10/01/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10162

ZIMBABWE SUBVERTS DUE PROCESS

The political, economic, and social deterioration of Zimbabwe is an immense human tragedy. In a brutal campaign to ensure its continued autocratic rule, the government of Zimbabwe has trampled the human rights of its citizens, destroyed a once vibrant economy, and decimated the nation's democratic institutions.

In recent weeks, the government of President Robert Mugabe has accelerated its chaotic program of land seizures and forced expulsions. This program, cloaked in anti-colonial rhetoric and implemented over objections raised by the beleaguered, honest remnants of the judiciary, has destroyed Zimbabwe's agricultural infrastructure and severely worsened the regional food crisis.

The Mugabe regime insists that it is correcting a historic injustice by allocating farms to landless Zimbabweans. The truth betrays Mugabe's cynicism. Seized properties are often being distributed not to landless citizens, but to senior government officials and key supporters of the ruling party. Meanwhile, over the last two years, the Zimbabwe government has forcibly displaced over one-million farm laborers and family members who have lived and worked on these farms, stripping them of their livelihoods, their homes and their possessions.

The United States recognizes the historical inequities in land distribution in Zimbabwe and has always been willing to endorse a program of rational, sustainable, and equitable land reform. Unfortunately, the Mugabe regime has adopted the opposite approach.

The United States is committed to helping the people of Zimbabwe during this period of extreme suffering and was first among international donors to respond to the regional food crisis. The government of Zimbabwe's first responsibility must be to ensure that adequate food is distributed to its people without regard to party affiliation. The international community will be watching closely to ensure that this obligation is met.

The United States once again calls on the Mugabe regime to reverse course by halting its determined assault on the rights and well being of the people of Zimbabwe and on the nation's democratic institutions. The situation in Zimbabwe will only improve when the government respects the needs, rights and hopes of its people.