A THOUSAND STEVE BIKOS IN ZIMBABWE

When South African Steve Biko protested against the tyranny of the state in the years before Freedom dawned, he was beaten to a pulp and he died. Many others who were prepared to face the callous might of state machinery suffered terribly after protesting bravely on behalf of fellow oppressed. Their suffering was not in vain. The international outcry made of Steve Biko a national hero and over time and the names of hundreds of others have entered the pantheon of South Africa's martyrs.

Why is it then that even in Africa the brutality of Zimbabwe's state machinery goes unchecked? Is it because Dafur, Afghanistan and Iraq are presently preoccupying the good people of the world who make it their business to intervene in severe cases of state tyranny? Where does the African Union stand on the recent state directed assaults on trade union leaders whose bravery in taking to the streets on behalf of their starving fellow citizens is as great as any in history? The AU is too weak to mount rescue operation - its ineffectual attempt even at peacekeeping in Dafur is proof enough of that.

There are a thousand Steve Bikos buried in Zimbabwe: murdered by fellow Zimbabweans, not by colonial oppressors or settler minority elites. If the United Nations is paralysed by Sudan's Bashir who `refuses' its intervention where are the resolutions on behalf of Zimbabwe's pitiable people? Why do we hear nothing but the sound of silence from the AU?

Read The Times (UK) 18 September for ZWNEWS copy of Jan Raath's report yesterday on what has been going on in Zimbabwe's prisons this last week. It is the closest thing to a protest that a British newspaper can mount and it comes from one of the few reporters who lives and works in Zimbabwe and I fear for him. Likewise I worry about the Daily Telegraph's on-the-spot reporter Peta Thorneycroft, who bravely reports the news of the terrible people that state security officers have become. These Zimbabwe journalists and others like them are deserving of the highest honour that humanity can bestow.




Copyright © 2004 Diana Mitchell

Coming back to blogging

I missed the whole of August and there was so much going on that I am ashamed of my lethargy. I have at last got around to disposing of my huge collection of documents hoisted over here to England and I suppose I should say that is a good enough excuse for drying up on this blogging thing. Not the same as writer's block since there is no publisher in view - only my friends and family and an occasional, curious reader of these commentaries on things present and recollections of things past.
Now I have carelessly broken my left elbow - been dragged off my feet by a very large dog I walk occasionally. So this has to be short.
The longer the time lapse since last I saw Zimbabwe, the more it seems that the politicians - wherever you look- are not doing much to be admired. I look forward to change in England now, but not as desperately, nor half as fearfully as we who love that African soil look forward to change in Zimbabwe.
That's it for now
Copyright © 2004 Diana Mitchell