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Their
words condemn them: The language of violence, intolerance and despotism
in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
May 15, 2007
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This report
consolidates the kinds of statements made over the years by the
government and the most senior officers of the government. The statements
and comments are all taken form the public domain, so there is no
sense in which they are fabricated, an accusation frequently laid
at the doors of the government's critics. These are the words of
the government, its leaders and followers, without editing and largely
without comment.
The report,
which makes no attempt to be completely comprehensive, covers mostly
the kinds of statements and comments since 2000, but also covers
mostly the time periods, such as the emergency in the 1980s, that
are relevant. As will be seen, their words do condemn them, and
the violence, intolerance and despotism seen so graphically in Zimbabwe
since 2000 are wholly reflected in the statements.
Contents
- Introduction
- Gukuruhundi
- Population
size
- Threats against
opposition and protestors and incitement to attack opposition
supporters
- Food riots
1998
- Murambatsvina
- Court orders
and the rule of law
- Whites,
white farmers, Jews and homosexuals
- Archbishop
Pius Ncube
- Threats against
teachers
- Media and
journalists
- Condoning
torture
- Political
discrimination in food distribution
- Non-governmental
organisations
- Human rights
Introduction
The utterances
of political leaders can be very revealing. Their commitment to
democracy and human rights is most tested when there is a serious
challenge to their continued hold on power or when they attract
heavy criticism. At such times, the leaders either display political
tolerance or they lash out at their critics and opponents. Leaders
with repressive tendencies will turn to repression; leaders who
respect democracy will not.
Over the years,
and particularly in the past seven years, leaders of the ruling
party in Zimbabwe (ZANU PF) have made many statements, often at
times when the ruling party has been under attack or has faced serious
challenge. It has used its control over the broadcast media to disseminate
a constant stream of hate speech.
A selection
of these statements is provided below. An analysis of these statements
discloses the following characteristics of the ruling party:
- It is deeply
antagonistic to all opposition and dissent.
- It is prepared
to incite violence and vengeful action against its political opponents
and critics.
- It uses
virulent language to condemn its opponents and critics, not infrequently
stooping to racial and ethnic abuse, and the vituperation is aimed
at intimidating and silencing these persons.
- It persistently
attempts to suppress the independent media.
These statements
constitute various types of hate speech. They were made at times
when gross human rights violations were being perpetrated. Many
of the statements incited these violations or sought to justify
or condone them.
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