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 Home Campaigns Human Rights in Zimbabwe Resources
Zimbabwe at a glance
Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in Southern Africa is almost twice the size of Victoria and has a population of 12 million. The country has a long history and civilization. Bantu people settled there in the fifth century to work the rich gold copper and tin deposits. The language of the majority is Shona, with about 15% speaking Ndebele (like Zulu) in the western part of the country. In 1889, the arrival of the British marked the beginning of 90 years of colonization. In 1965 Ian Smith, leader of Southern Rhodesia, issued the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the colonial power, Britain, in order to consolidate white-minority rule. This prompted international sanctions and guerrilla war which, by 1979, had claimed some 36,000 lives and displaced 1.5 million. Britain brokered a peace deal in 1979 involving government, Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). The efforts culminated in the 'Lancaster House Agreement'. In the 1980 elections Mugabe became Zimbabwe's PM and Africa's most feted leader, presiding over the continent's second largest manufacturing base. In 1987 the opposition, ZAPU, was coerced into a merger with the Mugabe party, creating ZANU-PF. This paved the way for constitutional change, giving Mugabe executive presidential powers and moving the country towards a de facto one-party state. Attempts to create a de jure one-party state failed in 1990. Despite this Mugabe was re-elected in 1996. Popular until the late 1990s, Mugabe has become increasingly erratic, eccentric and autocratic as he has pursued policies, which have crushed human rights, repressed opposition and crippled the economy. From 2000, the forcible seizures of mostly white-owned commercial farms by so called 'war veterans' caused economic turmoil and led to chronic shortages of basic commodities and services. In the 2000 elections, widely denounced as neither free nor fair, Mugabe's ZANU-PF party won only five more seats than the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). In 2001, the PM was the target of numerous charges of human rights violations in Zimbabwe. The international media and several NGOs reported that judges and journalists had been forced to leave the country that several opposition activists had been assassinated, and that opposition newspapers bombed. Hence forward, Mugabe resorted to using state machinery, so called 'war veterans' and conscripted youth militias, to intimidate, suppress dissent, gag the media and violate human rights. Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth in December 2003, to forestall following indefinite suspension because of the severe human rights violations in the country. Repression cast a shadow on parliamentary elections in March 2003. The elections were condemned as rigged not only by the opposition but also by leading western powers, such as the US and the EU. Nevertheless the African Union, especially some southern African neighbors, who were concerned about repercussions of Zimbabwe's crisis on their own countries, endorsed them. In the parliamentary elections in March 2005, the ZANU-PF won with 56.2% of the vote, beating the opposition, which garnered 41.9%. But these elections were also flawed, as in the lead up NGOs and pro-MDC media were restricted, opposition supporters were intimidated, freedom of movement was limited, food aid manipulated and court challenges dismissed. Both the African Union and South Africa endorsed the elections, insisting on an African, dialogue-based solution. However, the U.S., EU, Canada and Australia continued sanctions - including an arms embargo, a travel ban and assets freeze - against individuals of ZANU-PF regime. Mugabe portrays himself as the victim of imperialist conspiracies, and as steadfastly resisting western racist propaganda, but he's long since ceased to be an anti-colonial hero. His people see him as a corrupt self-serving dictator, who should have followed the example of Nelson Mandela, and retired many years back, with the dignity of being the first leader of independent Zimbabwe. Even though Mugabe has announced his retirement for the end of the current term in 2008, the country, described as an 'outpost of tyranny' by the US, faces an uncertain political future. While ZANU-PF is engaged in in-fighting over the question of succession, the opposition is weakened by an internal split. The sorely afflicted population continues to struggle with economic turmoil (the inflation rate is the highest in the world) and corruption as well as serious food shortages and the collapse of vital services amidst an escalating HIV/AIDS crisis. Out of the six southern African countries, Zimbabwe has been affected the most by food shortages over the past five years. Even though in 2005 there was good rain, at least three million Zimbabweans, or a quarter of the population, are in urgent need of food aid in the 2005 - 2006 season, according to the UN. Facts and Figures
Contact Details Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA Ph: (02) 9264 9343 Fax: (02) 9261 1118 apheda@labor.net.au Human Rights in Zimbabwe Resources
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