Genocide Alert for Zimbabwe

March 21, 2002 5:56 AM

Genocide Alert for Zimbabwe issued by Genocide Watch, a group founded by a former State Department official on Cambodia and Rwanda issues, Gregory Stanton, who in 1996 devised the Eight Stages of Genocide: Classification, Symbolization, Dehumanization, Organization, Polarization, Preparation, Extermination, and Denial. GW contends that Zimbabwe has reached Stage 6, Preparation. With the arrest of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on treason charges, Robert Mugabe is proving himself impervious to international pressure. Is Zimbabwe really on the brink? If so, what can, or should, we do? Our record isn't good, but we didn't have Stanton's scale then, either.
posted by dhartung (16 comments total)

Sorry, that's the Eight Stages of Genocide.
posted by dhartung at 5:59 AM on March 21, 2002

Peace, that's the answer. Send dick cheney in and get mugabe to give the farms back to the white guys.

International tongue clicking teamed with a viscous shake of the head might do the trick as well.

Maybe a sigh and a dirty look from the EU, but only as a last resort.
posted by Mick at 6:16 AM on March 21, 2002

The Eight Stages of Genocide would be easier to understand if they were color coded.

Speaking of that, where does the US government stand on this scale in regards to uninsured Americans? Do you think that the Film John Q would fit into the 'Classification' role?
posted by DragonBoy at 6:53 AM on March 21, 2002

"Viscous" shake of the head? Is that a "slow as molasses" head shake, or "slow as a milkshake" head shake?
posted by aramaic at 7:44 AM on March 21, 2002

thing is,Cambodia was so horrific, a new term was created Auto-genocide. ive seen enough of that horror. Mick and Dragonboy are the type who are the problem. Im bias, i think the Cambodians are gods chosen people. The stories, the terror and the courage...I slowdown Aramaic headshake to a bow, then raise up...in Cambodia, i forget it in Khmer there is a saying...Nothing is forgiven....On topic, this Mugabe showed be forciably removed or killed. As far as (U.S.) we had better put some major pressure on her neighbors, someone to remove this fellow. he might just crank up the killing machine thinking no one will hear due to 'war on terrorism'
posted by clavdivs at 8:18 AM on March 21, 2002

let's see... if we send troops, we're imperialist opressors, and if we don't send troops we're ignoring the needs of an opressed people and thus imperialist opressors. whatever shall we do? oh, look, a thread on the velvet underground.
posted by hob at 8:20 AM on March 21, 2002

"The best response to [denial of genocide] is punishment by an international tribunal or national courts. There the evidence can be heard, and the perpetrators punished. Tribunals like the Yugoslav, Rwanda, or Sierra Leone Tribunals, an international tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and ultimately the International Criminal Court must be created. They may not deter the worst genocidal killers. But with the political will to arrest and prosecute them, some mass murderers may be brought to justice. "
So even though I agree with the observations and the recommended action look who's against the International Criminal Court: with friends like these...
What have they got to hide?
Halabja?
Sabra and Shatilla?
Tibet? [Any alleged 'crimes' by the US are omitted due to their denial by most readers on this site, and the likely OT flaming it would result in.]
posted by dash_slot- at 8:31 AM on March 21, 2002

100 days Disturbing in the extreme. There's a video that was shot by the French UN peacekepers in the last days before they evacuated Rwanda. They show it on WorldinkTV every now and then. Corpses were already piling up in the street, and everyone knew what was coming. There's a part where they go to this mental hospital/orphanage to rescue some french nuns and then all the patients come outside. Just a ragtag collection of humanity-maybe 200 people-all ages all sexes-and they're all so innocent, so trusting, they all start clapping-just applauding the French for coming to help them-of course the French then start to leave-you then see the realization break across some faces-you can just see cold hard animal fear appear, made all the more poignant by the more ill and uncomprehending among them continuing with their goofy childlike smiles and expectant eyes. All these people were literally hacked to death in the next few days.
General Dallaire has said he could have contained the situation with 5,000 troops-all the Interahamwe had was mostly machetes and nail-studded clubs after all.
Although they were world-class at killing civilians (8,000 a day) they lost the war quickly.
There are people in Zimbabwe right now who will be dead soon. Maybe somebody is videotaping them.

Newshost:
Do you think Africa in all of this doesn't really matter to the West?

Romeo Dallaire:
Since September 11th, Africa is as if it didn't exist and so the situations in the Congo, in Sudan - are things that are being pushed aside. ... in Yugoslavia we still have tens of thousands of troops and billions of dollars going in, compared to Rwanda where I couldn't even keep 2,000 troops...So although there was more people killed, injured, displaced internally in 100 days in Rwanda than all of the eight years of the Yugoslavian campaign - Rwanda and that region is still a blip in somebody's radar screen in the background.
posted by quercus at 2:27 PM on March 21, 2002

quercus, I really shouldn't have read your comment, it just depressed me.... (shoulder's drop, head down walks away, trying to think happy thoughts)
posted by ajayb at 2:38 PM on March 21, 2002

Intervention by in Zimbawbwe would inevitably take the form of foreign soldiers shooting large numbers of black locals to defend white landowners.

The UN will need to find a non-white country, with a modernized military which actually is willing to fight (i.e., not the Bangladeshi's so liberally staffed to peacekeeping missions around the world) to get the job done without too much outcry from the usual complainers.

The South Africa Army is largely white officered, as are all the armies of Latin America. Tensions in the Kashmir are too high for any Pakistani or Indian detachments to be sent. Perhaps an East Asian / Southeast Asian force, led by South Korea, with troops from Singapore, Thailand, and the more modernized elements of the Malaysian and Indonesian armies?
posted by MattD at 3:15 PM on March 21, 2002

Maybe, somebody just needs to take out Mugabe. Let the next person to take power know that they have two choices:

1. Do what Mugabe did and face the same consequence, or
2. Do what's right for your people and country and live.
posted by Zool at 4:02 PM on March 21, 2002

Maybe, somebody just needs to take out Mugabe. Let the next person to take power know that they have two choices:

1. Do what Mugabe did and face the same consequence, or
2. Do what's right for your people and country and live.
posted by Zool at 4:04 PM on March 21, 2002

Oops.
posted by Zool at 4:06 PM on March 21, 2002

MattD: the most credible scenario for intervention at the moment would use troops from the SADC (South African Development Community), a body comprising most of the subequatorial states; and the genocide question is of ZANU-PF persecution of non-Shona ethnic minorities, not white farmers. A direct military intervention would only become necessary if the ZANU-PF and army began large-scale genocide; short of that it would only be a political stick to be held out at the end of a series of movements beginning with sanctions. Clearly the OAU/AU ought to suspend Zimbabwe, and the SADC should implement sanctions on Mugabe and his gang similarly to Europe and the US. Perhaps retaining a link through the SADC would be advisable. Unfortunately, the clear endorsement of the elections by South Africa and others in the region suggests that's not happening anytime soon.
posted by dhartung at 4:46 PM on March 21, 2002

just saw this on google news: U.S. Links Aid to Africa and Stand on Zimbabwe
posted by kliuless at 7:32 PM on March 21, 2002

Sorry ajayb but you can't expect laughs on a genocide thread-
You're right dhartung-SADC may be the best right now-but these coalitions always put political self-interest first-
Maybe we should pick one nation in Africa to concentrate on-say Chad-give all our aid and attention to Chad for the next ten years-and then count on this supernation to keep peace in Africa- maybe...oh wait we already have a supernation that could do this if it only had the will...
thanks for the link kliu
posted by quercus at 10:26 AM on March 22, 2002