Police in Zimbabwe detained a group of Western diplomats for a brief period on Tuesday after the ambassadors traveled to rural areas to visit the victims of post-election violence.
The ambassadors of the US, EU, Britain and Japan traveled to the towns of Mvurwi and Chiweshe, north of Harare, to gather information on attacks on mainly opposition supporters by supporters of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
On their way back to Harare the group was detained for about an hour by armed police, who demanded they produce a diplomatic note explaining their visit at the nearest police station.
“We are now going to beat you, too,” an intelligence official threatened an employee of the US Agency for International Development after hearing the group had met with the victims of violence.
Earlier, police had sealed the group briefly inside the grounds of Mvurwi hospital after demanding that a photographer delete his images of battered patients.
“They did not want us to have first-hand information of the level of brutality taking place in the countryside,” said Paul Engelstad, a spokesman for the US embassy.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington that the detention amounted to “harassment” and compared it to the regular intimidation of Zimbabwean citizens.
“It’s indicative of the kind of atmosphere that exists in Zimbabwe right now,” McCormack said.
“If you have foreign diplomats accredited to Zimbabwe who are facing this kind of treatment, you know, you can only imagine, for Zimbabwean citizens what life is like,” he said.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says 32 of its members have been killed in attacks by pro-Mugabe youth militia and soldiers in revenge for their vote in March 29 presidential elections.
Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s leader for the last 28 years, placed second in the election behind MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Although Tsvangirai topped the poll, a runoff between the two men has been called for after official results showed the MDC leader falling short of the 50-percent-plus-one-ballot threshold needed for an outright victory.
Tsvangirai has demanded the cessation of all violence and the deployment of peacekeepers from neighboring countries as conditions for his participation in a runoff.
The state-controlled Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has yet to give a date for the second round, while shrugging off MDC calls for it to be held by May 23.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese