"ethnic cleansing" in Zimbabwe...
Freed white farmers ordered to pack up and leave homes in Zimbabwe
ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer Tuesday, August 20, 2002
(08-20) 09:48 PDT HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) --
White farmers ordered by Zimbabwean courts to leave their land by the end of Tuesday loaded their belongings onto trucks and were looking for places to stay, union leaders said.
"It is a desperately sad situation. People are loading up their assets to move out. Many have nowhere to go and are looking for places to stay," said Ben Freeth, a district official for the Commercial Farmers Union, which represents 4,000 white farmers.
Nearly 200 white farmers have been arrested since Thursday for defying government eviction orders. Most were freed on bail and told by district courts to pack up and leave or face arrest again, the union said.
Colin Cloete, the head of the union, was among those arrested who appeared in court Monday. A moderate, he led union attempts to negotiate with the government. Cloete was ordered to leave his land in the Selous tobacco and corn district, about 45 miles west of Harare, Freeth said. Cloete was not immediately available for comment.
Freeth said at least 21 farmers were released on bail Monday.
Of 96 white-owned farms in the district, three were still operating Tuesday, Freeth said. Most of the displaced farmers owned a single property but were forced off their land despite promises by the government none would be deprived of their only homes or livelihood.
"Ethnic cleansing is exactly what it is. There's no other term for it," Freeth said.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Tuesday police had arrested 197 farmers across the country for defying government notices to quit their farms by Aug.9.
The farmers were charged with violating land laws giving them 90 days from mid-May to wind up their affairs and leave their properties.
"The law is being enforced and court proceedings are to follow," he said.
Most of those released posted bail of between $15 to $30. A few in western Zimbabwe did not receive bail conditions to leave their properties.
Farmers refusing to leave their land face up to two years in jail and a fine. Many are contesting the legality of the eviction orders.
Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo, in charge of the police, warned farmers Monday to "desist from a confrontational role," state radio reported.
The increasingly unpopular government of President Robert Mugabe plans to seize nearly 5,000 farms -- 95 percent of properties owned by whites -- saying they are to be distributed to landless blacks.
About 2,900 farmers have already been ordered off their land, but 60 percent of these failed to comply, said Jenni Williams, a spokeswoman for Justice for Agriculture.
Farmers' lawyers believe the eviction orders violate constitutionally entrenched rights of freedom from racial discrimination, and also contain technical errors, rendering them invalid.
The government says the land seizures are meant to correct the skewed remnants of colonialism that left about 4,500 whites owning one third of the nation's farmland, while 7 million black farmers shared the rest.
Government opponents accuse Mugabe of using the land issue to cling to power.
The often violent seizures have contributed to more than two years of political chaos in Zimbabwe, brought the country to the brink of economic ruin and contributed to widespread food shortages that threaten half the population. |
