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(ZIMBABWE.SUITE101) Mixed Reports from Zimbabwe

Mixed Reports from Zimbabwe
Propaganda, Lies and Deceit Surround the Situation in Zimbabwe
Share Article | Jul 9, 2008 Andrew Woolford

David Daniels of Friends of Zimbabwe returns to his hotel room after observing the 2005 General Elections in Zimbabwe, turns on the television and sees CNN reporting that Zimbabwe is in a terrible state and there is open violence in the streets, when Daniels saw this he said "Oh my God." According to Daniels what was reported then was totally distorted.

At a forum on July 3, 2008 held at the National Black Theater in Harlem, New York, observers of the June 27th Elections held in Zimbabwe said that what the public is hearing about Zimbabwe are not all true.

The panel for the forum consisted of Viola Plummer, Omowale Clay, Vernon Verdree and Robert Taylor. They spoke on Zimbabwe's national sovereignty, reclaimed land for indigenous Zimbabweans, and economic sanctions on Zimbabwe.

The observers, went to Zimbabwe on invitation from Zimbabwe's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and are apart of the December 12th Movement, located at Sistas' Place in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. This African-American organization has been following the issues across the continent of Africa since 1987 and has recently decided to tackle the issue of Zimbabwe and propaganda surrounding the nation.

Along with news out of Zimbabwe, the panel brought with them the official results of the run-off elections. The results stand at the ZANU-PF winning with 85.5% of the votes.

Vernon Verdree, the youth representative, said that the results of the election are because of Mugabe and ZANU-PF "going to work."

According to the statistics they provided, Mugabe and the ZANU-PF worked very hard in insuring that Zimbabwe stays in control of those who fought against colonial rule, not only did ZANU-PF win by 1,917,269 votes, but also they managed a 42% increase in votes.

The Guardian, a British newspaper released a report on July 5, 2008 that shows ZANU-PF "going to work" in a different way. The news organization reported that they have in their possession video of prison guards marking their ballots for President Mugabe, while civil war veterans (pro-government militia) watched over them.

According to the report the Guardian provided prison guard, Shepard Yuda with a camera, since the news organ was banned from the country.

The video posted on the Guardian website shows the prison guard voting for Muagbe in front of a man they called Shambira. According to the narration done on the video Shambira is an old war veteran who is feared among the prison guards.

Many parts of the video are blurred to protect those who Yuda encountered and some of the translations cover what these people are saying. Only what Yuda and Shambira say have subtitles. Yuda and his family has fled the country in fear of their lives.

The release of this video and images of a beaten white farm owner on CNN would fall under the "western media attack on Zimbabwe" that the December 12th Movement and the supporters of ZANU-PF are claiming the United States and the United Kingdom are using to gain control over Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwean Ambassador to the United Nations Boniface Chidyausiku said that the United States and its allies were trying to coerce the Security Council of the United Nations to impose economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. These attempts he stated to the Zimbabwean Herald, are coming up futile.

Ambassador Chidyausiku said in the interview that Zimbabwe has a number of confirmed allies in the Security Council, including permanent members China and Russia. Both nations have veto power and according to Chidyausiku, are willing use it if the United States and United Kingdom try to impose an UN economic sanction.

On July 9, 2008 Prime Minister of Britain George Brown used shock tactics at the G8 Summit in Japan to encourage members of the G8 to impose their own economic sanction against Zimbabwe and Mugabe.

When the African Union met on July 1, 2008 in Cairo, Egypt to hold its annual summit, the body recognized Mugabe as President of Zimbabwe, but said that African Union Observers had concluded that the election process had fallen short of the organization's standards.

The United Nations has failed to comment on the election in Zimbabwe, but Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a press release stated, "Zimbabwe elections did not reflect the true and genuine will of Zimbabweans or produce [a] legitimate result".

In the era of tiny spy cameras, high quality recorders and advance editing equipment solidifying a reality in Zimbabwe is becoming complicated.


Read more at Suite101: Mixed Reports from Zimbabwe: Propaganda, Lies and Deceit Surround the Situation in Zimbabwe http://zimbabwe.suite101.com/article.cfm/mixed_reports_from_zimbabwe#ixzz0mFvrvqyt

Labels: CNN, DAVID DANIELS, FRIENDS OF ZIMBABWE, NEOCOLONIALISM, PROPAGANDA, VERNON VERDREE

posted by MrK @ 1:24 AM