the government and freedom of the judiciary and press, and protect and respect political pluralism,’ he says. ‘None of these conditions exists in Zimbabwe, nor are they likely to between now and next April, as there is an absence of decisive action (from SADC) to bring them about.’ For the elections to be free and fair, he says, the circumstances under which they are to be held present enormous challenges. ‘Among them are the police and army which have proved themselves partial and are often used by the government to frustrate free political activity. They do not inspire confidence. The problem is heightened by an institutional culture that tolerates a profound disrespect for human rights. This makes the police unsuitable to guard the polling stations and perform other election-related functions ...’
Full ZWNews site report

All of Africa should be condemning President Robert Mugabe’s actions says Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, adding that South Africa in particular should consider threatening action against its neighbour. In a report on the IoL site, Tutu said he believed many Zimbabweans felt betrayed by the failure of African leaders to condemn a widening crackdown on opponents of Mugabe's government. Many people in Zimbabwe now will be saying at the very least there ought to be universal condemnation of President Mugabe,’ said Tutu. Africa seems ‘so reluctant just to call a spade a spade. Human rights violations are human rights violations’. Tutu said African countries were unwilling to condemn the 83-year-old Mugabe because of his history as a ‘freedom fighter’. While Tutu said he had the ‘highest regard’ for Mugabe, he criticised him for ‘destroying an incredible country’.
Full report on the IoL site

Still, there is a glimmer of hope: The Pan-African Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to send a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe to probe the alleged abuse of human rights and suppression of the media by the Harare authorities. A report on the ZimOnline site said the decision followed a motion from Suzanne Vos, a member of the SA delegation, asking for debate on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe. Along with human rights violations the mission is expected to investigate allegations of restriction of freedom of speech and the intimidation of the media. Despite heavy lobbying from ZANU-PF legislators Rugare Gumbo, Chief Fortune Charumbira and Sheila Mahere, the House voted overwhelmingly for the mission to Zimbabwe.
Full ZimOnline report


General: Delegation concerned at treatment of Zimbabwe lawyers
Botswana Law Society chairman Duma Boko, who is leading investigations by regional law bodies into allegations of a crackdown on Zimbabwean lawyers, says it appears brutality against lawyers is a serious problem. In a report on the Mmegi site, Boko said the delegation had interviewed a number of high-ranking government officials: the Commissioner of Police, the Judge President, the Chief Justice and the Minister of Justice among others. ‘We are told that court orders are not being respected and lawyers are being denied the right to see their clients,’ said Boko. He added the delegation's major concern was respect for the rule of law. ‘There is a serious concern about the police's high-handedness,’ he said. He added that there were allegations that the police had targeted lawyers and their families. From what they had gathered so far, he said, it seemed police brutality against lawyers in Zimbabwe was a serious problem. The delegation has representatives from law societies in Botswana, SA, Namibia and Malawi. It is expected to present a report to the SADC secretariat.
Full Mmegi site report

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute has called for an immediate end to the escalating police violence and harassment against lawyers. It called on Zimbabwe to observe its international human rights obligations, saying it was bound by Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights to guarantee the right to legal counsel of one’s choosing. Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the IBA, added: ‘The situation is deplorable and the international community should not continue to stand by and watch Robert Mugabe’s Government destroy the last vestiges of the rule of law.’

Legislation: Zimbabwe Bill to legalise unauthorised spending
Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi will soon table a Bill in the Zimbabwe Parliament, retroactively legalising unauthorised spending by Ministries and Parliament since 2000. A report in the Financial Gazette said no reasons were given to justify the unauthorised spending, running into billions of dollars at today's prices, by the line Ministries. Given that the legislative assembly is the major culprit, the Bill is likely to sail through despite any measure of resistance that might come from opposition legislators. Recently the government gazetted the Financial Adjustments Bill, which is to be presented in Parliament to condone the expenditure. The Bill has, however, failed to meet a constitutional deadline as set out set in section 103(5) of the Constitution. According to the relevant provisions, such a Bill must be tabled in Parliament within 14 sitting days of the extent of the expenditure being established.
Full Financial Gazette report

General: Press survey finds Zimbabwe, E Guinea among worst
A global survey of media independence, Freedom of the Press 2007, rates, in sub-Saharan Africa, eight countries free, 19 partly free and 21 not free. Conditions continue to be particularly dire in Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe. Both rank in the bottom 10 worldwide. US-based Freedom House released the results to coincide with Press Freedom Day. Continued negative trends for press freedom in Eastern Africa presented tremendous obstacles to democracy, Executive Director Jennifer Windsor said. Improvements in the legal environment in other sub-Saharan countries in 2006 were encouraging signs for law and democracy, however. In the Horn of Africa, a five-year downward trend showed in Ethiopia where repression worsened as critical foreign correspondents were expelled and opposition reporters imprisoned. Eritrea was ranked in the 10 worst for the sixth year in a row. Heightened restrictions for foreign reporters put Eritrea’s score in further decline. Kenya took a turn for the worse when the government raided the Standard’s offices; as did Uganda. There had been positive change in Burundi and in the Central African Republic, the latter being Partly Free due in particular to the government’s enforcement of a new press law. Similar improvements took place in Angola. In Sierra Leone, fewer cases were brought against journalists under libel laws.
Full Freedom House report
Narrative reports and ratings for countries in the Middle East and North Africa available online, as are charts, graphs and interactive maps
Study

Otto Saki, a leading human rights lawyer, says disregard of the rule of law is fast turning into a culture in Zimbabwe as characterised by the unlawful arrests, detention and torture of journalists. According to Misa-Zimbabwe, he said the situation was even more worrying as lawyers were also having difficult accessing clients, who included journalists, who would have been arrested while conducting their professional duties. ‘Journalists are becoming an endangered species in Zimbabwe while the unlawful arrests, abductions and kidnapping of journalists are becoming a culture which in our view is very worrying,’ he said. He also lamented the unethical conduct of some journalists notwithstanding the selective application of the law when it comes to the arrests and detention of journalists.
Full MISA-Zimbabwe report

General: Concern as detained Zimbabwe activist kept from lawyer
A human rights lawyer has expressed concern for the well-being of detained opposition official Pishai Muchauraya, who has allegedly been tortured. In a report on the SW Radio Africa site, Alex Muchadehama said police officers confirmed the Tsvangirai-MDC provincial spokesperson had been detained, but he was denied access to his client by the CID Law and Order Division at Harare Central police station. Muchadehama said: ‘We also received information from many people that he had been beaten up and we suspect that we are being denied the right to see him because the police suspect we would see how he was injured and also …because they are in the process of assaulting him.’ Pishai Muchauraya was arrested in Mutare and transferred into the custody of Harare Central police. On his way to Harare the opposition official managed to send text messages alerting some journalists and human rights lawyers that he had been beaten and arrested over petrol bombing accusations. The opposition says the bombing allegations are trumped up and aimed at crippling them.
Full SW Radio Africa site report

Zimbabwe: Association urges NGOs to continue
Zimbabwean civic groups are seeking clarification from the government following media reports that Harare deregistered all non-governmental organisations (NGOs). ‘Government has annulled registration certificates of all NGOs in order to sift out those seeking to force regime change in Zimbabwe,’ a report on the Mail & Guardian Online site said, quoting the state broadcaster Zimbabwe Television. ‘As pro-opposition and Western organisations masquerading as relief agencies continue to mushroom, the government has annulled the registration certificates of all NGOs in order to screen out agents of imperialism from genuine organisations working to uplift the well-being of the poor.’ A report on the ZimOnline site quotes the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO), which has about 1 000 members, as saying the announcement caused ‘alarm and despondency’ among its members. ‘While NANGO is in the process of establishing the facts and position of government from the Ministry responsible for NGOs, it calls upon its civic society organisations to continue with their work, noting that there is no constitutional, legal or moral basis for wholesale deregistration of NGOs,’ NANGO’s statement said.
Full Mail & Guardian Online report
Full report on the ZimOnline site

Zimbabwe: A climate of fear…
A climate of fear is being stoked in Zimbabwe by supporters of President Mugabe. An example is the case of British diplomat being threatened with being sent home in a ‘body bag’. A report on the IoL site says the state-controlled newspaper, The Herald, warned that the spokesperson for the British embassy could be sent back to Britain in a body bag for allegedly supporting the MDC. Editorial writer David Samuriwo claimed in the paper’s main opinion article that Gillian Dare was a prime target for deportation and warned she could get caught in crossfire if she supported the MDC. ‘It will be a pity for her family to welcome her at Heathrow airport in a body bag just like some of her colleagues from Iraq and Afghanistan,’ the article said. The Herald alleged that Dare was the purse-holder and financier of the violence it claimed was being perpetrated by the MDC and that she was recruiting journalists both in and outside Zimbabwe to write articles denigrating Mugabe and his government.
Full report on the IoL site

Zimbabwe police say they have opened a murder investigation into the death of an independent journalist, and lawyers acting for another reporter arrested under media laws said he was assaulted and tortured in custody. A report on the Mail & Guardian Online site quotes police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena as saying the body of Edward Chikombo, a former cameraman at the government-run Zimbabwe television, the sole TV station, was found on March 31, dumped about 30km from his home in the Harare township of Glen View. He had been missing since March 29. There were indications Chikombo had been assaulted and died from injuries, Bvudzijena said. A second independent journalist, Gift Phiri, has been freed on bail after nearly a week in custody. He suffered a broken finger and other injuries in police assaults and ‘torture’, said Rangu Nyamurundu, his lawyer. Phiri was hospitalised for further medical examination after his release. He was charged under media laws for allegedly writing ‘falsehoods’ and working as a journalist without a government licence for the British-based newspaper, The Zimbabwean, and an online news service run by Zimbabwean exiles. If Chikombo's death proves to have been politically motivated, it will be the first killing of a journalist in years of suppression of the independent media.
Full report on the Mail & Guardian Online site

The SADC Lawyers Association and the SA Law Society have issued statements condemning the recent and ongoing conduct of Zimbabwean authorities. The lawyers’ groups referred to the ban on demonstrations and gatherings, the shooting to death of an opposition member and the arrests and beatings of other members. ‘Lawyers had to go to court to gain access to their clients after their clients had been denied their fundamental right to legal representation. Notwithstanding the court order so obtained lawyers continue to experience difficulty in accessing their clients,’ said the SADC Lawyers Association. The lawyers’ groups called on the Zimbabwean Government to respect the rights of its people and the role of lawyers.
LSSA statement
SADC Lawyers Association statement

Australia has announced a ‘vigorous’ campaign of support for ordinary Zimbabweans against Mugabe. A report on the IoL site says a special fund would aim to alleviate economic hardships and help Zimbabweans reassert their political and civil rights, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said. ‘Australia helped to bring democracy to Zimbabwe in 1980 and is now deeply shocked by the shameful incompetence and vindictive brutality of the Mugabe regime,’ Downer said.
Full report on the IoL site

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