COMMENT - So the British equivalent of the CFR, Chatham House, is going to part of these negotiations? Just a reminder, De Beers is the biggest diamond miner in the world, and it is clear who owns De Beers. Also, now it is clear why the old intelligence service hacks like the Zimbabwe Vigil are agitating against Patrick Chinamasa.
Britain in major climbdown on Zimbabwe
Saturday, 23 March 2013 20:33
Kuda Bwititi
In a move that signals a major policy climbdown, the British government has invited Zimbabwe’s re-engagement team for talks aimed at exploring ways of restoring diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The invitation marks the first time London has formally sought to resolve its longstanding bilateral dispute with Harare spanning 14 years.
The re-engagement team — comprising Global Political Agreement (GPA) negotiators Cde Patrick Chinamasa (Zanu-PF); Mr Elton Mangoma (MDC-T) and Mrs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga — is scheduled to set off for the meeting today.
Cde Chinamasa told The Sunday Mail yesterday that the British Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Mr Mark Simmonds, sent an invitation letter to the Zimbabwe Government recently.
He said the invitation was a sign that Britain intends to lay the path for a new chapter on Zimbabwe.
“We have been invited by Britain through its Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Mr Mark Simmonds,” he said. “For us, it could be an indication that Britain realises that its foreign policy on Zimbabwe is collapsing and they want to embark on a new path.
“Events will tell, but, Britain should realise that its foreign policy on Zimbabwe is not sustainable.”
Cde Chinamasa said his team will use the interface to call for the unconditional scrapping of sanctions on Zimbabwe and also reject foreign interference in domestic processes.
He added that advocating the shutting down of pirate radio stations that are beaming into the country through international donor funding is also on the agenda.
The Zimbabwe-Britain meeting will also involve representatives from other countries that include the United States, Canada and Australia as well as the European Union.
In addition, British think tank Chatham and members of the House of Commons will take part in the deliberations. “Besides Britain, we are going to engage representatives of countries that imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe which are EU member states, Australia, Canada and the US.
“Some of them are actually calling themselves ‘Friends of Zimbabwe’, which is a misnomer because they have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.
“We will use the platform to call for three main issues which are: the unconditional lifting of sanctions; the demand for these countries not to interfere in our internal affairs, especially through non-governmental organisations as well as to inform them that we are going to implement the closure of pirate radio stations as required by the GPA.”
The re-engagement team was set up by the inclusive Government to help restore normal relations between Zimbabwe and the West.
Since its appointment, the team has met Western government representatives.
Relations between Britain and the Southern African state soured after the former colonial power reneged on its obligation to finance the historic land reform programme, which corrected land distribution imbalances that disadvantaged the majority. London internationalised the bilateral dispute by peddling falsehoods about Harare’s adherance to the rule of law and human rights and ultimately convinced its Western allies to impose sanctions.
Labels: CHATHAM HOUSE, LAND REFORM, PATRICK CHINAMASA, SANCTIONS, ZDERA, ZIMBABWE VIGIL
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COMMENT - Zimbabwe Vigil is the 'rights group' that is headed by a member of British Military Intelligence (Geoffrey van Orden), and who consults with a member of the Rhodesian Special Forces (Roy Bennett).
Read all about them, and their sabotaging of the Malawian government and economy here.
UK protest group targets Chinamasa
26/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
UK-BASED protest group, Zimbabwe Vigil, called protests Tuesday against Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, who is in London for a series of meetings with British government officials and donor organisations.
Chinamasa is part of a coalition government delegation that includes Cabinet colleagues, Elton Mangoma (MDC-T) and Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (MDC).
Chinamasa’s Zanu PF party sees the meetings - the first high level engagement between Harare and London in several years - as “an indication that Britain realises that its foreign policy on Zimbabwe is collapsing and they want to embark on a new path.”
Relations between the two countries have been frosty since the European Union imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe in 2002, accusing President Robert Mugabe's government of human rights abuses and electoral fraud.
However, Zimbabwe vigil said Chinamasa – one of several officials banned from travelling to Europe under the sanctions which were suspended on Monday – should not have been allowed into the UK.
“We are saying Chinamasa is part of a regime which is responsible for gross human rights abuses in Zimbabwe; he is part of a regime that is responsible for electoral fraud, the violent put-down of political opponents and rampant corruption,” a Zimvigil coordinator said on Tuesday.
“By allowing him to freely travel the world, we are simply saying people can preside over these unacceptable abuses and still get away with it.”
Asked whether engaging with Zanu PF officials would not help the British government influence events in Zimbabwe, Zimvigil said the meetings had nothing to do with human rights and ensuring free and fair elections.
“European Union countries are largely motivated by their interest in Zimbabwe’s diamonds. That is why the sanctions have been suspended,” she said.
“There is no other justification for suspending sanctions as to a reward a constitutional referendum when both the MDC-T and Zanu PF are saying they will change the charter should they win the next elections.
“Clearly, the referendum has been a waste of time and money which the country can ill afford. We are also concerned that the terms of the GPA have not been fully implemented which means we are unlikely to have credible fresh elections.”
Zimbabwe is due to hold fresh polls later this year to replacae the coalition government which came into office after a violent vote in 2008.
Chinamasa has already said the new elections must be held by June 29.
But the MDC formations have rejected the timeframe saying more time is needed to implement reforms that will help ensure a credible vote.
“Elections by June 29 are unworkable considering what needs to be done. Chinamasa should work with Minister Matinenga in drawing a roadmap to elections,” said Luke Tamborinyoka, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesman.
“The ministers will prepare timelines taking into account the legal requirements and the political reforms that need to be implemented before the Principals come up with the date for elections.”
Labels: PATRICK CHINAMASA, ZIMBABWE VIGIL
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COMMENT - This is an admission by the UK government that there is no threat of persecution, even of members of the Zimbabwe Vigil, in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Vigil was created by British intelligence operative Geoffrey van Orden, who also doubles as the Minister of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England. Also see:
MDC-T To Lose Elections: Zim Vigil.
Drugging claims as UK steps up Zimbabwe deportations
02/12/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
BRITAIN has stepped up the deportation of failed asylum seekers, several immigration lawyers said on Sunday as a rights group claimed some of the deportees were being SEDATED in order to go quietly.
At least three immigration lawyers told New Zimbabwe.com there was a dramatic rise in removals, even as rights groups warn of a possible upsurge in violence ahead of elections next year.
The lawyers said most of those being detained awaiting removal had been taken in after reporting to various centres as part of conditions imposed by the UK Border Agency.
Masimba Mavaza, of the Norwich-based law firm IEI Solicitors, said: “It’s not a good time to be an asylum seeker from Zimbabwe.”
Brighton Matebuka, an immigration lawyer in Leeds, said: “We don’t have the statistics but there is a sharp increase in removals, to be quite honest I don’t remember a time when it was this bad.”
The rights group ZimVigil, which has been holding protests outside the Zimbabwe embassy every Saturday for several years, claimed that “deportees are being drugged or threatened with sedation to ensure they do not kick up a fuss when put on a plane home.”
Airlines are known to refuse to carry deportees at any sign of trouble. Some pilots have refused to fly after some deportees either stripped naked, refused to be seated or caused a noise nuisance.
The UK Border Agency employs private security firms to accompany deportees, and rights groups have previously claimed the guards use undue force to ensure removal so that they get paid.
ZimVigil said it knew of incidents where “security guards employed by the UK Border Agency have manhandled deportees to keep them quiet, causing injuries.”
In a statement, it added: “One woman who succeeded in being taken off a flight came to the vigil still limping.”
Campaigner Ephraim Tapa, a former trade union leader who fled Zimbabwe after he was tortured in 2002, said he had heard from four people who claimed to have been “injected with sedatives or threatened with sedation to facilitate their deportation”.
Last Thursday, ZimVigil said one of its members, Chipo Hazel Tafirenyika, was deported after guards threatened her with sedation “if she caused any trouble” at the airport.
Tapa, who heads the UK-based group Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR), said: “This is unbelievable. This heavy-handed approach is a flagrant breach of human rights.”
No comment was immediately available from the UK Border Agency last night on ZimVigil’s claims about the drugging of deportees.
British courts cleared the way for deportations to Zimbabwe to resume following the formation of the coalition government between President Robert Mugabe and long-time opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai.
The UK’s immigration minister Damian Green announced last year that “it’s in everyone's interest for people to return to Zimbabwe and use their skills to support themselves and help rebuild the country”.
He went on: “There are some Zimbabweans who continue to have a well-founded fear of persecution; we continue to grant protection to those people.
“As with any other nationality, every case is considered on its individual merits and against the background of the latest available country information.
“The courts have found that not all Zimbabweans are in need of international protection and given the improved situation on the ground in Zimbabwe since the formation of the inclusive government in 2009 ... those found not to be in need of protection have always been expected to return home.”
Labels: IMMIGRANTS, UK, ZIMBABWE VIGIL
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