News Flash: Zimbabwe News flashes for July2008

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Zimbabwe News flashes for July2008
[2008 July 11]


These news flashes aim to shed light and provide analysis on thedeepening crisis in Zimbabwe, by considering the situation, actors,and dynamics in that country. If you would like to subscribe todaily updates, please contact Emily .
Zim News Flash - Weekly Round Up 11 July 2008
The Research and Advocacy Unit have released the article entitled: Re-inventing the Wheel? Transitional Justice in Zimbabwe
As Zimbabwe moves inexorably towards a resolution of the politicalcrisis, one of the most serious issues on the table, but almostwholly ignored by the United Nations, the African Union, and SADC,is accountability for the violence that has been such a feature ofZimbabwe’s history.
The way forward
After the heavily criticized presidential run-off with Mugabe asthe sole candidate, international bodies including the UnitedNations, SADC, G8 Leaders, Pan African Parliament and the AfricanUnion envisage a negotiated settlement between Zanu PF and the MDCas the only solution to the continuing political and humanitariancrisis in Zimbabwe. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/07/20080708-9.html

The MDC however claims that they will not ‘officially’resume talks mediated by Thabo Mbeki unless certain conditions aremet: http://groups.google.com/group/mdc-media-releases/browse_thread/thread/e51b7d2fa3401c86
Zanu PF, with Mugabe re-elected as President of the republic, seemwilling to negotiate.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/2281953/Zimbabwe-Robert-Mugabe%27s-Zanu-PF-meet-for-talks-with-MDC-opposition.html
Negotiators from Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and the oppositionMovement for Democratic Change have met in South Africa for theirfirst talks since Zimbabwe's one-candidate presidential"election" last month.
Parallel to this process, the United Nations at the end of thisweek will have voted on which sanctions are to be used on Zimbabwe. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7499184.stm . Reaction to this step are outlined in the Government run HeraldNewspaper http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=220&cat=1

In an interesting development, officials from the ANC visitedPresident Robert Mugabe in Harare this week. http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_2355055,00.html
Economic Crisis
The cash crisis this week hit an all time high as the Germancompany Giesecke & Devrient have stopped supplying Zimbabwewith paper on which to print money. http://allafrica.com/stories/200803031777.html
The bank rates at the moment are fixed at Z$30 000 for the officialportion of the FCA funds being liquidated. The balance of the fundsmay be liquidated at a rate agreed with the banks. Last week therate was Z$20 Billion to US$1.
The cash rate is between 30 and 40 Billion to 1.

The list of 14 leaders of the Zimbabwe regime put forward to the UNfor further sanctions:
Robert Mugabe, Constantine Chiwenga, Emmerson Mnangagwa, GideonGono, Augustine Chihuri, Patrick Chinamasa, Perence Shiri, DavidParirenyatwa, Didymus Mutasa, George Charamba, Paradzi Zimondi,Happyton Bonyongwe, Sydney Tigere Sekeremayi, Joseph Mtakwese Made.
An interesting article on Jonathan Moyo's recent support of Mugabecan be viewed at: http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=853
Zim News Alert 10 July 2008
Haiti’s Transitional Government: Lessons for Zimbabwe?
Please read the opinion piece by Colin Felsman .

Why Tsvangirai is not helping Zimbabwe crisis
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A799391
MANY still recall the Robert Mugabe who won his country’sindependence on the lofty principle of the right of Zimbabweans tochoose their own government. He threw his support behind SA’sstruggle on the same principle. Today, Mugabe unleashesunimaginable brutality on his fellow Zimbabweans as he rejects agovernment they chose. Murder, detention, rape, arson and lootingare the order of the day. Aid agencies are persecuted, thus denyingpeople food and other basic necessities.

ANC delegation meets Zanu-PF Presidium – Herald Newspaper
http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=166&cat=1
THE Zanu-PF Presidium yesterday separately met with ANC vicepresident Cde Kgalema Motlanthe and secretary-general Cde GwedeMentashe at the ruling party’s headquarters where the twofraternal parties discussed the idea of holding a conference forSadc liberation war movements. Cde Motlanthe told journalists thatthe purpose of their visit was to introduce Cde Mentashe, who waselected to his post at the South African ruling party’sconference last December, to the leadership of Zanu-PF and todiscuss the possibility of holding a conference for liberation warmovements in the Sadc region.

UN draft resolution on Zimbabwe sanctions
http://www.hararetribune.com/Articles08/Articles07/july9-10/news092.php
Reaffirming the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document thatacknowledges that peace and security, development and human rightsare the pillars of the United Nations system and the foundationsfor collective security and well-being, and recognizing thatdevelopment, peace and security and human rights are interlinkedand mutually reinforcing, Recalling the African Union resolution onZimbabwe of 1 July 2008 which expressed its concern with the lossof life and violence in Zimbabwe, the need to prevent a worseningof the situation to avoid the spread of the conflict across thesub-region, the need to create an environment conducive fordemocracy, and encouraged Zimbabwean leaders to initiate dialoguewith a view to promoting peace, stability, democracy andreconciliation.
Zim News Flash 9 July 2008
Zimbabwe’s disputed June 27th election: A legal opinion
Find download below.
Initial legal opinion suggested that section 110(3) ofZimbabwe’s Electoral Act and the Second Schedule to the Actwere contradictory, and since they could not be reconciled thesection must prevail. However, from a legal perspective, wherepossible such contradictions must be reconciled. To this end, thefollowing legal analysis suggests that these provisions can in factbe reconciled, either by consecutive implementation or on the basisthat section 110(3) is unconstitutional.
Mugabe has overstayed welcome, Zuma
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=827
DURBAN - African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma hasstrongly rebuked President Robert Mugabe for refusing to step downdespite the longstanding crisis which his government has failed toresolve. Zimbabwe has endured turmoil as a result of Mugabe’sskewed economic and political polices which have bred widespreadsuffering and violence since 2000. Zuma was speaking at acelebratory ANC dinner in KwaZulu-Natal to welcome a new ANCleadership and pay tribute to outgoing premier and ANC chairmanS’bu Ndebele.

Tribune News Brief: Mbeki confesses, for the first time, thatMugabe is not legitimate.
http://www.hararetribune.com/Articles08/Articles07/Articles8-9/news084.php
Zimbabwe, Harare--President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki, the sameman who has been working 'tirelessly' to find a solution to theZimbabwean Crisis for the past eight years, told the Japanese PrimeMinister Yasuo Fukuda yesterday that there was no legitimategovernment in Zimbabwe which was why a government of national unitywas needed.
This is the first time that Mbeki has gone on record admitting thatZimbabwe is being ruled by an illegitimate group of people drawnfrom ZANU-PF.

Zanu-PF distances itself from attacks on opposition
http://www.702.co.za/news/news.asp#89294
Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF has denied complicity in politicalviolence in that country.
The opposition MDC claims more than a hundred of its supporters andmembers have been killed since the March poll in which it won theparliamentary race, but failed to win an outright majority in thepresidential vote. The MDC says at least 20 of its members havesubsequently been murdered since a one-man presidential run-offheld at the end of last month to elect a new leader.--
Zim News Flash 7 July 2008
Zimbabwe faces famine after harvest fails
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23978038-2703,00.html
ZIMBABWE is on the brink of an unprecedented famine after its worstharvest since independence in 1980. The plight of Zimbabweans iscompounded by the deliberate starvation of most of the populationbecause of their support for the opposition Movement for DemocraticChange. A crop assessment by the United Nations Food andAgriculture Organisation says the country that once fed scores offamine-stricken African nations will harvest only 575,000 tonnes ofmaize, the national staple, from last summer's crop - only 28 percent of the grain needed to feed the country's 11.8 million people.
South African peace plan for Zimbabwe given qualified welcome byopposition MDC
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/07/zimbabwe.southafrica
South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, has presented a plan toZimbabwe's political leaders that would allow Robert Mugabe toremain as a titular head of state but surrender real power to theopposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who would serve as primeminister until a new constitution was negotiated and freshelections held. A senior opposition Movement for Democratic Changesource, who has read the document, told the Guardian that Mbeki hadsent the plan to Mugabe and Tsvangirai and that it was generallywelcomed by the MDC.
UN chief to take up Zimbabwe 'crisis' at G8
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/07/2296600.htm?section=justin
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has urged Zimbabwe'sparties to restore the "rule of law" and says he willtake up the crisis with African leaders at the Group of Eightsummit meeting in Japan. As he arrived in Japan for the G8 summit,Mr Ban said said that last month's violence-marred election thatgave President Robert Mugabe a sixth term lacked legitimacy."Therefore I urged that political parties in Zimbabwe shouldwork out an arrangement so that they can really bring backdemocratic rules, the rule of law and peace and stability in theircountry," he said.
For those interested in the history of Zimbabwe's inflation...
This is an interesting website - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_dollar
Zim News Flash 3 July 2008
Nine killed in post-runoff violence
The legs of this baby were broken because the father is an MDCofficial.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=735
HARARE - A pall of fear a campaign of post-election retributiveviolence that has claimed nine lives since Friday has descendedover Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe is frantically trying toshrug off massive international condemnation over his fraudulentre-election to entrench himself for a further five years.
African Union Fails Credibility Test on Zimbabwe
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=383009&rel_no=1
The leaders, delegates and diplomats from 53 African countries whoconverged at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheik beginningJune 24 for the 11th summit of the African Union (AU) finalizeddiscussions on Tuesday with a resolution calling for a governmentof national unity in Zimbabwe, as well as the continuation ofregional mediation talks. For an organization whose delegateshardly ever criticize their fellow colleagues or the internalaffairs of member states, the resolution probably the mostfar-reaching adopted on a member since its creation 11 years ago.
Rwanda: France May Consider Creating Special Unit to Try CrimesAgainst Humanity
http://allafrica.com/stories/200807020376.html
The French government may consider creating a specialised unit toinvestigate crimes against humanity, which currently she lacks andhinders her determination to try such suspects. An experts reportwas submitted on Monday to the French Minister for Justicesuggesting for setting up of such a specific unit, reportsHirondelle Agency. The creation of such a unit would constitute,according to the authors of the report, "a strong signal ofthe France's determination to fight against the gravestinternational crimes".
Zimbabwe can't paper over its million-percent inflation anymore
http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/paper020708.htm
Robert Mugabe has kept his embattled regime in Zimbabwe afloat on asea of paper money. Now, he'll have to try to do it without thepaper. The Munich-based company that has supplied Zimbabwe with thespecial blank sheets to print its increasingly worthless dollarcaved in to pressure on Tuesday from the German government for itto stop doing business with the African ruler. Mr. Mugabe's regimerelies on a steady supply of the paper -- fortified with watermarksand other antiforgery features -- to print the bank notes thatallow it to pay the soldiers and other loyalists who enable him tostay in power.
Zim News Flash 2 July 2008
African leaders call for unity in Zimbabwe
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/07/01/zimbabwe.hang/index.html?section=cnn_latest
Officials at an African Union summit Tuesday adopted a resolutionurging talks in Zimbabwe aimed at promoting peace and stability inthe country, according to Egypt's official news agency. Howeversome leaders, had harsh words for Mugabe in what appeared to besharp exchanges in closed-door meetings at the summit in Sharmel-Sheikh. The Associated Press reported that Botswana's presidentsaid Robert Mugabe's government should not be recognized and thatZimbabwe should be barred from AU gatherings.
No unity government, says Mugabe man, slamming West
http://news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=70120080786
Tuesday, the Zimbabwean government rejected suggestions for aKenya-style unity government with the opposition and rebuffedWestern criticism of a disputed election victory of PresidentRobert Mugabe, saying, "They can go hang a thousandtimes." Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the AfricanUnion leaders' summit at the Egyptian resort city of Sharmel-Sheikh, where tension is mounting against the presence ofMugabe, Zimbabwe's presidential spokesman George Charamba saidKenya was not Zimbabwe and that there was no need for a unitygovernment.
No more banknote paper for Zim Reserve Bank
http://www.afrol.com/articles/29644
afrol News , 1 July - The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which has been a bigspender of banknote paper due to the country's extreme inflationand constant need to print new and bigger banknotes, will not beprovided with more paper from today. This was announced by theBank's German supplier, which has given into Berlin boycott calls.The Munich-based company Giesecke & Devrient GmbH today decided"to cease delivering banknote paper to the Reserve Bank ofZimbabwe with immediate effect," according to a statementforwarded to afrol News.
Central bank to delete six zeros
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=721
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, is working on a solution to deal withthe accumulation of zeros in monetary transactions the ZimbabweTimes gathered today.
According to Reserve Bank officials who spoke to the Zimbabwe Timeson condition of anonymity the bank had engaged an accounting firmwhich has drafted a solution to the ever increasing number of zerosin Zimbabwe’s currency.
Zim News Flash 1 July 2008
No public criticism for Mugabe at AU summit
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=710
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe entered anAfrican summit accompanied by the meeting’s host Monday, asign that African leaders won’t shun him despite Westerndemands they take a tough stance over his re-election in a taintedballot. But behind the scenes, some leaders were pushing for Mugabeto share power with his rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, who dropped outof Friday’s runoff election after allegedly state-sponsoredkillings and beatings of his supporters.
S Africa can’t go on forever with a ‘business asusual’ attitude
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2008/07/01/2003416170
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s withdrawalfrom the presidential run-off last Friday and his decision to seekthe protection of the Dutch embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, hassecured for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe a Pyrrhic victory.Mugabe’s triumph comes at a huge cost to democracy andstability in Zimbabwe, as well as in the region. The actions of theMugabe regime in the run-up to Tsvangirai’s decision demand astrong regional response to what is clearly a stolen victory.Indeed, Mugabe’s retention of power represents the mostserious challenge to Africa’s nascent democratic institutionsand to South Africa’s vision of a continent of peace andprosperity.
Crimes against humanity in Zimbabwe: The ICC processing request toprosecute those responsible
http://www.hararetribune.com/Articles08/Articles06/Articles29-30/news300.php
Zimbabwe, Harare --- In a show of the power of the citizen to holdthose responsible for crimes against humanity in their countries,the Harare Tribune can reveal that the International Criminal Court(ICC) is processing a request to prosecute Robert Mugabe, thepresident of Zimbabwe, and is comrades for the crimes theycommitted from 1980 to present. The ICC is processing the requeston behalf of Mr. Phil Matibe, Taskforce Commander, Anti-TyrannyTaskforce, a citizen of Zimbabwe, on his own behalf and on behalfof all others similarly situated, pursuant to his rights under theUnited Nations, African Union, European Union, InternationalCriminal Court and other relevant charters and covenants.
Zimbabweans Say Welcome Negotiated Settlement to SolveCountry’s Crisis
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2008-07-01-voa5.cfm
Some Zimbabweans have reportedly welcomed as a step in the rightdirection calls by the international community for a negotiatedsettlement between President Robert Mugabe and the oppositionMovement for Democratic Change (MDC). They however, warned that anegotiated settlement that would lead to a government of nationalunity would not work since they claim President Mugabe had onprevious occasions disbanded all such inclusive governments. Thiscomes after over 30 African heads of state and government meetingin the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El Sheikh unanimously calledfor peace negotiations between the opposition and the government toresolve Zimbabwe's internal problems.

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