Zimbabwe court rules seizing of white-owned land legal

Houston Chronicle ^ | December 5, 2001 | Houston Chronicle News Services

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Constitution? They don't need no stinkin constitution!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Disarm & silence- always the way of dictators and totalitarians.

Bump!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

A similar situation is developing in Kenya and South Africa is falling apart. Mugabe's Way or the Highway

[Verginius Rufus]

The U.S. Constitution does not stipulate the number of justices for the Supreme Court, and FDR tried to raise the number from 9 to 15 so that he could name 6 justices (the infamous court-packing episode). Congress refused to go along even though the Democrats were in control.

It's possible that Mugabe did not enlarge the Zimbabwean Supreme Court on his own, but told his Congress to do so.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zimbabwe Police Release Reporter for British Paper-- "The police did not misinterpret the law. They knew exactly what they were doing," Peta told South African public radio after his release. "Everything was aimed at humiliating me and sending a message to my colleagues that it will track down those journalists it does not like."

[Cincinatus' Wife]

'War Veterans' training youths to hunt down opposition supporters--The national chairman of the Zimbabwe Victims Rehabilitation Support Network (ZVRSN), Bopoto Nyandoro, said war veterans had also set up 10 bases in Mashonaland East where suspected opposition supporters were being tortured. He said a field study undertaken by ZVRSN had revealed that opposition Movement for Democratic Change supporters were being kidnapped, tortured and forced to reveal where their colleagues lived.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

67 rallies canceled: Zimbabwe opposition members attacked, murdered-- "To date we have had 67 rallies canceled either by the police or by ZANU-PF violence since the (laws were) passed three weeks ago," said Jongwe. "We will contest this election under the most severe circumstances but we have been stretched to the limit."

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Outrageous!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zimbabwe rejects EU poll observer (murder and mayhem rule: opposition "stretched to the limit") [Excerpt] Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai poses the main election threat to Mugabe amid discontent with a collapsing economy and chronic food shortages in a land once known for agricultural abundance.

Analysts say the food problems stem from Mugabe's seizure of white-owned land, which has disrupted commercial farming. [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

EU deadlocked with Zimbabwe over election observers [Excerpt] It was not clear what action the government would take if Schori and other barred Europeans traveled widely around the country and visited areas not on regular tourist routes.

The EU has warned Zimbabwe of sanctions unless the elections are free and fair, and unless observers and international journalists are allowed to work unhindered.

Political violence has intensified ahead of the presidential vote in which Mugabe, 77, and his increasingly unpopular ruling party face opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, 49, a charismatic former labor leader. [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Canadian firm accuses Zimbabwe opposition leader of plotting to kill Mugabe --[Excerpt] A presidential election is scheduled for March 9-10. Tsvangirai poses the greatest challenge to Mugabe's 22-year rule since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980. Mugabe has become increasingly unpopular amid the collapse of his country's economy and political violence against opposition supporters.

A man representing Tsvangirai's party approached Dicksen & Madson in November, said Ari Ben-Menashe, the firm's president.

The opposition officials appeared unaware the firm had done work for Mugabe's government for "a few years" and believed it had connections to assassins, Ben-Menashe said. It is currently representing the government as lobbyists. [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zimbabwe Defies EU Diplomat but Denies Visa Revoked --[Except] Zimbabwe is under growing international pressure and approved 30 other EU monitoring team members on Thursday.

But it has pointedly failed to invite representatives from Britain and five other EU countries -- Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden -- which have criticized Mugabe over human rights and the seizure of white-owned farms.

South Africa, the biggest regional power, has also sent a monitoring team. It urged the EU to accept Zimbabwe's ban on Schori so it could keep the rest of its team there.

"They shouldn't fight a battle on the issue of a leader or not a leader. The issue is quite simple: Are they going to be able to put in observers to observe?" South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad told reporters in Cape Town.

The Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity, Amara Essy, adopted a harsher tone toward the Europeans, saying that Africans could look after their own.

"Really I am not happy to see foreigners coming to look at what we are doing. They do not ask us to go to the United States to see what is happening," he said in Lusaka. [End Excerpt]

[headsonpikes]

"What a bunch of racists."

I agree; and they've done it all 'nice and legal', just like the U.S. Feds in their so-called 'War on Drugs'.

Right????

[Argus]

Very sharp posting. The devils are loose in Zimbabwe, and the government's message to white farmers is simple - Give up your land and get out before we kill all of you. I'm old enough to remember when the liberal western press denounced Ian Smith's Rhodesia as a racist, fascist oppressor and predicted utopia under the enlightened "Dr." Mugabe. Now that utopia has arrived, nothing but silence from these bozos. South Africa is fast going down the same road. And the ones who suffer most are Black Africans themselves - they have nowhere else to run to.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Now that utopia has arrived, nothing but silence from these bozos. South Africa is fast going down the same road. And the ones who suffer most are Black Africans themselves - they have nowhere else to run to.

Communism is not utopia.

Bump!

[nightdriver]

"The Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity, Amara Essy, adopted a harsher tone toward the Europeans, saying that Africans could look after their own."

We'll have to remember Mr. Essy's little comment when Zimbabwe and our own pathetic liberals are clammoring for the U.S. to bail them out with our food and money!

[Doomonyou]

Zimbabwe - Welcome (back) to the Dark Ages...

The new U.S. Taxpayer welfare state.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Yes Mugabe's government henchmen can shoot of their mouths. Here's another comment:

Zimbabwe Defies EU Diplomat but Denies Visa Revoked-- The Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity, Amara Essy, adopted a harsher tone toward the Europeans, saying that Africans could look after their own. "Really I am not happy to see foreigners coming to look at what we are doing. They do not ask us to go to the United States to see what is happening," he said in Lusaka.

But the people trapped under this dictatorship are trying to break free.

[JavaTheHutt]

Here we go again! In a few years there will be massive starvation among the black population of Zimbabwe

That would certainly be the case if I were one of the farmers being evicted from my own land. I would burn down all the buildings, poison the water supply, and sow the fields with a heavy dose of salt before I vacated. They wouldn't be able to grow anything for years on that land.