Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 1 Jul 2008

Vol. 190 No. 8

Situation in Zimbabwe: Statements (Resumed).

Senator Ann Ormonde

I welcome the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Martin, on his first visit to the House since his new appointment. I wish him well in his new Ministry.

Shock and disbelief followed my reading of all the reports in recent days on the continuing tragedy in Zimbabwe. Many observers stated the political environment was tense, hostile and volatile and many of the reports condemned the conditions under which the election took place. It was stated that voters were wakened at sunrise and were herded to polling stations. The widespread violence and intimidation resulted in the deaths of more than 100 Opposition supporters while many others were displaced or seriously injured, including women and children. Is it any wonder the leader of the Opposition was forced to withdraw from the election, which was a sham and did not reflect the people's will in Zimbabwe. Many of the Zimbabwean people voted out of fear and spoiled their votes by defacing them. They only voted to protect themselves from the hooligans.

Mr. Mugabe was in a hurry to be sworn in so that he could attend the African Union summit in Egypt. What an insult to democracy. I understand the African Union is divided. Some African countries have criticised the crisis while others indicated they did not want confrontation. The question is what is the solution to the problem. All our efforts must be redoubled, especially in the United Nations Security Council, to promote a democratic and peaceful way forward. The South African Development Community and the African Union are best placed to do something, and they have a responsibility to mobilise support for a negotiated solution. They must make it clear that this awful situation is not acceptable and that an effort must be made to restore democracy. Talks must commence between the regime and the MDC with the aim of at least moving towards a transitional government. I understand from what the Minister said that those talks are due to commence and I welcome the development.

Concern and condemnation have been expressed by elderly statesmen such as Nelson Mandela and the Kenyan Prime Minister who came out strongly against the illegitimate government and urged the African bloc to suspend Mugabe's membership. Ireland has long had links with south African countries, including Zimbabwe. Our missionary links were focused on education and health care. In addition, many Irish families have settled in Zimbabwe. There is concern on a humanitarian level and I acknowledge the Government is doing all it can to support the continuing operation of non-governmental organisations in Zimbabwe. I also acknowledge the humanitarian work of NGOs to help the most vulnerable. I visited South Africa and Zimbabwe earlier this year and I spoke with many NGOs in Johannesburg and in Zimbabwe. I have seen the work they are doing in education and health care. Many Irish families living in Zimbabwe are trying to flee that country because they feel there is no hope left for them there.

As the Minister outlined in his contribution, continued pressure is being put on the Mugabe regime to stop the violence and engage in meaningful dialogue with the leader of the Opposition. An international initiative must put pressure on all concerned to come together to see how best we can go forward. The European Union has also upped the ante by calling for talks on the political situation. Ireland, which is very much to the forefront on the issue, will support any new measures in that regard.

The leader of the Opposition won most of the votes in the first round of the election results. Accordingly, the second round is purely a sham and under no circumstances can leaders in any part of the world condone what is happening. We must work with international partners to find a way to end this sickening chapter of violence that has cost so many lives. That must be done through mediation, economic and financial sanctions and, if necessary, isolation of the Mugabe regime. At the same time we must protect the people of Zimbabwe who deserve to choose freely who they would like to lead their country. That choice should be respected. We will continue to highlight the issue as best we can, and work at every opportunity we can to condemn the regime and highlight the fact that the violence must stop.

Senator Shane Ross

With the permission of the House I will share my time with Senator Norris.

An Leas-Chathaoirleach

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Senator Shane Ross

I wish to add a voice to the unanimity that obviously exists in the House on the appalling situation in Zimbabwe, and to welcome the Minister's statement. I question whether there is anything Ireland can do on its own. The Minister indicated in his speech that we will work within the European Union or the United Nations. The latter is a more powerful group to work within but as Senator Cummins' indicated, we have a noble anti-colonial history and our voices may be powerful in supporting the people of Zimbabwe against a dictator.

The extraordinary inability of the civilised world to shake this dictator should be pointed out. As far as can be ascertained, there is not a single ally in existence for this dictator yet he is still holding out. One wonders sometimes whether there really is the will in the African countries to topple this regime. Although lip-service is paid to the fact that this was not a democratic election, it appears there is a possibility that the tyrant may escape again on this occasion by bluffing his way through the conference, entering into talks with the leader of the Opposition and doing nothing. He has a record of doing exactly that. The Minister referred to Mugabe's ability to buy time in situations like this, but the situation in Zimbabwe is absolutely unthinkable. The Minister eloquently spelled out the awful food shortages that exist, the level of inflation and the fact that thousands of people are fleeing over the border.

One wonders who is in charge. I do not know whether the Minister has any insight as to whether one can give credence to the theory that Mugabe is now a puppet of the military, and that it is in charge. Nobody really knows. It is difficult to ascertain whether talks — if they happen — with the leader of the Opposition will be effective. If the military is pulling the strings, whatever talks take place the military will still dictate the pace on what happens in the country. It is apparent that the democratic wishes of the Zimbabwean people could not have been overturned without the existence of a military dictatorship. Perhaps the Minister can indicate who supplies the arms to the Mugabe regime. A shipload of arms was boycotted by some very brave people in another country.

If the Chinese are supplying arms it is important that the message goes out loud and clear to them that we do not tolerate that. That is where the finger should be pointing. This is a very well armed regime. It is not armed by nobody. Something we could do would be to put pressure on those who are arming the regime, which is kept in power by arms. The Government should investigate and act upon it.

Senator David Norris

I welcome that Senator Cummins described President Mugabe as a dictator. I did so in this House ten years ago. I was publicly reprimanded and a demand was made that I withdraw the comment. I am glad that I did not. That was on the occasion that President Mugabe visited UCD. While there when answering a question from a young woman who had great courage he continued to attack and trash the very vulnerable gay community in his country and, as Senator Cummins said, the Irish priests who educated him. He laid the blame for that vitriolic abuse of his own community at their door, which was very regrettable.

I also had the opportunity to meet Roy Bennett, a farmer and a member of the Zimbabwean Parliament whose rights were traduced. I met Morgan Tsvangirai in Liberty Hall some years ago and I formed a very high impression of him. While most of the Minister's speech was fine, when he spoke about President Mbeki's very considerable efforts, what were they? They were useless and hopeless. He is a disaster, as his own people know, including his brother who disowned him. People in South Africa are openly asking what President Mugabe has over President Mbeki and I ask the Minister to have a word with the South African ambassador to Ireland to express our very considerable reservations — at the very least — about President Mbeki's stance which is not what the South African people want. The overflow into South Africa has created a considerable distortion and xenophobic riots. Some 25% of the population of that country has haemorrhaged out of it because President Mugabe has used the instruments of government as a weapon against his own people, which is shameful.

The Minister talked about the result of the election. It is astonishing that the utterly corrupt electoral commission was faced with such a disaster that even it and President Mugabe were forced to admit that Morgan Tsvangirai's party won the parliamentary election. He also overwhelmingly won the presidential election. I salute the enormous courage of the people of Zimbabwe who stayed away in droves. Those polling stations were empty despite people being abducted, raped, beaten and tortured. Yet they had the courage to stay away. We must stand with them because most of the other African people will not. What is happening in Sharm el-Sheikh is a disgrace. How many of those other African leaders are also suspect in the way in which they got into power and the way in which they abuse the rights of their own people?

We have a real crisis. The collapse of the currency is astonishing. Nothing like it has been seen since the days of the Weimar Republic that led to the Third Reich. The inflation rate is unimaginable and shows the total collapse of the economy. That man feels contempt for his own people and yet he has the gall to invoke Christianity. Does the Minister remember what President Mugabe called "operation sweep away rubbish"? The unfortunate people living in hovels around Harare were brutally swept out of the way by the police because he suspected that they might in their desperation at least have the courage to vote against him.

It is astonishing that Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a wonderful peaceful man, has called for intervention. Nelson Mandela at last spoke out on his 90th birthday and described this as a tragic flaw. Even the African Union observers have impugned this election. The Minister should not let them away with it. He should stand firm and make it clear that we all know that the election was a complete sham. What a tragedy that President George Bush and American democracy is a busted flush. Nobody could do other than laugh when President Bush called it a sham election. However, for once in his life he was right. It is a pity that the source of American democracy is so vitiated that it will have no effect other than to meet with a contemptuous riposte from President Mugabe's henchmen.

I ask the Minister to stand firm on behalf of Roy Bennett and of the family which suffered an appalling plight when an elderly woman had lighted sticks placed in her mouth while her son and husband were beaten unconscious because of the situation. I urge the Minister not to weaken. He should take the strongest possible position, because, as my colleagues have said, we cannot ever be accused of coming from a colonial position.

Senator Dan Boyle

Among the chorus of condemnation that will rightly follow from every contribution to this evening's debate, none would be more eloquent than the contribution we heard on the Order of Business from Senator O'Toole.

Senator David Norris

Hear, hear.

Senator Dan Boyle

He was involved in a radio debate over the weekend with a person who along with his family was subsequently kidnapped and brutalised for daring to speak the truth about Zimbabwe. Unfortunately those who are clinging on to political power in that tragic country have been using every despicable means to do so. Not only have we heard of incidents such as that, but also newspapers over the weekend have shown pictures of a two year old child who had both legs broken in an act to intimidate the child's parents. When a country sinks to those depths there is an onus on the rest of the world to respond.

There is confusion as to the nature of that response. We have heard contributions from people like Archbishop Tutu, which we should take seriously. Part of the reason for President Robert Mugabe clinging to power has been a concern that an excessively aggressive attitude on behalf of the western world and especially those that had been colonising powers has always been treated negatively in Africa. President Mugabe and those with a loose attitude to democratic principles have used it to their advantage.

It is important for Zimbabwe to receive firm answers from other African countries. We should support bodies like the Pan-African Parliament, which did an excellent job in showing up the sham that was last week's election, and other democratic governments in Africa. That continent, which thankfully is becoming more democratic, is being besmirched by the activities of President Mugabe and his thugs in his political party ZANU-PF. We must offer our practical support to the justly elected Zimbabwean Parliament, in which ZANU-PF no longer has a majority. As a result of the confusion caused by the continued assumption of power of President Mugabe I fear for the lives of those who participate in that Parliament if they are allowed to in act in any way as normal parliamentarians. Mr. Tsvangirai has already taken refuge in the Dutch Embassy in Harare. On foot of that every support should be given to parliamentarians who wish to bring about a normal civilised democratic Zimbabwe.

We need to ask why President Mugabe wants to hang on to power. What kind of country is he leading where the rate of inflation, if it can be measured at all, is of the order of 2,000,000% per annum? When a person has broken down his country to such an extent one would think the moral response would be to step away and let others who had the real interests of the country at heart to take his place. Once President Mugabe moves on, whether through natural causes or political changes, an enormous job of work will remain to make Zimbabwe a normal country. That is when countries like ours in the developed world should assist.

I echo what previous speakers have said. The Minister rightly said that our efforts need to be co-ordinated with the United Nations and the European Union. We are in a unique position. We have not been a colonising power. We have had a relationship with President Mugabe where we lionised him in earlier years. The tree he planted in the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin was mentioned. He made great play of having been educated by Irish religious. We need to ensure that the type of education he has suggested formed him and his attitude is not one that is recognised by this country or its people. If that message gets through, it might be the beginning of the end of Robert Mugabe and his reign of terror in Zimbabwe.

Senator Alex White

On behalf of the Labour Party in this House I join my colleagues in what has been said. I especially welcome the clarity of the Minister's address to the House when he rightly described the election as an obscene charade and stated clearly and without equivocation the Government's rejection of this sham election. He correctly stated that the Members of the Oireachtas and the Irish people are rightly appalled by what has happened in Zimbabwe and the Government's unequivocal position is that the results of last Friday's vote cannot be regarded as legitimate or in any way constituting the democratic and free expression of the Zimbabwean people's will. This is an important point for us as politicians giving leadership.

The Minister also correctly said the principle of free and fair elections is a fundamental cornerstone of democracy. That is true, but another cornerstone of democracy is the rule of law. For years we have known that Robert Mugabe and his Government have no respect for the rule of law. I was in a privileged position this weekend. I have just returned from Belfast where I attended the World Bar Conference of the International Council of Advocates and Barristers, ICAB, which was held jointly in Belfast and Dublin. We had the great privilege of hearing from a Zimbabwean lawyer, Ms Beatrice Mtetwa, as reported in today's newspapers. She informed the lawyers gathered from all over the common law world of the insanity and complete breakdown of any sense of respect for rule of law throughout the court system and the absence of respect for even remnants of an independent media. She gave an astonishing sense of a society which has completely disintegrated in terms of any recognisable features of a democracy as we understand it.

I ask the Leas-Chathaoirleach to allow me the indulgence to tell my colleagues of a unanimous resolution passed yesterday afternoon by lawyers gathered at this conference representing the bars of Australia, England, Wales, Hong Kong, Ireland, Namibia, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South Africa and Zimbabwe, being member bars of ICAB. I will briefly read the resolution because it isolates and identifies the key issues in Zimbabwe and points to something positive that can be done. Despite the despair there are some actions. The question we all asked our colleague from Zimbabwe at the weekend was whether there is anything lawyers, politicians, citizens and media people can do. There is a despair regarding the response that was forthcoming.

The resolution includes a number of points. First, as we have done here, is "to deplore the defiance by the Government of Zimbabwe of its human rights obligations under domestic and international law". The second resolution is "to call upon the secretariats of the Southern African Development Community, the African Union [most importantly] and the United Nations to initiate all steps necessary to procure the return of the rule of law to Zimbabwe and respect by the Government of Zimbabwe for the rule of law". This is a crucial point which the Minister's speech touched on and he is correct. It is unusual to have to call on a government to respect the rule of law, but that is the case in Zimbabwe with a complete breakdown of the courts system and any respect for the rule of law.

The third point in the resolution is "to condemn the detention without trial of our colleague [lawyer and politician] Eric Matinenga, Member of Parliament of Zimbabwe and leader of the Harare Bar and the defiance [by the regime] of the order for his release granted on an urgent basis by the High Court". The High Court ultimately released him but not before a major struggle to achieve it. Again there is complete defiance by the Government of Zimbabwe.

The fourth point is "to call upon the members and secretariat of the Southern African Development Community to ensure that independent legal observers are permitted to be present at all courts in Zimbabwe throughout the trials of members of the legal profession who are being prosecuted for alleged offences". These are people who are representing clients in the courts of Zimbabwe and who are being prosecuted for criminal offences literally comprising the defence of citizens of Zimbabwe before the courts of Zimbabwe.

The fifth resolution is "to demand that the lawyers of Zimbabwe be permitted without intimidation or penalty to perform their duty to represent and defend their clients in accordance with the rule of law and ensure the entitlement of their clients to basic human rights". This is not a cry for special privileges for lawyers. When lawyers are being intimidated and prevented from doing the job they are supposed to do, society suffers.

The sixth point is "to demand that the magistrates of Zimbabwe be allowed to adjudicate impartially and without intimidation on the cases which come before them". We asked Ms Mtetwa whether she would suggest we include the wider judiciary in Zimbabwe and demand that all the judges in Zimbabwe be allowed to adjudicate impartially, but she said there would be no point because people who know in Zimbabwe have given up on the judges. The judges of the higher courts in Zimbabwe are so locked into this rotten regime that there is no point in asking for an independent approach by them. There is some hope in the lower courts and the magistrates and she agreed that we include this point. However, she said it would be a waste of time to ask for the higher courts of the Zimbabwean judiciary to exercise independence. This is a sad testament to what is happening there. The seventh resolution is "to demand that the Attorney-General of Zimbabwe independently and impartially exercise his powers to uphold the rule of law".

The Minister made the point that the Government will do what it can through the EU, and I am sure it will, but it is vital the maximum amount of pressure is brought to bear on those countries that can have an influence. South Africa has been mentioned many times by my colleagues. While we cannot presume to interfere with the African Union, our views must be made known to it. It must cease being a trade union for African presidents and act as a real organisation in defence of the democratic rights of the people of Zimbabwe.