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	Zimbabwe: Satellite images provide shocking evidence of the obliteration of Poor Communities by Amnesty International Zimbabwe   01 Jun 2006   Zimbabwe "as bad as it can get" - UN housing expert. (Reuters)   Living conditions have worsened in Zimbabwe, where most of the 700,000 people who lost homes or businesses in mass evictions last year were still struggling to find shelter, a United Nations housing expert said on Thursday.   Miloon Kothari, the U.N. special rapporteur on adequate housing, said most of those displaced by President Robert Mugabe''s May 2005 eviction campaign remained homeless, in resettlement camps or were living without food, safe water or sanitation. "It is as bad as it can get," Kothari said.   He took aim at the international community for what he called a "shocking" lack of pressure on Zimbabwe.   "The political leaders continue to be silent. They are saying there is quiet diplomacy, but you can''t have quiet diplomacy for a year with no results," he said.   "The international community seems to have forgotten the people of Zimbabwe," he told reporters at U.N. headquarters in Geneva.   The Mugabe government used police and bulldozers to demolish street stalls and residences in urban shantytowns in its "Operation Restore Order" eviction campaign.   While authorities said it was aimed at cracking down on black market activity, critics decried the evictions as part of a political swipe against the largely urban supporters of Zimbabwe''s main opposition party.   Kothari said some people evicted last year had returned to the site of their previous homes, making them vulnerable to a new round-up by the government.   "We have information that another round of evictions is imminent," he said.   Kothari said he was "extremely concerned" the government had not heeded calls from the United Nations to halt further demolitions and pay compensation for property that was unlawfully destroyed.   He said Zimbabwe''s extensive human suffering, combined with difficult economic conditions including the world''s highest inflation rates, had compounded the country''s problems.   31/03/2006   Satellite images provide shocking evidence of the obliteration of Poor Communities.   Amnesty International today released the first-ever satellite images of the wholesale destruction of a large community in Zimbabwe -- providing the clearest possible evidence to date of the devastating impact of the Zimbabwean government"s policy of house demolitions.   "These satellite images are irrefutable evidence -- if further evidence is even needed -- that the Zimbabwean government has obliterated entire communities -- completely erased them from the map, as if they never existed," said Kolawole Olaniyan, Director of Amnesty International"s Africa programme.   The organization commissioned the satellite images to demonstrate the complete destruction of Porta Farm -- a large, informal settlement that was established 16 years ago and had schools, a children"s centre and a mosque. The organization also released graphic video footage showing the forced evictions taking place prior to the demolitions.   "The images and footage are a graphic indictment of the Zimbabwean government"s policies. They show the horrifying transition of an area from a vibrant community to rubble and shrubs -- in the space of just ten months," said Kolawole Olaniyan.   On 27 June 2005, approximately one month after the start of Operation Murambatsvina ("Restore Order"), police officers came to Porta Farm and distributed fliers telling residents to pack up their property and leave their homes. The police told the residents they would be back the following morning, giving them less than 24 hours to comply.   Early in the morning of 28 June, a convoy of vehicles and police descended on Porta Farm. The police were heavily armed.   Residents watched helplessly as bulldozers and police officers in riot gear reduced their homes to rubble. Police officers reportedly threatened the residents, saying anyone who resisted eviction would be beaten. The destruction of Porta Farm went on all day -- only ending when darkness fell. Thousands of people were forced to sleep outside in the rubble in mid-winter.   The next day, the police returned to continue with the demolitions. They also began to forcibly remove people on the back of trucks.   The Porta Farm evictions took place while the UN Special Envoy, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, was in Zimbabwe. On 29 June members of the Special Envoy’s team visited Porta Farm and witnessed demolitions and forced removal of people in police and government trucks. The subsequent report of the UN Special Envoy describes how the team was "shocked by the brutality" of what they witnessed. Local human rights monitors reported that during the chaos several deaths occurred, including those of two children.   Background   In May 2005 the government of Zimbabwe embarked on Operation Murambatsvina (Restore Order), a programme of mass forced evictions and the demolition of homes and informal businesses. The operation, which was carried out in winter and against a backdrop of severe food shortages, targeted poor urban and peri-urban areas countrywide.   In a critical report released on 22 July 2005 the United Nations (UN) estimated that in the space of approximately six weeks some 700,000 people lost their homes, their livelihoods, or both.   The communities affected by Operation Murambatsvina were amongst the poorest and most vulnerable in Zimbabwe. In several cases, such as Porta Farm, they had been the victims of previous forced evictions carried out by the authorities. They were given almost no notice before their homes were demolished and no alternative accommodation was provided. The government stated publicly that the evictees should go back to the rural areas. Visit the related web page
	Seeking Justice for the Killing Fields by Alex Hinton International Herald Tribune Cambodia   May 31, 2006   Each year on May 20, many Cambodians gather at local memorials to remember the atrocities perpetrated during the Khmer Rouge genocide in 1975-1979. On what is known as the "Day of Anger," crowds listen to local officials and survivors talk about the violence and suffering they endured in this "prison without walls," when almost a quarter of the population perished.   Some people cry as they hear stories that echo their own suffering and as they watch monks perform rites for the souls of the dead. Others simmer in anger. In the past, effigies of Pol Pot and his henchmen were sometimes kicked and set aflame in front of banners that read: "Remember life under Pol Pot who tried to destroy the Cambodian people."   While the holiday has shifted with the currents of Cambodian politics, this year"s ceremony was notable for its new emphasis on justice. At about the time of the Day of Anger, King Norodom Sihanomi officially released the names of the domestic and international judges and prosecutors who will serve on the "Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia," the tribunal that will try the Khmer Rouge leaders.   The tribunal is set to begin operation as early as this autumn, when the Cambodian and Canadian co- prosecutors are expected to start their investigations. Yet the tribunal faces major hurdles:   Aging defendants: Many of the former Khmer Rouge leaders - including "Brother Number 2" Nuon Chea, 78; former Presidium Chairman Khieu Samphan 74, and the former deputy prime minister for foreign affairs, Ieng Sary, 76 - are old and in bad health. They could die unjudged, as Pol Pot did in 1998. Slobodan Milosevic"s death while on trial in The Hague underscores the urgency of bringing such culprits to trial as quickly as possible.   Insufficient funding: While there is enough money for the tribunal to begin operating, there is a $9.6 million shortfall in Cambodia"s share of the $56.3 million needed to fund operations for three years, a sum the impoverished country can ill afford to pay. The United States, which has not contributed a cent to the tribunal fund, could rectify this situation by covering all or part of the shortfall.   Outreach: Many Cambodians, particularly in remote areas, do not even know that a trial is about to take place - or, if they do, have little understanding of what a tribunal is. Nongovernmental organizations like the Documentation Center of Cambodia are working hard to disseminate information about the tribunal, but their efforts need to be fully supported by international donors.   The Cambodian judiciary: There are serious concerns that the legal personnel do not have sufficient training or independence, raising the possibility that the tribunal will be manipulated by the Cambodian leadership and will fail to meet international legal standards. These concerns were heightened when the list of judicial officials was found to include judges who have close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen"s Cambodian People"s Party (CPP), including an army general who is reported to be a member of the CPP"s central committee and has presided over two trials that, under questionable circumstances, led to the conviction of political opponents.   While such problems warrant immediate attention, none of them doom the tribunal. Cambodians I have recently spoken with want a tribunal so they can learn what happened and why. They want to see the former Khmer Rouge, most of whom live in freedom, held accountable for what they did.   The international community in general and the United States in particular should do all that they can to make the tribunal a success. Perhaps then Cambodians will one day celebrate a new holiday - a "Day of Justice."   (Alex Hinton, an associate professor of anthropology at Rutgers University, is the author of "Why Did They Kill? Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide").
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