Journalists barred from Comesa summit despite High Court order

Four journalists, who last week won a landmark case against the government
over the legality of the Media and Information Commission (MIC), were this
weekend barred from attending the Comesa summit for not being accredited.

The Information Ministry two weeks ago instructed all journalists wishing to
cover the event to register for accreditation with the MIC. The freelance
journalists took the state to court over the issue and on Friday, High Court
Judge Bharat Patel ruled that the MIC was now a defunct body and as such no
journalist in the country was legally required to register with it. The
court granted the journalists an interim order barring Information Minister
Webster Shamu, his permanent secretary George Charamba, MIC chairman Dr
Tafataona Mahoso and others, from interfering with the operations of the
four journalists in their work.

But the journalists, Stanley Gama, Valentine Maponga, Stanley Kwenda and
Jealous Mawarire, were on Sunday turned away from the summit venue in
Victoria Falls by security details. The security officials insisted that the
journalists, despite the production of the High Court order, could not cover
the event as they were not on the Information Ministry's list of journalists
accredited to cover the summit. Lawyers for the MIC have also announced that
they will appeal against the High Court's ruling, in a clear sign that media
reform in Zimbabwe is still a long way from being achieved.

Meanwhile, during the opening of the Comesa summit that alarmingly resembled
a gathering of dictators and criminals, Robert Mugabe called for African
countries to increase self-reliance and boost development. Mugabe, who now
takes over as leader of Africa's main trading bloc, also said the continent
must raise its international capacity by 'exploiting' its mineral resources,
rich soil and human skills.

The ageing dictators hypocritical comments have been greeted with shock by
observers, as Mugabe has single-handedly destroyed development in Zimbabwe,
turning the once productive country into an aid-reliant state. While Mugabe
was lecturing his fellow African leaders on the importance of self-reliance,
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai embarked on a cross-continental aid-begging
tour, to rescue financial relationships that Mugabe's years of dictatorial
abuse destroyed. Meanwhile, outrage still abounds over the involvement of
Vice President Joice Mujuru's daughter, in a trade deal involving illegal
gold from the DRC. Could this be the kind of exploitation of natural
resources Mugabe stringently called for during his speech?

At the same time, while Mugabe called for an end to conflicts across the
continent, Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir, who faces international arrest
for war crimes, was welcomed with open arms at the summit this weekend. The
International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant in March for
Beshir to face five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes
over the conflict in Darfur. But the Zimbabwe government defended their
welcome of the Sudanese leader, with Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa
telling media that Zimbabwe has no duty to arrest Beshir as it is not party
to the treaty that set up the ICC.

"We are aware that the President of Sudan is under an ICC warrant of arrest
which he disputes. We are not a state party under the Rome Statute. We have
no obligation under the Statute of Rome to execute that obligation," he
said.