Apr
20
Mugabe’s arms order is all at sea
April 20, 2008 | | 1 Comment
By Penny (9)
Last week it took the actions of a South African trade union and a human rights group, not the African Unity or United Nations, to help prevent a potential electoral genocide in Zimbabwe. Both Zimbabwean and South African presidents Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki have been embarrassed on the world stage by this incident.
Three days after the disputed Zimbabwe election with a victory claimed by the Movement for Democratic Change, Mugabe ordered weapons from China. Several Western countries and the European Union have banned arms shipments to Zimbabwe.
On Friday, Mugabe’s arms ship was left all at sea after South Africa’s Durban dockyard workers refused to allow the vessel into port to unload its cargo.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) General Secretary Randall Howard said it would have been “grossly irresponsible” to allow the cargo through. “The South African government cannot be seen as propping up a military regime,” he added.
The South African newspaper Mail and Guardian reported the An Yue Jiang vessel is carrying three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition along with 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and several thousand mortar rounds.
In addition, a court order banning transportation of the ship’s cargo across South Africa was obtained by the International Action Network on Small Arms which argued that it had been destined to “suppress the Zimbabwean people.”
The group’s African co-coordinator, Joseph Dube said: “We welcome the court’s decision and the solidarity shown by the South African transportation unions. South Africa has a chance to show the world that arms atrocities can be stopped by responsible governments.”
After being refused entry, the An Yue Jiang vessel was forced to anchor at sea, 11 miles from port. It was then thought it would dock and unload at Maputo in Mozambique.
However, Mozambique’s Transport and communications minister Paulo Zucula said: “We know that it registered its next destination as Luanda (the Angolan capital) because we wouldn’t allow it into Mozambican waters without prior arrangements.”
Speaking from New York in a complete contrast to the mood of his country’s trade unions, South African President Thabo Mbeki supported earlier statements made by his Defence Secretary January Masilela who said the country’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee had given approval for the transit of the weapons because there was no United Nations or African Union embargo on weapons sales to Zimbabwe.
“If the buyer is the Zimbabwean sovereign government and the seller is the Chinese sovereign government, South Africa has nothing to do with that,” Masilela said.
News agency Reuters reports that Zimbabwe’s Deputy Information Minister, Bright Matonga, has hit out at the ban saying that how the weapons were to be used “is none of anybody’s business.”
In a short faxed statement to Reuters, the Chinese foreign ministry said: “China and Zimbabwe maintain normal trade relations. What we want to stress is China has always had a prudent and responsible attitude towards arms sales, and one of the most important principles is not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.”
The issue of supplying arms to Zimbabwe is likely to further fuel world opinion against China’s human rights records as the government has already been criticized for its role in the Darfor crisis.
Meanwhile United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is in Ghana for talks for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development where he will discuss the unfolding Zimbabwe crisis.
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Its interesting that you use the phrase ‘potential electoral genocide’ in your opening. For the brave farmers still on their farms and the many opposition supporters, the non-result of the election must feel like genocide itself. You can’t just be in denial and pretend/believe it’s not going on. I received this from a Zimbabwean farmer this week:
“…To be frank with you, it’s genocide in the making and if you do not believe me, read the Genocide Report by Amnesty International which says we are – IN level 7 – (level 8 is after it’s happened and everyone is in
denial)Do face the reality of what is going on here and help us SEND OUT THE WORD. The more people who know about it, the more chance we have of the United Nations coming to our aid. Please don’t ignore or deny what’s happening. Some would like to be protected from the truth BUT then, if we are eliminated, how would you feel?”.