Yes, it could be Gaza. It could be anything. But a looming crisis in Zimbabwe is so grave that one expert (see below) says that the scale of death and human suffering may be greater than in Cambodia under Pol Pot, and the regional and international indifference is reminscent of the lack of response to the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s.
The story is getting international news coverage, and accompanied by the dramatic news report from the World Health Organzation this morning, detailing the escalation of the cholera epidemic, which is spreading to neighboring countries -- Zimbabwe may well become an urgent priority for the incoming Obama administration.
At press conferences in Johannesburg and New York this morning, Physicians for Human Rights presented the findings of a week long investigation into the collapsing health system in Zimbabwe. What they found were crimes against humanity. Thier report, which includes a preface by Richard Goldstone, (who prosecuted Serbian and Rwandan political and military leaders before the UN International Criminal Tribunals); Mary Robinson, the former Prime Minister of Ireland and the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu declares:
What happens when a government presides over the
dramatic reversal of its population’s access to food,
clean water, basic sanitation, and healthcare? When
government policies lead directly to the shuttering of
hospitals and clinics, the closing of its medical school,
and the beatings of health workers, are we to consider
the attendant deaths and injuries as any different
from those resulting from a massacre of similar
proportions?
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) witnesses the
utter collapse of Zimbabwe’s health system, once a
model in southern Africa. These shocking findings
should compel the international community to respond
as it should to other human rights emergencies. PHR
rightly calls into question the legitimacy of a regime
that, in the report’s words, has abrogated the most
basic state functions in protecting the health of the
population. As the report documents, the Mugabe
regime has used any means at its disposal, including
politicizing the health sector, to maintain its hold on
power. Instead of fulfilling its obligation to progressively
realize the right to health for the people of Zimbabwe,
the Government has taken the country backwards,
which has enabled the destruction of health, water, and
sanitation – all with fatal consequences.
Heedless of concern for the population of Zimbabwe
from world leaders and groups such as PHR, the
Government has denied access to the country, detained
journalists, tortured human rights activists, and even
refused visas to former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and Graça Machel.
PHR’s team members legally entered the country and
were transparent about the purpose of conducting a
health assessment. Nevertheless, the Government
apparently planned and then falsely reported their
arrest at the end of the investigation. Such actions
are a desperate attempt by Robert Mugabe to conceal
the appalling situation of his country’s people and to
prevent the world from knowing how his Government’s
malignant policies have led to the destruction of
infrastructure, widespread disease, torture, and death.
This report is yet another wake-up call to Zimbabwe’s
neighbors and all U.N. member states for urgent
intervention to save lives and prevent more deaths.
These findings add to the growing evidence that
Robert Mugabe and his regime may well be guilty of
crimes against humanity.
Prior to the release of the report, I had the opportunity to interview two of the PHR investigators, and have an article up at Religion Dispatches (an excellent newish webzine) that details their harrowing escape from Zimbabwe with Mugabe's secret police in hot pursuit. Mugabe was desperate to prevent the PHR investigators from telling their story to the world.
Here are a few excerpts from my article:
Dr. Chris Beyrer, Professor of Epidemiology and International Health at Johns Hopkins University told Religion Dispatches that the scale of human suffering and death may be worse than Pol Pot’s Cambodia in the 1970s, and that regional and international inaction is analogous to the international community’s failure to stop the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s. He estimates that about half of the population of Zimbabwe is either dead or has fled to neighboring countries. "I have been at this for a long time," he said, his world weary voice seeking to convey the urgency of the accelerating Zimbabwean disaster. "I’ve never seen so total a collapse of a health system."
"People think that the most compelling problem is cholera," he said (and indeed, the cholera outbreak has been widely reported). But, adds Donaghue, it is also a symptom of more profound underlying problems. "The issue is the collapse of the government, the economy, and the health system" he said. "Human waste is running down the streets. Kids are playing in it. The sewage system is in such bad repair that you get sewage in tap water." PHR has issued the video, below, depicting how the disaster even affects the nation’s capital city: "The Marimba River which feeds Lake Chivero, Harare’s main water supply, is so filled with [human] excrement that plant growth covers its surface."
The origins of the PHR investigation extend back to last summer when [PHR CEO)]Frank Donaghue visited to train medical students in human rights activism. Circumstances were grim even then. In November when he checked back in to see how things were going, his contact implored PHR to come right away: "We are just waiting to die." Donaghue scrounged for funds, quickly assembled a team of public health investigators, and headed to Zimbabwe in the week before Christmas.
After the PHR team completed its assessment, Donaghue took a group of Zimbabwean medical students to an all-you-can-eat buffet. They ate well. "These medical students are skinny," he said. "But if the students ask for food, they are beaten with clubs. They can’t finish their medical school because there is no paper. Few books. No lights." For many, there is no longer even any school. The Medical School of the University of Zimbabwe in Harare closed on November 18th. The next day, 1000 health workers tried to march to the Ministry of Health to protest the ongoing collapse of the health system and to demand food and clean water—but they were quickly dispersed by heavily armed, helmeted riot police.
"If they catch you," one student matter of factly told Donaghue at the buffet, "you are going to be cut like a goat from head to toe." The students all knew people who had been beaten or tortured by Mugabe’s agents. Donaghue met one receiving treatment in a hospital, most of which are now closed, partly because even when staff are paid, "it costs more to travel to work to pick-up the paycheck than the check is worth," Donaghue said.
As Donaghue was preparing to depart for the airport he received a chilling phone call. Team member and PHR public health consultant, Richard Sollom said that he had received a tip: the CIO (the Zimbabwean secret police), were waiting for them at airport security. "They knew our itinerary," Donaghue said. "They knew every restaurant we ate in." He was told "they are going to arrest you and you have to get out of here." A car was quickly arranged to pick them up and whisk them out of the country. The U.S. Embassy also advised them to get out fast. In fact, according to the Zimbabwe Times, the CIO claimed to have already arrested them as spies.
Check out: The Horror that Mugabe Does Not Want the World to See.