May 12, 2003
In today's Herald newspaper, the full page Government advert exhorts the people not to subsidise lawlessness and violence, and to insist on the rule of law. This is ludicrous considering the State sponsored break down of the rule of law, particularly in the agricultural areas of Zimbabwe, over the past four years. It is just as ludicrous when one considers the State sponsored genocide carried out by the Fifth Brigade in Matabeleland in the early 1980's.
The people in the rural areas, farmers, and their farm workers, members of the opposition, and indeed millions of Zimbabweans, have experienced enormous economic losses as a direct consequence of the state sponsored break down of the rule of law. Zimbabweans have suffered physical and mental torture over a protracted period, and many have lost their lives as a result.
This is part of the advert;
"Don't subsidise their lawlessness and violence. Insist on the rule of law. If you suffered any injury, loss, or damage to property, or if you suffered any economic loss as a result of the illegal stayaway and violent mass action, you have a legal right to be compensated by those who organized, encouraged, or supported the illegal stayaway. Consult your lawyer on what you should do, or call us for more information at:
Dept. of Information and Publicity, Office of the President and Cabinet. Phone: 4-703891 or Fax: 4-790402".
Well this could be interesting for farmers and their farm workers who have been illegally and unconstitutionally deprived of their rights by the state sponsored machinery. Deprived of their home, their assets, their income, their profession, their pension, their right to unbiased recourse to the law for crimes perpetrated against them, even their right to be heard on court prior to eviction without conviction, their right to live peacefully without fear of violence, eviction, and persecution.
Perhaps now is the time to take the government at its word, and see if their definition of the Rule of Law applies to every Zimbabwean citizen across the board?
JAG is preparing a Rule of Law Case, which seeks to prove not only that there has been a breakdown in the rule of law in the agricultural regions of Zimbabwe, but that this has been state sponsored and inspired, and that state law enforcement agencies such as the ZRP and NDF's have been complicit in this, either by active involvement, or omission, of or dereliction to duty in upholding the rule of law.
Submission of this case is now imminent and in the light of the ludicrous claims above - URGENT!
All letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions of the submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice for Agriculture.