Cowlix Wearing my mind on my sleeve

Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Analyzing the treason tape

What lies behind Zimbabwe's treason tape

The Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe has analysed the video tape and says that a version broadcast relentlessly on Zimbabwe television has a video timer on the screen, which also demonstrates "that the video had been cut and rearranged in a manner that appeared to suit the assassination conspiracy theory".

"The timer... changed repeatedly from, 9.45am to 9.25am; and from 9.25am to 9.43am and then back to 9.27am; and from 9.52am to 9.44am," says the MMPZ.

It's not clear the weekly reports from the MMPZ are archived regularly, so I'm mirroring that issue below.

The Media Update, Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe

Latest: 11- 17 Feb. 2002
Update Number 2002/06

CONTENTS

1. General Comment
2. The assassination conspiracy
3. Other conspiracies
4. Election campaigns
5. Political Violence
6. Electoral issues
7. South African observers denial
8. SW Radio Africa
1. GENERAL COMMENTS: An appeal to the electoral commission, judiciary and the media

News of an alleged plot by MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, to assassinate President Mugabe overshadowed all other news during the week under review.

Notwithstanding an examination of this most serious allegation that we seek to unravel in this update, MMPZ laments the fact that with barely 14 days to go before the presidential election, there has been no attempt by the government-controlled media to clarify important electoral processes that are likely to affect the electorate on voting day.

While some attempt has been made to address these issues in supplements contained in the private press, the national public broadcaster and the government-owned Zimpapers' publications have made no effort to explain, for example, what identity papers the electorate will be required to produce to cast their vote. No explanation has been given to the electorate in Harare and Chitungwiza about what documents they will be required to produce when they go to cast their vote in the concurrent municipal and mayoral elections in these two centres. None of the media has called upon the Registrar-General's office to provide this information and the Electoral Supervisory Commission has not provided any educational advertising to assist in these important electoral matters.

MMPZ appeals to the media and the authorities to assist Zimbabwe's electorate by clarifying these issues well before polling opens in order for the people to exercise their democratic rights effectively. Without clear and unambiguous advice well ahead of the election, many voters risk the possibility of being disenfranchised on technical grounds.

MMPZ also calls upon the judiciary to urgently resolve the constitutional matter under review by the Supreme Court of whether the presidential election will be held under a common voters' roll, or on a constituency basis, as the electorate will need time to consider the ruling when it is finally made.

2. THE ASSASSINATION CONSPIRACY: Evidence of re-arranged tape

ZTV broke the news (13/2 8pm) that the Australian television station, SBS, had broadcast a documentary claiming that MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, had hired a Canadian-based political consultancy firm, Dickens and Madson, to arrange for the assassination of President Mugabe.

ZTV reported that the documentary entitled, Killing Mugabe - The Tsvangirai Conspiracy, contained secret video footage of the MDC leader discussing the assassination plot. It also reported a statement issued by Dickens and Madson following the broadcast of the documentary, explaining the circumstances under which the footage was obtained. This was also published in The Herald the following day (14/2) and stated that during an initial meeting with Ari Ben Menashe representing the consultancy firm, "...Mr Tsvangirai proposed that Dickens and Madson aid him in arranging the assassination of President Robert Mugabe."

It also noted that "a final meeting" took place in Montreal on December 4th "...in order to obtain conclusive proof..." of Tsvangirai's complicity in the plot.

But when ZTV finally screened six minutes of the secret surveillance video on its main news bulletin on Sunday evening (17/2), it contained no evidence that Tsvangirai "...repeated his demands for the elimination of President Mugabe..." as The Herald reported the Dickens and Madson statement as saying (14/2).

ZBC (all stations, 17/02, 8pm) used Tsvangirai's admission that he had met Dickens and Madison officials in Canada as an admission that he had plotted to assassinate Mugabe. And, after an earlier attempt on Friday had failed, ZTV screened clips from the secret surveillance video for the first time in an effort to substantiate the claim.

After reporting Tsvangirai claiming that "...words were put in his mouth...", the newscaster introduced the secret video clips by stating that ZBC had obtained footage of "...Tsvangirai setting the agenda..." for the assassination plot.

Careful scrutiny of the contents of the clips shown on ZTV however, raise serious doubts about the integrity of the Dickens and Madson officials and anybody who wanted to use them to incriminate the MDC leader.

Notably, what Tsvangirai was heard to say did not match the titles on the screen. And the timer on the surveillance video shown on ZTV (17/02, 8pm) changed repeatedly from, 9.45am to 9.25am; and from 9.25am to 9.43am and then back to 9.27am; and from 9.52am to 9.44am, revealing that the video had been cut and rearranged in a manner that appeared to suit the assassination conspiracy theory.

In addition, a comparative analysis of the Australian documentary's "unedited" transcript as published in the government controlled Sunday Mail and Sunday News (17/2), and ZTV's video clips, shows that the transcript (and the documentary?) had also been manipulated, apparently to create the impression that there was a conspiracy between the MDC and the army to oust Mugabe.

(The Zimbabwe Mirror [15/2] appeared to have picked this up when it reported that the army and the MDC were investigating the motive behind the story).

In one section of the surveillance video screened by ZTV Tsvangirai says: "What we would like the army to do, in my view, is to say, in the event of that happening, the army must guarantee that, one, that they will remain an outside guarantee for enforcing a bi-partisan government between ZANU PF and MDC for a certain duration. That duration should lead to transitional stage in which to lay down the basis of... (Inaudible)"

Most significantly, this comment is missing from the documentary's transcript. And the question that led to that response is also missing. ZTV made no reference to "the event" that Tsvangirai had evidently been asked about, lending support to his claim that Dickens and Madson officials had been responsible for raising speculative scenarios about an assassination in an effort to implicate the MDC leader.

Tsvangirai is then asked to respond to another clearly speculative set of questions: "Who is going to call the emergency? Who is going to call the suspension of the constitution and the emergency?

In his response he says: "No they don't have to. All they need to do is to call the acting Vice President. Look, we've got a crisis. We cannot proceed immediately after the head of state has been eliminated. But we want you to form a transitional government with the MDC to ensure that these conditions are put in place for a free and fair election. We cannot move into a free and fair election under circumstances when the country is unstable because the head of state has gone."

According to the timer on the surveillance camera, Tsvangirai made these remarks between 9: 27: 44sec am and 9:29:03 am. But the section underlined was removed from the transcript, which presumably represents the documentary, and was replaced with a comment he was seen to make 15 minutes later in response to another unidentified remark by Dickens and Madson officials:

"To me, that is the fundamental issue. That plus how the two forces, the MDC on the one hand and the army on the other, can work together to ensure a smooth transition towards democracy through an election process even if it means delaying the election."

Again, the context that led to this response was missing.

But in this way the transcript (and the maker of the documentary?) merged what Tsvangirai said at different times apparently to reinforce the impression that the MDC and at least sections of the army were in collusion in a plot to assassinate Mugabe, contrary to what Tsvangirai had actually said on ZTV's footage of the security video.

How ZBC missed this serious insinuation and the evident manipulation (in the transcript) of the conversation captured by the surveillance camera, remains a mystery. It also raises the significant question about whether ZTV screened sections of the surveillance video that appeared in the documentary, or raw footage of the surveillance video obtained independently by ZBC, as the newscaster herself implied - and the tell-tale timer suggests.

MMPZ believes it is particularly dangerous and unethical to confine publicity to implicitly incriminating sections of a secret video shot at a meeting specifically arranged to trap Tsvangirai discussing the possible assassination of the President.

On the evidence of the ZTV footage, the Montreal meeting was clearly an unsuccessful attempt by the consultancy company to "stitch up" Tsvangirai and lure him into making apparently incriminating comments in response to speculative questions about the possibility of Mugabe's assassination. Nowhere in the ZTV clips is anybody quoted suggesting the MDC's involvement in such an assassination plot, let alone evidence of him demanding the assistance of Dickens and Madson in arranging its execution. The sole evidence for this claim resides in the Dickens and Madson statement and the misleading claim by the documentary's maker, Mark Davis, simply stating "that they were contracted by Tsvangirai to kill Robert Mugabe."

The documentary's transcript also reveals that Davis too, relies solely on Dickens and Madson's unsubstantiated claims to develop the theme of his report.

MMPZ condemns the superficial, misleading and speculative nature of the documentary and the state media's response to its release.

ZTV devoted a total of 35 minutes and 25 seconds to the assassination conspiracy in the news section of the five Newshour bulletins that featured the story between Wednesday (13/2) and Sunday. This represents about 25% of the total airtime given to news in this programme over the five nights. The MDC's official denial was afforded 15 seconds on ZTV (14/2 8pm). A further 55 seconds was given to footage of Tsvangirai addressing a rally in Chitungwiza (17/2 8pm) in which he again denied the allegations.

The Herald story (14/2) reported some of the conversation contained in the transcript of the documentary, carefully ascribing the claims of an assassination conspiracy to the Dickens and Madson statement, although the headline misleadingly stated, 'Plot to Kill President - Covert Plan Hatched in UK and Canada'.

The next day the paper used the MDC's admission that it had met the Canadian consultancy company to imply complicity in the conspiracy under the heading, MDC Admits Coup Meetings'. But it did carry part of the MDC's denial and a brief explanation for the meetings before reporting "stunned...analysts" accusing Tsvangirai of "clutching at straws..." when he made "unsubstantiated accusations" claiming that the consultancy firm was working "in cahoots with" Security Minister, Nicholas Goche, and the Permanent Secretary in the Department of Information, George Charamba.

The privately owned Press however, provided more lucid coverage of the MDC denial and quoted sections of the English Press discrediting Menashe as "a notorious, chronic liar", and linking him to the government years before the video was shot (a claim Menashe himself later corroborated). These stories appeared in The Daily News and The Zimbabwe Independent (15/2).

ZBC initially omitted to inform its audiences about Menashe's 'colourful' background in Israel's feared intelligence service, Mossad. The broadcaster only referred to this history (ZTV 15/2 8pm) after it was exposed in the private press, and then only in the context of shoring up his credibility. ZTV also omitted the somewhat relevant point that Dickens and Madson are currently employed by the ZANU PF government to promote its image internationally.

Local audiences of the state controlled media were only given a clue to this key fact when Menashe was asked why his company decided to reveal the plot. "...Our sympathy, our personal sympathies, always was on the side of decolonization of Africa, African Liberation and the Liberation of land. Africa is for Africans and not for the colonial powers. And I believe we are on the right side of history and Mr. Tsvangirai is basically a black face for a new Rhodesia" Menashe said, exactly reflecting ZANU PF's current doctrine.

In its report the previous day, ZTV (14/02, 8pm) embellished its conspiracy theory with gratuitous fiction in an effort to portray the MDC as a violent, desperate party linked to Rhodesian military elements: "The alleged assassination plot by the MDC is characteristic of its violent nature similar to that of the notorious Rhodesian Selous Scouts, some of whom are now active members of the party". No evidence was provided for these wild claims, but to reinforce this impression, ZTV again attributed the murder in Matabeleland last year of Cain Nkala, Limukani Luphahla and other ZANU PF supporters to MDC supporters, despite the fact that the state has yet to secure convictions for these crimes.

ZTV also repeatedly re-screened old footage of a Tsvangirai rally in Harare last year where he was quoted saying: "If you (Mugabe) won't go peacefully, we will remove you violently" to further buttress the impression that Tsvangirai is an advocate of violence.

Curiously, in its initial report ZTV (13/02, 8pm) billed the story in its headlines but ran it in the second half of the bulletin after spending 14 minutes and 25 seconds attacking local journalist Basildon Peta. By so doing ZBC exposed its bizarre news selection - or its lack of faith in the assassination plot story. An alleged plot to kill a president is a big story in any country and a professional broadcasting station would have given this news priority over an opportunity to discredit a journalist from the privately owned Press.

A new angle to the story turned up in The Standard (17/2), which quoted war veterans' association leader, Andy Mhlanga, dismissing the coup plot as "a joke of the year".

Perhaps ZBC knows best after all! 3. OTHER CONSPIRACIES

The government media also continued with its 'anthrax terror mail' conspiracy during the week, and ZBC introduced a new one - with the assistance of government officials: That white farmers were responsible for the maize shortage by burning their maize crops.

The Chronicle (13/2) reported "a suspected anthrax attack" at Bulawayo's Belmont post office after a worker emerged from the mail room covered in white powder and swellings on his hands. He was reported to have been hospitalized, but no attempt was made to obtain expert analysis of the powder. Most of the story was devoted to reminding readers of earlier "bio-terrorist attacks" on senior government officials, which have never been corroborated by any evidence. The story was picked up by ZTV on its 7am bulletin the next morning, St Valentine's Day.

More serious was ZBC's efforts to accuse commercial farmers in Mashonaland West of destroying maize to foil the GMB's efforts to seize undeclared cereal stocks (12/2 Nhau Indaba & 8pm).

The reporter claimed that a Mhangura farmer had destroyed 60 tonnes of maize and viewers were shown heaps of the crop that had allegedly been burnt. Without giving the farmer or any other professional agricultural organization the opportunity to provide an explanation, the reporter concluded: "For many in this area this was a pure act of sabotage meant to deprive Zimbabweans of their staple food..."

(A Commercial Farmers' Union statement issued later provided a credible explanation in response to the TV story, but no attempt has been made by ZTV to correct the initial impression). In fact, ZTV invited Agriculture Minister, Joseph Made, to comment on the story in the same bulletin and his remarks simply reinforced the reporter's unsupported allegations: "The story that has just been on in terms of the farmer in Mhangura is really telling. These are some of the issues that we have been talking about. That's early planted maize which we hoped now will be harvested. But you can see it again in very bad taste, commercial farmers beginning to burn a crop that we really gave them an opportunity to produce..." 4. ELECTION CAMPAIGNS

ZTV reported 41 campaign stories during the week. Thirty-four (83%) including Mugabe's campaign rallies, were pro-ZANU PF, while three (7%) were reports on MDC events, two (5%) favoured National Alliance for Good Governance (NAGG) and two (5%) were pro-Paul Siwela, an independent candidate

Radio Zimbabwe had 36 stories. Thirty (83, 33%) were in support of ZANU PF while three (8,33%) favoured NAGG and three (8,33%) were pro-Siwela. The MDC had none.

3FM aired 38 campaign-related stories. Of these 31 (82%) were pro-ZANU PF and two (5%) were about the MDC Gweru rally. Two (5%) supported NAGG while three (8%) favoured Siwela.

The print media carried 40 campaign-related stories. The public press carried 21, 19 of them (90%) pro-ZANU PF. One (5%) focused on a flopped NAGG rally, while one (5%) reported the barring of an MDC rally in Bulawayo. The private press carried 19 campaign related stories. Seventeen (90%) of them were pro-MDC. Two (10%) focused on ZANU PF. These included The Daily News (14/2) ZANU PF supporters stranded after rally, and another that favoured ZANU PF in The Zimbabwe Mirror (15/2).

During the week, the state media reflected the adoption by the ruling party of a new campaign strategy that harnesses the misfortunes of the drought to promote its candidate's chances in the presidential election. This dovetailed with its efforts to turn the man-made disaster of food shortages to its own advantage.

The Herald (14/2) and ZBC reported President Mugabe assuring the nation that "no-one will starve" because government would provide food relief to "feed millions of people faced with imminent starvation". Speaking at another rally in the same report, the President also stated that government had imported enough grain and this would soon be distributed to all parts of the country to avert starvation.

These assurances featured regularly in Mugabe's rally speeches, but usually in the context of the drought, implying that the shortages too, were the result of natural disaster. And in The Herald's report this is how he connected the shortages with the drought: "Most of our crops are a write-off...but let me assure you nobody will die of hunger...We have little problems with transporting the grain to the people..."

Ironically, The Herald (16/2) commented on the MDC's criticism of food shortages, but had the effect of criticizing Mr. Mugabe as well: "It is no time to be playing games with people's lives or winning points on the political platform as is already being espoused by the opposition MDC ... This should shame all those who said food shortages will be used as a political ploy by ZANU PF to garner support in the forthcoming presidential elections".

Incidentally, the public media continued to obscure the increasingly acute food shortage crisis by providing only figures relating to maize importation and not comparing them to the tonnage required to meet consumer needs.

The Herald (11/2) reported that 1 500 tonnes had arrived from South Africa, and was part of 200 000 tonnes to be imported between now and May. The next day the paper quoted Minister Made as saying at least 4 280 tonnes of maize had been imported so far. It only emerged in The Financial Gazette's report of the extent of the crisis (14/2) that Made's figure is reported to be sufficient to meet the nation's needs of just one day. But this is by no means the first time that such a figure has been reliably reported in the private Press.

The public media also religiously reported the charitable nature of the presidential couple in their reports of the President's rallies around the country. Zimpapers and ZBC have regularly reported President Mugabe and the First Lady, Grace, doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars and sewing machines to a variety of organizations at their campaign rallies. But none of the media has questioned whether this amounts to flagrant vote-buying, a criminal offence under the Electoral Act.

ZBC and Zimpapers also continued to act as ZANU PF's publicity agents, using their news pages and bulletins to announce the dates and venues of ruling party meetings and rallies

5. POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Reporting of political violence continued to be skewed along party political lines. It appears reporting of political violence is primarily concerned with apportioning blame as opposed to finding lasting solutions via media coverage. The public media blamed the MDC. The following from The Herald (13/2) best sums up the public media stance: "The opposition MDC has been linked to several crimes recently particularly politically motivated violence". No evidence supported this conclusion. The state owned media quoted the police attributing the upsurge in violence to the MDC. The Herald (11/2) attributed the increase in violence to the arrival of observers. The Herald (16/2) reported that "the police said the MDC had intensified political violence around the country".

In contrast, the private press blamed ZANU PF.

The press carried 50 political violence related articles, of which six appeared in both the public and private press. Six new murders were reported in the week under review - two in the public press and four in the private press. One murder of a ZANU PF supporter killed in Budiriro appeared in both sections of the press.

The public press carried 26 stories covering 21 incidents of political violence. Nineteen of the incidents were blamed on the MDC, while the rest were not attributed. The private press carried 24 articles that recorded 36 incidents of political violence. Out of the 36 incidents, 27 blamed ZANU PF, war veterans (3), state security agents (3), and the remainder MDC (1), unidentified people (2).

The Chronicle (14/02) reported that the assault of a Bulawayo man and the abduction of another, in two separate incidents in which the identity of the assailants remained obscure. It only emerged in The Daily News (15/02) that the perpetrators in both incidents were ZANU PF supporters.

There was a drastic decline in the number of incidents of political violence reported by ZBC. ZTV only reported one incident, 14 less than the previous week's reports. The MDC was identified as being responsible. Also curious is the fact that as from this week ZTV appears to have dropped its "Campaign for Peace" segment which reports political violence. Radio Zimbabwe reported three incidents, five less than those reported the previous week. Both ZANU PF and MDC were blamed once while the other incident was attributed to unknown assailants. 3FM had five reports, eight less than the previous week. Two accused ZANU PF while the MDC was implicated in three of the stories.

ZBC only reported the death of a ZANU PF supporter and ignored those of the opposition. Both 3FM (13/02,1pm) & ZTV (14/02, 8pm) merely reported the burial of a ZANU PF supporter who died in Budiriro, Harare after ZANU PF supporters clashed with those belonging to MDC. However, the broadcaster initially ignored the death when it occurred and failed to explain the circumstances, which led to the victim's death in its report of the funeral.

ZTV used old footage in its review of political violence during the week. The footage of a car and a house belonging to Luckson Ndachiwana Dube that was petrol-bombed was initially aired last year. However, when the story was initially reported (7/12/01) it was stated that the police had yet to establish the reasons for the bombing but that it was not related to political violence. 6. ELECTORAL ISSUES

The impasse over government's refusal to accredit Pierre Schori, the head of the EU's election observer team, overshadowed other electoral issues. Only The Daily News (15/1) in an article buried on page 31 noted "the contributions of foreign observers to making the election free and fair is likely to be marginal at best".

The state media quoted a belligerent Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge stating that Schori was in the country as "a tourist" (ZTV, 11/2, 8pm): " We have not yet banned tourists. Tourists are invited...Zimbabwe does not send away tourists. Those who come to visit are welcome as tourists if we have not invited you to observe our elections"

No comment was sought from Schori or the European Union on this development. Nor was there comment from analysts on the underlying implications of government's stance.

The Herald (15/2) quoted foreign organizations sympathetic to government's stance "ACP slams European Union's stance" and "Hands off Zim, Azapo tells EU". And The Sunday Mail (17/2) quoted the OAU as saying the EU should allow African countries to monitor their own elections, but neither of these papers provided coherent analysis of the deadlock.

The Daily News (11/2) and The Herald (13/2) reported that the EU was likely to impose sanctions if its observer team was interfered with and The Herald's comment that day accused the EU of being a big bully. The Sunday Mail and The Standard (17/2) both reported that Schori had been ordered to leave Zimbabwe, deepening the diplomatic crisis.

In another development, The Financial Gazette (14/2) quoted unnamed sources as saying the CIO had been set to trail election observers from European countries. The Zimbabwe Independent (15/2) reported a lack of transparency in the training of election monitors. The newspaper quoted unidentified monitors who had been ordered not to disclose details of their training to the press.

7. SOUTH AFRICAN OBSERVERS DENIAL

The Herald (13/2) reported that South Africa was "happy with the progress Zimbabwe has made so far in preparation for the forthcoming presidential elections". It quoted two named South African government officials who had come specifically to assess the government's preparations, according to the paper.

However, the next day The Daily News (14/2) claimed that the head of the South African election observer team had denied The Herald story. His quote however, would suggest that The Daily News had misled him over who had made the comments: "We couldn't have said that. We haven't said anything in that regard. Whatever the information is in that story, it is a distortion."

Clearly, he was given the impression that The Herald had reported remarks made by members of his observer team. But this certainly did not appear to be the case.

MMPZ laments such misrepresentation whether it was by accident or design. The independent Press can ill-afford to erode its credibility at such a crucial time, especially with regard to international election observers.

8. SW RADIO AFRICA

Short Wave Radio Africa (SWRA) gave detailed coverage of the ongoing impasse between the European Union (EU) and the Zimbabwean government authorities in its news programmes.

The station aired civic society's comments on the electoral process. Zimrights (Newsreel (12/02) urged foreign observers to travel to rural areas and not remain in the posh hotels. Lovemore Madhuku Chairman of the NCA also gave an analysis (Newsreel, 11/02) of the underlying implications of the General Laws Amendment Act in relation to the role of monitors and election observers. He alluded to the fact that the Act seriously affects the way elections are run. Among other things it defines the role of monitors and observers as well as outlining who qualifies to be appointed. Madhuku also questioned the clause where only ESC is the only eligible body that can receive foreign funding for voter education while civic organizations have to mobilize their resources from local donors. Currently most civic organizations involved in voter education are foreign funded thus the law would make it difficult for them to execute their responsibilities leaving the ESC as the main player in voter education.

There was also a comment from Transparent International Zimbabwe (TIZ) chairman John Makumbe. He challenged General Abubakar, the head of the Commonwealth observer team to step down since he was being accused of human rights abuse (Newsreel, 15/02). However, there was no comment from Abubakar.

SW Radio Africa featured four presidential candidates during the week. These are Morgan Tsvangirai of MDC, Shakespeare Maya of National Alliance for Good Governance (NAGG), independent candidate Paul Siwela, and Wilson Kumbula on its programme Ballot box (11/02 &15/02).

All the candidates informed the electorate on what they have to offer should they be voted into power. This is a welcome relief to ZBC's dose of Zanu PF campaign stories in the news, current affairs and advertising. On ZBC opposition parties' campaign messages are usually lumped together as one news item while ZANU PF's campaign messages are accorded headline status. MMPZ commends SW Radio Africa for allocating equal time to a significant percentage of the contesting candidates. This is in line with the Broadcasting Services Act. Part VIII of the Broadcasting Services Act (2001), which relates to the public services obligations of licensees states: "Every licensee shall, when providing an information service, provide a fair, balanced, accurate and complete service." The Fourth Schedule (Standard Conditions of Licences) of the same Act 2(1) states: "If, during an election period, a broadcaster broadcasts election matter, the broadcaster shall give reasonable and equal opportunities for the broadcasting of election matter to all parties contesting the election."

SW Radio Africa continued to report incidences of political violence in the country. Seven incidences of violence were reported on Newsreel this week. In all the cases, Zanu PF youth militia were reported to have perpetrated the violence while the MDC were portrayed as victims. The station, hardly the first time, reported that all efforts to get comment from the police or Minister Elliot Manyika, whose ministry is responsible for training the youths, had been unsuccessful. However, civic society views on political violence were accessed.

The partisan stance displayed by the police when dealing with cases of political violence and the public media's shortcomings in reporting political violence were also highlighted.

The station (12/02) during Newsreel, quoted Zimrights Regional Chairman Mr. Phiri who said little has been reported about the incidents of political violence in the high and low density suburbs in Harare. As an example Phiri cited an incident in which ZANU PF youths beat up people in Budiriro (10/02) suburb of Harare.

Phiri also criticised the unbalanced nature of the public media's coverage of political violence. He said that in cases where the MDC is the victim, the public media attributes the violence to "unknown assailants", whereas in cases where Zanu PF is the victim, the MDC is reported as the perpetrators.

In another report (12/02) the station reported that a Zaka woman had informed them that the Zanu PF youth militia had beaten up people in Zaka, then mounted roadblocks to bar victims from getting medication from hospitals.

MMPZ commends the station for airing eyewitness accounts of what is happening on the ground with regards political violence. This dispels official statements claiming that the situation was not as bad and the private media were fabrication stories to tarnish the image of the country.

Father Fidelis Mukonori of The Catholics Bishops Conference was quoted denouncing political violence (13/02) and saying that it was too complex for one to establish who was perpetrating the violence as some people were wearing T-shirts for political parties they did not belong to and engaging in acts of violence. As such it was hard to point out who the perpetrators were on the basis of T-shirts.

Ends

The Media Update is produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, MMPZ, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702, E-mail: monitors@mweb.co.zw Previous reports can be accessed at http://www.icon.co.zw/mmpz

Address all correspondence to the Project Coordinator.

Please feel free to circulate this message.

To unsubscribe, simple send a request to monitors@mweb.co.zw

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