Zimbabwe
Located in southern Africa, Zimbabwe was originally a British colony named Rhodesia. In 1980, the country won its independence and Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party rose to prominence. Mugabe sought to address the historical inequity of land ownership among blacks, but by 2000, amid weakening support, corruption and cronyism, he had begun a campaign of involuntary land seizures.
Located in southern Africa, Zimbabwe is a land-locked nation of 13 million people. The population is approximately 98 percent black African and 1 percent white.
Prior to independence in 1980, the nation was known as Rhodesia and was controlled by the British. Attempts to overthrow white rule, including ongoing guerilla attacks, began in the 1960s. These attacks, along with United Nations sanctions, ultimately led to elections in 1979 and full independence (including the renaming of the country) in 1980.
During this period of war, Robert Mugabe rose to prominence as the leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union -- Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and became the nation's first prime minister. The Mugabe government preached reconciliation and unity, both between rival parties and between blacks and whites. However, Mugabe increasingly consolidated power; in 1987, the position of prime minister was abolished and he became president. In 2000, with his party threatened by the new opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Mugabe initiated a wave of land invasions with help from a war veterans' association. Since then, he and his party have mobilized violence and rigged elections to guarantee their own victory.
General elections held in March 2008 reflected foundering support for Mugabe's ZANU-PF-led government, with the opposition winning a majority of seats in parliament. MDC opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won majority votes in the presidential polls, but not enough to win outright. The subsequent run-off election was marred by violence, intimidation and fraud. As a result, Tsvangirai withdrew, and the process was condemned internationally.
To ensure a degree of international and domestic legitimacy, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) -- led by Thabo Mbeki, then president of South Africa -- brokered a power-sharing agreement that left Mugabe as president and installed Tsvangirai as prime minister. However, conflicts have continued. Mugabe, now in his eighties, has publicly called for early elections soon, but there is yet to be a new constitution, which was a requirement of the power-sharing agreement. Even though no election date has been set, most observers already fear a repeat of the extensive violence that followed the 2008 elections.
Land and Economic Reforms
Under British colonial rule and the white minority ruled Rhodesian government, it was commonplace for whites to seize for themselves the best tracts of farmable land, leaving black peasant farmers to work the remaining swaths and any tribal reserves. By 1980, when Zimbabwe declared independence, approximately 6,000 white commercial farmers owned 15.5 million hectares (or 47 percent) of the country's agricultural land; 8,000 black small-scale farmers owned or leased 1.4 million hectares; and 700,000 peasant farmers occupied 16.4 million communal hectares.
In the first two decades of Mugabe's rule, Mugabe addressed this historical inequity gradually, so as not to disrupt essential agricultural production completely. Through lawful redistribution, the amount of white-owned land was reduced by one quarter as blacks bought up farms and the government purchased and redistributed approximately 3.6 million hectares of land to 70,000 peasant households.
By 2000, however, Mugabe's popularity was waning, as were his government's financial resources. Legal redistribution had been weakened by corruption and cronyism, and Mugabe found it more and more difficult to keep political promises to increase black land ownership. To boost his poll numbers, Mugabe intensified his anti-white rhetoric and began a campaign of involuntary land seizures. Part of this campaign was known as the "fast track" process: Landless black applicants living in communal areas were invited officially to apply for land of their own. They filled out forms made available through government or civil institutions. The forms were then reviewed to establish eligibility and priority level, and the applicants were matched up with farms that had been selected for resettlement.
The farms to be resettled were to be selected according to a convoluted process that would identify a reason that a particular property had been targeted. Aggrieved landowners who believed that their land had been chosen arbitrarily could appeal to provincial authorities, though once farms were selected, they could be taken by force no matter what the landowner did to appeal the decision. In 2001, Mugabe retroactively amended the process so that ownership of any selected land was transferred immediately, without even the possibility for appeal. Owners had 90 days to vacate. Blacks applying to receive farms often submitted their applications not to civic structures, but to the war veterans' militias occupying the relevant farms.
This new aggressive land redistribution policy was rife with corruption from the start, with farms given to party insiders with no experience in tending fields. Even when peasant farmers were the recipients of farms, they often failed to receive proper training. About 20 percent of Zimbabwe's total land area was redistributed, sparking an exodus of white (experienced) farmers, crippling the economy and ushering in widespread shortages of basic commodities.
Several subsequent actions weakened the economy even further, including a costly intervention in the Second Congo War (1998-2003), a 2005 "urban renewal" program resulting in the destruction of the homes and businesses of 700,000 (mostly poor) supporters of the opposition and, in 2007, the institution of price controls on all basic commodities that led to panic buying and empty store shelves for months at a time. The central bank continued to print money to pay war veterans and foreign debts, leading to hyperinflation, which in turn led to a severe economic crisis that was only averted by the dollarization of the economy under the coalition government in 2009. Zimbabwe's economic instability continues today.
Photo Caption: Farm worker on the Campbell farm;
Credit: Arturi Films Limited
Sources:
» BBC News. "Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe Strongman."
» BBC News. "Zimbabwe Country Profile."
» "Has Zimbabwe's Runaway Inflation Been Tamed?" TIME, March 26, 2009
» Hellum, Anne and Bill Derman. "Land Reform and Human Rights in Contemporary Zimbabwe: Balancing Individual and Social Justice Through an Integrated Human Rights Framework." World Development 32, No. 10 (2004)
» Human Rights Watch. "Fast Track Land Reform in Zimbabwe."
» Institute of Development Studies. "Zimbabwe's Land Reform Ten Years On: New Study Dispels the Myths."
» Kinloch, Graham C. "Changing Racial Attitudes in Zimbabwe: Colonial/Post-Colonial Dynamics." Journal of Black Studies 34, No. 2 (2003).
» Klein, Andy. "Mugabe and the White African: Movie Review." The Christian Science Monitor, August 11, 2010.
» Salopek, Paul. "Mugabe's Rise and Fall Are Template for Difficult Era in Africa's History." The Seattle Times, April 3, 2008.
» Shaw, William H. "'They Stole Our Land': Debating the Expropriation of White Farms in Zimbabwe." The Journal of Modern African Studies 41, No. 1 (2003).
» Smiley, Xan. "Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, and the Rise of Mugabe." Foreign Affairs Magazine, Summer 1980.
After repayment of a 24-year loan, the 3,000-acre Mount Carmel farm was legally transferred to Mike Campbell's company. Difficulties for the Campbells began in November 1997, when the property was listed for acquisition in Zimbabwe's land reform program, under which land is often allocated to senior political associates, the elite and wealthy friends of Robert Mugabe and his government.
Mike Campbell was born on a farm in Klerksdorp, South Africa, into a family that had farmed in Africa since 1713. In the early 1970s, Mike served as a captain in the South African army and fought in the Rhodesian Bush War.
In 1974, Campbell moved to Mount Carmel farm in the Chegutu district of Zimbabwe. He bought the 3,000-acre plot and began stocking it with game and planting it with corn and mangoes. Eventually, he opened a safari lodge that became a popular tourist destination. Until three years ago, the farm boasted 45 giraffes, 300 impala, 150 wildebeest and 50 eland, as well as waterbuck, warthogs, zebras and game birds. By the end of the 1990s, Mount Carmel farm was the largest mango producer in Zimbabwe, generating much-needed export earnings for the country. More than 500 people lived on the farm, including workers and their spouses and children. After a 24-year loan on the farm had been repaid, the farm was legally transferred into the family's company name upon receipt of a "certificate of no interest" from the Mugabe government, which had the first purchase option on any sale.
Land Reform and Court Battle
The difficulties for Campbell and the 500 people living on Mount Carmel farm began in November 1997, when the property was listed for acquisition as part of the government's land reform program. The acquisition was part of Mugabe's inequitable land redistribution, under which land is often allocated to senior political associates, the elite and wealthy friends of Mugabe and his government. The man planning to move onto Campbell's farm is one of the country's former most visible political leaders, Nathan Shamuyarira, previously the spokesman for Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party.
In 2000, armed gangs of supposedly landless former independence fighters -- urged on by Mugabe, who had "cancelled" all title deeds and declared that all land belonged to the government -- began invading white-owned farms. After the farm invasions began, Campbell, his family, their workers and other farmers in the district became the target of unrelenting state-sponsored violence and intimidation. The safari lodge was burned down, wildlife slaughtered and cattle rustled. After getting no recourse in the Zimbabwean courts, Campbell took his case to the SADC tribunal in October 2007, and in March of the following year an additional 77 white commercial farmers joined the case as interveners.
Just two days after the July 2008 Zimbabwean presidential run-off election, Mike Campbell, his wife and his son-in-law Ben Freeth were abducted by militia and taken to a remote camp, where they were tortured for nine hours. Campbell sustained severe head injuries, broken ribs and damage to his lower limbs caused by "falanga" (a method of torture that involves beating the soles of the feet). His wife, Angela, was forced to sign an agreement that the family would not continue its court battle. All three were dumped on the roadside; once discovered there, they were rushed to the hospital.
Campbell's injuries prevented him from attending the SADC tribunal's final hearing. However, Freeth, despite being wheelchair-bound and having sustained a fractured skull, was able to represent the Campbell case. During this hearing, the international court of the SADC ruled that the land reform program was discriminatory and was not being conducted according to the rule of law. Therefore, it granted Campbell and the other dispossessed white farmers the return of their property. However, the Harare government refused to honor that ruling, and Campbell and his family continued to be victimized. A year later, a government-sponsored militia burned the Campbell and Freeth homesteads to the ground.
Campbell, continuing to seek justice, launched another legal action in early 2011. This case sought to compel SADC heads of state, including President Mugabe, to restore the functions of the tribunal, which had been suspended following the ruling in favor of the white farmers. Unfortunately, Campbell never recovered from the injuries he sustained from the brutal beating, and he died on April 6, 2011 at the age of 79. Campbell is survived by his wife, Angela, their son, Bruce, two daughters, Cathy and Laura, and five grandchildren with a sixth grandchild to be born next month.
Photo Caption: A worker on the Campbell farm watches helplessly as farm buildings burn
Credit: Arturi Films Limited
Sources:
» Herbstein, Denis. "Mike Campbell Obituary." The Guardian, April 24, 2011.
» "Mike Campbell." The Telegraph, April 8, 2011
» Mugabe and the White African
The SADC's original objective was the political liberation of southern Africa, but its mission has grown to one of promoting sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development for the region.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) tribunal, the region's highest court, was established as an institution of the SADC in 1992, although it only became operational in August 2005.
The SADC's original objective was the political liberation of southern Africa, but its mission has grown to one of promoting sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development through efficient productive systems, deeper co-operation and integration, good governance and durable peace and security, so that the southern African region emerges as a competitive and effective player in international relations and the world economy. The SADC currently has a membership of 15 states: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The SADC tribunal, which sits in Namibia, is one of eight institutions under the umbrella of the SADC. The tribunal has jurisdiction over disputes between SADC states and disputes between persons and member states. A person may only bring a case before the tribunal if he or she has exhausted all other legal avenues in his or her state of residence. Since 2007, five suits have been filed in the tribunal -- two contract claims against SADC, a contract claim against Zanzibar and two cases against the government of Zimbabwe, including Campbell v. Republic of Zimbabwe.
In the case of Campbell v. Republic of Zimbabwe, the tribunal determined that the plaintiff's farm was illegally seized by the government and the plaintiffs were owed compensation. The tribunal condemned the seizures as "racist" and as theft on a grand scale. In the course of litigation, the Campbells were issued orders demanding that the government cease expulsions from the farm. The government of Zimbabwe not only did not comply with the cease and desist order, but it also failed to comply with the final decision. Though Zimbabwe is a member of the SADC, it replied that the tribunal has no force and refused to recognize it as a legitimate body of legal authority.
Following Zimbabwe's non-compliance, the SADC effectively shut down the tribunal in May 2011, citing a need to review the tribunal's role and functions.
Photo Caption: Inside the SADC court, Namibia, during the Campbell hearing.
Credit: Arturi Films Limited
Sources:
» Amnesty International. "SADC Tribunal Struggles for Legitimacy."
» "Mike Campbell." The Telegraph, April 8, 2011
» Southern African Development Community
» Southern Africa Litigation Centre. "For Mugabe's Sake: SADC Leaders Sabotage the SADC Tribunal and Undermine the Rule of Law."
In the United States and other Western nations, definitions of racism reflect a history of slavery and colonization by Caucasians of peoples of color. In the West, this social construct has resulted in white privilege, a condition in which all whites -- even those who actively oppose racial discrimination -- benefit from the existence of racism.
In the United States and other Western nations, definitions of racism reflect a history of slavery and colonization by Caucasians of peoples of color. In this context, the term racism has been used to mean:
- Prejudice, i.e., the belief that one race is superior to another (typical in the rhetoric of hate groups, or the everyday use of racial slurs or jokes)
- Individual discriminatory acts based on skin color or other racial traits (e.g., a landlord refusing to rent to members of a particular racial group)
- Institutional policies that intentionally discriminate on the basis of race (e.g., redlining to prevent blacks and other minorities from securing mortgages for properties in certain neighborhoods)
- Institutional polices that unintentionally reinforce or create discrimination based on race (e.g., basing school funding on property tax assessments, resulting in perennial underfunding of schools in poor neighborhoods where minorities are overrepresented)
Some people define prejudice as separate from racism, reserving the latter term for those who actually have the power to act on or institutionalize injustice based on their beliefs.
In recent years, justifications for racial inequity based on scientifically identifiable characteristics used to distinguish one race from another have largely been discredited by DNA and other evidence. The absence of a scientific basis bolsters the arguments of those who see race as a social construct designed to benefit some groups of people at the expense of others.
In Western countries, this social construct has resulted in white privilege, a condition in which all whites -- even those who actively oppose racial discrimination -- benefit from the existence of racism.
In Zimbabwe, because Mugabe's government ostensibly represents and is run by the country's black majority, his discriminatory race-based policy to combat historical race-based injustices has turned common Western constructions of racism upside down. In Mugabe's "Africa for Africans" rhetoric, blacks alone are entitled to the protections and benefits of government, while whites are either denied citizenship entirely or relegated to second-class status based on their race alone.
In discussions of the film, some people may see Mugabe's actions as a continuing response to the damages of colonial racism, and under those circumstances they may reserve the term "racist" for actions taken by whites. Others will see Mugabe's race-based policies as being no different from white discrimination against blacks and will think the term "racist" accurately describes Mugabe's policies.
Photo Caption: Laura Freeth with the women who work for her by embroidering as part of her linen business;
Credit: Arturi Films Limited
Sources:
» PBS. "Race: The Power of an Illusion."