Dear Readers, As you know, I like to point out the singular importance of lawyers in a free society.
Occasionally, caricatures of lawyers, as “scoundrels” or “carrion,” are interrupted by glimpses of how important lawyers are to protecting liberty. In past columns, we have learned of Pakistan, Kenya and a little about the habeas corpus debate in America; today, we return to Africa, but to a Southern nation, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe sits just to the north of South Africa at the tip of the continent. Many of you may remember it as a part of the former country of Rhodesia. In 1980, it emerged from the lingering birth pangs of the African independence movement from British colonialism. In what was, essentially, a racist political deal to quell black militarism and civil war in South Africa, the government permitted Zimbabwe Rhodesia to form a separate nation, as a “black” country, while permitting South Africa to continue its repressive policy of Apartheid.
From its inception, the nation of Zimbabwe has been ruled by the iron hand of Robert Mugabe. While other African dictators have faded into painful memories, President Mugabe still looms as the principle political force in modern Zimbabwe. He presides over a country racked with probably the worst AIDS and HIV epidemic in the entire world.
It is amongst the poorest countries in the world, with a life expectancy that has plummeted to less than 37 years.
Its land control and land distribution policies are a mess and with drought gripping the region, prospects for a turn-around are depressingly poor. In the midst of this despair, Zimbabweans recently went to the polls to vote for a new government. In a stunning example of how desperation can overcome fear and tyranny, Mugabe “apparently” did not win reelection; we do not really know for sure what happened, as the government refuses to release the official election results.
Nevertheless, Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change, claims to have won more than 50 percent of the popular vote, thus avoiding a run-off. Mugabe’s supporters deny this and assert a run-off is necessary.
More important to this dispute, the election is in limbo until these results are released; under Zimbabwe law, a run-off has to be scheduled within 21 days of the election results being final.
In the most recent reports, the Zimbabwe government is calling for a recount, which of course, is a prime delaying-tactic by Mugabe’s camp. The suspicion is that Mugabe will use the delay to ratchet-up his ruffian supporters in a reign of terror on Zimbabwe’s citizens.
There is precedent for this fear. After each of the four elections since 2000, Mugabe has relied on illegitimate tactics to cling to power; in 2005 the U.S. placed sanctions on him and cadre in the hopes of undermining his power, because the elections were so flawed.
Yet, nothing has been able to pry him loose; not a third of the population fleeing the country; not inflation rates exceeding 1,000 percent.
This is where attorneys join the battle as champions of democracy and the will of the people. They are trying to file suit in Zimbabwe courts to force the release of election results.
So far, these brave lawyers have been thwarted. Police from the presidential offices have, reportedly, threatened to shoot them and have barred them from entering the courthouse to challenge Mugabe’s government.
Reports indicate these lawyers will not give up. Perhaps, then, the burden in Zimbabwe falls on lawyers, as in Pakistan, to finally bring down a despot and end Mugabe’s three decades of bloody rule; without their courageous intervention sickness, death, and poverty will continue to hold sway. Wish these freedom fighters luck.
Local attorney Jim Rockefeller owns the Rockefeller Law Center and is a former Houston Co. Chief Assistant District Attorney, and a former Miami Prosecutor. E-mail confidential legal questions to ajr@rockefellerlawcenter.com. Visit www.rockefellerlawcenter.com for Frequently Asked Questions and Jim’s blog, The Rockefeller Report.
