On December 21

On this day in ...
... 1979, in London, delegates from Britain and 3 Africa-based groups signed the Lancaster House Agreement by which the territory then known as Rhodesia gained full independence from Britain. It had been the site of multiparty conflict, and Ian Smith had declared it independent years earlier. Signers in addition to Smith included Robert Mugabe (prior posts), a Patriotic Front leader who in 1980 would be elected President of Zimbabwe (flag at right), as the country is now known. Among the matters negotiated was land reform -- as we've posted, still a source of controversy.

(Prior December 21 posts are here, here, and here.)

In passing: Zimbabwe human rights defender Keith Goddard, 1960-2009

Keith Goddard (left), a human rights defender of tremendous courage and tenacity, died this weekend after a short illness.
The Director of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), Goddard helped transform what had been primarily a social organization with a mostly white and middle-class membership into a political group whose membership both reflected and served the broader LGBTI community in Zimbabwe. (photo credit)
GALZ made international headlines in 1995 when President Robert Mugabe hurled vicious verbal attacks after the group applied to participate in the Zimbabwe International Book Fair. The group was ultimately prohibited from participating in the book fair, whose theme that year was “Justice and Human Rights.”
Ironically, the president's vitriolic statements gave GALZ the coverage it had been denied for over a year when its access to media was banned by the state-controlled newspapers and radio, as the President's remarks were covered extensively. People all across the country learned of GALZ, and, as noted by the organization in its account of the Book Fair Saga, "the membership of GALZ, especially amongst younger black lesbian and gay people, increased dramatically."
The membership of GALZ also grew to include straight allies of the movement, as seen in the remarkable story of prominent lesbian activist and GALZ organizer Tsitsi Tiripano, profiled here by Ms. Magazine in its "Uppity Women" series.

International law "provided the backbone to much of the work of GALZ," Keith Goddard wrote here:

Although their contents have not been translated into local domestic law, these international instruments give GALZ the moral authority to formulate policies on lgbt issues which are in line with modern international thinking.

In its statement announcing Goddard's passing, GALZ wrote:

Although of small stature he had a voice that commanded authority and silence any room he was in. Keith dedicated his life to the advancement of LGBT rights, human rights and his passion for music. The struggle for LGBT rights is a difficult struggle and in many instances in the history of GALZ Keith stood gallantly in the frontline. He dared where most men would not go.

Keith Goddard was arrested multiple times and beaten by police. He endured smear campaigns and harassment. But he persisted, lived to see some changes, and worked hard to secure more. An August 2009 article in the Guardian, headlined "Gay rights campaigners in Zimbabwe see chance to push for equality," describes the push to include a prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation in the new Zimbabwe constitution. "I think we've got a 50:50 chance," Goddard is quoted as saying. "We live in hope."

'Nuff said

(Occasional item taking context-optional note of thought-provoking quotes)

Mugabe proved he still had his despotic chops by recently winning an election that he lost.

-- Daily Show commentator Lewis Black, on why Robert Mugabe (left) of Zimbabwe won the gold medal in Black's "Evil Dictator Awards" contest. (Latest news on Zimbabwe's election crisis here.) Sudan's Omar al-Bashir took the silver medal, and the bronze medal went to former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić.
Video of the award "ceremony" here.

Mbeki, Mugabe, and the Politics of Migration

In severe political crises, such as the one we see in Zimbabwe today, forced migrants often become enmeshed in complex political games, sometimes in unexpected ways. South Africa's Thabo Mbeki has been roundly criticized for his failure to impose sanctions against or even publicly condemn Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe despite leadership so astronomically poor that last month saw inflation over 4500% and unemployment exceeding 80%. Earlier this year, the Southern African Development Community selected Mbeki to mediate between Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party. While Mbeki has kept details of the negotiation out of the media, rumors abound that he intends to set up a transitional government between Mugabe and the opposition. Critics are skeptical of the plan, which in any case comes too late for the estimated 3.4 million Zimbabweans, one quarter of the population, who have already fled the country. Despite severe obstacles including crocodiles and lions, thousands of Zimbabweans pour across the border into South Africa each week. But because Mbeki's government will not recognize the human rights abuses of Mugabe's regime, it refuses to protect these forced migrants, deporting almost 16,000 Zimbabweans each month. (Almost half of these deportees immediately turn around and try to re-enter South Africa, in some cases jumping off moving trains to avoid being returned to Zimbabwe.) And these numbers don't include the uncounted masses of Zimbabweans who remain in South Africa. Hard as it is to imagine, Zimbabwe's economy would be in even worse condition without the remittances sent by these forced migrants, who may be inadvertently propping up the Mugabe regime. In turn, this means that Mbeki's deportation policy, grounded in his refusal to recognize the human rights abuses perpetrated by Mugabe, likely has a negative impact on Zimbabwe's economy, similar to the sanctions that he refuses to impose. A newspaper run by Zimbabwean exiles goes so far as to speculate that if Mugabe fails to agree to Mbeki's transitional government proposal, South Africa will speed up mass deportations of Zimbabweans just before the 2008 elections in Zimbabwe in order to vote Mugabe out of office. Whether or not this particular tidbit is true, it is high time for Mbeki to stop playing political games and protect these forced migrants as South Africa's obligations under the UN and OAU refugee conventions require.