Send a Letter to Muammar Gaddafi!

I received this email today from The One Campaign: Dear ONE Member, Zimbabwe is beyond a state of crisis. Zimbabwe was once one of the most promising countries in Africa with a thriving agriculture industry, one of the region’s highest literacy rates and a robust healthcare system. Today, Zimbabwe is a land of devastation. 28 years of increasingly dictatorial rule by President Robert Mugabe have led to hyperinflation, food shortages and a breakdown of basic public services. Last year, the world watched Zimbabwe suffer through a botched and violent election. But last Wednesday, after months of bitter negotiations with President Robert Mugabe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as the new Prime Minister, forming a “unity government” that will attempt to move the country forward. It won’t be easy. Last year’s disastrous election and President’s Mugabe’s continued presence casts doubt about how much change is possible. The good news is that Zimbabwe does not have to do this work alone. The African Union (AU) will serve as guarantor for this new government and it is critical that they take immediate action to ensure Zimbabwe’s unity government takes steps in the right direction. You can show the African Union that the world is watching to make sure it keeps its promise to Zimbabwe’s new unity government, by signing our petition to the newly-elected African Union chairman Muammar Gaddafi: http://www.one.org/zimbabweandtheau/o.pl?id=830-3654220-5UzFphx&t=2 Petition text: Please ensure that the African Union executes its role as guarantor of the new Zimbabwe unity government. The African Union can put Zimbabwe on the right footing and show the world that it is serious about change by aggressively policing the agreement, and, at a minimum, acting on the four recommendations offered by civil society groups in Zimbabwe: * Insist on the immediate cessation of abductions and torture, as well as the release of the human rights activists and political prisoners. * Demand that humanitarian agencies be allowed to work in an unrestricted environment. * Call for an immediate repeal of unjust legislation like the Access to Information and the Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). * Ensure an enabling environment for the new unity government. The consequences of years of poor governance in Zimbabwe are poverty and disease on a tragic scale that demands a global response. Public hospitals have been without running water for months, creating a petri dish for easily preventable killers like cholera. More than 3,000 people have died in Africa’s worst cholera epidemic in 19 years. Schools have been shut down because teachers can’t be paid. The agricultural sector has collapsed, half the population requires emergency food aid and humanitarian aid groups are struggling to keep up. We’re not the only ones calling for action. In South Africa, activist and co-founder of the Global Campaign Against Poverty, Dr. Kumi Nadoo had this to say: "Unity within governmental structures alone does not address the humanitarian and human rights issues that the people of Zimbabwe face on a daily basis. Therefore, the AU must – first and foremost – demand that the Zimbabwean government listen to and respect its people." You can help make that happen. Take action now by adding your name to our petition asking the African Union to do its job as guarantor of the unity government, and work to end the political repression that has crippled Zimbabwe. http://www.one.org/zimbabweandtheau/o.pl?id=830-3654220-5UzFphx&t=3 Thank you for making a difference, David Lane, ONE.org I agree with everything in this letter, and I would like to personally ask anyone who reads this to sign the petition. However, I think it speaks volumes to both the depth of the crisis in Zimbabwe and the current political realities of Africa that this appeal for good governance is being directed to Muammar Gaddafi. Terrifying. (But we still need to do what we can.)

Zim Update 2.5.09

I have been holding off on talking about the latest developments in the political situation in Zimbabwe because it has seemed like it could fall apart at any minute, which it still may. But I would be remiss if I did not mention what happened today: "Zimbabwe's parliament passed a key constitutional amendment Thursday opening the way for a unity government after years of deadly political conflict. The amendment was passed by acclamation in the assembly dominated — but only just — by the opposition. It creates a prime minister's post, which main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will hold in the proposed coalition government. Robert Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, will remain president. Tsvangirai and the rest of the unity Cabinet will be sworn in next week. The government will bring together members of Mugabe's ZANU-PF, Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change and a smaller opposition party." There was some talk that some in the international community were hoping that the deal would fall apart after the Obama administration indicated that they would make a diplomatic push in the U.N. to outright oust Mugabe. They had even planned to try and bring Russia and China in to the process. That may still be necessary if this latest effort fails. Tsvangirai and the MDC could have kept pushing for a better deal, and they would have had international backing to do so. However, the conditions for the people of Zimbabwe continue to rapidly deteriorate. Being in the government, even with an inequitable deal, will hopefully allow MDC to begin to stop the country's free fall. I am still skeptical that anything will really come from this arrangement, but I hope something can be done (Mugabe can't live forever - although I said the same about Fidel). As long as ZANU-PF has complete control of the security apparatus in the country, I will be skeptical, but let's hope it works.

Zim Update 1.27.09

Deal or No Deal? With the exception of Botswana, which continues to be a model for the rest of Southern African countries, the member countries of SADC continue have their noses firmly up the @$$ of Robert Mugabe. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) announced today (again without Botswana) that ZANU-PF and MDC had come to an agreement about forming a national unity government. There's only one problem: they didn't bother to ask MDC if they agreed. They don't. It appears that SADC (minus Botswana) have just decided they are tired of dealing with this issue and so have decided to declare the impasse at an end, despite the fact that it is not. MDC currently has not accepted any deal and they will meet over the weekend to discuss the situation. Some Good News (unsurprisingly involving President Obama) According to the London Times, the Obama administration is preparing a diplomatic offensive to topple the Mugabe regime. The plan is to take a set of "'strong' sanctions including a ban on arms sales and foreign investment." This has been tried before only to be blocked in the Security Council; however, the sanctions will be coupled with a diplomatic effort to convince China and Russia to not veto any anti-Mugabe resolutions. "Last July, after Mr Mugabe was accused of rigging the elections to stay in power, China and Russia, who have significant financial interests in Zimbabwe, vetoed moves to impose UN sanctions. Mr Obama and his aides believe that, with the growing international outcry over conditions there and the devastating loss of life from the cholera outbreak, Beijing and Moscow can now be persuaded at the very least to abstain when the issue of sanctions comes to another vote." Another positive note: newly confirmed US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, is a Zimbabwe expert and plans to work this issue. The article also makes it clear that the Obama administration is hoping that MDC does not agree to any power-sharing deal at this point. They would rather the deal fail so that there is no ambiguity when they take the matter to the Security Council. Cholera Epidemic Continues unabated: 2,971 dead; 56,123 infected. To help, please donate to Save the Children's Zimbabwe Children in Crisis Fund.

Zuma: Regional Powers Must Force Mugabe Into Real Power-Sharing

I have a lot of problems with the putative next president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. Mainly, he seems to be a bit of a thug. He was acquitted of raping the HIV-posiive daughter of a friend. During the trial he said that he had taken a shower afterwards to keep from getting AIDS. (Sadly, even this makes him comparably light years ahead of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, on the HIV knowledge.) He has been heavy handed in his attempts to grab power, and is too cozy with the South African Communist Party. (The last thing SA - and the region - needs is to have their emerging economy backslide because foreign investment gets worried about the state nationalizing everything.) However, keeping all of those caveats in mind, I like the noises Zuma is making about forcing ZANU-PF to live up to the power-sharing agreement they made with Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe. It may take a thug to stand up against the current top thug of southern Africa, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Powers from the region are meeting this weekend to hopefully thrash out a deal. I pray they do. One other positive development from Zuma's rise is that his ruling African National Congress party has split thanks to the power struggle between Zuma and Mbeki. This may result in a viable two-party system in South Africa - a welcome development after 14 years of one-party rule. (It was OK when Nelson Mandela was president, but that kind of leader does not come along very often.) [Oh, and for those of you who are not sure, Africa is a continent, not a country.]

Do This!

Do it here!

Thabo Mbeki to Resign as SA President!

Holy crap! "South African President Thabo Mbeki will accept a call to resign by the governing African National Congress (ANC), his spokesman has said." I had read about the possibility of this yesterday but I didn't think it would actually happen. The sad thing is that this is totally political (and somewhat vindictive since Mbeki's term was up next spring anyway). Mbeki deserved to be removed years ago for his dangerously idiotic beliefs on HIV/AIDS and, more recently, his less-than-stellar efforts in dealing with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Speaking of which: "The ANC secretary general said this was not punishment for Thabo Mbeki, adding that the president would be given the chance to continue his role as mediator in Zimbabwe." So, I have no idea what the effects will be for Zimbabwe. Will Mbeki stay on as negotiator? If so, will his power in that role be diminished as he is no longer a head of state? Could he possibly be even more impotent in the negotiators role anyway? As much as I am not sad to see Mbeki go, I'm just not sure about his likely successor, Jacob Zuma, either. There have been a lot of negative stories swirling around him for a while. Corruption charges (which may have been trumped up by Mbeki and which led to Mbeki's downfall) and a high profile rape case in which he was acquitted of raping an HIV-positive woman and then taking a shower afterward to keep from contracting the virus. Not exactly a huge step forward in the understanding of HIV or the epidemic for South Africa. So, who knows what comes next. We are talking about Africa, after all.

Zimbabwe Power Sharing

Finally: "Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe signed a power-sharing agreement with opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday, relinquishing some of his powers for the first time in nearly three decades of iron rule." Unfortunately, although ceding control of the police force, Mugabe is keeping control of the Armed Forces. (Or as I read somewhere today that I can't find now - the Armed Forces remain in control of Mugabe.) There was a similar agreement in 1980 between Mugabe and a then rival. Mugabe used the military to destroy the opposition in the Gukurahundi. Here's hoping things turn out better this time. The key will be if the generals who back Mugabe let MDC actually gain some control. If they are worried about their own survival, they will gladly destroy the deal - the rest of Zimbabwe be damned. The economic survival of Zimbabwe will depend on reshaping the current system (by MDC) and a large dose of foreign aid. Both of those codnitions rely on this power sharing being legitimate. Any action by the military to undermine the new government will undermine any chance for restoring the economy, which is vital to improving the lives of every Zimbaweans. [And, to top it off, there was some violence between MDC and ZANU-PF supporters outside of the venue where the agreement was signed.] PS: Excerpts from Tsvangirai and Mugabe's speeches today,

China and Russia Veto Mugabe Regime Sanctions

God...dammit. Well, I guess if you are autocratic, repress and brutalize your own people, you can't really fault someone else when they do it. But hey! The Olympics are going to be awesome, right? And let's make sure we don't do anything to curb our oil consumption so we can keep pumping money in to prop up the Putin/Medvedev regime! Dirty...bastards. [BTW, don't think that we didn't set ourselves up for this. Since Bush has thrown our moral authority in the toilet (along with a few Korans), we have no credibility on these types of issues anymore. (President Obama is the only way we can start to rebuild our credibility.)]

African Union Calls for Unity Government in Zimbabwe

I would say 'About damn time' but I'm honestly stunned that they said anything. At least someone is paying attention to calls like this one. PS: Cato has a paper on how to fix Zimbabwe's hyperinflation, which the paper notes has been 3.8 billion percent since 1997. Unbelievable. Also, the German company that supplies Zimbabwe with the paper it uses to print bank notes has cut off deliveries to the country in response to the call for sanctions.

Mandela's "Elders" Urge African Union to Pressure Mugabe

I was hoping we'd see something like this: "A group of international elder statesmen, including Nobel Peace Prize winners, urged the African Union on Monday to reject Zimbabwe's presidential vote and called for a transitional government and a new election." See more about The Elders.

Mugabe Declares Victory, Is Sworn In

They didn't waste anytime rigging the result this time. Well, now that this joke of an election is out the way, the world can focus on putting some serious pressure on Mugabe and ZANU-PF in earnest. I'm looking forward to seeing the U.S. sanction package (hopefully, including an arms embargo). I'm really hoping this will be something I can get behind the Bush administration on (for once). Now is the time.

Zimbabwe Election A Sham...As Expected

To sum up yesterday's "election" in Zimbabwe: Opposition supporters were killed. Voters were forced to the polls under threat of violence. Despite that, turnout was apparently very low - despite the government controlled media's assertions to the contrary. Many who did vote spoiled their ballots, writing "Mugabe Must Go!" There will likely be reports of violence against the opposition and people who did not vote. And this (from VoA): "[President] Bush said the United States will press for strong action by the United Nations, including an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and a travel ban on government officials." So, all in all, another good day for Mugabe. I'm afraid this is just going to continue to slowly spiral down. I can't see a civil war type of situation because the opposition does not seem to have the means to fight a military conflict. There best hope seems to be to hold out for international sanctions and pressure to force a resolution, which hopefully will come sooner rather than later. The one good thing about this sham election is that it has focused the international community on Zimbabwe and how out of control Mugabe is. (What were they thinking before when the country only had 1 million percent inflation?) In the meantime, Mugabe will likely be inaugurated tomorrow. Much faster than the five weeks it took him to release the results of the first election, isn't it? Of course, when you are the only candidate allowed to run, counting the votes becomes irrelevant.

Pray

Apparently, these flyers fell from the sky in Harare this morning: Good luck. [H/T This is Zimbabwe.]

Zimbabwe "Election" Tomorrow

Mugabe is going ahead with tomorrow's sham runoff election despite the fact that it has been roundly condemned as illegitimate. Turnout may well be high given that ZANU-PF and all their surrogates (the military, "War Veterans", etc.) will probably bully people to the polls and to vote for Mugabe just to try to make it seem as if Zimbabweans actually still want the old butcher in power. Surprisingly, and possibly in response to the mounting international pressure, Mugabe declared today that he would be open to negotiations with the opposition - but only after the election tomorrow. Tomorrow could be messy but hopefully the two sides can negotiate a settlement. Even though it is bull$#!# that ZANU-PF would still have a significant role in the government (especially with Mugabe as President, which would almost certainly be non-negotiable), it is probably the best way to avoid violence and actually move the country forward and away from the disastrous iron-fisted rule of Mugabe. [Check out Fareed Zakaria's assessment of the situation and his condemnation of Thabo Mbeki's "cowardice". Well said.]

Mandela Condemns Zimbabwe Crisis

Today Nelson Mandela condemned the "tragic failure of leadership in Zimbabwe." (About damn time.) (See video.) Hopefully, this will open the flood gates and allow other African leaders to come out against the crimes that are being committed against the Zimbabwean people. (More have already spoken up in recent days. I would hope SA President Mbeki would follow suit but he's proven once again that he is worthless. He'll be out as President next year, but it won't be soon enough.) Part of what has been protecting Mugabe has been his status in Africa as an anti-colonial freedom fighter, but Mandela more than trumps Mugabe's credentials. In other news that I'm sure will terrify Mugabe even more, Anderson Cooper has come out forcefully against him on his AC360 blog. I'm sure Mugabe is now busy peeing his pants almost as much as he did when I came out against him on my blog.

ZANU-PF Won't Acknowledge Reality

I was listening to NPR earlier and they interviewed a spokesman for Mugabe's government. Give it a listen. It is terrifying to listen to this man speak and realize that there is no reasoning with these people. Pray.

Tsvangirai Seeking Refuge in Dutch Embassy

Hopefully, they can get him out of the country safely. He's a brave man to have ever returned to Zimbabwe in the first place. Pray.

Tsvangirai Pulls Out of Zim Election; Mugabe Automatically Wins Re-Election

Due to the unmitigated violence being visited upon the people of Zimbabwe by Robert Mugabe's regime in an attempt to steal the Presidential runoff election that had been scheduled for this coming Friday, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has opted to drop out of the race for fear that voting for him could cost many Zimbabweans their lives. "We in the MDC cannot ask them to cast their vote on the 27th when that vote could cost them their lives," he said. "We will not play the game of Mugabe." (Read Tsvangirai's full statement.) This decision effectively hands Mugabe another term as President; a position that gives him the power to dissolve the legislature in which the MDC had won a majority for the first time ever. So, Mugabe may also be able to steal the legislative victory from MDC as well as the Presidency. Mugabe's forces have already violently cracked down on areas that showed strong support for MDC and the voter intimidation was expected to carry on with Mugabe supporters even going into the voting booths with people to ensure their vote for the incumbent. Tsvangirai has asked for the U.N. to step in and help ensure a free and fair election. (As I have said before, this is unlikely given the fact that China is so close to the Mugabe regime and they favor the stability of Pro-China regimes over any other concern. Plus, the U.N. is a bunch of toothless hypocrites. Prove me wrong, U.N., Prove me wrong.) I am at a complete loss as to what comes next. Whatever it is, it can't be good. Pray.

Bush Should Act on Zimbabwe

From today's Post: "The Zimbabwean tragedy may continue beyond the Bush administration, but that is not a foregone conclusion. The United States has nothing to lose by investing in a bold diplomatic initiative to fix one of the world's worst man-made humanitarian disasters. What better legacy could George Bush leave in Africa than to close out this terrible chapter of tyranny and restore to a nation its lost freedoms? Read their plan.

Zim Election in 8 Days

Zimbabwe has devolved into such an unmitigated cluster%#@$ that it is hard to even follow (let alone write about) all the violence and election rigging. (That's why I added the Zimbabwe Election Coverage link at the top of the page.) The election is one week from tomorrow. Things will probably get worse until then...and then things may explode. Pray.