Free Sample Essays > African History
Page: 1
Zimbabwean Genocide
Just the sound of the word genocide is disturbing. The actual definition adds to its evil connotation. A genocide is destroying a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group by killing them, causing bodily or mental harm, intending to prevent births, or transferring children from one group to another.
There are many steps in the genocidal process. First is the classification where people are organized by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality. Next comes symbolization where names or symbols are given to the different classifications. Third is dehumanization where one group denies humanity to another. Following that is organization, which can be by the state or informally. Then there is polarization where groups are driven apart and there are laws forbidding intermingling between the groups. Next there is preparation in which people are identified and separated while death lists are made up. Extermination is next where mass killing is legally called genocide.Last is denial where the killers try to cover up the evidence.
The Zimbabwean genocide is one that is still going on today. The Zanu-PF is the ruling party that is oppressing its people. People living in Zimbabwe must have Zanu-PF membership cards to avoid a beating. The Zanu-PF party was accused of hijacking the World Food Program’s distribution process, starving its people. The leader of this party is President Robert Mugabe. He is the leading person responsible for starving the people. Mugabe set up the youth militia, which is run by the government. The youth militia is made up of young kids and is known for terrorizing people and even gang raping young girls.
There are two major ethnic groups in Zimbabwe, the Shona and Ndebele. From 1982- 1983 between 2,000 and 8,000 Ndebele people were killed in the Matabeleland massacre. The youth militia is responsible for carrying out this massacre. To this day about six million Zimbabwean people face starvation because of Mugabe. The witnesses to this horrible event, besides the people of Zimbabwe, are the occasional reporters who sneak in illegally. Most major political leaders of the world are also aware of this massacre (i.e. President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, etc.).
The mass killings of the people of Zimbabwe are not considered a genocide because it is technically only in the stage of preparation. Instead it is considered a politicide, although the Genocide Watch realizes the possibility of genocide in the near future. The Genocide Watch encourages major countries, like the United States, to discourage Mugabe and hopefully genocide will be prevented.