Completely Unnecessary

Jesus. That’s about all one can say about this past Friday’s election in Zimbabwe.

With Tsvangirai gone and the UN bravely refusing to do anything (the august body was even unable to declare a run-off with one candidate ‘illegitimate’).

Mugabe has declared victory and proclaimed ‘record turnouts’, though it appear (unsurprisingly) that the Zimbabweans that voted did so out of fear. Despite the increasing violence and terror waged against those supporting the opposition, it seems as though numerous voters spoilt their ballots or voted for Tfo. Some even boycotted the poll, despite Mugabe’s thugs checking for the tell-tale ‘I voted’ red ink on people’s fingers.

But, worry not, Mugabe is going to be magnamouous in his ‘victory’ - I suppose he can afford to be, having terrorized his opponent and his people.

Bush is going to put in tougher sanctions, but whether this will work or not is debatable. One of Mugabe’s ploys in the past has been to claim that Western sanctions on his government is what has driven the insane inflation in the country. But at least he’s doing something.

After the fact, of course. God forbid we act when it might be truly effective - say, before or during the intimidating beatings, murders and incarcerations. Say, before Mugabe could claim victory in an election.

Perhaps if we meddled in the right place for once we wouldn’t have to call it ‘meddling’.

Vaguely Related

• Zimbabwe: Mugabe Retaliates in Plain Sight
• Zimbabwe: Mugabe in Plain Sight II

What a sad state of affairs when it’s preferable to be imprisoned in the jail of a desperate dictator than fall into the hands of the United States:

The legal interpretation, outlined in recent letters, sheds new light on the still-secret rules for interrogations by the Central Intelligence Agency. It shows that the administration is arguing that the boundaries for interrogations should be subject to some latitude, even under an executive order issued last summer that President Bush said meant that the C.I.A. would comply with international strictures against harsh treatment of detainees.

No word on whether ‘latitude’ means going back using the definition that ‘nothing short of the pain associated with organ failure constituted illegal torture.’

Ah, the halcyon days of 2002-2004.

Vaguely Related

• You there, quit it.
• The Cheney Impeachment Response

I’m not really an advocate of military intervention, but maybe we could be speaking up a bit more than letting one of our envoys do the heavy lifting…

Mugabe’s party/police raided opposition headquarters:

Armed police officers raided the headquarters of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party in Harare, the capital, on Friday, arresting hundreds of people, a spokesman for the party said.
…
“These armed police have taken hundreds of people that were now staying at the party headquarters running away from the different parts of Zimbabwe, where the regime has been unleashing brutal violence,” Mr. Mlilo said in a statement.

In a later statement, the MDC said the number arrested had risen to 300 people, including all staff members.

The police searched for documents used by the opposition to support its claim it won the presidential election, and had also taken away computers, Mr. Mlilo said.

Reuters has a newer article, but some of the info seems older.

Supposedly, we’ll have results this weekend, and the nine constituencies that have recounted have remained the same.

The things we get in a tither about versus the things we ignore absolutely does my head in…

Links:
Opposition ‘Clear Victor’ in Zimbabwe, U.S. Says [NYT]
In Zimbabwe Raid, Hundreds in Opposition Party Detained [NYT]
Zimbabwe Riot Police Stage Raid [Reuters at NYT]

Vaguely Related

• Zimbabwe Election Redux
• Zimbabwe: Mugabe Retaliates in Plain Sight

What’s it’s going to take in Zimbabwe? South Africa (ANC) is finally calling for the release of election results, and Ban Ki-moon is ‘deeply concerned’ (which, by the way, NYT is calling ’strong talk’), but will any MDC (opposition) voters be around to see them?

A 15-year-old girl was abducted and beaten because Zanu-PF (Mugabe’s party) supporters suspected that her mother had voted for the MDC. When her mother went to look for her, she, too, was beaten.

[Attacked voters] are from diverse parts of rural Zimbabwe and they are a fraction of the many hundreds of people the opposition says have been assaulted as gangs of armed Zanu-PF supporters under military leadership move through the countryside, using polling station returns to identify villages where support for the opposition was strong.
…
“They said it was to teach us how to vote,” said Linus, 58. “They said: ‘It’s your own fault, voting for the opposition. That’s why we are doing all these things to you. When we have the run-off, you will know how to vote’.”

Plain sight. It really doesn’t get more audacious than this.

Few people have been killed in the beatings. It would appear that Zanu-PF has learned that deaths attract attention.

I doubt it’ll take long to move to larger-scale killings though - we’re not paying attention to terrible beatings, so why not?

Links:
Mugabe’s men take their revenge [the Age - from the Guardian]
Strong Talk About Zimbabwe at the U.N. [NYT]
South Africa Shifts on Zimbabwe, Calls For Result [Reuters]

Vaguely Related

• Zimbabwe Election Redux
• Mugabe Possibly Defeated in Zimbabwe Election

Results aren’t final yet, but from polling results across the country, it appears that the Zimbabwean opposition may have actually defeated Robert Mugabe. Last time, the MDC claimed that election officials added extra votes to Mugabe’s column at the last minute, and it now appears voting boxes have gone missing in some districts.

Still, this announcement will make it harder for Mugabe to fix the results if they go against him. I don’t doubt that he will go down fighting (read: forcing his opponents to eat their own campaign posters), but there are too many results zipping around the country on mobile phones.

Also, Zimbabwe has spent the five years since the last election moving swiftly towards utter disaster, fueled mostly by Mugabe’s increasingly autocratic policies.

So, perhaps he really is on his way out:

“It’s hard for me to believe that Mugabe will go peacefully,” [community activist Mike Davis] said. “When autocrats fall, that’s the most dangerous time.”

Indeed it is. Best of luck to the people and democratic process of Zimbabwe.

Link:
Opposition Claims Win in Zimbabwe on Unofficial Tally [NYT]

Vaguely Related

• Zimbabwe: Mugabe Retaliates in Plain Sight
• Zimbabwe Election Redux