The whites are not the main target of the thugs
The Sunday Telegraph (UK)
David Coltart, a Zimbabwe opposition leader, reveals Mugabe’s plan
Zimbabwe is dangerous for everyone, but particularly for anyone who dares to criticise Robert Mugabe’s reign of terror. Like thousands of Zimbabweans, I know from personal experience what those dangers are. Just before the election here in June last year, I published an article which pointed out some of the horrific abuses of power committed by Mugabe’s government. Within two weeks of the article being published, my polling agent Patrick Nabanyama was abducted. He has never been seen again. The men responsible are employed by Mr Mugabe’s Zanu PF. Fourteen months later, they walk freely on the streets of Bulawayo. They continue to assist Mr Mugabe in his campaign of brutal violence and intimidation.
How is Mr Mugabe able to get away with it? His government survives not just because it flouts the rule of law and uses violence to intimidate or remove opposition, but also because it manages to maintain a facade of legitimacy. That facade appears to be enough to ensure that neither other African states nor the countries of the Western world are prepared to take the steps required to end Mr Mugabe’s violent dictatorship. The necessary action is of course not criticism for human rights violations from the American government or European Union governments. Mr Mugabe not only cares nothing for such criticism: he actually believes it helps him. He is after the support of black Africans, not Western whites. The more he can portray his regime as the “victims” of white racism and colonialism, the more likely he believes he is to get that support.