Summary :
Jun 23, 2008 / Guardian / US and Britain: Mugabe's Zimbabwe 'not legitimate'
July 06, 2008 / Mail & Guardian Online / UK sending 11 000 Mugabe refugees back
July 12, 2008 / Mail Online / UK condemnation as Russia and China veto sanctions on Zimbabwe's Mugabe regime
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US and Britain: Mugabe's Zimbabwe 'not legitimate'
guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 June 2008 11.32 BSTMark Tran, Peter Walker, Julian Borger and agencies
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/23/zimbabwe5
The US and Britain today led international condemnation of Zimbabwe by urging countries not to recognise Robert Mugabe's "criminal and discredited cabal".
Mugabe is expected to come under strong diplomatic pressure when the UN security council meets later today. Ahead of the meeting, US and British officials stepped up their criticism of the 84-year-old Zimbabwean president.
The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, said that, without a proper election process, Mugabe's government could not be considered legitimate and should be condemned "in the strongest possible terms".
In similar comments, Gordon Brown, told MPs he had spoken to Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader today, adding that he would push for more sanctions against the Mugabe government.
"The international community must send a powerful and united message: that we will not recognise the fraudulent election rigging and violence and intimidation of a criminal and discredited cabal," the prime minister said.
"The world is of one view: that the status quo cannot continue."
As international leaders denounced Mugabe, Tsvangirai, the head of the Movement for Democratic Change, sought refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare amid escalating violence orchestrated by the ruling Zanu-PF party.
The Dutch foreign ministry, in The Hague, confirmed that Tsvangirai was "temporarily" sheltering at the embassy for safety.
Maxime Verhagen, the Dutch foreign minister, had agreed to a request for shelter from Tsvangirai's party, a spokesman told AFP.
The spokesman added that Tsvangirai was "currently reflecting on what the next step should be".
Tsvangirai yesterday announced he was withdrawing from this week's scheduled run-off vote against Mugabe, saying he did not want to put the lives of his supporters at risk.
An estimated 100 opposition activists have been murdered by security forces and militia connected to Zanu-PF, and thousands of MDC supporters have been raped and tortured.
Earlier today, riot police raided the MDC headquarters in Harare, taking away up to 60 people, a witness quoted by AFP said.
Mark Malloch-Brown, Brown's Africa minister, said Britain planned to argue at the UN that Mugabe "no longer remains the proper rightful leader of the country".
Much could depend on the reaction of Zimbabwe's neighbours. South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, has faced intense international criticism for failing to use what influence he has on Mugabe's regime to try and rein in anti-opposition violence.
The African Union expressed its "grave concern" at the situation. The union was closely monitoring events following Tsvangirai's announcement, Jean Ping, chairman of the executive arm, the African Union commission, said.
The union was holding talks with a mediation team led by Mbeki, to see how it could help, he added. Despite Tsvangirai's decision to drop out, the ruling Zanu-PF party has promised it will go ahead with Friday's vote.
Mugabe's justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, ridiculed Tsvangirai's announcement. "Zanu-PF is not treating the threats seriously - it is a nullity," Chinamasa was quoted as saying by today's edition of the Herald newspaper, a government mouthpiece.
"We are proceeding with our campaign to romp to victory on Friday."
After the MDC leadership met yesterday it said it was withdrawing from a "violent, illegitimate sham of an election".
"Mugabe has declared war, and we will not be part of that war," Tsvangirai said.
"The militia, war veterans and even Mugabe himself have made it clear that anyone that votes for me in the forthcoming election faces the very real possibility of being killed.
"We in the MDC cannot ask them to cast their vote on June 27 when that vote could cost them their lives. We believe a credible election, which reflects the will of the people, is impossible."
Speaking on South Africa's Radio 702 today, Tsvangirai said he was willing to begin talks with Zanu-PF, but only if the violence ended.
"We are prepared to negotiate with Zanu-PF, but of course it is important that certain principles are accepted before the negotiations take place," he added. "One of the preconditions is that this violence against the people must be stopped."
According to contested official results, Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe in an initial presidential election on March 29, but did not gain enough for an outright win.
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UK sending 11 000 Mugabe refugees back
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-07-06-uk-sending-11-000-mugabe-refugees-back
Attempts by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to use a meeting of G8 leaders this week to campaign for tougher action against Zimbabwe are in danger of being undermined by claims that Britain is forcing as many as 11 000 Zimbabweans seeking refuge in the country to make a stark choice between destitution or returning home to possible torture or death. Letters obtained by the Observer show that the Home Office continues to order failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers to return home in the face of mounting violence.
A removal letter, sent at the end of May to an exiled London-based member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, states: "The support that you have been provided with is to be discontinued ... You should note that there is no right to appeal against this decision ... You must now leave the United Kingdom."
The letter, which refugee groups say has been sent to hundreds of Zimbabweans in the past few months, continues: "As a failed asylum seeker you are expected to make arrangements to leave the United Kingdom without delay."
The letter's recipient, a man who asked not to be named for fear it would jeopardise his safety if he is forced to return to Zimbabwe, said that he had been tortured by President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party. "I have to report to the Home Office every two weeks but I haven't got any money to pay the travel costs," he said.
The majority of Zimbabweans in the UK are too scared to return. As a result, refugee groups and charities say many Zimbabwean asylum seekers are now destitute and relying on friends and charity.
"These letters are shameful," said Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council. "It is appalling that the government is continuing to order Zimbabweans to go back to Zimbabwe, especially under the current circumstances, and basically leaving them to starve if they don't."
She said: "It is scarcely believable that even now, when there can be no questioning of the atrocities being committed by Mugabe's regime, people asking for safety here are being turned away."
John Waite, co-chairperson of the Independent Asylum Commission, which has just published a report on the asylum system in the UK, described the situation as a source of shame.
He said: "We heard testimony from many Zimbabwean asylum seekers and we were shocked by what we found -- Zimbabweans sleeping on sofas, in parks and launderettes, reliant on charity and prevented from working."
He added: "Our nation's leaders have loudly condemned the Mugabe regime, but perhaps we should also look a little closer to home, to the thousands of Zimbabwean asylum seekers who have been left in a harsh legal limbo -- unable to work, deprived of welfare and unable to return home. If the British people had heard what we have heard from destitute Zimbabweans, they would be troubled and perhaps even ashamed."
The Home Office won a legal ruling earlier in the year giving it the power to send Zimbabweans home. But the ruling, the result of a three-year legal battle, was disputed by refugee groups.
Last week the Court of Appeal adjourned the case, a move that has meant thousands of Zimbabweans continue to be left without benefits. "The hidden consequence of this decision is that up to 11 000 refused Zimbabwean asylum seekers will be left destitute, not given any support or accommodation and at risk of prosecution if they work to support themselves, so that some are forced to beg and sleep rough," said Caroline Slocock, chief executive of the Refugee Legal Centre.
Nick Scott-Flynn, head of refugee services at the Red Cross, estimates a tenth of the 10 000 refugees his organisation helps in the UK each year are Zimbabwean.
"Many are petrified about going back," he said. "They are in limbo -- not allowed to work and not allowed to receive benefits. The consequences of this policy is causing a lot of needless suffering, and there is no evidence it is encouraging people to return home."
Marilyn Bonzo, who is seeking asylum in the UK after being accused of supporting the MDC, is one Zimbabwean living in destitution. "I now live on the charity of my British friends and food that the Red Cross give me," she said.
This week Britain is to lead calls urging G8 countries not to recognise the re-election of Mugabe and to consider tighter sanctions against his regime. In April, Brown said: "I am appalled by the signs that the regime is once again resorting to intimidation and violence."
But Covey said the government's policy on Zimbabwe was contradictory. "What people find bewildering is the disconnect between what the government says in regards to its foreign policy and its immigration policy," she said. "The Home Office has got very expensive lawyers trying to deport opposition activists, and the message going back to Zimbabwe is that the UK is not a safe haven."
Refugee support groups are now calling on the government urgently to relax the rules barring Zimbabwean asylum seekers from working. The Foreign Office minister, Malloch Brown, recently hinted this was a proposal being considered by the government.
A UK Border Agency spokesperson said that, although the agency was sending out letters ordering failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers to return home, it had no plans to start forced removals. "We always seek to assist anyone who wishes to return," she said. -
guardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008
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UK condemnation as Russia and China veto sanctions on Zimbabwe's Mugabe regime
By Ian Drury
Last updated at 4:52 PM on 12th July 2008
Russia and China rejected a draft resolution to impose restrictions on Robert Mugabe and 13 of his henchmen
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has condemned Russia and China for blocking international sanctions against Robert Mugabe's regime.
He said he was 'very disappointed' that the two super-powers had prevented the United Nations taking action to punish the murderous Zimbabwean president.
Russia and China risked sparking outrage by flatly rejecting a draft resolution which would have imposed an arms embargo on Zimbabwe, as well as financial and travel restrictions on Mugabe and 13 of his henchmen.
The move was a devastating and embarrassing blow for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who thought he had gained sufficient backing for the U.N. Security Council motion after Zimbawe's recent elections were marred by violence.
On Tuesday, he appeared to have pulled off a remarkable coup at the G8 summit in Japan by persuading Russia - which traditionally opposes interference in the affairs of other nations - to join in condemnation of the tyrant.
But in a controversial move which led to angry recriminations, Moscow sabotaged the imposition of sanctions by using its veto.
Downing Street described the result as a 'missed opportunity' for the people of the former British colony, but said today it would not rule out a renewed attempt to get a Security Council resolution if efforts to deliver a mediated settlement failed to make progress.
'It is disappointing that the Security Council failed to stand up for the democratic rights of Zimbabweans. But it was right to push for a tough Security Council resolution, and those who stood in its way must now take responsibility for the failure of the Security Council to act," a No 10 spokesman said.
'We will continue to stand firmly for human rights and democracy, and will return to the Security Council in the absence of early progress on mediation, humanitarian access and an end to violence.
'This is not the outcome we sought, but we have other options.'
The spokesman said that Britain would continue to press UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send a special envoy to Zimbabwe, while pushing for further EU measures against the regime.
Mr Miliband said people in the beleaguered African nation, which has been pushed to the brink of civil war as millions endure starvation and violence, would find the U.N. vote 'incomprehensible'.
He said: 'I am very disappointed that the UN Security Council should have failed to pass a strong and clear resolution on Zimbabwe.
'In particular, it will appear incomprehensible to the people of Zimbabwe that Russia, which committed itself at the G8 only a few days ago to take further steps including introducing financial and other sanctions, should today stand in the way of timely and decisive security council action.
'Nor will they understand the Chinese vote.'
He added: 'All of our efforts will continue to be directed at alleviating the suffering of Zimbabweans. The violence against them must stop.'
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said it was now clear that Mr Brown had been 'over-confident' when he claimed a "major breakthrough" on sanctions at the G8.
He said that Britain now needed to find other ways of bringing pressure to bear on the Mugabe regime.
'The excuse given by Russia and China, that the issue is no threat to world stability, does not hold water when millions of Zimbabwean refugees have fled to neighbouring countries,' he said.
'It is becoming ever clearer that the 'responsibility to protect' which all nations agreed to at the last UN summit is a totally meaningless concept to some of them.
'The British Government should now look at whether a grouping of EU, Commonwealth and southern African nations could co-ordinate their own version of the pressure the UN has failed to apply.
'Above all, this huge setback cannot be the end of the matter. The people of Zimbabwe are suffering oppression, violence and poverty on a scale the world cannot be allowed to ignore.'
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Edward Davey said that the Government needed to find a way to get South African President Thabo Mbeki to take a firmer line with Mr Mugabe.
"President Mbeki has always held the key and now is the time to increase pressure on him. We need to talk to and support those political voices in South Africa who want to end the oppression in Zimbabwe," he said.
Britain's Ambassador to the U.N., Sir John Sawers, said the Security Council had 'failed to shoulder its responsibility to do what it can to prevent a national tragedy deepening and spreading its effects across southern Africa'.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has condemned Russia and China's decision to block the U.N. Security Council motion as "incomprehensible"
He added: 'The people of Zimbabwe need to be given hope that there is an end in sight to their suffering. The Security Council today has failed to offer them that hope.'
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad said Russia's U-turn over Zimbabwe was 'disturbing' and raised questions about its 'reliability as a G8 partner'.
But Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said sanctions would have taken the U.N. beyond its mandate to deal with threats to international peace and security.
The resolution - which included the appointment of a special U.N envoy to Zimbabwe - won the backing of nine of the 15 council members, the minimum required to pass it.
But crucially China - Zimbabwe's biggest trading partner - and Russia both used their vetos to defeat the motion and scupper sanctions.
They were joined by South Africa, whose president Thabo Mbeki's refusal to take a strong stance against Mugabe has infuriated Western nations, Libya and Vietnam.
The other three members with veto power, Britain, the U.S. and France, called for sanctions to pile pressure on Mugabe after violence and intimidation marred Zimbabwe's recent discredited presidential election.
The leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the first round of Zimbabwe's presidential elections on March 29.
Official results gave him less than the 50 per cent share needed to seize power so a run-off was called.
But Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the poll after many of his supporters suffered violence and brutality at the hands of Mugabe's militia, leaving the tyrant to declare victory at the end of last month.
In the wake of Mugabe 'stealing' the election, Britain upped the demand for G8 leaders to back tougher penalties against the dictator.
During this week's summit Mr Brown used horrific photographs of the tortured and burned body of an opposition party worker in Zimbabwe to unite world leaders in condemnation of Mugabe.
His highly-unusual decision to show the graphic images to other world leaders appeared to have got results as Russia surprisingly agreed to fresh action. Last night the move backfired.
In a statement to the U.N., Zimbabwe called the proposed sanctions 'escalatory and tragic'
It added: 'The situation in Zimbabwe does not warrant the attention that it is getting. Zimbabwe's quarrel with Britain is purely bilateral and has no place on the UN Security Council agenda.'
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