AFRICA NEWS DIGEST
Zimbabwe Elected to UN Rights Commission in Defiance of Commonwealth
Zimbabwe was elected this month to the UN Commission on Human Rights, based in Geneva. The Herald of Harare, in a May 2 editorial, described the development as "another "victory against Britain." "The election is recognition of Zimbabwe's respect for human rights and democracy.... We wonder how the election could have caught many by surprise, when only last month, the UN threw out a proposed EU investigation into alleged human rights violations in Zimbabwe.... The election has also shown that not all countries and governments are unfriendly to Zimbabwe. There are many countries around the world who are now seeing through the British lies and political trickery."
The Herald added: "Zimbabwe is under siege but that should not see the country cowing down to imperialist forces. Zimbabwe now needs to use its position on the 15-member commission to be the voice of the voiceless that have endured untold suffering at the hands of the same forces that seek to entrench their dominance on the Earth."
Elites Threaten African Nations Over Support for Zimbabwe
The Group of Eight (the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, and Russia) is threatening to punish African nations unless they abandon Zimbabwe before the group's June 8 summit. The lead editorial of the May 6 Washington Post makes explicit the G-8's strategy to use the misguided commitment of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and South African President Thabo Mbeki to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) as a means to crush Zimbabwe's sovereignty, with no concern for the economic development of Africa. The Post writes: "If Africa's new partnership means anything, it is that the continent's leaders must tell Mr. [Robert] Mugabe [President of Zimbabwe] to stop terrorizing his country and call fresh elections. But Africa's leaders have equivocated. Mr. Obasanjo and Mr. Mbeki played their part in expelling Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, much to their credit. But, they have not used their partnership as a tool to squeeze him."
China Blocks Attempt To Turn UN Meeting into Attack on Zimbabwe
China recently thwarted attempts by the United States to alter the agenda of a United Nations meeting on the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and introduce the issue of Zimbabwe's April 29 Presidential election, according to the Zimbabwe Herald of May 7.
Sources who attended the meeting of representatives of the 15-member UN Security Council, and Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, said U.S. Ambassador to the UN meeting Richard Williamson tried to introduce complaints about the recent Presidential election, and allegations of violence on farms. (Under Mugabe, farm land has been taken over and more equitably redistributed from large, white-owned plantations, to poor, landless black farmers.)
Chinese Ambassador Xu Chen quickly dissociated himself from the move, and reaffirmed his country's support for Zimbabwe. The U.S. envoy was reminded that the meeting had been called to discuss the DRC conflict, and that if he wanted to raise bilateral issues between Zimbabwe and the U.S., there were proper channels to do so. The sources reported that Mr. Xu said it was China's view that Zimbabwe was capable of managing its own internal affairs.
In Harare, Zimbabwe, President Mugabe retorted: "To this day we still do not know who actually won the Presidential election between [U.S. President George] Bush and [former U.S. Vice President Al] Gore, but once the U.S. Supreme Court decided on the winner, we accepted that verdict." President Mugabe said the white farmers still had a role to play in Zimbabwe, but on the basis of equality with blacks.
"We don't think we have lessons to learn from them [the U.S.] about democracy. We took up arms for democracy and forced our erstwhile enemies to accept that there should be no racism and there should be equality," he said.
It took 14 years to dismantle the racist Rhodesia regime of Ian Smith, but after that Mr. Smith was allowed to live, still keeps his farm, and is still a free man despite the atrocities he committed, the President said.
"Our own Nazis are still with us today. Elsewhere, they would have been hunted down ... we have chosen to let bygones be bygones," Mugabe said.
"We have not offended the U.S. We do not quarrel with the U.S. over their ill-treatment of blacks. We leave it to them to resolve their own internal problems. Why should they involve themselves in Zimbabwe's affairs?"
Zimbabwe and Malaysia Establish Agricultural Cooperation
Zimbabwe and Malaysia have agreed to exchange agricultural products for farm machinery, the Herald reported May 2. The export of agricultural products to Malaysia is scheduled to begin this month, following a successful visit by a high-powered team from Malaysia. Under the deal, Zimbabwe's Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) secured a $2.5-billion export deal with Malaysia International Trading Corporation (Mitco) that would benefit some 35,000 farmers in Zimbabwe.
The Malaysian delegation discussed the supply of machinery to ARDA, under a 10-year revolving facility that should recapitalize the organization, and make it the largest player in the agricultural sector. ARDA has been hit by a severe shortage of tractors, combine harvesters, motor bikes, planters, and other important farming implements. The billion-dollar export deal, brokered by Metropolitan Bank, would earn the country more than $250 million annually, over 10 years. Met Bank chairman Enoch Kamushinda said: "The initiative is intended to provide an alternative method for the survival of our country.... Implementation of this program will go a long way towards solving the foreign-currency shortage currently dogging the country, and obviate the need for the much-talked-about IMF support which may never come."
New Crisis Brewing in Somalia?
The UN Security Council has asked for a panel of experts to investigate "violations of the arms embargo on Somalia and to strengthen its enforcement," according to Afrol News of May 3. The Council is requiring that a panel investigate violations of the arms embargo by land, air, and sea. It also called for research in Somalia and other states, to assess the capacity of states in the region to fully implement the embargo put into effect in 1992, and to recommend steps to strengthen its enforcement. The Security Council called on all states, the Transitional National Government, and local authorities to fully cooperate with a committee of experts.
Then, a few days later, on May 7, the UN announced it was suspending all activities in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu, effective May 9. The suspension will affect programs including interventions in the health field, water and sanitation, education, and teacher training. The action was taken after kidnappers refused to release an abducted UN staff member.
As EIW has reported previously, Somalia has been repeatedly targetted by the Anglo-America media, and by the utopian grouping inside the U.S., as a new target for military action in the "war against terrorism," because of the alleged "presence of al-Qaeda training camps."
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