United Nations, barking at the wrong tree

It is disheartening that the United Nations (UN) has came hard on the heels of the European Union (EU) a few weeks ago, overtly accusing President Mugabe on the disappearance of a political activist, Itai Dzamara, who went missing in March this year.

The majority of people will bear with me in mind in saying it's not fair for these international bodies to put the blame on President Mugabe and the Government. The truth be told, President Mugabe is a human being who like the rest of Zimbabweans is empathizing with the family of Dzamara, and would want nothing than Dzamara to return to his family as soon as possible.

The Government is not ignoring this Dzamara issue as some would like to believe. No! Efforts are being made to find Dzamara. The Ministry of Home Affairs is doing justice to this matter, and before the UN goes on a witch-hunt, it should appreciate that the Government, through the Zimbabwe Republic Police is working flat out to find the man.  In fact, all civic groups and the general public who may be aware of any information about the whereabouts of Dzamara should actually notify the responsible authority to take action.

Yes, Dzamara was a political activist, but his activities (one-man demonstration in Africa Unity Square) were not a threat to national security and no-one paid him any attention. Most people think that the man was abducted by state security agents, who I think have serious state matters to think about than snatch Dzamara.

What surprises most people including myself, is that it is on issues like this that you notice international bodies like UN being visible on the ground. Zimbabwe has been persecuted by the West through the imposition of the illegal sanctions and the UN has adopted the ostrich attitude, sticking its head in the sand and hearing and seeing nothing.

Previous reports have it that the EU has been sponsoring activities of Dzamara and his colleagues. It was said that the funds that came from EU were would be received by Dzamara, who would later share the money among his colleagues. It is noted that Dzamara was given USD $20 000, which he decided to squander, the whole amount alone, to the consternation of his colleagues. So, in other words, this incident could have triggered Dzamara's friends to abduct him.

In other countries, disappearances are a daily occurrence and those incidents are not been given the salience that the issue has been given in Zimbabwe.

The United Nations should therefore be encouraged to apply the law fairly. As I am writing this article, people are disappearing in Egypt. And what have the UN done, nothing. Actually, most Western nations are on the record of abusing human rights. In fact, the US's Central Intelligence Agency has actually hinted that it engages in people disappearing.

According to a former CIA agent, Robert Baer, 2004 "…if you want someone to disappear-never to see them again, go to Egypt"

Honestly, this is violation of human rights, which deserves condemnation by everyone throughout the world.

Some months ago, Zimbabweans and other foreigners were being butchered in South Africa, but we never heard that the UN nations provided any assistance to the victims, neither questioning the responsible authorities in that country.

The matter of Dzamara should be investigated with an open mind and avoid being emotive less we judge others wrongly. Looking at the other side of the coin, this man could have travelled willingling to foreign nations for him to cause havoc in the country.

Basildon Peta, is a typical example of a self exiled journalist who spend almost ten years abroad.  Upon his departure, people thought the man had disappeared. Only in 2010, Peta decided to return to his motherland, Zimbabwe. The same could also happen to Dzamara.

As Zimbabweans, we hope that one day Itai, will come back to his homeland in good health.

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Peacemaker Zano <peacemakerzano@gmail.com