Mugabe sends opposition activists to jail, exile and the grave

cient rigging mechanism ahead of elections, torn up a democratic draft constitution, and sent opposition activists into jail, exile or the grave.
Twenty-seven opposition activists have now spent a gruelling three months in remand prison. Only one person in this group, Tsvangirai’s top advisor Ian Makone, has been released on Z$150 million bail.
The government has used the array of legislation at its disposal, including tough security laws, to impose virtual martial rule. Rallies and demonstrations remain banned – nine months away from crucial presidential and legislative elections. The penalty for challenging established authority can draw a penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment. Organising people to take part in protests gets two years inside.
Against this background, the opposition is backing Morgan Tsvangirai, a trade unionist, as a joint candidate in the presidential and parliamentary election next March.
He has had a warm reception abroad – most recently at a meeting in South Africa organised by pro-democracy group IDASA.
But it is wowing the dirt-poor rural areas, constituting 75 percent of the Zimbabwe vote, that really matters. This is an uphill battle, given the official harassment that cripples his campaigns in these areas and the deeply entrenched patronage system. The opposition has no access to the public media – which reaches these people. State-owned radio and television remain the exclusive propaganda tool of the Mugabe regime.
The shrinking independent media, although nominally free, must overcome big bureaucratic obstacles, including tough registration requirements with the government-run Media and Information Commission.
Now a new law is targeting the only channel of information that the government does not control – the Internet. The Interception of Communications Bill will make it a criminal offence to discredit Zimbabwe’s standing abroad through any electronic medium. It also empowers government to snoop on private communications, including telephone conversations and e-mails.
Local geeks claim the authorities have bought software from China to block opposition related content in e-mails or websites. has reciprocated with a desperately needed loan, which has given the Mugabe regime a new lease of life.
The opposition has also ratcheted pressure by threatening public protests. Up until March 11, numbers taking part had grown each time. But with the police now allowed to shoot demonstrators, coupled with an escalating wave of State-sponsored terror, it is understandable that numbers have predictably fallen.
Pro-democracy forces hope for a Ukraine-style revolution in Zimbabwe. It could be a long wait. – Chief Reporter