GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Global Witness, an NGO (non-governmental organization) that was a key founding member of the Kimberly Process to end violence linked to the diamond trade, says it is pulling out.
“‘Nearly nine years after the Kimberley Process was launched, the sad truth is that most consumers still cannot be sure where their diamonds come from, nor whether they are financing armed violence or abusive regimes’”, said Charmian Gooch, a founding director of Global Witness. ‘The scheme has failed three tests: it failed to deal with the trade in conflict diamonds from Côte d’Ivoire, was unwilling to take serious action in the face of blatant breaches of the rules over a number of years by Venezuela and has proved unwilling to stop diamonds fuelling corruption and violence in Zimbabwe. It has become an accomplice to diamond laundering – whereby dirty diamonds are mixed in with clean gems.’”
Growing disillusion reached the breaking point over approval in November by the Kimberly Process of diamond exports from the Marange mines in Zimbabwe, where Global Witness and Human Rights Watch say the army continues to use violence to exploit workers. Robert Mugabe’s government denies the reports.
Mugabe mug, 1981 (photo, © E Wallace)
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Robert Mugabe, 87-year-old leader of Zimbabwe, prime minister for 30 years, stepped up his criticism of Switzerland, in comments made 30 October, Sunday, to media at the airport in Harare.
Mugabe, miffed over what he is calling Switzerland’s refusal to issue visas for his entourage, told reporters that his government “is not without means to reciprocate”, which some media in Zimbabwe are interpreting as a threat to Swiss businesses while others appear to see the comment as a reflection of Zimbabwe reportedly filing a complaint with the UN. Ziminfo expanded the quote and pointed directly at Vevey-based Nestle: “Now they are showing that they are vicious and we will reciprocate because they have their properties here. We are not without means to reciprocate.” The news agency added that:
“While Mugabe did not specify which Swiss property he had in mind, but his comments could stir fresh trouble for the Zimbabwean operation of Swiss multinational firm, Nestlé.
“Radical elements from Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party are likely to see his threats as an order to pile more pressure on the giant milk processor to cede control of its Harare plant to black Zimbabweans in line with the country’s controversial economic indigenization programme.
“Nestlé Zimbabwe was already one of the foreign-owned corporations that the government has said should transfer controlling stake to by blacks 2015.
“Under the controversial economic indigenisation and empowerment law that came into force last year foreign-owned firms must sell at least 51 percent shares to indigenous black Zimbabweans or face a host of punitive measures including fines or withdrawal of operating licences.”
Robert Mugabe (photo, wikipedia)
Zimbabwe’s prime minister refused to visit Geneva last week for the ITU World Telecom meeting, and he sent a replacement for the country’s telecoms minister, who is variously reported by Zimbabwe media to have been given orders not to join the Geneva conference or who was too busy.
Switzerland has not responded officially on Mugabe’s remarks or the visa problem, although unnamed officials, presumably Swiss embassy officials in Zimbabwe, have been quoted by the country’s media as saying that visas for Mugabe and one official “were adequate to represent Zimbabwe at the summit,” according to The Zimbabwean.
Swiss Foreign Affairs Department spokesperson in Bern, Pierre-Alain Eltschinger, told GenevaLunch Monday that the ministry generally doesn’t comment on specific visa-decisions. He noted, in an e-mailed statement, that “decisions by Switzerland on visa matters are taken in accordance with applicable law and take account in particular of Switzerland’s obligations as the host state of the ITU. As this is an official delegation to a conference held by an international organization with which Switzerland has concluded a host state agreement, questions that could possibly arise in this context will, if necessary, be discussed with the organization concerned.”
He points out that “in this context, Switzerland will have to reconcile the obligations that it has in international law with the imperatives deriving from sanctions imposed on certain persons.”
Swiss sanctions against Zimbabwe have been in effect since 2002, with the travel restrictions list updated in 2010.
All the states invited to the ITU conference were “able to be represented by a delegation”, says Eltschinger. “As a principle of law, a State is entitled to be represented at international conferences by its head of State.”
Mugabe last week told media that the delegation of five scheduled to join him for the Geneva meeting was refused visas by the Swiss government; all of them, plus his wife, are on the list Zimbabwe individuals with European Union and Swiss travel restrictions, part of the sanctions against Zimbabwe. Mugabe and delegations have previously visited Geneva for UN meetings.
The five are Zimbabwe’s foreign and transport ministers, central intelligence minister, Mugabe’s press officer and his aide.
Nehanda Radio and Zimbabwe Metro are two of several media that picked up a Monday front page story published by the Zimbabwe Herald, a newspaper run by the state:
“‘We were surprised, if not saddened, by what they have done. Much more, the Swiss government has always held itself as a neutral country that did not countenance war as it was neutral in any conflict even during the First and Second World wars,’ he said.
“‘Now they are showing that they are vicious and we will reciprocate because they have their properties here. We are not without means to reciprocate,’ he said. As hosts of a United Nations meeting, Mugabe said Switzerland had no right to bar delegates of any member-state of the UN from attending. ‘It is a violation of rules and regulations governing host countries of UN meetings. They are alongside the United States of America because the main part of the UN is hosted in New York and the other part and agencies related to the UN are in Geneva. As host country, you should undertake not to inhibit or prohibit visits on UN business,’ the Zanu PF leader said.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Reactions are flowing in to Zimbabwe’s presentation Monday 10 October to the UN Human Rights Commission, part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) that takes place for each country every four years. Zimbabwe’s Justice Minister Patrick Chinawasa presented a “glowing picture” according to Zimbabwe’s The Independent, but critics have had little patience with the report.
The Zimbabwe newspaper, in an editorial, said that “Instead of pointing out areas of progress and problems to paint a balanced picture of the situation, Chinamasa used sanctions as a pretext to exonerate government from human rights abuses and went for the jugular against Western countries. That made constructive dialogue impossible and predictably the report was divisive.” It adds that the result was a session divided mainly along political lines.
SW Radio Africa, in allAfrica, pointed out that the government’s rosy picture is sharply at odds with those from a number of civic society groups that also attended the Geneva review, notably in the area of radio licenses, where the government says progress has been made and others say it isn’t so.
The US Mission in Geneva commended Zimbabwe on progress in some areas but pointed out a number of continuing problems, including the fact that a new human rights commission is not yet up and running. It made four recommendations, including improvements and greater transparency in diamond mining.
Zimbabwe’s government confirmed this week that it does not intend to lift its often-criticized AIPPA (Access to Information and Privacy Protection Act), which has been heavily criticized within and outside the country as limiting human rights.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Rumours are rife that Muammar Qaddafi is hiding out with his old friend Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, but while they may be hard to prove, it’s clear that Africa has mixed feelings about who is or should be in charge in Libya, reports allAfrica. The African Union voted Friday 26 August against recognizing Libya’s National Transition Council (NTC) as the sole government power, calling for an inclusive government that would include Qaddafi supporters. Nigeria says it has nothing to apologize for, in recognizing the NTC, while Tanzania, among others, has refused to do so.
Zimbabwe has ordered Libya’s ambassador and his staff to leave the country following their defection last week to the NTC.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe appeared intent early in 2011 on holding elections later in the year, in a bid to end an unhappy coalition with Morgan Tsvangerai, but a number of factors are reported to be slowing down his drive, Zimbabwe news sites are reporting 28 April. His wife Grace’s poor health and possibly his own failing health, growing pressure from neighbouring countries to resolve Zimbabwe’s political situation, and splits within his Zanu PF party are cutting into the 87-year-old leader’s plans. But the oddest blow of all might be that thrown by the country’s finance minister, Tendai Biti, who says Zimbabwe can’t afford the $400,000 needed to hold a general election, with a deficit of $150 million and all revenue targets for the year missed, to date.
Links to other sites: allAfrica/The Standard, allAfrica/Daily Nation
The US Federal Reserve has agreed to replace old notes and coins in Zimbabwe, according to the Zimbabwe Independent, which quotes unnamed sources. “The sources said the US Federal Reserve have ‘formally’ agreed that Zimbabwe’s economy is now dollarized and will now supply Zimbabwe with coins and replace notes.” Zimbabwe’s runaway inflation in recent years and the government’s printing of Zimbabwe dollars in notes with several zeroes has led, among other problems, to a crippling shortage small change, with people often offering sweets as change.
The sources also told the Zimbabwe Independent that “officials from the Finance ministry will soon depart for the US to airlift the coins to Zimbabwe, the source said. Banks and government, according to the sources have agreed to charter an Air Zimbabwe flight to pick up the coins in the US. The flight costs will be met by both government and banks.”
Few countries in the world have dollarized economies, but they include Ecuador and the Panama.
The European Union has removed 35 people from the list of more than 160 in Zimbabwe who are sanctioned: they are not permitted to travel to the EU and any assets they might have are frozen. The move came without explanation, although as allAfrica points out three of them have died and the others are virtually all spouses of officials in Robert Mugabe’s regime. It suggests that the idea might be to encourage those still on the list to “mend their ways”.
China’s foreign minister, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, is in Zimbabwe for the start of a five-nation Africa visit expected to bolster growing Chinese-African ties. The visit to the country run by President Robert Mugabe for more than 30 years is flaming controversy again over China’s support for the government that is the target of Western sanctions: China came in for harsh criticism from the European Union and the USA in 2008 when it protected Zimbabwe from tough United Nations sanctions.
Relations between China and Zimbabwe pre-date 1981 independence but in recent years, as China’s economic strength has grown, it has become an important investor, with plans for the China Development Bank to spend $10 billion in 2011, Zimbabwe authorities have said. Unconfirmed rumours are flying in Zimbabwe that China will take over the country’s precious platinum reserves as part of the deal, but a more likely arrangement appears to be a loan that will be repaid partly from the reserves.
Unrest continues in Zimbabwe, with street protests in recent days reportedly leading to beatings by Mugabe’s party members, with anti-Mugabe SW Africa radio saying the clashes were ordered by the government minister for youth.
Links to other sites: allAfrica, BBC, Voice of America, Xinhua, the Zimbabwean
Swiss aid group calls for Zimbabwe to be barred from Kimberly Process diamonds, cites State torture, child and forced labour
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Indian ministry of commerce is the latest to move against the Zimbabwe diamond trade, asking the country’s traders and jewelry exporters Thursday 9 December to “bide their time” until the Kimberly Process (KP), which certifies diamonds, clarifies Zimbabwe’s compliance, according to SouthWest Radio Africa. Monday the Swiss group Bread for All, a humanitarian alliance of the country’s Protestant churches, called for the Swiss market not to accept Zimbabwe diamonds, citing continued human rights abuse in the Marange diamond area. Switzerland imports $676 million in rough diamonds a year and exports close to $1 billion, in addition to its finished diamonds market.
India imports more diamonds than any other country in the world, based on 2009 KP statistics.
Zimbabwe was barred from KP trading in November 2009 because of alleged human rights abuses at its Chiadzwe mines in the east of the country. The KP’s 49-member group, of which Switzerland and India as well as Zimbabwe are members, ruled in July 2010 that Zimbabwe could resume limited exports, following a visit by a monitor in September. The Indian government’s call to its diamond business is reportedly based on ongoing negotiations between Zimbabwe, which threatens to ignore the KP certification process, and the KP, which wants Zimbabwe to limit exports to better monitor the trade there.
The Kimberly Process describes itself as “a joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds–rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. The trade in these illicit stones has fuelled decades of devastating conflicts in countries such as Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone.”
Bread for All has appealed to the Swiss government to insist as a member of the KP not only that Zimbabwe be barred from certification by the Kimberly Process but also to push for a change to the KP rules, which currently define “blood diamonds” only as those handled by rebel groups to finance their wars against governments.
The Swiss organization says it has evidence from its Geneva-based partner, Zimbabwe Advocate, of daily instances of human rights abuse since 2008 by the Zimbabwe government’s army in mines in the east of the country, around Marange. The “human rights violations include forced labour, child labour, torture, beatings and rape. In addition, soldiers are forcing minors to work for them and they are organizing illegal trafficking in diamonds,” according to Bread for All.
Zimbabwe minister berates visiting Norwegians for questions over abuse
South Africa’s businesses say xenophobia is having impact on income
Informal Cross Border Traders women share information after a training on safe migration conducted by IOM (photo: © IOM 2009 - MZW0057 / Erin Foster)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – Numbers for Zimbabwean and other African migrant workers leaving South Africa are hard to come by but it’s clear they have been leaving in the wake of xenophobic threats, particularly in the Western Cape in the past few days.
Small businesses in the region say they are hurting financially, with a 40 percent drop in the number of people taking group taxis and landlords finding tenants have fled the premises.
Geneva-based IOM (International Organization for Migration) said earlier in the week that it was scaling up its operations at border posts to help Zimbabweans returning home, because of an increase in numbers.
IOM safe migration campaign at Matshiloni, Beitbridge Central (photo: © IOM 2009 - MZW0071 / Robert Mageza)
AllAfrica/SW Radio Africa reports that scores of stranded Zimbabwe families line the Beitbridge highways to Harare and Bulaweyo because they fled South Africa with little or no money.
The IOM has also been running a safety campaign in Beitbridge to help migrant and cross-border workers from Zimbabwe, part of a larger programme to provide help with a number of border problems.
IOM in Geneva warns of tense situation
Tutu’s One Movement tamping down xenophobia
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The International Office for Migration (IOM), a UN agency in Geneva, warned Tuesday 13 July of possible violence against Zimbabwean and other migrant workers in South Africa, in the wake of the World Cup. The organization is preparing, with other UN agencies, the South African government and local NGOs (non-governmental organizations) inside Zimbabwe, to provide aid and help process the return of a large number of people. In recent days the popular border crossing at Beitbridge has been the scene of a steady flow of vehicles laden down with furniture and other household possessions.
The army and police are moving into Western Cape townships after threats of violence; two years ago violence flared, aimed at foreign workers. At the weekend foreign nationals were reported to be leaving Nyanga, Philippi East and Khayelitsha districts.
“I cannot risk the life of my family while trying to watch the World Cup final,” Ellias, a 26-old Zimbabwean from Gwanda, told IOM officials. He is married with two children and was passing through Musina on his way from Mamelodi Township near Pretoria.
Video: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, founder of One Movement, speaks to migrant workers on International Migrant Day, december 2009
Negotiations between EU (European Union) officials and Zimbabwe’s government to be held in Brussels have been delayed this week due to the airspace shutdown in Europe, with official still trying to set a date. Zimbabwe resumed flights to Europe too late for the talks to start Monday 26 April, as planned. The discussions are designed to encourage a re-engagement between the EU and Zimbabwe. The relationship between the two has been strained since the EU put up sanctions to freeze Zimbabwe’s assets and ban arm imports. The talks will address the sanctions placed on Robert Mugabe and the Zanu-PF party and the EU’s desire to see greater democracy and reform in Zimbabwe.
Links to other sites: AllAfrica, CIA, Deutsche Welle, Timesonline, South Africa
Tsvangirai says the country should keep its distance
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ‘s visit to Harare, Zimbabwe met with a cheering Zanu-PF party welcome at the airport, while Morgan Tsvangirai’s shared government party, Movement for Democratic Change, has criticized the Iranian leader’s state visit. Ahmadinejad is officially opening the Zimbabwe International Agricultural Fair in Bulawayo. Iran has invested heavily in agriculture and textile projects in Zimbabwe. The two presidents this week signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint company to develop industry and energy projects in Zimbabwe.
Links to other sites: AllAfrica/the Herald (official newspaper), Independent, UK, Morning Star, UK
A new country, Zimbabwe, declared its independence 18 April 1980 and elected Robert Mugabe as its president, ending seven years of fighting between guerrillas led by Mugabe and the white minority government of Rhodesia. Zimbabwe at the time was widely considered to offer the promise of a model for Africa, which had seen numerous leaders stay in power indefinitely. For several years Zimbabwe thrived, but since the mid-1990s its economy has floundered despite a wealth of natural resources and Mugabe has remained its president for the past 30 years. A controversial land reform programme has led to an exodus of whites from the country and the latest effort to redistribute wealth, the indigenization programme, is meeting resistance from foreign companies who are scheduled to register their plans to give a majority of capital to local black people. Conflicting information about the new programme from different government sources has provoked widespread confusion in the past week.
Links to other sites: AllAfrica/Herald, AllAfrica/The Zimbabwe Independent, Associated Press, BBC
South Africa, in a case that could set precedents, has awarded a Cape Town house that belongs to the Zimbabwe government to white Zimbabwe farmers whose land was confiscated under President Robert Mugabe’s land reform programme. Other commercial property including jets, owned by the Zimbabwe government but rented out, is reported to be under threat of confiscation by South African courts. The farmers are turning to a court in South Africa because, reports the BBC, “in 2008, the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) court ruled that the group of more than 70 Zimbabwean farmers should be allowed to return to their farms unhindered.” Collum Makumbirofa, head of the Zimbabwe Foundation for Reason and Justice, says in an AllAfrica report “that the Mugabe regime regards the Sadc ruling as ‘nonsense and of no consequence’ demonstrates the extent to which the Zanu (PF) government pays scant regard to the rule of law.’”
Rough cut diamonds, covered by Kimberley Process. Photo, Wikipedia
Switzerland told to take lead in toughening Kimberly Process rules
Update 22:45 Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Switzerland to take the lead in tightening diamond trade rules designed to stem the flow of conflict diamonds, often called blood diamonds. HRW has timed its appeal to coincide with the opening of Basel World, Switzerland’s premier watch and jewelry show in Basel. More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the show, which opened 18 March and runs to 25 March.
HRW in June 2009 published a report on the Marange district in Zimbabwe, where diamonds were discovered in 2006. Members of the Zimbabwe government are involved in exploiting local people to work the mines, according to the report. HRW documents a massacre of 200 people in the area in 2008.
Fair trade groups are also focusing on the Zimbabwe situation at BaselWorld: the annual Rapaport Fair Trade Conference has as its topic this year the issue of human rights and the jewelry industry, with a special focus on the situation in Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe was reported by Rapoport 5 March to be ready to sell diamonds now that the Kimberly Process has a monitor: the Kimberley Process, currently chaired by Israel, announced 1 March that a monitor for Zimbabwe would visit the area and report on the situation, according to a work plan submitted by the Zimbabwe government. Abbey Chikane, the monitor, was formerly the chief executive officer of South Africa’s State Diamond Trader.
Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa, has told South African media that he wants to see Zimbabwe elections take place in 2011 whether or not outstanding issues for the “inclusive” government are resolved. The three parties in the power-sharing government, put in place with Zuma as a key negotiator, are meeting 19 January. Two sticky issues on the agenda are the appointment of an attorney general and the reserve bank governor.
Links to other sites: allAfrica, Radio VOP, Zimbabwean, UK
Update 6 January 09:40 Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss food multinational Nestlé’s Zimbabwe operations have begun to process milk again, two weeks after suspending production because of government pressure. Government-run newspaper The Herald says workers were back in place and milk was being processed normally after a “misunderstanding” that closed the plant 23 December. The Nestlé operation is one of Zimbabwe’s largest suppliers of milk and has been running for more than 50 years.
Nestlé’s Swiss head office provided GenevaLunch with the following statement Tuesday 6 January, confirming that processing has begun again: “On 19 December 2009, Nestlé suspended the activities at its Harare factory (Zimbabwe) as normal business was no longer possible and the safety of its employees could not be guaranteed. Since then, the local Nestlé management has been in regular contact with the Zimbabwean authorities to find a solution.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Food multinational Nestlé says it has closed its milk production plant in Zimbabwe after the government pressured it to take milk from a non-contracted supplier 19 December during a surprise visit from government officials. Two days later, Monday, two of the plant’s managers were called into the Harare police station for questioning, then released. President Robert Mugabe and his unity government partner Morgan Tsvangirai have both reacted with dismay to the closing, and observers in southern Africa are calling it a setback for the unity government, which has been working to convince foreign investors and aid groups to return to the country.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe struck a defiant note at a political rally Sunday 13 December in the capital Harare, telling his supporters that they must pull together to ensure they win elections next time around. His Zanu-PF party Saturday had elected him as its leader for another five years. Mugabe reminded them that the power-sharing arrangement, forced up them by the party’s poor showing at the last election, has only another year to run, and then the party should take control again. But the party meeting ended without an agreement on how Mugabe’s successor will be named, a sign that dissent runs deep, according to the Daily Nation, on AllAfrica.
Links to other sites: AllAfrica, BBC, Voice of America
A document that suggests Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouts movement, illegally killed a prisoner-of-war who had been promised safe passage, fetched twice the expected amount at an auction in London Wednesday. Baden-Powell was a colonel in the British Army during the Second Matabele War in 1896 and ordered the death of Uwini, a chief who had led a rebellion in what later became Zimbabwe. The papers, which sold for £3,750, imply that he knew Uwini was to be given safe passage as part of the terms of his surrender, but was nevertheless killed. Baden-Powell’s commanding officer was too far away to be consulted and the colonel took action to save lives, he said when later investigated.
Victim of earlier xenophobic violence in S. Africa © 2008 UNHCR / J. Oatway
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has condemned the recent spate of attacks on refugees and asylum-seekers, many of them from Zimbabwe, in the Western Cape town of De Doorns, South Africa. Local officials and the South African Red Cross moved quickly to supply some 3,000 displaced people with tents, portable toilets and hot meals. It was sending two officials from its Pretoria office to assist local officials to restore order, UNHCR said 20 November.
African elephants, from a painting by Gail Van Lingen
Gland, Switzerland and Harare, Zimbabwe (GenevaLunch) – Evidence appears to be growing that poaching is on the rise in Zimbabwe and that international gangs are working with local poachers, based on converging reports from several sources. The increased poaching affects elephants and rhinos. Several species of both are on the protected species lists published by Gland-based IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature).
The government-run The Herald newspaper in Harare reported 3 November that at least 200 rhinos have been poached in the past three years, “as locals increasingly network with international syndicates in the illegal trade of the horns, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism” was told by parks officials 2 November. Reporters were asked to leave the room when statistics were given for the current population. The Herald estimates the populations for white and black rhinos to be 500 and 300 respectively.
Etas project in Zimbabwe: the Roger Federer Foundation is spending some CHF80,000 a year on the project to improve the infrastructure of 8 schools, as well as investing in teacher training and the quality of education for about 2,000 children in the Matopo region.
Basel and Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer has signed a 10-year contract with Swiss bank Credit Suisse, for an undisclosed sum, the bank announced Monday 16 November. Federer, on his web site, notes that “As part of the partnership agreement, Credit Suisse will make a significant annual contribution to the Roger Federer Foundation, which is dedicated to helping disadvantaged children and to promoting education, sports and play, particularly in Africa.” The foundation was inspired by Federer’s South African mother and currently states on its web site that its capital is CHF4 million.
The bank’s CEO, Brady Dougan, did not stint in his enthusiastic praise of the Swiss tennis star:
The UN General Assembly has approved 114 to 18, with 44 abstentions, the controversial Goldstone report into atrocities in the Gaza war in the winter of 2008/09, and recommended that the Security Council act if both Israel and the Palestinians had not conducted their own investigations within three months. CNN, New York Times
Honduras‘ former President Manuel Zelaya says the agreement reached one week ago that would have led to a power-sharing government and his reinstatement as president is dead, after the two sides failed to agree on the government by Thursday, 5 November. The Supreme Court still needs to make a recommendation to the Honduran Congress on whether Zelaya may complete his term. Al-Jazeera, BBC
Morgan Tsvangirai says he will end his three-week boycott of the Zimbabwean unity government “effective immediately”, and has given Robert Mugabe 30 days in which to implement his side of the bargain that led to the deal. Tsvangirai walked out after Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party began to harrass Tsvangirai’s MDC party members. Al-Jazeera, BBC, The Guardian
A UN official in charge of investigating charges of torture who was invited to Zimbabwe is on his way to Johannesburg, South Africa Thursday 29 October after being denied entry to the country at the airport in Harare. Manfred Nowak, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, told reporters that his invitation had been rescinded by the Zimbabwean ministry of foreign affairs when he arrived in Harare late Wednesday evening 28 October. Immigration officials would not let him into the country despite an invitation from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The government of Zimbabwe has been split since Tsvangirai walked out two weeks ago, complaining of a concerted campaign of violence by President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF supporters against Tsvangirai’s MDC party members. A team from the regional grouping Southern Africa Development Community was expected in Harare to mediate the political crisis Thursday. AP,BBC
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met for four hours, the first meeting since Tsvangirai pulled out of the coalition government in mid-October, and his spokesperson says the talks ended with no agreement. “We are worlds apart on fundamental issues,” the BBC quotes him as saying. The pullout and failed meeting effectively leave Zimbabwe without an elected government: the coalition was formed in February 2009 under pressure from outside the country after election results showing Mugabe as winner were contested.
Links to other sites: AllAfrica, AP/Yahoo, BBC,
An outbreak of cholera in distinct parts of Zimbabwe has left five people dead, reports the local state-run media. 117 new cases were confirmed around the country, according to the Zimbabwe’s Health Secretary, Gerald Gwinji. The dead were from Mashonaland and the Midlands, according to Gwinji. He said they were “religious objectors” who refused to seek medical help.
Zimbabwe’s population suffered the worst epidemic of cholera in over a decade between August 2008 and last June, and an estimated 4,200 people died and over 100,000 became ill, due to the country’s crumbling infrastructure and health services. AFP, The Herald
Update 8 October Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, is making an unannounced trip to Geneva to take part in Telecom, the Swiss Foreign Affairs Department (DFAE) has confirmed to GenevaLunch. Mugabe arrived in Geneva 7 October. [Ed. note: Telecom TV reports on his appearance at the show and his remarks which "baffled the media."]
Right to visit UN overrides Swiss sanctions
Mugabe is under visa and financial sanctions from the United States, the European Union and Switzerland, but as the host country of a UN-sponsored event, Switzerland cannot ban his visit to a UN event, a spokesperson in Bern says. The situation is identical to that in New York in September, when Mugabe attended the General Assembly of the UN.
Mugabe is explicity banned from entering Switzerland, except for UN events. Two accounts with a value of CHF547,000 have been blocked in Switzerland in connection with the sanctions, which were put into effect because of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and to prevent money laundering.
Switzerland’s legal obligations as the host country also mean Mugabe cannot be shadowed constantly during his visit to ensure that he and his entourage do not have contact with financial advisors or bankers, although the penalties are steep for a bank dealing with any of the 240 people on the Zimbabwe sanctions list.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Nestlé SA in Vevey says its subsidiary in Zimbabwe will stop buying milk Sunday 4 October from Gushunga Dairy, reportedly owned by Grace Mugabe, wife of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. The Mugabes are both on Swiss and European sanctions lists which forbid financial transactions with over 200 individuals and some 40 companies in Zimbabwe, but the sanctions do not apply to transactions within Zimbabwe. The multinational in Vevey has been under pressure this week, particularly from British and South African media, for buying the milk.
The Vevey office issued a statement Friday morning 2 October: “The Dairy Board of Zimbabwe today informed the Gushungo Dairy Estate, and the seven other farms with whom Nestlé began working on a temporary basis in February 2009, that it is now in a position to resume purchasing their milk. Nestlé Zimbabwe therefore will no longer be receiving milk from these eight farms from Sunday 4 October.”
GenevaLunch asked Nestlé about the timing of the announcement from the board, coming right on the heels of public criticism of Nestlé.
