SW Radio Africa (London)
Alex Bell
11 November 2009
column
The Secretary General of the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), Gertrude Hambira, has spoken of her family's distress after she was targeted for abduction by suspected state security agents a week ago.
Hambira has been in hiding during the past week after the failed attempt to abduct her from her Harare home last Tuesday. She was not at her house when three armed men broke in, and demanded to know where she was. But her husband and children were, and Hambira told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that they have been left traumatised by the incident. The men who broke into her home threatened to shoot her husband, before fleeing with mobile phones and pictures of Hambira. She immediately went into hiding fearing for her life.
But Hambira risked possible arrest this week by coming out of hiding to launch a damning report and documentary exposing the devastating effects of the so called land 'reform' programme on the livelihood of farm workers. It is widely believed that the documentary is the reason behind Hambira's attempted abduction, because it exposes top government officials' involvement in the torture, harassment and eviction of farm workers in the chaotic land seizures. The documentary entitled 'House of Justice' contains 26 minutes of footage laying bare the evidence of human rights violations targeting farm workers, over ten years of Robert Mugabe's land grab campaign.
Speaking from South Africa where the documentary is being screened on Thursday, Hambira said the film is a vital tool to try and pressure regional governments to intervene in the spiraling land crisis in the country. In the documentary Hambira appeals to the leaders of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to pressure the Zimbabwe government to end the ongoing violence on farms across the country. SADC has come under fire for, among other issues, not acting on Zimbabwe's 'pull out' from the SADC Tribunal, a human rights court set up by the nine member body to deal with judicial disputes in the region. Last year, in a landmark ruling meant to protect more than 70 commercial farmers and their rights to their land, the SADC Tribunal ruled that the government should stop land attacks.
But Zimbabwe has refused to abide by this ruling and has pulled out of the Tribunal, effectively opening the door for an escalation of attacks on commercial land this year. GAPWUZ has already said that more than 60 000 farm workers have been left with jobs as a result of the land attacks this year alone, with hundreds of workers being beaten and arrested. 'House of Justice' questions what the ultimate point of SADC is, if member states will not stand up for justice and the official SADC court.
The report 'If Something is wrong', which is accompanying the documentary, also highlights the impact of the land reform exercise on the farm workers during the past ten years. This is the first report on so called 'land reform' to deal solely with the experiences of farm workers and makes for sobering reading. The report balances statistical evidence from farm workers with shocking narrative examples of the types of violations they have experienced. It also provides damning evidence that the violence perpetrated on the farms has been largely targeted on farm workers.
Hambira said she hoped the documentary and report were going to go a long way in raising regional and international pressure on Zimbabwe to start respecting basic human rights.
"We want them to start seeing farm workers as people and to recognise their genuine need for the basic things like shelter and source of livelihood," she said.
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