Clampdown on opposition and media continues while talks are underway

By Violet Gonda
25 July 2008

Concern is growing as to why the negotiators continue to talk when the original conditions to begin talks have been ignored. Events on the ground show there is no political will on the part of the Mugabe regime to change, despite agreeing to negotiate a settlement with the MDC. Abductions of opponents continue, teachers are being forced by soldiers to attend pungwes (rallies), radio stations are still being jammed, and websites are being hacked.

It’s reported a driver and an assistant to MDC Senator Samuel Tsungirirai Muzerengwa were abducted in Buhera South on Thursday, and the MP for the area Naison Nemadziwa has been forced to flee. MDC spokesperson for Manicaland Pishai Muchauraya claims the activists were abducted by soldiers and militia led by a Colonel Morgan Mzilikazi of the Zimbabwe National Army. Muchauraya said Rusape police have not been helpful, and the whereabouts of the MDC activists are still unknown.

Meanwhile, prominent lawyer Advocate Eric Matinenga said he still cannot go back to his own constituency in Buhera West as a result of the tense situation there. Speaking on the programme Hot Seat Matinenga said: “People are starving, people are living in fear. That is what you must address now, before you address even what form this transitional arrangement is going to take. If you are not doing that you are not negotiating on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe.”

The MDC says over 1500 activists are still in jail, and militia camps remain operational. Raymond Majongwe, the Secretary General of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, said teachers in rural areas are being forced to attend rallies by ZANU-PF soldiers, the PTUZ offices in Gokwe are still closed, and staff have been chased away by war veterans. Majongwe said in some parts of the country, like at Chidohwa Primary School in Makoni East, youth militia are still seen walking with AK47 rifles.

Many people are scared to go back to their homes because their safety has not been assured. Matinenga, who is also one of Morgan Tsvangirai’s lawyers, said ZANU-PF should be withdrawing the army from the rural areas since it controls the state machinery. But there seems to be no concession on the part of the regime while the negotiations are taking place. Media outlets have also borne the brunt of state sponsored repression.

Radio stations are still being jammed using jamming equipment supplied by China, and websites are being hacked. The latest casualty is ZWNEWS, one of the leading websites on Zimbabwe.

The editor Alan Doyle was forced to put up a notice on his website on Friday saying: ‘Visitors to ZWNEWS.com over recent days will have noticed disruption to normal service. This is because hackers, based in, or at least routed through, China have damaged the site.’

Doyle told SW Radio Africa, “I am not the only one. I believe a couple of weeks ago the Zimbabwe Times went down and it’s no secret that they have been blocking radio stations, have been forcing people to take down their satellite dishes and to hand in their transistor radios, and they have hiked the import duties on foreign publications.”