AFRICA/ZIMBABWE - Ban against NGOs in the country lifted; following protests from various groups, including from the Catholic Church

Harare (Agenzia Fides) – The government of Zimbabwe has lifted the ban that prohibited the entry of foreign Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), who would distribute food supply and offer assistance to AIDS victims in the country. The event was announced in the state-run newspaper, “The Herald.”
The ban on international NGOs in Zimbabwe was met with criticism by humanitarian aid organizations, who accused President Mugabe’s regime of doing promotion work for the opposition. In a joint appeal from the President of Caritas Internationalis Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez and Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg, President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC, Catholic Bishops of Botswana, South Africa, and Swaziland), the government was criticized for placing the lives of 4 million people at risk (as they receive assistance from Catholic humanitarian organizations (see Fides 17/6/2008).
The regime is now giving signs of movement in the opposite direction, however, with the expulsion of an official from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The UN official arrived in Zimbabwe on June 15 and was expelled on June 17, according to Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who had criticized the “non-collaborative action” on the part of Robert Mugabe’s government.
On the political field, South African President Thabo Mbeki arrived today in Bulawayo, in western Zimbabwe, to meet with President Mugabe, who is on his electoral campaign for a second round of presidential elections that will be held June 27. The South African President, who is working on the difficult mediation process in Zimbabwe’s crisis, does not seem to have plans of meeting with the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, President of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Mbeki has been criticized, even from within his own party, the Africa National Congress (ANC), for his highly permissive attitude regarding the Mugabe regime. The President of the ANC, Jacob Zuma, affirmed that he could not guarantee that the second run-off in Zimbabwe would be a free and correct election.
The leaders and militants of the opposition continually suffer arrest and violent attacks. Tsvangirai has been arrested for a brief time, more than once, by police and the “number two” of his party, Tendai Bitti was arrested as soon as he returned to the country. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 18/6/2008)