SW Radio Africa (London)
Alex Bell
23 June 2009
Human rights organisation Amnesty International says it will closely monitor the human rights situation in Zimbabwe for the next 100 days, to test the commitment of the unity government to real reforms in the country.
Amnesty's Secretary General, Irene Khan, met with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the UK on Monday, after wrapping up a six-day visit to Zimbabwe last Thursday. She reported back last week that the unity government had made too little progress in tackling human rights violations in the country where, among other things, political activists continue to face persecution by the courts. She also reported that ZANU PF and the security forces still regarded the use of violence as "a legitimate tool to crush political opponents."
"The government must give as much attention to securing human rights reforms as they are to seeking economic resources," Khan said in a press statement, released while Tsvangirai was continuing with his cross-continental tour to re-engage with the West.
Khan also emphasised that the human rights situation remained grim despite promises of reform from the unity government, laid out in the agreement that formed the basis of the government's formation. Minutes after Khan spoke, her testimony became self-evident, when police used extreme force to clamp down on peaceful protesters from pressure group, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA). Four badly beaten WOZA women were arrested and detained overnight, while three journalists were also arrested for documenting the police brutality.
The Prime Minister told the Amnesty chief during their meeting on Monday that the direction for reform in Zimbabwe 'had been set'. He also said that he and the unity government were committed to ensuring the implementation of the human rights provisions included in the Global Political Agreement, saying this was a priority.
Amnesty's Africa Researcher, Simeon Mawanza, who was part of the delegation that toured Zimbabwe last week, told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that the organisation still has grave concerns about the ongoing rights abuses in Zimbabwe. He explained that the 100-day monitoring period will establish whether the Prime Minister's commitments to reforms will be translated into action.
Meanwhile, deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara last week lashed out at the Amnesty International Secretary General, saying the findings of her trip were a result of 'hallucinations'. His comments have drawn criticism from observers, who say his attack on Amnesty is alarmingly Mugabe-esque. In the past, Mugabe barred independent human rights monitors from visiting the country and Khan's visit was regarded as significant, despite the fact that she did not get to meet Mugabe in person. Mugabe has also frequently called the organisation 'Amnesty Lies International'.
The state's traditional mouthpiece, the Herald newspaper, last Friday also criticised the Amnesty report as 'one-sided' and state radio said it was "not worth the paper it is written on." ZANU PF unsurprisingly also rejected Amnesty International's report about continuing human rights violations in Zimbabwe. The Herald newspaper quoted Vice President Joyce Mujuru as saying that national reconciliation was going ahead in Zimbabwe and there was no need for outside interference.
"Some of us have already started talking to our people," the Herald quoted
Mujuru as saying. "We love our people to be together. Being Zimbabweans, our culture does not allow noisy people."
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In his piece entitled “ White Collar War Crimes, Black African Fall Guys,”
investigative journalist Keith Snow writes:
First note that the ICC can now be viewed as a tool of hegemonic U.S. foreign policy,
where the weapons deployed by the U.S. and its allies include the accusations of, and
indictments for, human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
To understand this, we can ask WHY NO WHITE MAN HAS YET BEEN CHARGED
with these or other offenses at the ICC (International Criminal Court) which now holds
five black African warlords and seeks to incarcerate and bring to trial another black man,
also an Arab, Omar Bashir.
Why hasn’t George W. Bush been indicted ? Or what about Donald Rumsfeld ?
Dick Cheney? Henry Kissinger? Ehud Olmert? Tony Blair?
The sad fact is that the International Criminal Court has become terribly
politicized, as has the entire international justice apparatus.
The ICC has issued indictments, for the first time in history, against a sitting head of
state. Meanwhile, according to Snow, an Israeli weapons dealer, also a reputed Mossad
operative, is revealed to be shipping weapons into Sudan with Pentagon support.
And Belgium changed its law rather than prosecute Ariel Sharon for war crimes.
The double standard cries out to us.
One country in the West, however, increasingly stands out as a place where
justice can be found?and that is Spain. With its landmark indictment of
Pinochet and its current consideration of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and
U.S. torture in Guantanamo, we increasingly look to the Spanish Courts with
hope. It was the Spanish courts that returned indictments against Rwandan
soldiers for genocide even as the world coddles U.S. proxy Rwanda and its
leader, Paul Kagame.
[allthingscynthiamckinney.com]
BY PEACE SHALL Many Be deceived (Daniel 8:25) .
DOES THE TERM PEACEKEEPERS ring a Bell ?
Ask the people in Rwanda (who survived that Peace-keeping) about the UN PEACEKEEPERS .
President Obama’s UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE cut her teeth on the RWANDA MASSACRE….OOOPs!!! She said.
(Here’s a Search Link To Many Witnesses To THE NEW U.N. RICE MONSTER)
[http://ixquick.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=Susan+Rice+Rwanda&cat=web&pl=ff& language=english]
OBAMA DECEPTIONS
#1
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrpRocaEfQE]
#2 Here is evidence of Point 2 of the Georgia Guidestones on Reproduction .
Don't be deceived :
[http://www.infowars.com/?p=7259]
Here are search result links to what the Georgia Guidestones are
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones ]
#3
BY PEACE SHALL Many Be deceived (Daniel 8:25) .
DOES THE TERM PEACEKEEPERS ring a Bell ?
Ask the people in Rwanda (who survived that Peace-keeping) about the
United Nations PEACEKEEPERS .
President Obama’s UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE cut her teeth on
the RWANDA MASSACRE…. OOOPs!!! She said.
(Here’s a Search Link To Many Witnesses To THE NEW U.N. RICE MONSTER)
[http://ixquick.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=Susan+Rice+Rwanda&cat=web&pl=ff& language=english]
[This inspiring poem was featuring in the movie “Coach Carter ”]
Our Deepest Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate, Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure. It Is Our Light , Not Our Darkness That Most Frightens Us.
We Ask Ourselves, Who Am I To Be Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, And Fabulous ?
Actually Who Are We Not To Be ? You Are A Child Of God.
Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve The World.
There Is Nothing Enlightened About Shrinking So That Other People Won’t Feel Insecure Around You.
We Are All Meant To Shine, As Children Do.
We Were Born To Make Manifest The Glory Of God That Is Within Us.
It’s Not Just In Some Of Us; It’s In Everyone.
And When We Let Our Own Light Shine We Unconsciously Give Other People Permission To Do The Same.
And As We Are Liberated From Our Own Fear, Our Presence Automatically Liberates Others
- Marianne Williamson -
[NOTE – BEING AFRAID AND REFUSING TO GET INVOLVED WON’T STOP US FROM DYING. BUT BEING AFRAID CAN PREVENT US FROM LIVING]
(Nkosi Sikeleli Africa )
God bless Africa May her glory be lifted high Hear our petitions .
God bless us, Your children God we ask You to protect our nation Intervene and end all conflicts Protect us, protect our nation, our nation.
From the blue of our heaven, From the depths of our sea, Over our eternal mountain ranges, Where the cliffs give answer.
Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.
[Enoch Mankayi Sontonga]
WAKE UP !!! STAY UP !!!
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx] / [gcnlive.com] / [http://alexjonesringtones.net/] Life Is A Game. Have Fun . Luke 18:17 - Isaiah 11:6
Well well well, there you have it, and what was tokolosh harping on about, Sadc doesn't need to intervene. Just like what Bob Dylan said, how many eyes must one man have and pretend that he just doesn't see. The answer my friend is blowing in the wind. That's exactly what Sadc is, Blind and they turn the other way. sadc says that Bob is a bad influence on the region and what do they do. Absolutely nothing. So bob goes on terrorising. So another 100 day reprieve to see if Bob will change, he's got worse over 30 years so what does Irene think a hundred days do. I can tell her now , absolutely nothing. If zimbabwe returns to proper rule and order after a year or two, then and only then will the sons and daughters of zimbabwe start to return to build the nation. That's what the people in london were going on about.