Posted by Madibeng Kgwete: 07 May 2007
Among some of the several bewildering arguments he makes in his column, “Zim will need a TRC when Mugabe goes” (The Star: Opinion & Abalysis), columnist Max Du Preez suggests that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe should be tried for war crimes when he quits office.
Such a call is neither new nor originally Du Preez’s. It is a call made in Washington and London ostensibly to ensure justice for the victims of the Matabeleland massacre, which took place between 1983 and 1984 – just three years into Mugabe’s leadership as Prime Minister.
The killing of “as many as 25 000 civilians” in the southern province of Matabeleland by Mugabe’s North Korean-trained troops during the massacre warrants prosecution for Mugabe “and his henchmen”, according to Du Preez.
The arguments the columnist make would be strong had he not deliberately omitted the fact that, up to this far, calls for prosecution of former leaders for war crimes are only made when the leader is African or has presided over a poor country.
Currently, the United States and Britain , aided by Australia and other partners, are engaged in an illegal war in Iraq , maiming civilians and physically dividing the country into ethnic territories. Yet the likes of Du Preez won’t call for the prosecution of the untouchable emperors responsible for this illegal carnage.
In Britain, which is the erstwhile colonial master of many African countries (including South Africa and Zimbabwe), the best Prime Minister Tony Blair could do about his country’s involvement in the evil slave trade was to express “deep sorrow” – and no one called for vengeance.
Here in South Africa , we witnessed, no later than last year, the apartheid Minister of Law and Order, Adrian Vlok, apologising for ordering the killing of innocent black people during apartheid. If he really wants to see justice being done, why didn’t Du Preez call for Vlok’s prosecution?
Vlok chose Director-General in the Presidency, who is also one of his victims, Rev. Frank Chikane, to perform a religious feet-washing gesture, quoting John 13: 1 – 7 in the New Testament: “I have sinned against the Lord and against you. Please forgive me!”
Vlok was forgiven, not only by Chikane, but by the other black victims of the apartheid regime he so passionately served. And the best our neo-liberals could do was to call upon Vlok to reveal other atrocities committed under his command – a call he couldn’t heed up to this day. And still, there were no calls for vengeance.
Again here in South Africa , apartheid kingpin P.W. Botha died last year without having been punished for crimes committed by his apartheid government. Still, Du Preez and other neo-liberals wouldn't call for Botha’s prosecution.
In Sudan , the state-sponsored Janjawid militia is reported to have been responsible for the killing of many people in the war-torn Darfur region, yet no one is calling for the prosecution of President Omar Al-Bashir.
The hypocrisy of those calling for selective justice in Zimbabwe is so baffling that it would be proper to call for an explanation from Du Preez, as one of its advocates, to explain why he deliberately omitted mention of the fact that other suspected war criminals have died walking freely – and some still walk freely.
The fact that Du Preez calls upon the people of Zimbabwe to establish a truth and reconciliation commission similar to South Africa ’s whilst advocating vengeance against Mugabe makes the arguments he makes in his column all the cheaper.
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Possibly due to the barrage of information on corrupt and dishonest politicians, cruel dictators, starving children and grieving relatives at the graves of loved-ones and our impotence to do anything about it, we have unwittingly developed an unbecoming bluntness and blasé attitude - most probably to protect ourselves emotionally.
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