Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
January 13th - January 19th 2003
Weekly update 2003-02

CONTENTS

1. GENERAL COMMENT
2. THE ALLEGED EXIT PLAN
3. RIGHTS ABUSES: POLITICAL ARRESTS

1. GENERAL COMMENT

Since the promulgation of the repressive Public Order and Security Act
(POSA), the police have selectively used it to curtail the freedoms of the
opposition and civil society through summary arrests. Those arrested are
usually taken to police stations unknown to their lawyers and families. Some
have been assaulted and others even tortured. In most cases, the accused
are either released without charge or have their cases dropped due to lack
of evidence.
It is in this context that Judge President, Justice Paddington Garwe,
deplored this unprofessional conduct by state security agents when he opened
the 2003 High Court legal year in Bulawayo.
Justice Garwe (The Daily Mirror, 14/1) said: "Brutalizing an accused person
at the investigation stage creates a very negative attitude towards the
criminal justice system. In terms of our law an accused person is presumed
innocent until proven guilty".
The Chronicle of the same day, buried Justice Garwe's important observations
at the tail end of its report, which largely quoted him criticizing lawyers
for allegedly failing to prepare cases before going to court.
In fact the paper's stance amply demonstrated the public media's timidity in
exposing the unprofessional conduct of state security agents. Their coverage
of arrests and alleged torture of opposition party members is characterized
by omissions and failure to criticize such gross violations of human rights
by the police, whose role is to uphold the rule of law and protect every
citizen of the country, regardless of their political affiliation.
It was only through the private media that the public got details of the
blatant abuse of power by the police.

2. THE ALLEGED EXIT PLAN

The alleged exit plan for President Robert Mugabe, purportedly fashioned to
retire him before the end of his presidential term, further widened the gap
between the public and the private media. While the public media dismissed
such a plan as the mischievous work of the MDC and the British media in
their quest to oust Mugabe, the private media seemed to believe the
substance of the story and welcomed it as the panacea to Zimbabwe's various
crises.
In fact, the public media failed to carry its own investigations to verify
the story.
The private media was however, more analytical and added some flesh to the
original story that first appeared locally in The Sunday Mirror (12/1).
ZBC (ZTV, 13/01, 8pm) led other public media in denying the story. ZANU PF
secretary for information and publicity, Nathan Shamuyarira, was quoted as
saying the plan was "consistent" with the British government's plan to "get
MDC, which is their brainchild into power in Zimbabwe . through the back
door..." Shamuyarira added that the Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander
Vitalis Zvinavashe and ZANU PF secretary for administration, Emmerson
Mnangagwa, who are allegedly behind the plot, had denied any knowledge of
the plan.
In the same bulletin, Mnangagwa echoed Shamuyarira's statements saying,
"This is the work of the British intelligence. . They are so desperate . to
create suspicion among the ZANU PF leadership so that they may break our
unity".
Mnangagwa was not challenged to provide any evidence to support his claims.
ZBC conveniently ignored the fact that it was The Sunday Mirror that
initially carried the story before the British media, which they were
accusing of peddling the so-called plan.
Taking a leaf from ZBC, The Herald and Chronicle (14/1) also dismissed the
report and presented the plan as having been hatched by the MDC leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai. They claimed that "sources" said Tsvangirai was eager to
revive the stalled ZANU PF/MDC talks to circumvent his treason charges
before the courts.
The Herald (15/1) and The Sunday Mail (19/1) accorded acres of space to Moyo
to respond to the issue. He dismissed the story as "an ill-conceived media
event that will ultimately serve to expose the coup plotters, electoral
cowards and unfriendly foreign enemies behind it". President Mugabe earlier,
raised similar sentiments in his denial of the story (ZBC 14 & 15, and all
dailies 15/1).
As if space allocated to Moyo by the public Press was not enough, ZTV & 3FM,
(16/01 8pm), further quoted him as saying: "The current debate and rumblings
about the succession of Cde Mugabe is part of attempts by coup plotters to
sway people's focus towards irrelevant issues".
Moyo did not mention who these coup plotters were and did not explain why
they had not been arrested. Neither did the public media ask him.
In fact, Moyo and other ZANU PF officials' denials remained the thrust of
the public Press in its coverage of the issue. This was illustrated by such
stories as, Falsehoods show MDC's desperation, The Herald (15/1), Blair must
leave Zimbabwe alone, Chronicle (16/1), Succession lies: UK plot of divide
and rule, The Sunday Mail (19/1), Tsvangirai's bizarre plot, The Sunday
News (19/1).
However, The Daily News (18/1) in its opinion piece, Why Moyo is dead
against Mugabe's exit, interpreted Moyo's response as driven by his selfish
need to survive politically. The article stated: "Jonathan Moyo would not
survive politically in an environment characterized by democratic principles
and fair play on the political field. This is so because Moyo does not seem
to have a sound political history nor does he enjoy any support, political
or social, from the majority Zimbabweans, except from Mugabe himself."
Indeed, the paper and other private media seemed to report with some
conviction that such a plan was discussed despite Moyo and other officials'
denials. However, they failed to establish this as fact.
The Daily Mirror (14/1), citing the BBC interview, reported that Tsvangirai
had confirmed, "there are secret plans for President Mugabe to hand over
power to a chosen successor before his term expires". It gave the impression
that details of the original story were indeed true.
Similarly, The Daily News (16/1) quoted Tsvangirai further confirming the
story, saying that although he met Colonel Dyck, the alleged ZANU PF
emissary, in December, no secret deal was agreed on. He repeated his claims
in a letter published in The Sunday Mirror (19/1).
In an attempt to give the alleged plan a popular mandate, The Financial
Gazette (16/1), Widespread backing for MDC-ZANU PF deal, quoted its regular
commentators such as Tony Hawkins and Brian Raftopolous supporting the
alleged exit plan. Furthermore, in its comment the paper implored the two
main parties to "put aside their bitter differences for the good of the
nation".
Earlier, The Daily News (15/1) called on ZANU PF to "discuss (the) exit plan
for Mugabe" adding that "the party must accept that it has run out of ideas
and steam".
To further belie ZANU PF and the public media stance, the paper (17/1),
using an unconfirmed article by The Namibian, reported that the Malaysian
government had agreed to offer asylum to President Mugabe if he relinquished
power.
That same day, The Zimbabwe Independent, Mugabe exit plot thickens, also
maintained that the exit plan story was credible. Describing the exit plan
as a "palace coup" the paper quoted "sources" as saying Mnangagwa and
Zvinavashe "were keen to exploit fault lines within the ruling party to
advance their interests".
The paper also implicated Ibbo Mandaza, the publisher of The Daily Mirror
and Sunday Mirror, as having played a role. It reported that Mandaza
published the story to "test the succession waters on Mnangagwa and
Zvinavashe's behalf".
The paper's report was later used by SW Radio Africa (17/01) that evening.
The Standard (19/1), Farewell to the throne, also believed the story saying,
"there is no smoke without fire". The paper observed that everyone,
including ZANU PF stalwarts, were seeing that a solution to Zimbabwe's
crisis "cannot be found with President Mugabe in control".
To its credit, The Business Tribune (16/1) interviewed Zvinavashe on the
issue. He denied his involvement in the alleged deal saying that would be
unconstitutional. Inadvertently corroborating the private media reports, he
admitted there was an economic crisis. He was quoted: "First, we must admit
there is a crisis. Everyone can see that.so we must do something about it.
It is important for the nation to be told that we are facing an economic
crisis and that the people should brace for it. In my view it is not right
to keep quiet and let nature take its course."
He proposed the formation of a task force involving all arms of government,
which would operate under the supervision of President Mugabe, "with powers
to make substantive decisions that will not be overturned by civil servants
or cabinet ministers". The paper did not challenge him to explain how that
task force would be appointed and who exactly should constitute it.
Interestingly, ZTV (16/01, 8pm) quoted Zvinavashe as having denied a report
by a South African newspaper that he allegedly "admitted that there was a
crisis in Zimbabwe".

3. RIGHTS ABUSES: POLITICAL ARRESTS

The week witnessed continuing human rights violations in the country. These
abuses took different forms ranging from abuse of police powers,
politicization of food, and politically motivated violence perpetrated by
ZANU PF militia. However, it was the police's abuse of power under the cover
of the draconian Public Order and Security Act that hogged the limelight.
The private media, led by The Daily News, diligently exposed such excesses
whilst the public media mentioned them in passing, censored or ignored them
altogether. The following table shows the number of stories (incidents and
follow-ups) on police arrests of journalists, MDC and civic leaders:
The Daily News 13
The Daily Mirror 8
The Herald 5
Chronicle 4
The Zimbabwe Independent 2
The Weekly Tribune 2
The Financial Gazette 1
The Business Tribune, The Sunday News and The Sunday Mirror ignored the
incidents.
More telling was The Daily News (17/1) which sought to expose the extent to
which opposition members were being harassed by the police and graduands of
the infamous national youth service. The paper reported that "throughout
Manicaland, over 1 000 MDC members, including Roy Bennet, the MP for
Chimanimani, and other senior officials in the province, have been arrested
and charged with various alleged politically motivated crimes " since the
June 2000 parliamentary elections. The article further noted that "most of
the arrested were released without being charged, whilst others who appeared
before the courts were acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence." MDC
Manicaland provincial chairman, Timothy Mabhawu, was quoted as warning the
police and youths from the Border Gezi training centre with unspecified
action if they continued to arrest MDC leaders on "trumped-up charges".
Similarly, The Zimbabwe Independent (17/1) quoted MDC spokesman, Paul
Themba-Nyathi, saying that in the past 18 months, 42 senior members of his
party were arrested and arraigned before the courts. "Of all the cases that
have been finalized in the courts, our officials have either been acquitted
or the cases have been thrown out for lack of evidence," he said.
The arrest and release of the Harare mayor was a classic example of the
total abuse of power by the police.
The Daily News (13/1) reported that the police had ignored a High Court
order to release Harare mayor, Elias Mudzuri from their custody. He had been
arrested for allegedly addressing an illegal gathering in Mabvuku.
Notably, The Herald report of the same day merely announced that the mayor
was still in police custody without highlighting the blatant contempt of a
court order by the police. Instead, its comment, Dignity of mayoral office
eroded, presented the mayor as having invited trouble on himself. It
claimed: "After last week's failed demonstration, which the police didn't
arrest him for even though everyone knew that he was behind it despite his
vehement denial, the mayor should have changed tact"(sic).
The following day The Daily News (and The Daily Mirror 14/1), reported that
Mudzuri had been released as the state had "failed to substantiate
allegations" against the mayor. Although The Herald also reported the
release the same day, it did not inform its readers there was no evidence
linking the mayor to the charge. The paper then conveniently quoted police
spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena as saying the police "don't know why the High
Court judge dismissed the case".
In an attempt to buttress the notion that Mudzuri's release was a mistake on
the part of the courts and not necessarily the police's failure to provide
evidence, the paper (15/1) quoted senior Assistant Commissioner Faustino
Mazango complaining that the High Court "had not given the police a chance
to present their case".
Similarly, ZBC (14/01, 8pm) quoted Mazango as having defiantly said, "police
are still charging the mayor under POSA and will summon him to court when
the docket is ready".
Mazango then alleged that the meetings Mudzuri was having with Harare
residents were part of an MDC plot to stop the World Cup cricket matches
from being played in the country saying, "through these meetings, the mayor
of Harare Mr. Elias Mudzuri was taking a lead in organizing the intended
demonstrations".
ZBC did not question why Mudzuri had been arrested and spent the weekend in
jail if the docket was not ready or why the High Court had ordered Mudzuri's
release if they had such information.
In the same bulletin, ZTV however quoted Mudzuri as having said the Mabvuku
meeting was "the 19th he has held to update the public on various issues
including the city's water problems".
ZBC did not reconcile this with Mazango's comment that police had not
arrested Mudzuri "on the spur of the moment" but had been monitoring his
meetings "in which civic issues were to be discussed". The public
broadcaster did not find it strange that after monitoring these meetings,
the police still failed to give admissible and incriminating evidence
against the mayor.
The Daily News (13/1 and 14/1) also reported that MDC MP Paul Madzore was
arrested and taken by police to an unknown destination for demonstrating in
Glen View in solidarity with Mudzuri.
Meanwhile, the public media further exposed their bias in covering the
harassment of opposition members by ignoring death threats allegedly made to
Mudzuri by a suspected state agent, while in police custody. This only
appeared in The Daily News and The Daily Mirror (15/1).
Similarly, The Herald initially ignored the torture of MDC MP Job Sikhala
and human rights defender Gabriel Shumba by the police. The paper only made
reference to these in its January 18th edition. Even then, it merely stated
that the two claimed to have been assaulted by the police, noting that
Sikhala had " burns on both arms, genitals and bruises" without explaining
how he got them.
It was through The Daily News (17/1) that the public got to know of the
severe torture suffered by Sikhala. Both the public and private Press (18/1)
reported that medical reports confirmed allegations of assault and torture.
In another case, The Daily News (18/1) also reported that Khetani Augustine
Sibanda, an MDC member accused of murdering war veteran leader, Cain Nkala,
had survived two attempts on his life while in custody. His lawyers said he
survived poisoning and strangulation.
The public media ignored the report as they also did the arrest of the
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) officials, who were allegedly
assaulted by ZANU PF supporters for urging Kuwadzana residents to vote
peacefully, The Daily News and SW Radio Africa (17/1).
Just like the private Press, SW Radio Africa (16/1) observed that the
arrests of MDC officials and activists was a broad "campaign which seeks to
thwart opposition".
And to support its claims, the private station reported on the arrest,
harassment, beatings and torture by the police of 13 people. These included
Sikhala and his co-accused, MDC MP Paul Madzore, Mudzuri and the
interrogation and release of another MDC legislator, Trudy Stevenson.
The station (16/01) then used the arrests as evidence that "the police have
become the perpetrators of violence".
To its credit, the private radio station sought comment from Bvudzijena who
reportedly refused to comment, prompting its newsreader to call for his
resignation.
Ends.

The MEDIA UPDATE was produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project
Zimbabwe,15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702,
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