It is no surprise that a president who has used intimidation, police torture and electoral fraud to hold on to power would not want events in his country reported overseas.
Until May 15, there was only one foreign correspondent left reporting inside Zimbabwe, The Guardian‘s Andrew Meldrum. Now there are none. Meldrum was seized by police and security agents last Friday, driven to Harare airport and illegally expelled. This was in contradiction to a high court order, secured by his lawyer that day, declaring his deportation would be unconstitutional. As Meldrum noted, it was not a deportation but an abduction.
Unlike other foreign correspondents assigned to Harare, Meldrum had permanent residency rights. He first arrived in 1980 and has written for The Guardian from there for the past 20 years. Earlier moves to expel the reporter by the Mugabe regime came to a full stop last July, when another brave high court judge ruled Meldrum’s residency rights gave him all the rights of a Zimbabwean citizen.
Compared to many Zimbabwean citizens, Meldrum was lucky. He was manhandled into a car by the police and security agents and driven out to the airport with a hood over his head. But, unlike many Zimbabweans, he was not beaten or tortured. Nor, even worse, did he just disappear. No one is safe from the once-respected Zimbabwean police.
As Meldrum reported earlier this month, 10 high-profile Zimbabweans, including three MPs and one lawyer, have accused the police in the past two months of torturing them with electric shocks. Earlier allegations of systemic abuse in the country have been confirmed by Zimbabwean civil rights organisations and Amnesty International.
Then there is the daily plight of civilians across the country. What was once a thriving capital city now suffers regular power cuts, mile-long petrol queues and empty supermarkets. A newly elected mayor from the opposition party was illegally sacked by ministers. Gross domestic product has declined by 12%, unemployment has risen to 60% and inflation exceeded 200%. Outside the capital, life is even grimmer.
A United Nations report suggested six million people in rural areas were facing famine.
Meldrum has diligently — and bravely — chronicled this catastrophic collapse of Zimbabwe’s economy and its government’s lack of respect for human rights. Hence his expulsion. Thankfully, a few courageous voices still remain in the country. Two different high court judges tried to protect Meldrum’s rights.
A brave independent daily paper, plus three independent weeklies, continue to scrutinise the government. A few local reporters still courageously file for the international press. Ultimately, like earlier repressive regimes, Mugabe’s mob will realise that the truth cannot be suppressed. — Â