Zimbabwe: The Constitution Is Faulty

Zimpundit: Zimbabwe

I am a relatively new student of Zimbabwe politics, and I am not going to pretend I know a whole lot. But even a perfunctory glance at the situation has lead me to believe the fundamental flaw of the democracy movement there is that it hopes to win the 2008 presidential race. That is a self-defeating goal.

Mugabe is a dictator, he has been a dictator. His dictatorship has been made possible by a constitution that needs to go. The goal of the democracy movement should be to boycott the 2008 elections. The goal should be to prepare to launch a democracy movement to form an all party government to conduct free and fair elections to a constituent assembly to write a new, democratic constitution. The goal has to be to get people out in large numbers, to shut the country down for a few weeks.

The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal
Democracy Spreading Mechanism
The Demosphere Manifesto
5 Steps To Democracy
Proposed Constitution

The guidelines presented in the links above are all open source. They can be and should be modified to make sense for the local circumstances. It is just that all such debates should take place in the open, online. When they take place offline, they should be documented and archived online.

All of Mugabe's elections have been fundamentally flawed. That is how he has managed to stay in power for so long. You do not participate in a Mugage election, you boycott it. If you participate, you rubber stamp his dictatorship and wrong ways.

I am honored to have been in constant communication with Zimpundit after the April Revolution. He is in America like I am. He is also a Global Voices author, like I am. He has strong feelings for democracy and for his country of origin. We are going to collaborate more closely for the sake of Zimbabwe. This is taking digital democracy activism to a whole new level. All that you can do online, you do online. The online medium is such an efficient medium. Zim, I am in.

Zimbabwe: Constitution

There is a provision for a foreign woman to become a citizen of Zimbabwe if she marries a man who is a citizen of the country. What about foreign men? This is sexist. Only children adopted by men get citizenship. That is wrong. There is all this talk of "legitimate" children. All children are legitimate. I get the impression Zimbabwe is still one of those countries where single mothers are seriously frowned upon. That is sexist and wrong.

There is a declaration of rights, but those rights are subject to their being in the "public interest." As in, if the government deems your exercise of a particular right against the public interest, that right might get curtailed. It is with this escape clause that Mugabe has been hounding his opponents for decades. It is this climate of fear that has sustained him. He does not care to be loved and admired. He just wants to be feared. It sure has worked for him: "rights and freedoms subject to such limitations of that protection as are contained herein, being limitations designed to ensure that the enjoyment of the said rights and freedoms by any person does not prejudice the rights and freedoms of others or the public interest."

The public interest is such a vague, loose phrase. That is practically like the government having veto power over individuals.

The state can legally kill you "for the purpose of suppressing a riot, insurrection or mutiny or of dispersing an unlawful gathering." That is another dose of blanket power in Mugabe's hands.
The state can lawfully kill you to prevent you from possibly committing a crime: "in order to prevent the commission by that person of a criminal offence." That falls in the sci-fi zone, as far as I am concerned.

A person can be deprived of liberty "upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed, or being about to commit, a criminal offence." So you could get arrested if you are about to organize a rally that might turn into a riot? The lines are blurry.

You could also be detained "in execution of the order of a court or with the consent of his parent or guardian, for the purposes of his education or welfare during a period beginning before he attains the age of twenty-one years and ending not later than the date when he attains the age of twenty-three years." That is like saying you are 18, but you are not yet an adult.

Also "for the purpose of preventing the spread of an infectious or contagious disease." This is suspicious.

Also "if he is, or is reasonably suspected to be, of unsound mind, addicted to drugs or alcohol, or a vagrant, for the purpose of his care, treatment or rehabilitation or the protection of the community." The state gets to decide if you are of unsound mind. What if you organize an insurrection? Is that the act of an unsound mind? There is this tone that the state is doing it for your own good. That is so patronizing.

Also "for the purpose of preventing his unlawful entry into Zimbabwe or for the purpose of effecting his expulsion, extradition or other lawful removal from Zimbabwe." I can imagine this might apply to political dissidents.

"Any person who is arrested or detained shall be informed as soon as reasonably practicable, in a language that he understands, of the reasons for his arrest or detention and shall be permitted at his own expense to obtain and instruct without delay a legal representative of his own choice and hold communication with him." It does not say 24 hours. As soon as possible could be really long, especially if you are a targeted individual. And legal representation is not provided by the state. If you can't afford it, you don't have it. This is fundamental abuse.

There is a provision that "No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other such treatment." But then the subsequent provision makes that null and void: "No treatment reasonably justifiable in the circumstances of the case to prevent the escape from custody of a person who has been lawfully detained shall be held to be in contravention of subsection (1) on the ground that it is degrading." Every time there is a mention of some kind of a fundamental right, there is always an escape clause that gives the state veto power.

Mugabe seems to have imposed a threat of physical harm upon the population. He has instilled fear. The people of Zimbabwe have not been a free people.

"Where any person, by virtue of a law, contract or scheme relating to the payment of pensions benefits, has a right, whether vested or contingent, to the payment of pensions benefits or any commutation thereof or a refund of contributions, with or without interest, payable in terms of such law, contract or scheme, any law which thereafter provides for the extinction of or a diminution in such a right shall be regarded for the purposes of subsection (1) as a law providing for the acquisition of a right in property." Is this like saying the government can rob you of your pension?

There are other provisions that basically challenge the right to property. You may own property, but the state has final say.

The purpose of a democratic constitution is to protect the individual from the state. The purpose of an autocratic institution is to protect the state from the individual. The Zimbabwe constitution falls in the second category.

The Zimbabwe constitution does not seem to be able to think of one fundamental human right that it does not want to smother beyond recognition. If rights are presented with ifs and buts, they are not rights at all.

I have made these comments after having read just the first one seventh of the document. This has been enough to convince me that the goal of the democracy movement should be to scrap this constitution.

The language of the document is rather convoluted. I am sorry if I misread or misunderstood some parts. I stand corrected. But these are my first impression complaints. This document is too flawed to be amended. It needs to be scraped to make way for something new.

On The Web

Movement for Democratic Change Online
ZIMBABWE: Democracy movement debates sanctions
The Zimbabwe Movement -- Homepage -- Get involved today!!
Zvakwana - Sokwanele - Enough is Enough - Home Page
World Movement for Democracy - Promoting Labor Rights
World Movement for Democracy - Breakthrough Elections
Frontline 7 - Zimbabwe: for democracy and socialism
modified - Report by Social Movement observer delegation to ...
Cuba
Report by Social Movement observer delegation to Zimbabwe

All you need to know about Arthur Mutambara
Mutambara outlines new MDC focus
ZWNEWS.com - linking the world to Zimbabwe
ISS Today: Arthur Mutambara Returns to Head MDC
allzimbabwe.com - Strive Masiyiwa Snubs Pro-Senate MDC and settle ...
MLK Visiting Professors welcomed - MIT News Office
_ Africa Leadership Initiative ::: _ List of Fellows
Zimbabwes Biggest Daily Online Newspaper - read it here first ...
BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Zimbabwe's 'outsider' faction leader
Arthur Mutambara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia






morocco vs zimbabwe hadji27 18 sec - Jan 17, 2006
Africa - Botswana & Zimbabwe Animals and Landscapes Pinkard Alan Brand/PhotoLogik 3 min 8 sec - Dec 31, 2005
Zimbabwe Botswana Scenes Pinkard Alan Brand/PhotoLogik 3 min 9 sec - Dec 31, 2005
Nigeria Vs Zimbabwe KEMIS3 13 min 14 sec - Apr 15, 2006
H.E. Robert Gabriel Mugabe: Opening Remarks 4th African-African American Summit AFRICAN CONNECTIONS 4 min 39 sec - May 1, 1997

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Adhikaar

Adhikaar

Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 23:16:52 -0400
From: "luna ranjit"
To: "Paramendra Kumar Bhagat"
Subject: invitation to a community meeting

Adhikaar for human rights and social justice
26 Thistle Ct., Staten Island, NY 10304 | p: 718-876-5545 | e: adhikaar@gmail.com

April 22, 2006

Paramendra Bhagat
Hamro Nepal

Dear Paramendra dai:

On behalf of Adhikaar for human rights and social justice, we would like to invite you or a representative from your organization to a community meeting. We are writing to you as a leader committed for the betterment of our community. At this event, we will introduce Adhikaar and our plans for the near future. But more importantly, we would like to learn from your experience and knowledge and get suggestions and feedback. The meeting will be held on Sunday April 30, 2006 from 5pm to 7pm at the Nepali Mandir, 34-11 62nd Street, 2FL, Woodside, NY 11377. The nearest subway station is 65th Street on G,R,V.

Started in early 2005, Adhikaar became incorporated as a non-profit organization in New York State in July 2005. In less than a year, Adhikaar has been very successful in raising awareness among the Nepalis and as well as raising visibility of the organization. Using a needs-assessment survey and newspaper articles as tool for outreach, Adhikaar has reached out to hundreds of Nepalis in New York area, and provided interpretation/translation services as well as referrals to other agencies' services to many of them. In July 2006, we plan to launch our "Know Your Rights and Resources" campaign to reach out to more community members and make them aware about their rights and the free or low-cost resources available to them. Adhikaar has also received attention from Nepali, South Asian, and other media groups, including Samudaya.org, Nepali Aawaz, Nepal Khabar, Vishwa Sandesh, and WBAI, a community-based radio station of New York.

We hope that you will attend this meeting and help us develop programs to serve our rapidly growing community in New York and across the country. Please feel free to contact Luna at 917-656-7442 or luna.ranjit@gmail.com for further information. In the meantime, you can also access more information about the organization and its programs at www.adhikaar.org.

Please let us know by Friday, April 28th, if you will be able to attend. We are also open to suggestions of the names of other community leaders. Thank you for your support and assistance.

Sincerely,
Luna Ranjit, Srijana Shrestha, Tafadzwa Pasipanodya
Adhikaar Board Members

--
"If you have some power, it is your job to empower somebody else."
- Toni Morrison

Dismantle The Two Armies

Would you do it? How would you do it? Is it desirable? Is it worth it? Is it possible?

Is it desirable? I think yes. To dismantle the two armies before going into the constituent assembly elections would be a great way to ensure free and fair elections to the assembly. A population that has suffered from both for a decade will still feel a cloud of fear as it goes into the polling booths with the two armies standing. According to the 12 point agreement, the two armies will still be standing when we go for the assembly elections. I think that can prove problematic. And we can not afford to not have free and fair elections to the constituent assembly, now that we have it: the parliament voted for it unanimously.

The army as a social institution has been as archaic as the monarchy. Both symbolize feudal mindsets. Dismantling it is as appealing as the idea of a republic. How else could the country get a fresh start?

Nepal is a poor country. It needs to be spending on education, health and micro credit, not on defense.

How Would You Do It

The idea would not be to render 60,000 RNA soldiers - or however many there are - jobless. The same applies to the 12,00o Maoist soldiers, or however many there are. The idea would be to offer them all a smooth transition into the private sector.

That would require money. Where would that money come from? There are several sources. If you were to sell the arms and ammunitions the two armies have, that will generate a pot of money. The RNA has a huge fund which is money the RNA has made through its peacekeeping operations to do with the UN. And the Maoists are the richest political party in Nepal: they are going to have to cough up some money. But the biggest chunk will come from the foreign powers, namely India, China, America, Europe and others. If they have sunk tens of millions of dollars into military aid to prevent the worst case scenario, I am sure they will pump in tens of millions of dollars for peace. Because Cambodia will not happen in Nepal.

What will you do with that money? The idea is not to offer job guarantees to these soldiers in the two armies. The idea is to make their transition from the army into the private sector rather smooth. It will be like offering them an early retirement. You would perhaps give them each a year's worth of salary. And you would create a fund that will give them low interest loans if some of them want to start businesses. Or you would give them super low interest loans if they might want to go to school, college, vocational school, job training. As to how much they would get would be determined by a formula that takes into account as to how much they are making now. The top salaried people would get proportionately more.

Likely noone will get devastated economically. They will likely stay in similar income brackets. It will not feel like their lives got disrupted. It will feel like a career change.

GI Bill of Rights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The GI Bill was designed for American soldiers returning home from World War II. There was no way all of them or even many of them could have stayed on in the army. And the education they received is a big reason for the amazing economic boom America saw over the next few decades.

Will It Be Done

I don't know. It depends on many things. Most of all it depends on how gutsy the seven party alliance leadership can be, how imaginative. This is a bold vision.

I think it should be done, and I sure am pushing for it.

Double Digit Growth

I think dismantling the two armies is key to being able to imagine rapid economic growth for Nepal once it becomes a federal republic.



Ending 238 Years of Civil War in Nepal
Dr Brian Cobb, May 2

After years of things going from bad to worse, Nepal is recovering. Democracy is back on track and a permanent truce seems possible. A long and painful decade of conflict has killed 13,000 people officially, but in reality far more. The official figure includes only those shot or blasted to death but far more people, not enumerated, have died from disruption of health care, water and food supplies and other more subtle and indirect but surely numerically greater causes. Many more have been physically handicapped, psychologically harmed, impoverished, bereaved or orphaned.

Most analysts date the beginning of the violence to 1996, but this is erroneous. The overt violence—that due to bullets and bombs—started then, but structural violence has been endemic to Nepali society. Structural violence is harm due to poverty, discrimination, lack of access to education and healthcare and other forms of injury due to inequality. Consider the disparities in life expectancy, maternal and child mortality and other health indices between the rural low-caste citizens and the urban high castes. It is clear that the death, disability and suffering caused by structural violence far exceeds that due to overt violence.

There is a nexus between the two. It was the frustration turning to rage at the savage inequalities of Nepali life that fueled the Maoist insurrection. What the Maoist leaders actually did was to merely transform structural into overt violence, as a lighted match transforms the chemical energy of petrol into thermal energy. A similar transformation occurred in mid-April of this year; the pent-up frustrations of life under chronic war and military dictatorship were ignited by the heavy handed police response at Gongabu into a national revolution that has sidelined the monarchy and its brutal stooges.

National security, a concern in any state, evolves into an obsession in a totalitarian regime. Lacking popular support and aware of the dangers, autocrats rely on violence or its threat to maintain their power. The Shah and Rana dynasties depended on it. But this very violence, both structural and overt, leads to a level of popular discontent that boils over and cannot be contained by force. Therefore, the only way to maintain stability is to eliminate all forms of violence, both structural and overt, and govern based on the consent and support of the citizenry.

This means addressing poverty, unemployment, discrimination, lack of educational and health care services, lack of infrastructure and other root causes of conflict. One teacher or doctor or road building engineer provides more stability than a hundred sadistic soldiers or predatory police. Well governed countries do not experience civil wars or revolutions.

The Royal Nepal Army does not and cannot protect the people. Should India or China attack, it would be of no use whatsoever. It is a breeding ground for human rights abuses, corruption, nepotism, coups d’etat and colossal waste. It tempts leaders into thinking they can repress and control the people rather than meeting their needs. It diverts the meager resources of a poor country from investment in health, education and infrastructure to consumption by unused weapons and idle soldiers.

The answer lies in rational use of public funds. The RNA should be immediately placed under competent command by UN or retired Gurkha officers with a bilateral ceasefire to function as a peacekeeping force and to voluntarily disarm the Maoists, after which it should be combined with Maoist cadres and put to work attacking the structural violence that has undermined Nepalese democracy from its origins. Its personnel, trucks, helicopters and other resources can take on the work of healing, educating and reconstructing the nation. A portion of its light weapons and equipment can be transferred to the police, who should be screened, trained and monitored to prevent further corruption and rights abuses. Remaining weapons can be sold off. Nepal needs an army like it needs a navy.

But there is another, far more sinister form of violence in Nepal. It lurks, literally, underground. There are 10,000 RNA planted mines and an unknown number of Maoist planted devices. Hundreds of people per year are being killed or maimed by these horrific, indiscriminate weapons. They will continue their vile work for decades; they recognize no truce, nor do they distinguish between civilian and combatant. Landmine violence, like other violence, falls disproportionately on the most vulnerable. Farmers, children and the poor suffer and die. Even domestic animals, so important to the rural poor, are at risk.

The landmine problem must be addressed in five ways: 1, landmine awareness education for villagers, including children; 2, danger zone fencing and signage; 3, healthcare provider education in basic trauma management and creation of a trauma care system; 4, immediate signing, ratification and RNA and Maoist compliance with the 1997 UN landmines treaty; and 5, mine removal by qualified international teams with assistance of the RNA and Maoists to locate them.

Nepalis are warm, gentle and peace-loving people. The land of the Buddha must become a zone of peace, prosperity, justice and progress. All forms of violence must be eliminated. Is someone who traffics young girls to India to become infected with HIV any morally different from someone who shoots them with a rifle? In fact, which fate is crueler? Is the government that perpetuates the kind of poverty and desperation that leads to trafficking any different from the one that bombs the village? Is the parliament that spends money on guns or personal luxuries instead of health posts, thus causing death and suffering, any different from the one that orders those guns to be used? Is the official who diverts precious development funds for his own use any better than the commander at Belbari?

This is not the kind of hair-splitting casuistry debated in academic philosophy departments. These are literally life and death issues. Only by recognizing and extirpating violence root, stem and fruit can stability be achieved. This is why millions of brave Nepalis risked life, limb and liberty to bring about change. They didn’t do it to put certain parties or leaders back in Singh Durbar; they did it because they want a better life for themselves and their children. Sweeping away the monarchy alone will by no means end violence or feudalism. The whole zero-sum, exploitative and corrupt mentality must be replaced by true democracy, equality and progress. Only then will the andolan have accomplished its aim: true and lasting peace.

King of Nepal bowed before peoples' power By Michael Van De Veer Asian Tribune - Bangkok,Thailand

IS NEPAL’S ORANGE REVOLUTION SQUEEZING KING INTO EXILE ?

Kathmandu, Nepal
April 30, 2006

The struggle to create a Democratic Republic in Nepal has surprised the world.

People’s Power and largely peaceful nationwide demonstrations have laid the basis for Nepal to break the chains of a 208-year-old Monarchy.

Many compare the recent peoples’ victory to the “Peoples’ Power revolution” in 1968 when the authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos was brought to an end in the Philippines, or the successful nonviolent “Orange Revolution”in the Ukraine in 2004.

In Kathmandu a 19-day general-strike left piles of rotting garbage lining the streets and there were serious water and food shortages, as well as LP-cooking-gas, kerosine, aircraft-fuel and medicine shortages. Each day the peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations grew, and each day they were met with increased Police and Army brutality. People from every level of society, even children, were brutalized, shot with live and rubber bullets and in at least 14 cases, killed by Security Forces.

At around 5:00 p.m. last Monday the 24th of April, as an estimated 2-million Pro-Democracy demonstrators were encamped around Ring Road which encircles the Capital, the enraged Crown Prince Paras piloted the Royal helicopter around Kathmandu Valley to survey the massive crowd.

As reported by a Nepali Weekly, Jana Astha, at around 6pm.the Crown Prince stormed into the Palace and along with other Royal relatives demanded the “king hang on to power and incited the Security forces to shoot at demonstrators.”

The embattled King, faced with a bloodbath, addressed the Nation at 11:30 p.m.(April 24) on local TV and radio. In a few words the King relinquished absolute power and reinstated the parliament which had laid dormant for four years.

It reportedly “took the King to nearly midnight to pacify his enraged son and send him back to his residence.”

Within hours the 7-Party Alliance (SPA) chose the ailing Congress Party leader, 84 year old G.P. Koirala, as the Prime Minister-designate.

On Friday, April 29th in the dusty parliament building at Singhadubar, the historic Parliament meeting was convened at 5:30 by Deputy Speaker Chetra Lakha Yadav. Her militant voice filled the chamber and the message from PM-Designate G.P. Koirala was met with thunderous applause.

For the 1st. Time in history there was no Crown in the Gallery Batithak and Royal-Power was replaced with People’s Power. Even with senior political leaders assuring that the Parliament is committed to the 12-Point Plan Agreement and Constituent Assembly elections, and tens-of-thousands of demonstrators demanding an end to Autocracy, the establishment of a Republic, the parliament adjourned without voting on these important matters.

A Constituent Assembly not only represents political jurisdictions but caste, class, oppressed minorities, unions, civil society groups, women and other under represented groups. In 1786 after the French Revolution, the first Constituent Assembly was formed to draft a constitution. This form of drafting a constitution was followed in 1918 when, during the October-revolution, the Russians adopted a draft-constitution. In 1946 a Constituent Assembly met in New Delhi to draft a constitution for an India. It took 165 days to complete this historical task.

It is clear that anti-monarchy sentiment is seething and that if the Maoists are brought into the government, the King, the Crown Prince and the Royal Family who no longer enjoy the support of the government or the Nepali people will either remain in Nepal as ordinary citizens or have to seek asylum and exile.

D. Michael Van De Veer-Freelance Journalist-in Kathmandu
Contributor to UnitedWeBlog-Voice of Democratic Nepal, &
Pacifica’s Free Speech Radio News.
Member: SAJA (South Asian Journalist Association).
Host OUT OF THE BOX KKCR-FM www.kkcr.org
PO Box 21218, Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal