Zimbabwe: an outrage the world can no longer ignore

take part in the EU-Africa summit due in December if it means sitting down with Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe.
This welcome shift in Government policy has come in the same week when the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, spoke out to implore that our colonial past should not to be used as an excuse for doing nothing. His call was endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who called on the UK to toughen its stance on Zimbabwe.
The Prime Minister cares about poverty in Africa and this statement shows that he is treating African leaders as responsible adults rather than making patronising allowances for their shortcomings.
The cosy solidarity of Africa’s political elite, and the scourge of corruption, have drained countries on the continent of economic and political vitality since they achieved independence. If the leaders of African Union nations insist on inviting Mugabe to the summit in Portugal, they will show, yet again, that for all their fine words on democracy and human rights, the plight of the people of the continent count for very little compared to the power and privilege of the ruling elites.
I have visited Zimbabwe undercover several times over recent years and seen the desperation and despair of life under Mugabe’s brutal oppression.
I helped families fleeing in terror as the regime’s armed forces moved in with bulldozers to demolish their homes. People who live in areas that stand up to this oppression are deprived of food, starvation and access to food has been used as a means of political control.
The call for action by the British government from Archbishop Sentamu, who suffered in his homeland Uganda under the dictatorship of Idi Amin, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu – a hero of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa – helps dispel the myth that Zimbabwe is an African crisis that needs an African solution.
I have said many times it would be great if there was an African solution but we have waited long enough for quiet diplomacy to work, as Archbishop Tutu says.
He said: “Africans must hang their heads in shame for having allowed such a desperate situation to continue almost without anybody doing anything to try and stop it.”
Besides, the UK and other donor nations are all stakeholders in this crisis. Zimbabwe is a country that under a democratic regime with an efficient economy could easily feed itself with surplus for exports so why should we be expected to foot the bill for feeding a third of the population of Zimbabwe and yet be denied the right to engage in finding a solution?
Save the Children reported this week that Zimbabwean children as young as seven are walking alone through hostile territory to cross the South African border in a bid to escape crushing poverty at home.
Despite the media being banned, brave journalists continue to slip in and get their footage out. ITV’s coverage this week has shown the desperation of the people and the continued abuse of human rights.
Last March the dreaded CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) broke up a peaceful meeting of Zimbabwe’s opposition leaders, took participants into custody and brutally assaulted them. Images of the bloodied faces and broken limbs of Morgan Tsvangirai and his colleagues shocked the world. President Mbeki of South Africa promised to actively seek a solution. So far there has been little progress.
The Prime Minister has also stated that he will raise the issue at the United Nations and try to get agreement to the appointment of a EU envoy to help support the transition to democracy. This will pick up on the commitments made by African nations following the G8 Gleneagles summit in 2005, and which so far have not been honoured.
There is little point in a mechanism to protect good governance and human rights that can only engage with countries where good governance and human rights are already well-advanced.
I am pleased that our Government will also consider, as Australia has done, expelling children of Zanu PF Ministers studying at schools and universities here. I will continue to call for a sporting boycott of Zimbabwe something which was so successful in fighting apartheid in South Africa.
The people of Zimbabwe feel forgotten and isolated. The news of Gordon Brown’s stand in solidarity with them will raise their spirits – particularly those brave souls in the trade unions, civil society, churches and students organisations who risk life and limb to carry on the struggle for freedom.
Despite being imprisoned and beaten by Mugabe’s secret police, there are heroic Zimbabweans who refuse to flee or remain silent. They are the hope for the future of Zimbabwe. – Kate Hoey is Labour MP for Vauxhall, First published in The Yorkshire Post.