Internet Scofflaw

Reported today: Zimbabwean authorities stole food aid from children and Mugabe’s goons burned a woman alive.

Fox News reports.

Robert “Get behind the fist” Mugabe’s latest atrocity in his reign of terror hits a new low:

Scores of children and babies have been locked up in filthy prison cells in Harare as Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, sinks to new depths in his campaign to force the opposition into exile before an expected run-off in presidential elections.

Twenty-four babies and 40 children under the age of six were among the 250 people rounded up in a raid on Friday, according to Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Yesterday they were crammed into cells in Southerton police station in central Harare. . .

The families were rounded up from MDC headquarters, where they had sought refuge from violence in the countryside.

The abduction of children is just one element in a systematic campaign of murder and intimidation:

Thought to be directed by top military officers, Operation Where Did You Put Your Cross? has prompted thousands to flee. They are trying to escape the so-called war veterans, who are attacking people and burning down hundreds of houses for voting “incorrectly” in last month’s elections. . .

The regime’s strategy is to ensure that by the time of the run-off, Mugabe would have a clean sweep in rural areas, where 70% of Zimbabweans live. A police officer admitted yesterday that he had been instructed not to interfere with war veterans as they carry out their campaign of terror.

(Via the Corner.)

A large shipment of weapons from China to Robert “get behind the fist” Mugabe (I won’t call him “President” any more) has been unable to reach him, as African ports have refused to unload the cargo.  (Via Instapundit.)  I’ve resisted getting too pleased by this, figuring China would find somewhere else to unload their guns, but this story has the first indication that they might give up:

China has defended the shipment as “perfectly normal trade” but Beijing has hinted it may recall the ship as it was unable to offload its cargo.

This is Zimbabwe reports.  (Via Instapundit.)  Looks like they’re serious about that other 75%.

Having insufficiently rigged the first round of voting, Mugabe is determined not to make the same mistake again:

Zimbabwe was bracing itself yesterday for the possibility that President Robert Mugabe, forced into an expected election runoff against his opposition challenger Morgan Tsvangirai, could mobilise an army of thugs to beat, intimidate and terrify voters, while taking emergency powers to vary the electoral regulations so as to make ballot-stuffing easier.

Both Britain and the United States are exercising strong diplomatic pressure on Mugabe not to follow this route. But some diplomatic observers believe that it may be the ageing despot’s only way of keeping his vow to die in State House.

Mugabe’s deputy information minister, Bright Matonga, who claimed last week that the president’s Zanu-PF party had let him down in the first round of voting, predicted a resounding victory in the second, saying: “We only applied 25% of our energy in the first round. That [the runoff] is when we are going to unleash the other 75%.”

(Via Instapundit.)

Oh dear, the first round was only 25% rigged?

Also, an explanation of why the official results matter; not because of the tally, but because the runoff can’t be scheduled until they’re released:

The official tally has yet to be declared and when MDC lawyers went to the High Court yesterday in an attempt to force an announcement, their way into the building was blocked by police from Mugabe’s office over the road. One of the lawyers, Alec Muchadehama, said the police had threatened to shoot them. The case was eventually postponed until today.

The longer the delay in announcing the presidential election result, opposition activists say, the more time Mugabe will have to mobilise his forces.

Reports yesterday suggested that attempts to intimidate the opposition could already be under way. According to one African news agency, Zimbabwean soldiers beat supporters of the MDC in some parts of the country to punish them for “premature” election victory celebrations. At least 17 people were said to have been beaten so badly that they had to be taken to hospital.

Mugabe makes clear he has no intention of leaving power:

Zimbabwe’s government staged separate police raids on Thursday against the main opposition party, foreign journalists and at least one democracy advocate, raising the specter of a broad crackdown aimed at keeping the country’s imperiled leaders in power.

With the government facing election results that threaten its 28-year reign, security officers raided the Miekles Hotel in central Harare on Thursday afternoon, searching rooms that the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, had rented for election operations. . .

About the same time, a second group of riot officers sealed off the York Lodge, a small hotel in suburban Harare that is frequented by foreign journalists. A lodge worker . . . said six people were detained, including Barry Bearak, a correspondent for The New York Times who was later located in a Harare jail.

Raids on the opposition party, arrests of foreign journalists, and no official election results yet.  Yep, I’m sure this runoff is going to be fair.

Earlier today the talk was of a runoff election between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.  This would give Mugabe another shot at rigging the election, which apparently he didn’t do well enough the first time.

Now that talk seems to have fallen by the wayside.  Official sources are now saying that Mugabe is prepared to step down, and the sticking point is getting agreement from the army chief of staff.  Gateway Pundit has a roundup.  (Via Instapundit.)

I’m still skeptical about this.  I find it hard to believe that Mugabe would ever leave office voluntarily, but I hope I’m wrong.

Iowahawk has some advice for Hollywood environmentalists.  Many are good only for wealthy, preachy celebrities, but a few, like this one, are for everyone:

Crush a Third World Economic Development Movement. One of the most pressing threats facing our environment is rising income in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. A generation ago these proud little dark people were happily frolicking in the rain forest, foraging for organic foods amid the wonders of nature. Today, corrupted by wealth, they are demanding environmentally hazardous consumer goods like cars and air conditioning and malaria medicine. You can do your part to stop this dangerous consumerism trend by supporting environmentally progressive leaders like Hugo Chavez and Robert Mugabe, and their programs for sustainable low-impact ecolabor camps.

(Via Instapundit.)

Here. (Via the Corner.)

Mark Steyn adds:

This is an amazing race. The incumbent president has approval ratings somewhere between Robert Mugabe and the ebola virus. The economy is supposedly on the brink of global Armageddon. McCain has only $80 million to spend, while Obama’s burning through $600 mil as fast as he can, and he doesn’t really need to spend a dime given the wall-to-wall media adoration. And tonight Chris Matthews’ doctors announced that his leg tingle has metastasized leaving his entire body like a vibrating cellphone whose ringtone is locked on “I’m In Love, I’m In Love, I’m In Love, I’m In Love, I’m In Love With A Wonderful Guy.”

And yet an old cranky broke loser is within two or three points of the King of the World. Strange.

This is what passes for good news in Zimbabwe these days:

Earlier on Thursday, a Chinese ship carrying armaments made by a Chinese state-owned company and bound for Zimbabwe headed back to China without unloading its cargo of bullets and mortar bombs, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry confirmed at a briefing Thursday.

“The Chinese company has already decided to send the military goods back to China in the same vessel, the An Yue Jiang,” the spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said. . .

China’s decision to turn the ship around was welcomed by the dock workers, trade unionists, religious leaders, Western diplomats and human rights workers who have been campaigning since last week to block delivery of the weapons to Zimbabwe.

They had said the weaponry could be used to carry out an even more violent crackdown on Zimbabwe’s political opposition, which is allied with the country’s unionized workers.

“This is a great victory for the trade union movement in particular and civil society in general in putting its foot down and saying we will not allow weapons that could be used to kill and maim our fellow workers and Zimbabweans to be transported across South Africa,” said Patrick Craven, spokesman for the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which represents 1.9 million South African workers. China’s strategic retreat in delivering the weapons also allows it to avoid Zimbabwe-related protests over its human rights record before it hosts the Olympic Games this summer.

Also, the State Department has decided to acknowledge what everyone knows:

Turning up the pressure on President Robert Mugabe, the top United States envoy to Africa declared Zimbabwe’s opposition leader the “clear victor” in the nation’s disputed presidential election. . .

“This is a government rejecting the will of the people,” she said, referring to the government’s refusal to announce who won the presidential election last month, despite independent projections that placed the opposition ahead. “If they had voted for Mugabe the results would already have been announced. Everyone knows what time it is.”

The London Times reports:

Zimbabwe’s opposition revealed 10 of its supporters have now been killed with 400 arrested and 500 injured in President Mugabe’s post-election clampdown.

As a further delay was announced in the recounting of votes cast over three weeks ago fears grew that an attempt is being made to overturn the results of the parliamentary election, which showed ZANU-PF losing its majority to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for the first time.

This makes sense for Mugabe, I suppose.  As long as he’s going to thwart the Presidential election and stay in office, there’s no reason to abide by the Parliamentary vote.

But don’t despair, the African Union is on the case:

An AU statement said: “The African Union wishes to express its concern over the delay observed in the announcement of Zimbabwe’s election results, which creates an atmosphere of tension.

“The African Union therefore urges competent authorities of the Republic of Zimbabwe to announce the results without any further delay, in transparency, thus contributing, inter alia, to reducing the prevailing tension.”

Okay, that ought to do it.

Robert Mugabe is complaining of voting irregularities.

UPDATE: NPR has the audio up now.  Seek to 1:20.

It’s hard to keep up with the pace of events in Zimbabwe, but it seems to fluctuate between three states:

1. Mugabe will steal the election outright.
2. Mugabe will rig the results enough for a runoff, which he will try to steal.
3. Mugabe will leave office voluntarily.

State three always seemed far-fetched, but there was enough talk of it from supposedly informed sources that I began to hope.  Now things appear to have settled into state two.  This isn’t good news; Mugabe now knows how many votes he’s going to have to steal to win.  Expect to see him “win” the runoff by a narrow margin.

I have to blog this right away, since it won’t last long.  Sky News reports that the opposition is claiming victory based on unofficial results.  Then the rub:

The electoral body said it would start announcing early partial returns at some point today.

The official returns will probably be a bit different.  (Is Jimmy Carter there to give Mugabe cover?)

UPDATE: The NYT reminds us of the last Zimbabwean vote:

In 2002, reported results had challenger Morgan Tsvangirai piling up a big lead. Then, suddenly, the announcements stopped. When they resumed, hours later, Mr. Mugabe was well ahead.

(Via Instapundit.)

UPDATE and BUMP: The Telegraph reports: Robert Mugabe’s defeat cannot be covered up.  Here’s hoping.

The Guardian’s report is less promising:

Robert Mugabe was desperately trying to cling to power last night, despite his clear defeat in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, by blocking the electoral commission from releasing official results and threatening to treat an opposition claim of victory as a coup. . .

Tsvangirai [the apparent winner] made no public appearances, apparently out of concern for his safety.  Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, warned Tsvangirai not to declare himself president because that “is called a coup d’etat and we all know how coups are handled”.

Yes, I suppose we do.

(Via Instapundit.)

UPDATE: The election rigging proceeds in slow motion.  (Yet again via Instapundit.)

Robert Mugabe’s re-election slogan.  (No joke!)  (Via the Corner.)

Polls show that Zimbabwe is poised overwhelmingly to reject Mugabe, if given the chance, which seems unlikely to me.  Personally, I suspect he’ll be leaving office the way Nicolae Ceausescu did, and no sooner.

UPDATE: No surprise here; things look bad.