Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: baseline information
Republic of Zimbabwe
- Population [WHO 2006]: 12.9 million
- Annual population growth [WHO 2006]: 1.1 %
- HDI (and rank out of 177) [UN 2005]: 0.505 (145th)
- Life expectancy at birth [WHO 2006]: 36 years
- Currency: Zimbabwe Dollar
- Main exports: tobacco, cotton, agricultural products, gold, minerals
- Capital city: Harare
- Provinces/ districts: 8 provinces (Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, and Midlands) plus Bulawayo and Harare (cities)
Links to more Zimbabwe resources
Background
(a) Social, Economic and Political
Probably the most rapidly developing and most complex governance crisis in the region, Zimbabwe is consistently in the international media headlines for human rights abuses, torture, and economic meltdown.
Gripped in a major governance, economic and humanitarian crisis that has seen its people experiencing shortages of even the local currency, Zimbabwe’s economy is rapidly collapsing, as illustrated by its contraction by at least 10 % per annum during the last three years.
The country remains on a knife-edge after deeply flawed and internationally condemned Presidential election in 2002 retained incumbent Robert Mugabe. Earlier Parliamentary elections in 2000 had seen a new, labour-backed opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC); win almost half of the 120 elected seats in parliament. The country remains, in practice, a de facto one party state.
A combination of both natural factors and the haphazard fast-track land ‘reform programme’ have pushed the country onto the precarious edge of an unprecedented food crisis, with half the population surviving on food aid.
Zimbabwe: "We have degrees in violence"
"We have degrees in violence": a report on torture and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe (December 2007)
Since early 2007 Zimbabwe has been subject to an upsurge in political violence that has seriously undermined the democratic process and created a presumption that elections will not be free and fair. State-sponsored violence directed toward any individuals or groups who are perceived to be critical of President Robert Mugabe, his government or his policies, manifests a strategy to demobilise Zimbabweans from mounting or supporting an organised opposition campaign.
The international community and Southern African Development Community (SADC) have attempted to play a role in encouraging a democratic process by introducing South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, as mediator between the ruling and opposition parties. However, the international community remains ineffective in its efforts to stop state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe.
Available in pdf format [959KB].
MDC: no "run-off" amidst violence
Reuters Africa 9/5/2008
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's opposition MDC will not participate in a presidential run-off against Robert Mugabe, a top party official said on Thursday, after reports of escalating violence deepened a post-election crisis ... "Our official position still remains the same that we are not participating," MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti told reporters in Cape Town ... President Thabo Mbeki, who has been a primary regional mediator in Zimbabwe, will travel to Harare on Friday to meet political leaders. "During his visit President Mbeki is expected to interact with the Zimbabwean political leadership," said Ronnie Mamoepa ... Mbeki, who has faced a barrage of criticism for not taking a tough line with Mugabe, had said there was no crisis in his southern African neighbour. Tsvangirai has said Mbeki was no longer fit to mediate in Zimbabwe ... "We have had security agents going out to the farms, addressing the farm workers," Gertrude Hambira, general secretary of the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers' Union of Zimbabwe , told a news conference in Johannesburg. "Some of them saying that we need to discipline you because you voted for the opposition," she said adding, 400 workers were in hiding and three were in hospital after being assaulted ... Police on Thursday arrested the leaders of the country's main trade union over speeches they made during a workers' day rally last week, their lawyer said. Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) President Lovemore Matombo and Secretary-General Wellington Chibebe, who are critical of Mugabe, were taken into custody after surrendering to police ... Police have also arrested the editor of a privately owned weekly that is critical of the president ... Biti called for reconciliation and said any future government should include all parties, except for Mugabe ...
Zimbabwe arms shipment still at large
The Times 8/5/2008
The cargo of Chinese arms destined for Zimbabwe is now heading for
Congo Brazzaville, according the South African Transport and Allied
Workers’ Union, where the union believes a further attempt will be made
to unload the weapons ... The Durban-based inspectorate of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), which has been monitoring the cargo ship Au Yue Jiang, is itself flying to Brazzaville to make sure that the
weapons are not off-loaded there. A Satawu statement issued today said that the union could
confirm that the ship docked in the port of Lobito in Angola and
off-loaded building materials only ... Satawu said it condemned the Chinese government and the ship owners
China Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco) for creating a false impression
around the world that they had recalled the vessel. "This so-called
recall was clearly only intended to deceive and remove the massive
groundswell of political pressure ... "Both the Chinese government and Cosco have regrettably demonstrated
that profiteering remains the overriding consideration over human
solidarity and saving lives ... Satawu again called on all African governments and dock workers to
refuse the vessel docking access and to refuse to handle the weapons
with a view to ensuring that the vessel leaves African shores
immediately ...
A Glossary of oppression in Zimbabwe
IRIN News 9/5/2008
JOHANNESBURG, 1 May 2008 (IRIN) - The Lancaster House Agreement in December 1979 paved the way for Zimbabwe's independence in April 1980. President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government has been at the helm since the former British colony gained independence, and has increasingly used military-style campaigns to impose measures ranging from acts of alleged genocide to attempts to rein in hyperinflation ... Operation Mavhoterapapi was launched after the local government, parliamentary and presidential elections on 29 March 2008, in which the ruling ZANU-PF government lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since independence ... MDC have alleged that at least 20 people have been killed in post-election violence, orchestrated by the police, soldiers and so-called war veterans, as part of Operation Mavhoterapapi. There have also been widespread reports of torture, the razing of houses and killing of livestock, perpetrated against people in rural areas suspected of voting for the opposition in the recent elections ... In July 2007, in an attempt to control rocketing food and other commodity prices as a result of Zimbabwe's hyperinflation - then running at about 4,000 percent annually - the government compelled businesses and manufacturers to slash the prices of their goods by 50 percent. Teams of inspectors were sent to retail shops and other businesses, and owners and employees who did not comply were either imprisoned or given hefty fines. The price controls saw the shop shelves empty ... Operation Chikorokoza Chapera/Isitsheketsha Sesiphelile (No Illegal Panning) More than 25,000 gold-panners were reportedly arrested in this operation in November 2006, in a bid to curtail artisanal mining ... Operation Murambatsvina (see below) deprived small traders of their stalls and goods, and Operation Sunrise (see below) destroyed savings, many people were left with little option but to pan for gold ... Five weeks after Operation Murambatsvina, the government launched Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle, said to be a programme to build houses for the victims of their "slum clearance" operation ... The few houses that were built were reportedly given to civil servants, police and soldiers ... In an attempt to increase food production, the government deployed soldiers to farms in 2005 to oversee the production of maize, in an exercise called Operation Maguta ... The Third Chimurenga, otherwise known as the Fast Track Land Reform Programme, was launched in 2000 and resulted in most of Zimbabwe's 4,500 white-owned commercial farms being redistributed to landless blacks ...Zimbabwe's armed forces chief, General Constantine Chiwenga, is alleged to have received 17 farms since 2000. Chimurenga, the Shona word for "struggle", was the name given to the indigenous resistance mounted against British settlers between 1896-1897 after their land was seized by colonists ... Operation Gukurahundi (The rain that washes away the chaff before the spring rain) In 1983, the North Korean-trained 5th Brigade, under the command of Lt Col Perence Shire, once known as the "Black Jesus", but currently the commander of Zimbabwe's air force, was the vanguard unit in a campaign against alleged dissidents that has also become known as the Matabeleland Massacres. At least 20,000 people were killed in the operation. The target of Gukurahundi was members of the rival liberation movement, ZAPU, led by Joshua Nkomo and drawn mainly from Zimbabwe's Ndebele people ... Mugabe reportedly said in April 1983: "We eradicate them. We don't differentiate when we fight because we can't tell who is a dissident and who is not." ... A human rights pressure group based in The Hague, Crimes Against Humanity Zimbabwe, is campaigning for Gukurahundi to be recognised as genocide.
Terror in Zimbabwe: shocking pictures
Kubatana.net
March 29, 2008 Post Election Violence & Retribution Perpetrated by Zanu PF Militia on MDC District/Provincial Office Bearers, Activists & Members ... THE FOLLOWING SLIDES CONTAIN SOME GRAPHIC IMAGES OF TORTURE AND MURDER VICTIMS. SENSITIVE VIEWERS BE WARNED ... HURUNGWE EAST MDC ORGANISING SECRETARY TAPIWA BWANDA 58 YRS BEATEN, STONED AND STABBED TO DEATH AT HIS HOME MHEREYENYOKA VILLAGE, KAROI ... T.L. FROM MUTEKEDE VILLAGE,UMP, MASH. EAST BURNED WITH PLASTIC FOR “BEING MDC” ... F. M. 38, DZIVARASEKWA EXT. BEATEN BY 12 SOLDIERS WITH CHAINS AND FAN BELTS. ALSO BEAT HIS SON (17) AND GUARD (24) BECAUSE HE FERRIED MDC SUPPORTERS TO PRE ELECTION RALLIES ... D.D. 46 YRS, NYAMANDANDARA VILLAGE MUDZI NORTH. BEATEN WITH IRON RODS BY ZPF MP NEWTON KACHEPA & PHINEAS KAMAPA ZPF YOUTH CHAIRMAN. SUSTAINED 2 FRACTURED ARMS & LEFT LEG ... MOSES BASHITIAWO FROM UMP CONSTITUENCY KAVAMBA WARD, WAS BEATEN BY ZANU PF AND THEN MADE TO CLIMB A TREE WITH A ROPE ROUND HIS NECK AND JUMP. RELATIVES WERE MADE TO BURY HIM IMMEDIATELY. ISAAC CHIPUPURIRA ZANU PF HEADMAN INVOLVED IN THE MURDER. TATENDA CHABIKA SHOT IN THE STOMACH AT CHIDYE SCHOOL, MUTOKO NORTH 17/4/08 (DIED IMMEDIATELY, BODY NOT RECOVERED ... This is a State planned militarised operation of retribution and intimidation on the opposition MDC officials, activists, members and supporters ...
Zimbabwe election crackdown continues
Reuters AlertNet 7/5/2008
(Johannesburg, May 7, 2008) � The Zimbabwe government's politically motivated arrest of prominent human rights lawyer Harrison Nkomo raises fears of a broader crackdown on government critics, Human Rights Watch said today. "The arrest of a leading human rights lawyer may signal the government's escalation of its crackdown on perceived opponents," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch ... Nkomo was arrested near his office in central Harare at 2:30 p.m. on May 7, 2008, and is being held at the Law and Order Section of Harare Central Police station. He faces the criminal charges of "insulting or undermining the authority of the head of state" under the Public Order and Security Act of 2002. Nkomo recently defended Barry Bearak, a New York Times correspondent arrested for working without accreditation on April 3 ... Since the elections, the authorities have arrested more than 100 presiding electoral officers. On April 25, 2008, they arrested more than 200 people who had sought shelter from the government's terror campaign at the headquarters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Harare ... Since the March 29 elections, Human Rights Watch has documented a pattern of increasing violence by the ruling ZANU-PF militia and the military ... "The ruling party's continuing brutality against the opposition makes a mockery of the runoff vote," said Gagnon ...
Zimbabwe election stalemate deepens
Reuters Africa
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party and the
opposition MDC have contested half the results of the March 29
parliamentary election, state media said on Wednesday, extending a
stalemate that has triggered widespread violence. Official results showed ZANU-PF lost its parliamentary majority for
the first time since independence in 1980, while the Movement for
Democratic Change and a breakaway faction together secured enough seats
to control the assembly ... The challenge will have no effect on the result of a parallel
presidential ballot, however, which showed MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
won 47.9 percent against President Robert Mugabe's 43.2 percent,
triggering a run-off since neither candidate won an absolute majority. The MDC has not said whether it will participate in the run-off. It believes Tsvangirai won the election outright ... The state-run Herald newspaper said ZANU-PF and the MDC had lodged 53
and 52 petitions respectively with the electoral court, citing
irregularities they believed had affected the results. The challenges
come after a recount of original results in 23 constituencies confirmed
ZANU-PF's defeat ... independent Zimbabwean election monitoring group ZESN expressed doubt
about the credibility of the results of the presidential election and
accused ZANU-PF of attacking observers ... U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday he was talking to
African states about how the world body could help make a run-off
credible and expressed concern about the violence ...
Mugabe rounds up opposition, observers
BBC news 25/4/2008
Riot police in Zimbabwe have carried out raids on headquarters of independent poll monitors and the opposition MDC ... vote-counting material was taken from the MDC office and activists hiding there were arrested. It was not clear whether anything was taken from the office of the monitors, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network. But the group said it feared the authorities wanted to hide evidence of an MDC win in last month's poll ... Witnesses at the MDC raid said at least 100 opposition supporters who had been taking refuge from the authorities in its Harvest House headquarters had been arrested ... activists had been fleeing political violence. "They took everyone in the building, including those who had come just to seek medical care. They are trying to destroy evidence of their brutality," Mr Chamisa said ... An anonymous source at the Zimbabwe Election Support Network said police had arrived at the group's headquarters shortly after the MDC raid and were searching through files and documents. The network is considered the only reliable source of information about the 29 March elections ... The electoral commission says it cannot release the presidential results until it completes a recount in 23 of the 210 constituencies. Three recounts of the parliamentary results have been completed - all confirmed the original results. President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party lost control of parliament for the first time since independence in 1980 ... Meanwhile, the Herald newspaper has condemned Zimbabwe's neighbours as "myopic stooges" for refusing to let a cargo of Chinese weapons cross their territory to landlocked Zimbabwe. "Zimbabwe is... under attack from the former coloniser and its allies. As such, Zimbabwe probably needs to arm itself more than any other country in Africa ...