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Zimbabwe: Food must not be used as a political tool

Amnesty International today expressed grave concern at the Zimbabwe government's moves to end international food aid distribution, despite independent assessments which predict that millions of Zimbabweans will need food aid in the coming 12 months.

"If independent assessments are correct, the risk is that food will be used for political ends and food supplies will go first and only to supporters of the ruling party", the organization warned.

The government has told international donors that it will not need food aid this year. On 7 May the government stopped a UN Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission from evaluating the current harvest. This was followed by statements in the state-controlled Herald newspaper, attributed to the Minister for Agriculture, claiming that Zimbabwe has produced more grain than it needs this year.

However, earlier predictions by food security monitors and the United Nations, and a crop survey carried out in March by independent consultants for the German-based Friedrich Ebert Foundation, all suggest that the 2004 harvest will fall far short of national requirements.

Amnesty International visited Zimbabwe in February 2004, at which time numerous sources within the agricultural sector confirmed that food production would fall far short of needs in 2004/5.

Both rural and urban populations will be affected. With unemployment currently at approximately 70% and inflation hovering around 600% it is increasingly difficult for many Zimbabweans to access adequate food in the marketplace.

Amnesty International is gravely concerned that the present actions of the government of Zimbabwe may be an attempt to control food supplies ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for March 2005.

If the true crop production figures for 2004 are as low as many reliable sources expect then, in the absence of international food aid, a significant proportion of Zimbabwe's population may, later in 2004 and into 2005, find itself reliant on grain controlled by the state-controlled Grain Marketing Board (GMB).

"Political manipulation of food, particularly state-controlled GMB grain, by officials and supporters of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) has been widely reported over the past two years. ZANU-PF has repeatedly used food as an electioneering tool. Viewed against a history of political manipulation of food the government's current actions are a cause for grave concern," Amnesty International said.

It is unclear how much grain the GMB has in reserve, as there is no independent assessment of GMB stocks. However, it is unlikely to be sufficient to meet the cereal gap of 500-800,000 metric tonnes which independent observers predict for the coming year.

Amnesty International reminds the Zimbabwe government that, as a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICSECR), it has an obligation to uphold the right of all Zimbabweans to food. The UN committee responsible for monitoring the Convention has stated that governments must use all the resources at their disposal, including those available through international assistance. Discrimination in access to food on any grounds, including political affiliation, is a violation of the ICSECR. The committee has also stated that food should not be used as an instrument of political pressure.

Amnesty International further reminds the government of Zimbabwe that all human rights are indivisible and interrelated. Violations of the right to food may impinge on many other rights, including the right to life itself.

Amnesty is calling on the Zimbabwe authorities to respect the right of all Zimbabweans to food and to immediately allow the UN to conduct a crop assessment mission, with a view to ensuring that any possible food aid needs are adequately addressed. Amnesty International further calls on the government of Zimbabwe to take immediate steps to make the operations of the GMB transparent, and open to independent monitoring.

(press release not subject to copyright) http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engafr460142004

Zimbabwean authorities discriminate against perceived political opponents by denying them access to food programs, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Some international relief agencies in Zimbabwe fail to ensure that access to food is based on need alone and is not biased by domestic or international political concerns.

The 51-page report, "Not Eligible: The Politicization of Food in Zimbabwe," documents how food is denied to suspected supporters of Zimbabwe's main opposition party and to residents of former commercial farms resettled under the country's "fast-track" land reform program. The report examines the widespread politicization of the government's subsidized grain program, managed by the Grain Marketing Board, as well as the far less extensive manipulation of international food aid.

According to the report, government authorities and party officials of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) manipulate the supply and distribution of government-subsidized grain and the registration of recipients for international food aid. Though international aid agencies, including the World Food Programme, have gone to great lengths to prevent interference, this kind of manipulation remains a problem. International aid agencies must devote greater resources and attention to preventing the manipulation of recipient lists. The report also examines international community's tacit complicity in preventing food from reaching former commercial farm areas resettled under land reform.

"Select groups of people are being denied access to food," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "This is a human rights violation as serious as arbitrary imprisonment or torture."

Today one-half of Zimbabwe's population of nearly 14 million is considered "food-insecure," living in households that are unable to obtain enough food to meet basic needs. The international community has spent hundreds of millions of dollars pouring food aid into Zimbabwe, yet thousands continue to go hungry.

Any perceived political adversaries of ZANU-PF or the government encounter difficulty gaining access to food. Known members of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), are top-most among perceived enemies. This category also encompasses teachers, former commercial farm workers and urban residents-groups generally considered to favor the MDC. In effect, without a ZANU-PF party card, a Zimbabwean cannot register for or receive government-subsidized grain.

Often international relief agencies need to rely on local authorities in some cases to determine beneficiary status, which leads to a certain degree of political manipulation. However, some international aid programs are also politicized. According to insiders of the international aid regime, some international donors are opposed to funding aid for those resettled on the former commercial farms that were redistributed under the "fast-track" land reform program. The international aid agencies universally deny that donors' political opposition to land reform is a factor, explaining that they cannot distribute any relief food in these areas until a comprehensive needs assessment has been completed by the government.

"Politically, it is disadvantageous for the Zimbabwe government to investigate need on the resettled farms," said Takirambudde. "If the farms are not productive and people are hungry, the government's land reform program will look like a failure. It seems that the government is manipulating relief efforts, and that the international community is playing along even though people on the resettled farms need food desperately."

Human Rights Watch asserted that the Zimbabwe government has an obligation under international and domestic law to supply food without reference to race, religion, ethnicity or regional origin, or to residence, sex or political affiliation. The government should instruct authorities in charge of beneficiary lists to abide by the principle of nondiscrimination.

The government should impress upon the leadership of all political parties that it is prohibited under domestic and international law for politicians and party supporters to use food to influence or reward constituents or voters. Punitive action should be taken against those who flout this prohibition.

Human Rights Watch recommended that the international community continue to fight the politicization of relief food through its efforts to maintain tight controls on food distribution and to implement all aspects of relief efforts directly or through local non-governmental organizations.

Human Rights Watch also emphasized that international aid should not be based on any factor other than need. In particular, farmers who were resettled under the "fast-track" land reform program should be eligible to receive food aid from all international sources. Donors that have withdrawn support for humanitarian programs in Zimbabwe should reconsider their duty, under international law, to assist those in need.

(press release not subject to copyright) http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/10/zimbabwe102403.htm

The full report: Not Eligible: The Politicization of Food in Zimbabwe

         1995/6 1996/7 1997/8 1998/9 1999/0 2000/1 2001/2 2002/3 
Zimbabwe  2.6     2.2    1.9    1.5    2.1    1.5    0.8    1.9

Amnesty is calling on the Zimbabwe authorities to respect the right of all Zimbabweans to food and to immediately allow the UN to conduct a crop assessment mission, with a view to ensuring that any possible food aid needs are adequately addressed. Amnesty International further calls on the government of Zimbabwe to take immediate steps to make the operations of the GMB transparent, and open to independent monitoring.
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engafr460142004

Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.

AI's vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

In pursuit of this vision, AI's mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights.

AI is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. It does not support or oppose any government or political system, nor does it support or oppose the views of the victims whose rights it seeks to protect. It is concerned solely with the impartial protection of human rights.

AI has a varied network of members and supporters around the world. At the latest count, there were more than 1.8 million members, supporters and subscribers in over 150 countries and territories in every region of the world. Although they come from many different backgrounds and have widely different political and religious beliefs, they are united by a determination to work for a world where everyone enjoys human rights.

AI is a democratic, self-governing movement. Major policy decisions are taken by an International Council made up of representatives from all national sections.

AI's national sections and local volunteer groups are primarily responsible for funding the movement. No funds are sought or accepted from governments for AI's work investigating and campaigning against human rights violations.
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/aboutai-index-eng

A similar incident took place in Zengeza in Harare in October: 10 and 20 kg packages of mealie meal were sold to supporters who reportedly ‘were asked to submit their names to local ZANU PF branch leaders’ the week before. Proof of eligibility was a ZANU party card. The Kuwadzana by-election was held in March 2003. There, ZANU PF candidate, David Mutasa was widely accused of providing GMB maize to people with ZANU PF cards. Again the MDC complained: “people must not be manipulated by a few bags of election food because of their empty stomachs.” In an interview with Human Rights Watch, one MDC politician stated, “A mayoral election will be held in Gweru later and already maize is stored there. Mike Auret (an MDC politician) is giving up his parliamentary seat in Harare, and already they are selling (grain) via ZANU.”
http://hrw.org/reports/2003/zimbabwe1003/6.htm#_Toc53393944

Like scores of opposition politicians in Zimbabwe, David Mpala knew violence firsthand. As he campaigned for this region's seat in Parliament in 2000, 40 government supporters clubbed him so soundly that he was permanently scarred. In 2002, 18 thugs dragged him into the bush, beat him and stabbed him in the back.

Mr. Mpala, 48, died in February, and the government held an election last month to fill his seat. This time, government critics say, it was democracy that got mugged.

In what many here see as a dry run for Zimbabwe's national elections next March, President Robert G. Mugabe's party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Popular Front, known as ZANU-PF, went to extraordinary lengths three weeks ago to guarantee a win in Lupane.

Independent election observers, journalists and opposition politicians reported a government campaign of beatings, arrests, bribery, fraud and intimidation in April and May, intended, they say, to keep supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change away from the polls and to press citizens to vote for Mr. Mugabe's party.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/07/international/africa/07zimb.html?ei=5062&en=49eecfa1130baca1&ex=1087272000&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=all&position=

Zimbabwe: Food must not be used as a political tool

Amnesty International today expressed grave concern at the Zimbabwe government's moves to end international food aid distribution, despite independent assessments which predict that millions of Zimbabweans will need food aid in the coming 12 months.

"If independent assessments are correct, the risk is that food will be used for political ends and food supplies will go first and only to supporters of the ruling party", the organization warned.

The government has told international donors that it will not need food aid this year. On 7 May the government stopped a UN Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission from evaluating the current harvest. This was followed by statements in the state-controlled Herald newspaper, attributed to the Minister for Agriculture, claiming that Zimbabwe has produced more grain than it needs this year.

However, earlier predictions by food security monitors and the United Nations, and a crop survey carried out in March by independent consultants for the German-based Friedrich Ebert Foundation, all suggest that the 2004 harvest will fall far short of national requirements.

Amnesty International visited Zimbabwe in February 2004, at which time numerous sources within the agricultural sector confirmed that food production would fall far short of needs in 2004/5.

Both rural and urban populations will be affected. With unemployment currently at approximately 70% and inflation hovering around 600% it is increasingly difficult for many Zimbabweans to access adequate food in the marketplace.

Amnesty International is gravely concerned that the present actions of the government of Zimbabwe may be an attempt to control food supplies ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for March 2005.


If the true crop production figures for 2004 are as low as many reliable sources expect then, in the absence of international food aid, a significant proportion of Zimbabwe's population may, later in 2004 and into 2005, find itself reliant on grain controlled by the state-controlled Grain Marketing Board (GMB).

"Political manipulation of food, particularly state-controlled GMB grain, by officials and supporters of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) has been widely reported over the past two years. ZANU-PF has repeatedly used food as an electioneering tool. Viewed against a history of political manipulation of food the government's current actions are a cause for grave concern," Amnesty International said.

It is unclear how much grain the GMB has in reserve, as there is no independent assessment of GMB stocks. However, it is unlikely to be sufficient to meet the cereal gap of 500-800,000 metric tonnes which independent observers predict for the coming year.

Amnesty International reminds the Zimbabwe government that, as a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICSECR), it has an obligation to uphold the right of all Zimbabweans to food. The UN committee responsible for monitoring the Convention has stated that governments must use all the resources at their disposal, including those available through international assistance. Discrimination in access to food on any grounds, including political affiliation, is a violation of the ICSECR. The committee has also stated that food should not be used as an instrument of political pressure.

Amnesty International further reminds the government of Zimbabwe that all human rights are indivisible and interrelated. Violations of the right to food may impinge on many other rights, including the right to life itself.

Amnesty is calling on the Zimbabwe authorities to respect the right of all Zimbabweans to food and to immediately allow the UN to conduct a crop assessment mission, with a view to ensuring that any possible food aid needs are adequately addressed. Amnesty International further calls on the government of Zimbabwe to take immediate steps to make the operations of the GMB transparent, and open to independent monitoring.

(press release not subject to copyright) http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engafr460142004

We must impose a harsh blockade so that hunger and its constant companion, disease, undermine the peaceful population and decimate the Cuban army.

The Impact Of The U.S. Embargo
On The Health And Nutrition In Cuba"
-An Executive Summary-
American Association for World Health Report
Summary of Findings
March 1997

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a year-long investigation, the American Association for World Health has determined that the U.S. embargo of Cuba has dramatically harmed the health and nutrition of large numbers of ordinary Cuban citizens. As documented by the attached report, it is our expert medical opinion that the U.S. embargo has caused a significant rise in suffering-and even deaths-in Cuba. For several decades the U.S. embargo has imposed significant financial burdens on the Cuban health care system. But since 1992 the number of unmet medical needs patients going without essential drugs or doctors performing medical procedures without adequate equipment-has sharply accelerated. This trend is directly linked to the fact that in 1992 the U.S. trade embargo-one of the most stringent embargoes of its kind, prohibiting the sale of food and sharply restricting the sale of medicines and medical equipment-was further tightened by the 1992 Cuban Democracy Act.

A humanitarian catastrophe has been averted only because the Cuban government has maintained a high level of budgetary support for a health care system designed to deliver primary and preventive health care to all of its citizens. Cuba still has an infant mortality rate half that of the city of Washington, D.C.. Even so, the U.S. embargo of food and the de facto embargo on medical supplies has wreaked havoc with the island's model primary health care system. The crisis has been compounded by the country's generally weak economic resources and by the loss of trade with the Soviet bloc.

Recently four factors have dangerously exacerbated the human effects of this 37-year-old trade embargo. All four factors stem from little-understood provisions of the U.S. Congress' 1992 Cuban Democracy Act (CDA):
(snip) (important information follows)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, the AAWH wishes to emphasize the stringent nature of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. Few other embargoes in recent history - including those targeting Iran, Libya, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Chile or Iraq - have included an outright ban on the sale of food. Few other embargoes have so restricted medical commerce as to deny the availability of life-saving medicines to ordinary citizens. Such an embargo appears to violate the most basic international charters and conventions governing human rights, including the United Nations charter, the charter of the Organization of American States, and the articles of the Geneva Convention governing the treatment of civilians during wartime.

American Association for World Health
1825 K Street, NW, Suite 1208
Washington, DC 20006
Tel. 202-466-5883 / FAX 202-466-5896
Email: AAWHstaff@aol.com