BBC NEWS | Africa | Civil society’s triumph on Zimbabwe
Image: South African church groups protest the Chinese arms ship An Yue Jiang at Durban harbor last week.
UN Move on Robert Mugabe as police round up MDC
Image: activists arrested from in front of the Chinese embassy in South Africa. One of these activists is a young man who still had his cell phone with him. The pastoral sponsor of the youth organization is the Rev. Mufaro Stig Hove, who runs a plethora of Zim blog sites. The activists may already have been deported by now. The sign says “China — Mugabe Lost The Election.”
Image: Street pamphlet/newspaper ad produced by Zimbabwe Democracy Now, whose site is filled with activist tools, images, and political cartoons.
Image: This is from South Africa’s premier cartoonist, Zapiro.
Image: “We Have Done It”
Here’s another one, sent to Sokwanele/This is Zimababwe blog: it’s their blog post, reformatted for readers that don’t have Internet access that someone printed up and was handing out in Harare.
Since uploaded to Flickr. Their Flickr stream is constantly being updated with news photos and images sent to them via cell phone and email.
Image: The probable-rightful President of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangarai. Note raised open right hand; this is the salute of the Movement for Democratic Change. The symbol for Mugabe’s party ZANU-PF is a closed fist. Recently, reports have surfaced that thugs are cutting off the right hands of suspected MDC activists.
And then there’s this, An entire set of protest signs is here.
Image: a pre-election blimp (!) sent up by South African activists.
They do this in spite of a long history of police repression. Here are images from an October, 2007 rally for a new constitution:
Before:
After:
40 hospitalised as police attack NCA demo in Harare
By Tererai Karimakwenda
16 October, 2007Riot police attacked a group of NCA members who had gathered for a demonstration on 2nd street in Harare on Tuesday, and injured 40 of them. The NCA (National Constitutional Assembly) reported that approximately 400 members had come to protest against Constitutional Amendment 18 Bill, which passed in parliament earlier this month. The group intended to march peacefully to the parliament building, but they were rounded up at Herald House where the police took turns beating participants.
The NCA had announced there would be a peaceful demonstration in the capital this week, but did not reveal the exact date of the protests fearing the police would react in just such a brutal manner. A statement by the NCA said that the injured, including a man who sustained a deep cut on the forehead, were taken to a private hospital for treatment.
NCA spokesperson Madock Chivasa told newsreel the marching activists had just turned onto 2nd Street when they were blocked by police and ordered to sit down on the sidewalk. Some immediately fled for safety and others sat down. Police then assaulted them severely, causing chaos and many of them got up and escaped. Chivasa said it appears the police just wanted to assault and intimidate the activists because no arrests were made.
A statement released by the group said in part: “We urge all pro-democratic forces in Zimbabwe to include all stakeholders in fundamental issues such as constitutional making.â€
