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Zim 'gets what it deserves'
23/04/2008 09:00 - (SA)
Donna Bryson
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's regime got a taste of the international isolation critics say it deserves, with its neighbours uniting in blocking a shipment of Chinese arms from reaching the southern African country - and perhaps being used against President Robert Mugabe's opponents.
Human rights groups, unions and church across southern Africa had rallied against allowing the Chinese freighter An Yue Jiang carrying the weapons to dock at ports in any of landlocked Zimbabwe's neighbours, and they were bolstered by behind-the-scenes pressure from the United States.
In the end, governments usually unwilling to criticise Mugabe barred the ship at a time when Zimbabwe's government was accused of cracking down on dissenters.
On Tuesday, Zimbabwean church leaders appealed for international intervention to prevent opposition supporters from being tortured, abducted and murdered.
Arms shipment 'normal trade'
In China, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu insisted the shipment was part of "normal military product trade between the two countries" but added on Tuesday: "As far as I know, the carrier is now considering carrying back the cargo."
Patrick Craven, spokesperson for the South African union congress that had helped lead the campaign against the ship, called that a "historic victory" that he hoped would encourage Zimbabweans, and lead to more grassroots campaigns against Mugabe.
Craven said: "So far the governments have clearly been lagging behind the people. We're hoping now they will wake up."
Nelson Chamisa, a spokesperson for Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, said: "It would be pleasing to the people of Zimbabwe to note that there has been solidarity on the continent to stop the arming of the (Mugabe) regime at the expense of the people.
International arms embargo
When the ship arrived in South Africa last week, the government said there was no legal reason to stop its cargo of mortar grenades, bullets and other weapons from being unloaded and shipped on to Zimbabwe. There was no international arms embargo against Zimbabwe.
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre, a South Africa-based human rights group, persuaded a judge to bar the weapons from crossing South Africa to Zimbabwe.
The ship sailed from South Africa, and private groups and government officials in Mozambique, Angola and Namibia also objected to the weapons.
Nicole Fritz, director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, said she believed Zimbabwe's neighbours were not changing policy but instead were responding to the pressure civic groups and the United States brought to bear.
She was particularly critical of SA, whose President Thabo Mbeki had been charged with mediating between Mugabe and his opponents and who had counselled against confronting Mugabe.
"The South African authorities' actions over this past week ... suggest that SA cannot be perceived to be a good faith mediator," she said.
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