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Abstract
This article reviews human rights violations in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2009, under the rule of Robert Mugabe. It argues that these violations, including state-induced famine, illegal mass expulsions, and systemic rape, constituted crimes against humanity. The article considers what African regional organizations, including the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, and various organs of the international community did, and might have done, to restrain Mugabe and his inner circle from committing these violations. It concludes that the lack of forceful action by African and international organizations constituted a failure to protect the people of Zimbabwe.
I. Introduction
This article reviews human rights violations in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2009 and argues that they constituted crimes against humanity. It considers what African regional organizations and various organs of the international community did, and might have done, to restrain Robert Mugabe and his inner circle from committing these massive human rights violations, and argues that the lack of forceful action by African and international organizations constituted a failure to protect the people of Zimbabwe.
This article does not discuss any events that occurred after 2009.
II. ROBERT MUGABE AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATI ONS IN ZIMBABWE
Robert Mugabe became President of Zimbabwe at independence in 1980: he was also the most prominent leader of the1972-1980 war of independence against white minority rule. From 1980 to 2000, Zimbabwe was a prosperous country by African standards, in part because of a large commercial farming sector run by white farmers, many of whom were Zimbabwean citizens. In 2000, Mugabe began to encourage "land invasions" of white-owned farms by persons alleged to be veterans of the war of independence, although many were too young to have fought in the war.1 In 2002, white farm owners were ordered to vacate their farms immediately, and even forbidden to finish cultivating their crops.2 These large farms produced much of the food that had earlier made Zimbabwe the breadbasket of Eastern Africa. Zimbabwe had produced over 2 million tons of maize in 2000, before the land invasions took effect, but in 2008 was reported to have produced only 450,000 tons.3 Yet as late as March 2009, one of the few white farmers who remained in Zimbabwe was ordered not to harvest...