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Mbeki urged to tackle Mugabe on arrests
Karima Brown and Amy Musgrave, Business Day (SA)
September 18, 2006

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/national.aspx?ID=BD4A273330

PRESSURE is mounting on President Thabo Mbeki to take action against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe following the arrest and assault of Zimbabwean trade unionists.

The latest call comes from the Young Communist League (YCL), which was kicked out of SA's northern neighbour last week following a visit to that country.

"We reiterate our call for speedy intervention by our government, the Southern African Development Commu-nity and the African Union. Our country is going to be the one that suffers most economically as continued poverty in that country leads to ordinary Zimbabweans fleeing here for better jobs and food," YCL national secretary Buti Manamela said.

About 2000 Zimbabweans are deported from SA every week, but many are known to come back soon thereafter because of the poor conditions in their country.

The league yesterday said it was disturbed by reports that leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and some of its affiliates were beaten by police because they were planning a strike in support of a basic living wage and against poverty and unemployment.

The annual rate of inflation in Zimbabwe reached a new record high of 1204,6% last month. The previous high of 1193% was recorded in May.

"All of this points to the determination by Mugabe to apply an iron hand in suppressing genuine and democratic attempts to salvage the situation in that country," Manamela said.

The league was scathing about interventions by Mbeki and the international community, saying "firmer and visible" interventions were needed to halt the "dictatorial trail" of the Zimbabwean government.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions also condemned the arrest of their Zimbabwean counterparts.

It is expected that Mbeki's policy on Zimbabwe will come under attack at Cosatu's four-day elective congress. Opposition parties also called for stronger action against Mugabe.

An alliance of independent human rights groups yesterday demanded the immediate prosecution of police and soldiers who allegedly assaulted and injured labour leaders who had been attempting to stage antigovernment protest marches across the country. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum said torture in the troubled southern African nation was "both widespread and systematic" — evidenced, it said, by the savage ill-treatment while in custody of leaders of the main labour federation arrested in Harare last Wednesday.

It said the leaders were subjected to beatings and torture that left them with bone fractures and other serious injuries.

Wellington Chibebe, the federation secretary-general, suffered a broken arm and hand, and head injuries.

Harare magistrate Peter Mufunda held a court hearing at the state Parirenyatwa hospital on Saturday and deferred court action against Chibebe to October 3. Chibebe is accused of inciting protesters to cause a breach of the peace.

Mufunda ordered an investigation into the treatment of at least 16 labour leaders in Matapi police cells, one of the capital's harshest jails, after their arrest. With Sapa and DPA

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