Thursday, June 30, 2005

Inside Mugabe's new horror...

LINK

....

The destruction of the homes, part of a clean-up campaign called "Operation Drive Out Filth", has displaced more than a million people.

They have been moved to strictly controlled transit camps with few facilities. Others have simply set up homes on roadsides and river banks.

Actually, few are in the camps...

There are fears of disease epidemics in the camps and the informal settlements....

Even good camps have problems with disease...and the "camps" were not set up prior to the "slum clearance", so one doubts they have hot and cold running water, latrines, and clean food kitchens...

With political bickering and local red tape hindering relief efforts, the plight of the displaced people is set to worsen.

The humanitarian disaster comes at a time when all Zimbabweans are suffering. A six-year economic recession has been marked by commodity shortages, rampant inflation and rising unemployment.

At least 200 000 shantytown homes have been destroyed, leaving a million people homeless, according to human rights groups. More than 40 000 people have been arrested.

However, the Zimbabwe government says the number of people made homeless is only 120 000....

Oh, ONLY 120,000 people homeless.

Speaking at the Vatican, Ncube alleged that Zimbabwe's government planned to drive disaffected urban voters back to the famine-hit countryside for political re-education, as the Pol Pot regime did in Cambodia in the 1970s, Reuters reports.

Ncube accused African leaders of standing idly by.

Note to archbishop: They aren't idly standing by. They are preventing western governments from "interfering"....

Ministers of the G8 rich nations called on Zimbabwe to "abide by the rule of law and respect human rights" at a meeting in London.

Yup. Abide by rule of law, or we will send you a letter saying we are wery wery angwy....

The Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, an international human rights organisation, said the destruction of homes was a crime against humanity.

South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki said he had discussed the matter on Friday with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who had appointed a special envoy to investigate. The envoy would prepare a report "and then we'll act on that", the President said.

You are cold, hungry, homeless, and no food? It's okay...in six months we will write up a report saying Mugabe was a bad boy...

Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said yesterday that South Africa was not ignoring events in Zimbabwe, but was at a loss as to what to do.....

HINT to South Africa...Remember a fellow named Idi Amin? The Tanzanian army threw him out...after he killed half a million of his own people....

Yes, I know: Unprovoked war is a no-no. You have to wait for a million people to die of starvation and disease, then the UN will send a letter saying they are angry...

On the other hand, despite all the talk of Mugabe's "war hardened" army, remember, I suspect they have never fought a professional soldier...only "soldiers" who were used to terrorizing civilians...

Think of it this way, bubbah: It might be cheaper to send in a some "peacekeepers" now than to have a half million sick and starving refugees at Beitbridge...

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