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Political Repression disguised as Civic Mindedness: Operation Murambatsvina one year later
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
November 30, 2006

http://www.hrforumzim.com/frames/inside_frame_special.htm

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Background
It is more than one year since the launching of Operation Murambatsvina, (literally translated as clean-up the filth) or Operation Restore Order. In Harare this programme was put into operation by the Chairperson of the government-appointed Harare Commission but the programme was also implemented countrywide. It was supposedly aimed at putting a stop to illegal activities in contravention of municipal by-laws, such as the erection of illegal structures, illegal vending, touting by commuter omnibus rank marshals, illegal street garaging, illegal cultivation, dealing illegally in foreign currency and prostitution.

This operation caused major devastation and large-scale suffering and led to a highly critical report by the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement, MsAnna Tibaijuka.

This report makes an audit of whether or not the Government of Zimbabwe has addressed the concerns of the United Nations and implemented the recommendations of the UN Special Envoy.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) has previously issued two reports on the effects of Operation Murambatsvina,¹ and some of its member organizations have mounted legal actions on behalf of some of those affected, as well as providing various forms of relief to the victims, in the past, the Forum has issued reports subsequent to similar international missions or interventions in the Zimbabwe crisis, and has provided reviews of the benchmarks. This was particularly the case with the Abuja Agreement,² and was also the case with the Food Riots in 1998. The rationale for issuing such reports is very clear: in a situation where the Zimbabwe government both declines to follow agreements or recommendations, and even denies the findings of international bodies, it is incumbent upon Zimbabwean civil society to act as a watchdog upon the government, and to alert the international community to the failings of the Zimbabwe government.

This report will not provide a detailed audit of developments subsequent to Operation Murambatsvina, but will rather evaluate the recommendations of the UN Special Envoy with reference to the compliance of the Zimbabwe government to these recommendations. As will be seen below, the UN Special Envoy made twelve specific recommendations, and the Forum will evaluate these, both from the view-point of compliance or non-compliance with them by the Zimbabwe government, as well as providing some comment upon the validity of the recommendations themselves. There are a number of areas in which the report and its recommendations can be questioned, but, the Forum contends that these criticisms strengthen rather than weaken the UN Special Envoy's report.

It is worth commenting that the views expressed by the UN Special Envoy were supported by her UN colleague, Mr. Jan Egeland, the Humanitarian Special Envoy when he visited Zimbabwe in December 2005. In his report to the UN, Mr. Egeland was forthright in his assessment of the scale of the disaster deliberately inflicted on the Zimbabwean people. This is an extract from his statement to the UN Security Council on 19 December 2005.

Finally, Mr. President, I have just returned from Zimbabwe and South Africa. As I reported to you in April, the humanitarian situation in the sub-region is already very serious, due to severe food insecurity, widespread HIV/AIDS and inadequate basic services. More than ten million people in the region are in need of food assistance. The situation could deteriorate further in 2006 and beyond, particularly in Zimbabwe and Malawi, unless actions are taken to meet immediate needs and to reverse the decline in key sectors. In Zimbabwe, the humanitarian situation has worsened significantly in 2005. More than three million people - almost one third of the population - will receive food through the World Food Programme in January and even more will receive assistance come April. Annual maize production, the basic staple, is one third of what it was several years ago. Basic services continue to deteriorate, particularly in the health, water and sanitation sectors. Inflation currently reaches over 500 percent. In this context, and as I told the Government in my meetings in Harare, the massive urban eviction campaign of hundreds of thousands of people was "the worst possible action, at the worst possible time".

We are now entering the peak of the "lean season." Food prices are rising fast, placing some basic commodities out of reach for a growing portion of the population. I welcome the Memorandum of Understanding finalized by the Government and WFP, which will ensure these emergency needs are met, and I also hope it will lead to better collaboration between the Government and the humanitarian agencies in other sectors. Yet we must recognize that this huge need for food assistance is symbolic of the vicious cycle that we are caught in. It was raining when I was leaving Zimbabwe, but all expected that next year's harvest would be poor because of a lack of skilled agricultural labor force, the devastating toll of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, counterproductive agricultural policies and practices, and a lack of inputs such as fertilizer, seeds and tools. It is not sustainable to provide food assistance for millions of people year after year without making the necessary investments to get out of this situation. We can have a new approach that again will provide food security for all Zimbabweans. This will require major efforts from all, nationally as well as internationally. There is no substitute for engagement and dialogue at all levels in order to address the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.

From my discussions with the Government of Zimbabwe, I am convinced that the UN and the humanitarian community at large must try to engage more actively with the Government to address the enormous humanitarian crisis. We did reach agreement on some issues during my mission: a more active and systematic dialogue on food security; a more hands-on approach to resolving bureaucratic problems for humanitarian organizations through "one-stop-shops" at both the Government and the UN; and the initiation of a shelter programme for households affected by the eviction campaign. However, sustained progress will require the following: The Government must stop further evictions and be more flexible in allowing shelter and other programmes for those affected. It must ensure that beneficiaries are assisted solely on the basis of need; The UN and our humanitarian partners, as well as the donors, should be guided in their own response by the needs of the population. We should provide the appropriate level of assistance where and when we identify the needs. Beyond food aid, we need to invest in food security, livelihoods and basic services; The Governments in the region and Africa at large should engage more proactively with Zimbabwe to find constructive solutions, also given their interdependence and the risks of increased migratory movements; All parties must understand the importance of neutral and impartial humanitarian assistance.

There has been little or no attempt by the Zimbabwe government to deal with any of these UN recommendations. This failure to address these issues has meant that the lot of ordinary Zimbabweans has significantly worsened. It would seem that the preoccupation by the Zimbabwe government with security and maintaining political power overrides any concern for the citizens that it is constitutionally bound to protect.

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1. See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Order out of Chaos, or Chaos out of Order? A Preliminary Report on "Operation Murambatsvina". (Harare, June 2005); Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum The Aftermath of a Disastrous Venture. A Follow up report on "Operation Murambatsvina". (Harare August 2005.).

2. See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Evaluating the Abuja Agreement (Harare 2001); Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Evaluating the Abuja Agreement: Two Months Report,(Harare 2003) Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Zimbabwe, the Abuja Agreement and Commonwealth Principles: Compliance or Disregard? (Harare 8 September 2003).

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