The advocacy group Aids-Free World has discovered Zimbabwe.
Its co-founder, Stephen Lewis, passionately articulate for causes he identifies with, told Reuters: “The evidence is incontrovertible: (President Robert) Mugabe believes he can sanction rape without fear of consequences. Zimbabwe is perhaps the greatest test for ending impunity.”
A former NDP leader and more recently UN special envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa, Kewis was responding to the latest report that under Mugabe, rape has routinely been used as a weapon of intimidation against political enemies.
In a report (Electing to Rape), some 380 cases of rape against women supporting Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) by Mugabe henchmen, were investigated. These were not random cases of rape, but were targeted to intimidate.
Aids-Free World hopes graphic descriptions of women who were tortured as well as raped will motivate South Africa to at least condemn Mugabe, if not to advocate sanctions against the regime. Mugabe, who lost the last election but refused to surrender power, has been forced to recognize Tsvangirai as PM.
South Africa is one of the few African countries that has signed the UN treaty that views rape as a crime against humanity.
In a way, a white Zimbabwean, Roy Bennett, is a symbol of hope for Zimbabwe. A former South Rhodesian policeman and farmer, he became a politician after Rhodesia morphed into Zimbabwe. He was elected in an overwhelmingly black area where his farm was stolen by the regime.
Trouble and controversy are Bennett’s perennial companions. Mugabe, age 89, is a disciple of Marxism and emulator of Stalin, who despises and fears Bennett who is now treasurer of the MDC and a spokesman for integrity.
When Bennett returned to Zimbabwe from sanctuary in South Africa after the disputed election, he was charged with terrorism — following phony charges three years ago of treason and plotting to overthrow Mugabe.
Today, Zimbabwe is virtually ungovernable. In defense of Bennett, Tsvangirai boycotts the “unity” government, where in 2008 inflation soared to 231,550,880% and unemployment peaked at 94%.
Bennett has made several trips to Canada to rally support – not for himself but for Zimbabwe. The only virtue of Mugabe’s tyranny is that it has unified the country against him. Blacks and whites have a common foe.
Bennett has already served time in jail. Shortly after visiting Toronto in 2004, he returned to Zimbabwe’s Parliament and heard Justice Minister Patrick Chinamassa announce that his farm in Chimanimani would be taken over by the government and re-settled – dooming both the farm’s productivity and jobs for locals.
The minister’s rationale: “Mr. Bennett has not forgiven the government for taking his farm, but he forgets that his forefathers were thieves and murderers.”
Bennett walked across the floor of Parliament, seized Chinamassa by the collar and wrestled him to the floor. He took a swing at the Anti-Corruption minister, who kicked him, and the joint erupted. Other MPs took out their guns(!) and order was restored. Bennett was ejected.
A Parliamentary committee ruled that Bennett should be jailed for 15 months.
Bennett was freed after eight months, and immediately held a press conference denouncing prison conditions. He’d been given prison garb, splattered with human excrement, mistreated, and told how prisoners were abused without legal representation. He vowed to fight harder than ever for Zimbabweans.
At elections, in efforts to beat Bennett, those voting for Mugabe’s ZANU-PF were given bags of grain and food. Those who voted against Mugabe, had their names taken by police. Still Bennett won.
It’s hard to see how even Zimbabwe’s mockery of a justice system can convict Bennett. But it highlights how Zimbabwe has been turned from a breadbasket for Africa into a basket case.
Since African leaders are unwilling to oppose Mugabe, the civilized world would be justified in refusing aid or economic relations with any African country that supports him. It might even be a catalyst for democratic change.