ULTIMAS DO ZIMBABWE!

Dear Friends,

The Zimbabwe Peace Project has issued on 5.6.08, issued the Information Alert No.16 focusing on violent attacks and assaults that have taken place in Gokwe Nebudziya between the 27th May and the 2nd June 2008 .


The Media Monitoring Trust of Zimbabwe (MISA Zimbabwe), issued several Media Alerts on 5.6.08 which can be found on the MISA website at http://www.misa.org/ or are available from this office on request. This concern
- the setting of a trial date for the Standard newspaper on June 17th
- the failure to commence the trial of the Editor of the privately owned weekly newspaper ‘The Standard’.

Amnesty International has released a further Press Statement subsequent to the report and statement we circulated on 05.06.08. In the Press Release dated 4.6.08, Amnesty notes it concerns at the sharp crackdown on political opponents in Zimbabwe . Amnesty expresses its total condemnation of the detention of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Referring to threats made to a witness to the abduction of the MDC Senatorial candidate for Murewa North, Shepherd Jani, whose body was found days later, Amnesty says that ‘the government of Zimbabwe must ensure the safety of Kumbirai Masimo, Morgan Tsvangirai and all others at risk during this dangerous crackdown on those deemed to be a political threat to the ruling government”. It additionally notes that by severely tightening restrictions on international aid agencies, including Care International, the government of Zimbabwe is ‘attempting to hide the worst of the state sponsored violence from the eyes of the world’

Care International has released on 5.6.08 a statement on the situation in Zimbabwe noting that on Friday May 30 its country office in Zimbabwe was ordered by the Government of Zimbabwe to suspend all field operations. The statement from Care International notes that over 1.8 million Zimbabweans benefit from its programmes which include projects in food aid and food security amongst others. The statement can be read at
http://www.careinternational.org.uk/11387/media-releases/statement-by-care-international-on-the-situation-in-zimbabwe.html

With reference to the issue of food, a webcast of Mugabe’s presentation to the Food and Agriculture Organisation Heads of State and Governments and high-level ministerial delegations meeting taking place in Rome from 3 to 5 June to discuss world food security, is available to view on the FAO website at http://www.fao.org/ and then click on ‘Webcast’, and go to Tuesday afternoon. Alternatively, the direct link to the webcast is .
http://www.fao.org/webcast/details.asp?lang=EN&movie=http://link.rai.it/s/20080603_fao00_d.asx&pub_id=243823

The Bulawayo based group Bulawayo Agenda issued the attached Daily Agenda bulletin yesterday, 4.06.08 reporting worrying incidents of violence that have taken place in Bindura, Matobo, Murambinda, and Gweru as well as the disturbance of a Bulawayo Agenda meeting by ZANU PF ‘hooligans’. This issue also reports on the detention yesterday in Lupane of the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and several of his senior party team.

On 5.06.05 a global petition with 110, 000 signatures was handed to SADC leaders and governments throughout Southern Africa . The petition demands that the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) put an immediate moratorium on weapons transfers to Zimbabwe . The petition can be seen on the website of The International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) at http://www.iansa.org/.

In relation to the same subject, civil society groups in Namibia today wrote the attached letter to the Namibian President drawing his attention to the petition and thanking him from not allowing the Chinese Arms Ship to deliver its lethal cargo to Zimbabwe via Namibian territory.