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The Telegraph (UK)

One of my Parliamentary colleagues in the Movement for Democratic Change is Fletcher Dulini’Ncube. A veteran campaigner for human rights and a former detainee in the Rhodesian era, he is diabetic. Last November Fletcher was detained by the Mugabe regime on trumped-up charges and held in solitary confinement for over a month under atrocious conditions, including the denial of adequate medical attention.

As a result he had to have his right eye surgically removed last week. The day after the operation Fletcher was dragged from his sick bed and placed under arrest by the Mugabe regime’s so-called Law and Order police. This weekend he lies in a Bulawayo hospital in leg irons under prison guard after a legal application to secure his release was dismissed by a recently appointed ex-war veteran judge.

The inhumane treatment of Fletcher is but a small part of the regime’s crackdown on its opponents. Thousands of farmers and their employees this weekend face summary arrest and eviction from their homes. We in the leadership of the MDC, the main opposition party to Mugabe, have been warned that our passports will shortly be withdrawn to prevent us from travelling abroad. Thousands of crimes committed against the opposition, including murder and rape, have not been investigated let alone prosecuted. The judiciary has been all but destroyed; independent journalists have been arrested.

Even education has not been left alone: new laws will ensure the regime’s control over the appointment of headmasters in private schools. Food is being used as a political weapon against thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans who oppose the regime. In short, Zimbabwe increasingly resembles Cambodia under Pol Pot. The regime’s intention seems clear: to turn Zimbabwe into a nation of 12 million peasants dependant on its small super-rich, corrupt ruling elite.

The New York Times

In the last two years Zimbabwe has been transformed into a state that increasingly resembles Cambodia under Pol Pot. The government seems set on adding famine to the list of oppressions visited on the nation. In May, a law was passed decreeing that any commercial farmer who continued to farm 45 days after being given notice to stop would face imprisonment.

On Friday, that law will be used to evict thousands of commercial farmers and their workers. Fear and desperation pervade the country. All the signs are that President Robert Mugabe is determined to hold on to power at any cost, including the destruction of the nation and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans.

It has been clear for some years that the Mugabe regime is determined to shrink the democratic space to an absolute minimum. The judiciary has been all but destroyed. Independent journalists have been arrested, their presses bombed. In January the regime rammed through Parliament legislation subverting the electoral process, revoking civil liberties and restricting the press. In the same month, the military suggested that only Mr. Mugabe would be acceptable as leader.

The political campaign that followed was marked by violence. The presidential election in March was a farce. Mr. Mugabe was proclaimed winner in an election that was widely condemned internationally. The overwhelming majority of Zimbabweans, who were hoping for a peaceful transition to democracy in March, have had their hopes dashed.

For its part, the Mugabe regime, while increasingly irrational and paranoid, knows it must convince the world it is legitimate if it is to survive. For this reason, the regime cloaks its suppression of democracy in what would otherwise be legitimate concerns, primarily the need to redress legacies of colonial injustice. The unresolved land-ownership issue has been exploited very effectively to cover up corruption, poor administration and human-rights abuses.

The New York Times

In the last two years Zimbabwe has been transformed into a state that increasingly resembles Cambodia under Pol Pot. The government seems set on adding famine to the list of oppressions visited on the nation. In May, a law was passed decreeing that any commercial farmer who continued to farm 45 days after being given notice to stop would face imprisonment.

On Friday, that law will be used to evict thousands of commercial farmers and their workers. Fear and desperation pervade the country. All the signs are that President Robert Mugabe is determined to hold on to power at any cost, including the destruction of the nation and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans.

It has been clear for some years that the Mugabe regime is determined to shrink the democratic space to an absolute minimum. The judiciary has been all but destroyed. Independent journalists have been arrested, their presses bombed. In January the regime rammed through Parliament legislation subverting the electoral process, revoking civil liberties and restricting the press. In the same month, the military suggested that only Mr. Mugabe would be acceptable as leader.

The political campaign that followed was marked by violence. The presidential election in March was a farce. Mr. Mugabe was proclaimed winner in an election that was widely condemned internationally. The overwhelming majority of Zimbabweans, who were hoping for a peaceful transition to democracy in March, have had their hopes dashed.
For its part, the Mugabe regime, while increasingly irrational and paranoid, knows it must convince the world it is legitimate if it is to survive. For this reason, the regime cloaks its suppression of democracy in what would otherwise be legitimate concerns, primarily the need to redress legacies of colonial injustice. The unresolved land-ownership issue has been exploited very effectively to cover up corruption, poor administration and human-rights abuses.