Mukoko, Mudzingwa, Chiramba seen by doctors but sent back to jail

But despite both doctors agreeing that the three should be
hospitalised, they were still sent back to Chikurubi Maximum Prison
early Thursday evening.

Irene Petras from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), who was at
the Avenues clinic, said both the state and the private doctor had
recommended that the detainees needed to stay in hospital but there
were instructions' that the three should be returned to jail.

She said the victims have suffered many injuries, from the time they
were abducted and while being held incommunicado in detention. Their
condition had deteriorated because they had not received adequate
medical treatment while in jail.

She said recorded affidavits by the victims showed they suffered
physical and psychological torture after they were subjected to
numerous assaults on their bodies and under their feet, all in an
effort to extract false confessions from them.' 

Charamba, the 72-year old activist, was forced into a freezer, stripped naked and had his genitals burned with hot water.

Mudzingwa was beaten severely all over his body, had his feet smashed
with bricks, and was then subjected to simulated drowning.

In papers filed at the Harare High Court Mukoko said: "I was tortured.
At first I was assaulted on the soles of my feet with a hard rubber
object while I was sitting on the floor. Later, I was told to raise my
feet to a table, and then everyone in the room started assaulting me.

"They took a break for a while then started beating me again. And
beatings continued every few hours. The men were always visibly drunk,
many of them with bottles of liquor in their hands."

She said at one point she was told to kneel on gravel and was beaten thoroughly.

Scores of civic and political detainees gave similar horrifying
testimonies. They are all still in jail despite assurances by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday that they are not going to
remain in those dungeons any day, or any week longer.'

The new Prime Minister has come under fire for making demands and
promises concerning the release of the detainees, but then failing to
follow up on them.

Gugulethu Moyo from the International Bar Association (IBA) said it was
disappointing that Mr Tsvangirai went into government in the first
place, without making sure that the detainees had been released. She
said this was an important negotiating point, simply because many of
those people were detained unlawfully.' Some of the activists are still
unaccounted for. Critics say the MDC leader should have stuck to his principles, and
many are now waiting to see how he intends to exert any influence in
the inclusive government.

Meanwhile, two lawyers from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and
eight activists from the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were released
on bail on Thursday after spending two days in police custody. They
were charged with participating in an unlawful demonstration and
disorderly conduct. The 10 are expected to appear in court in March for
the commencement of the trial.

However, the pressure group said the demonstration was peaceful and the
ZLHR says the arrests were indiscriminate. It also denies that their
lawyers were participating in the WOZA demonstration.

Moyo said it is clear that the MDC has not yet persuaded ZANU PF to change it's ways.

She said: I do think given the bold statements and commitment that Mr
Tsvangirai was making in his inaugural speech, and also Mr. Mugabe's
own statements, that he was committed to making those arrangements
work. I think that the direction for change surely should be coming
through and filtering through to people – the sense that things should
be done differently.

The IBA official added: I don't think people should wait for long and
I don't think they should be patient with this new government.

Questions raised over Tsvangirai's vow to pay forex wages

The day after Morgan Tsvangirai vowed to pay the country's civil
servants in foreign currency, doubt was being cast over how the new
Prime Minister can keep his word, in a country where the local economy
has completely collapsed and foreign investment is all but non existent.

 
Tsvangirai made the promise while speaking at the rally in the Glamis
Arena in Harare on Wednesday, shortly after his inauguration as Prime
Minister. To thundering applause and cheers Tsvangirai announced that
by the end of February our professionals in the civil service, every
health worker, teacher, solider and policeman will receive their pay in
foreign currency until we are able to stabilise the economy. In
return, Tsvangirai urged Zimbabwe's civil servants to return to work by
Monday, in an obvious bid to end the growing number of strikes across
the country over forex wages.

 
Teachers, nurses and doctors have been on strike since last year,
demanding salaries in foreign cash and better working conditions. But
since the total collapse and almost total dollarisation of the economy
the demand for forex wages has grown and so have the number of strikes.
Health workers were until Wednesday the only civil servants that had
been guaranteed a forex wage by the old ZANU PF government after a
bail-out package for teachers was rejected. The majority of schools
have since stayed shut while teachers remain on strike, and even once
government-loyal soldiers have taken to the streets demanding foreign
currency salaries.

 
Last month the country's budget proposal all but officially declared
the local dollar worthless, with all new budget figures set in US
dollar value. Basic costs of food and even amenities have all been
pegged in forex and for the small percentage of Zimbabweans still
drawing a monthly salary, local currency payouts have proved critically
insufficient and unrealistic in the current economic climate. The
country's 150 000 strong civil service make up the majority of what is
left of the country's workforce, and the news that they'll now be
earning forex has, understandably, been well received, but many
questions are now being raised over how the prime minister plans to
keep his word.

 
Political commentator Bekithemba Mhlanga argued on Thursday that
Tvsangirai must have done his homework before making such an
ambitious promise, saying the promise can be fulfilled. He explained
that financial support is out there', citing the teachers bail-out
package that was turned down by government earlier this year, but he
acknowledged that crucial foreign investment would likely wait until
Western governments were satisfied with the success of the new unity
government.

Meanwhile, the cost of the country's new cabinet has been billed at an
estimated US$1 million a month – this as more than half the population
is in need of critical food aid. The 46-member cabinet, set to be the
largest and most expensive in Zimbabwe's history, will be sworn in on
Friday. The ministerial posts are reportedly worth at least US$1000 a
month, with deputy ministers earning less, but the relatively modest
salaries are reportedly far outweighed by the allowance and perks
afforded each cabinet member.

The salaries alone cost the Zimbabwean taxpayer an estimated US$400 000
and with allowances, the cabinet bill inflates to the roughly one
million a month. Cabinet ministers and their deputies will likely get a
minimum of five security personnel, plus a few new cars. The inclusive
government is also inheriting a US$4.7 billion external debt owed to
bilateral, multilateral and commercial creditors. The figure will seem
a slap in the face to ordinary Zimbabweans fighting a daily battle to
survive, in the midst of the worst humanitarian crises in the country's
history.

MDC reversed fraudulent ZANU PF alterations to Security Bill

An attempt by ZANU PF chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa to alter
sections of the National Security Council Bill without the knowledge of
the MDC who drafted it, were reversed this week in Parliament. The
original bill was crafted in an effort to tame the unrestrained
behaviour of the country's security forces by putting them under the
control of a national security council, set up by an act of Parliament.
When ZANU PF and MDC negotiators met in South Africa last week they
agreed on the draft bill. Chinamasa as Justice Minister however went on
to gazette an altered version of the bill before it was taken to
parliament on Tuesday this week.

MDC parliamentary Chief Whip and Mutare MP Innocent Gonese told
Newsreel the changes were uncovered in Parliament and immediately
reversed with the parties going back to the agreed version of the bill.
Under the MDC bill the Security Council would have had 11 members,
whereas Chinamasa's version increased the membership to 21. The changes
have already been dismissed as a brazen attempt to smuggle several ZANU
PF sympathisers onto the council. Chinamasa also sought to reduce the
recommended fortnightly meetings of the council to just once a month.
In other changes the Vice President would chair meetings in the absence
of the President, a move seen as trying to sideline the Prime Minister.

It's the second time Chinamasa has unilaterally changed an agreement
behind the backs of the MDC. In September last year he altered the text
of the power-sharing deal between the time of agreement and the actual
signing ceremony. His latest attempt puts into doubt the sincerity of
ZANU PF in implementing a genuine power sharing deal with the MDC.
Tendai Biti one of the negotiators from the Tsvangirai MDC told the
Zimbabwean newspaper, On what basis does he (Chinamasa) change what we
agreed on? He has no right to do that, it's mendacious, it's insanity.'

Biti explained that the new body would not replicate the notorious
Joint Operations Command (JOC) and was supposed to be a new start.
Under JOC over 180 opposition activists were murdered in political
attacks last year. Confronted with accusation he altered the text of
the Security Bill Chinamasa told The Zimbabwean newspaper he would
speak directly to the MDC and not negotiate with them via the media.
What is clear however is that he sought through the alterations to
reduce the powers of the newly created Security Council from directing
operations, to merely reviewing policies and making recommendations on
the operations of the security forces.

World leaders remain cautious, despite Tsvangirai taking oath

World leaders have called for sweeping reforms in Zimbabwe before they
can release badly needed aid money to resuscitate the economy.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was on the forefront of this call
when he said his country cannot treat Zimbabwe as an ordinary country'
until it puts in place a series of reforms.

Testifying to a Parliamentary committee in London on Thursday, Brown
made it clear Morgan Tsvangirai's appointment as Prime Minister would
not lead to an immediate change in relations with Zimbabwe, or open the
way to large-scale aid to help rebuild the ravaged economy.

Tsvangirai was sworn in on Wednesday by Robert Mugabe following months
of disagreements after the signing of the power-sharing deal in
September last year.

Brown said he had told Tsvangirai in a telephone call on Tuesday,
Britain did want to see humanitarian aid getting to people in need,
such as those affected by the cholera outbreak. Brown has always been
one of the fiercest critics of Mugabe, accusing him of destroying the
economy and using militias to suppress opposition.

 
His foreign secretary David Milliband sounded fairly conciliatory when
he heralded Tsvangirai's inauguration as a step forward', but voiced
concern that Mugabe remained as President. Milliband added that the
international community stood ready to offer additional aid to Zimbabwe
but it all depended on the actions of the new government.

The Obama administration meanwhile extended its congratulations to
Tsvangirai for becoming the country's Prime Minister, but said it is
waiting to see evidence of true power-sharing and effective governance
before offering additional development assistance, or easing its
targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his key supporters.

Acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood said that the United
States is reserving judgment on the new government. He said they need
to see evidence of good governance and particularly real, true
power-sharing on the part of Mugabe' before they were prepared to make
any kind of commitment.

Economist Luke Zunga said the reasons why the western world remained
sceptical was because nothing is on the ground yet to show there is
change.

Remember many of the agreements faltered right after the parties
signed them. It's the implementation process that has been a problem in
this power-sharing deal, Zunga said.

He added; If there is progress, then the western countries will review
the situation but as it is, who doesn't forget that Mugabe has been
insulting the same people left right and centre. The question is, what
has he done now to suddenly deserve aid from the same countries? asked
Zunga. 

Meanwhile, some leaders like South Africa's President Kgalema Motlanthe
have expressed very different views from their western counterparts.
Motlanthe said Tsvangirai's swearing-in was a vindication that our
approach to the crisis of Zimbabwe, all along has been correct, despite
scepticism in certain quarters.' But he called on the international
community to lift sanctions on Zimbabwe and turn its attention to the
country's humanitarian crisis.

France also welcomed Wednesday's appointment of Tsvangirai but
cautioned that Zimbabwe has much to do to rescue the country from the
crisis.

This government's task is immense," French Foreign Ministry spokesman
Frederic Desagneaux told reporters at a briefing. "Priority must be
given to improving the daily life of the population.

We are in particular, very concerned about the humanitarian situation
and the spread of cholera, which has now infected 70 000 people and
taken 3 400 victims, he added. We also call on the new authorities to
rapidly restore the rule of law, and to ensure the respect of human
rights and democratic principles. In this regard we repeat our call for
jailed rights activists to be freed.

China on Thursday welcomed Tsvangirai's swearing-in, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a press conference, the new
government was of great significance' in helping to solve the
Zimbabwean crisis.

Jiang Yu said her government hoped that all parties in Zimbabwe would
continue working together to achieve a smooth establishment of the new
government, which she said, will lead the Zimbabwean people away from
the current difficulties and back on the track of stability and
development.'

Cholera cases rise beyond 70 000

The infection rate from the country's deadly cholera epidemic has gone
beyond the 70 000 mark this week, with at least 2000 new cases reported
since Monday.

According to new figures released by the World Health Organisation
(WHO) on Wednesday, more than 71 000 cases have been reported since the
outbreak of the disease last year. The figure is a dramatic indication
of the true nature of the epidemic that has swept through all ten
provinces in the country, and officially has left more than 3 500
people dead. The infection rate itself has soared far beyond the worst
case scenario' of 60 000 cases, and WHO predictions suggest the worst
is yet to come.

There are fears the infection rate will double in the coming months,
with at least 50 000 new cases expected by May, and as crucial foreign
aid begins to dry up, the country is looking to the new government to
take action to prevent more deaths. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on
Wednesday vowed to tackle the cholera crisis as a main priority of the
new unity government that is being formed with ZANU PF. He was speaking
during a rally at Glamis Stadium in Harare shortly after his
inauguration, and said the government will, urgently reduce both the
number of outbreaks and the unacceptably high mortality level by
tackling the causes of the epidemic.'

The cholera outbreak has flourished in the country with no functioning
essential infrastructure, and Tsvangirai will need to tackle the crisis
on a number of levels. The critical lack of clean water, medical
supplies, medical staff and even food has made fighting the disease
almost impossible. And with aid groups such as the Red Cross warning
that their efforts will have to cease soon due to lack of funding, the
crisis is set to worsen before the new Prime Minister's actions can
make a positive impact.

Tsvangirai's mother urges Zimbabweans to support unity government

Lydia Tsvangirai, the 75 year-old mother of the newly appointed Prime
Minister of Zimbabwe has urged all Zimbabweans to back the inclusive
government.

For us we see it as an end to misery. People have suffered a lot and
for us in the rural areas it was even tougher. We went through rough
times, said Ambuya Tsvangirai.

She added, Personally, I am very happy that my eldest son has managed
to live his dreams, that of bringing change to this country. This is
only the beginning, but if we all give him the support, he will deliver
as he always does.Speaking from her son's home in Avondale on Thursday, a jovial Ambuya
Tsvangirai told us she was a regular listener of SW Radio Africa. I
listen to your station religiously and there are a number of people you
talk to that I know personally.

Tsvangirai's wife Susan was full of praise for her husband, saying the
past 10 years have been an endurance test' for him and his party
colleagues.

I was overwhelmed with emotion yesterday (Wednesday) during the
swearing-in ceremony. It was a precious day for us as a family, and my
children were also there to witness this special day for us, she said.

However, the Prime Minister's wife was quick to point out that the day
would not have come if it had not been for the courage displayed by the
millions of Zimbabweans who supported the MDC.

We have millions of heroes out there. People went through hell but
they stuck to their ideals to seek change through democratic means.
This was a struggle that we endured with MDC cadres, activists,
supporters and peace loving Zimbabweans. To them I say thank you so
much for the support they gave the MDC to reach this momentous period,
she added.

SWRadio Africa