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RIGHTS: U.N. Blasts Zimbabwe For Mass Evictions

Haider Rizvi

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 22 2005 (IPS) - The Zimbabwean government is facing scathing criticism from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for its massive crackdown on urban slum dwellers, believed to have left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

“I call on the government to stop these forced demolitions immediately,” Annan said in a statement after a receiving a report Friday from Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, his special envoy on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.

Tibaijuka’s 100-page report suggests that as many as 700,000 people in the capital Harare and other cities in the southern African country have become homeless as a result of the government’s “indiscriminate actions” against the urban poor.

Describing the report as “profoundly distressing,” the U.N. chief said the Zimbabwean government must recognise the “the virtual state of emergency that now exists.”

The report is based on Tibaijuka’s nearly month-long visit to Zimbabwe, during which she met with Robert Mugabe, the country’s independence hero and president, as well as a number of opposition leaders, trade union activists, local officials and the people affected.

It acknowledges the government’s claims that the operation was meant to target illegal dwellings and businesses, but says it was carried out in an “indiscriminate and unjustified manner, with indifference to human suffering.”

“Even if motivated by a desire to ensure semblance of order in the chaotic manifestation of rapid urbanisation and rising poverty characteristic of African cities,” said the report, “nonetheless Operation Restore Order turned out to be a disastrous venture based on a set of colonial-era laws and policies that were used as a tool of segregation and social exclusion.”

Describing the humanitarian consequences of the operation as “enormous,” the secretary-general’s special envoy called for “unhindered access” by the international and humanitarian community to help those who have been affected.

“It will take years before the people and society as a whole can recover,” said Tibaijuka. “There is an immediate need for the government to recognise the virtual state of emergency that has resulted.”

Noting that the operation took place at a time of “persistent budget deficits, triple-digit inflation, critical food and fuel shortages and chronic shortages of foreign currency,” she said hundreds of thousands of men and women were made homeless, and left without access to food, water or sanitation.

The World Food Programme says it is currently feeding more than one million people in Zimbabwe, including orphans, pregnant women and people living with AIDS.

Despite strong criticism from the U.N., Zimbabwe’s leadership continues to defend its policy on urban settlements.

“It’s not a callous government. It’s a government that cares for its people,” Zimbabwean ambassador to the U.N., Boniface Chidyausiku, told IPS in a brief interview. “We didn’t break any humanitarian law.”

Reacting to Annan’s remarks and the report, he said: “The secretary-general has taken an initiative which we appreciate. However, we hope that this situation is not exploited by our detractors to score cheap political goals.”

The Zimbabwean ambassador’s remarks alluded to the belief in some quarters that Harare is being punished by the West for its aggressive land reform campaign, which has ousted white farmers – sometimes violently – to resettle thousands of landless black Zimbabweans.

By contrast, the African Union (AU) remains reluctant to take on the Mugabe government for its demolition campaign, considering it an internal issue.

In his statement, Annan called for the Zimbabwean government to allow “unhindered access” for humanitarian operations and urged international community to respond “generously.”

“We have a duty to help those in need,” he said.

But given the political mood in Harare, his call may not be so welcome there. In a recent meeting with the World Food Programme’s executive director James Morris, Mugabe made it clear that he was willing to accept international food aid, but only if no conditions are attached.

Commenting on Annan’s call for “unhindered access” for humanitarian aid, the Zimbabwean ambassador indicated that there would be no change in Harare’s stance on this issue.

“We don’t want people to come to pursue their own agenda,” he told IPS. “We don’t want them to come with preconditions.”

Mugabe supporters argue that in the guise of aid distribution, some Western governments will try to provide support to opposition activists.

In addition to criticism from the U.N., the United States and Britain, the Mugabe government is also under enormous pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which wants it to pay one billion dollars in debt before Aug. 16.

If it fails to meet this deadline, the country could be expelled from the IMF.

In an attempt to defuse the crisis, Pres. Mugabe is rumoured to be turning to friendly nations such as South Africa, India and China for help help. He is expected to leave for Beijing this weekend.