Zimbabwe: Old Habits Die Hard

by Michelle

categories: Activism & Advocacy, R2P & Genocide Prevention, War Crimes & Crimes Against Humanity

Published August 06, 2009 @ 04:47PM PT

Politicians in South Africa, fresh off a field trip across the border, warned that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party are "preparing for war," stockpiling weapons and consulting with the likes of Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea. (Peace-loving hippies, all of them.)

It's really not a surprise. I paid a visit to Bobby's Evil Kingdom not too long ago, and at the time everyone was predicting that the country would descend into full-blown genocidal killing at any moment. The country is high on several genocide and mass atrocity watch lists, and I sat awake in bed each night wondering if I'd be watching "Hotel Zimbabwe" some day in the not-so-distant future.

As I've written in the past, Mr. Mugabe is quite the authoritarian savant --- his rule has been characterized by outrageous violence since it commenced, with a nasty episode of ethnic cleansing, known as the Gukurahundi, used to stomp out political opposition in the 1980s. (Notably, Mugabe's elite "Fifth Brigade" was trained by the North Koreans.) Since 2000, the country has experienced surges of violence around election cycles, as Mugabe's ZANU thugs spared no mercy in ensuring victory for their leader. Elections in March 2008 set off a particularly intense wave of violent repression, which (very long and sorted story short) led to the country's current "unity government," which actually bears little resemblance to anything unified as Mugabe and his penchant for obstructionism continue to call the shots.

The international community should take heed: Zimbabwe should be dealt with now as an urgent case of mass atrocity prevention. Mugabe is so sure of his continuing impunity that he's not even subtle about his tactics anymore. (His campaign posters, which were plastered all over Harare, declare: "This is the Final Battle for Total Control.")

We have treaties and conventions obliging our nations to prevent such crimes, we have international organizations committed to principles of civilian protection, we have the wistful political rhetoric of "Never Again." But we seem to only act after bodies are piled in the streets, if even then.

Ennui in the face of Rwanda led to the first mass movement of anti-genocide activists in response to Darfur. The next stage needs to be prevention. And it needs to start yesterday.