Zimbabwe Police Break Up Protest

Rally Organized as Test of New Laws on Political Freedom
JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 23 (Washington Post) -- Zimbabwean police dispersed hundreds of opposition demonstrators with tear gas Wednesday afternoon in the first major test of new laws granting greater political freedoms in one of Africa's most repressive nations. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said the demonstrations were staged to reveal whether President Robert Mugabe was prepared to loosen his grip on Zimbabwe after nearly 28 years of increasingly authoritarian rule. Despite months of negotiations on the changes, including what appeared to be significant government concessions on a planned new constitution with a bill of rights, true freedom remains elusive, opposition officials said. They estimated that dozens of their members were arrested Wednesday. "This was a severe test for Robert Mugabe, and he has failed," said Tendai Biti, secretary general of the largest faction of the opposition party, which fractured in 2005.

Tensions have been especially high in Zimbabwe since March, when police beat and arrested dozens of opposition figures, including party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, shortly before a major demonstration was to begin. That incident led to an intensive regional diplomacy effort led by South African President Thabo Mbeki, who last week traveled to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, in an attempt to close a deal. But after negotiations faltered in recent days, opposition leaders decided to challenge Mugabe's forces on the streets of Harare, something the movement has rarely done with success since its founding in 1999. Police banned the planned demonstration. Then at 4 a.m. Wednesday, officers went to Tsvangirai's home and took him into custody for four hours of questioning before he was released, opposition officials said. That was followed by an urgent court hearing during which the party asked a judge to allow the rally. The judge told the opposition members that they could not hold their demonstration in Harare's city center, as planned, but could protest in a nearby park. But as protesters walked to the park, police blocked their way, fired tear gas and beat some of them, according to opposition accounts and news reports. Two truckloads of protesters, as well as some party leaders, were arrested, Biti said.

Calls to police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena and Mugabe spokesman George Charamba did not go through on Zimbabwe's troubled phone system, one of many elements of the country's infrastructure that has markedly deteriorated in recent years. State radio said police believed that the opposition protest was not intended to be peaceful and had "sinister motives," according to news reports. After police dispersed the protest, a small number of opposition activists traveled toward the park where the court ruling had explicitly allowed a rally. Tsvangirai spoke to the crowd there, saying the police action had made a mockery of regional diplomatic efforts led by Mbeki, Biti said.

Negotiations in recent months between Mugabe and the opposition have led to agreement on the new constitution as well as the relaxing of laws limiting political expression and rallies and press freedoms. But there has been sharp disagreement over the timing of presidential and parliamentary elections, with the opposition insisting they should be delayed for several months so that the constitution can be implemented and a free vote guaranteed. "Under these conditions . . . the election will be a farce," Biti said, but he added that no decision had been made on whether the opposition would boycott the vote. The country has been in steep economic decline for nearly a decade and has the world's worst hyperinflation along with mounting food shortages, widespread power cuts and massive unemployment.
by Craig Timberg
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Mozlink’ for any or all of the articles/images placed here. The placing of an article does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Mozlink