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July 24, 2006
Zimbabwe Tyrants Seek Big Brother Monitoring System
The government of Zimbabwe is well-known for human rights violations, religious and political persecution, and mass corruption. President Robert Mugabe single handedly destroyed the economy and sent his nation into mass unemployment, poverty and hunger while at the same time declining humanitarian relief. The free press was shut down and his political opponents were targeted, some arrested right before the last elections.
The price of bread went up by more than 30 percent in Zimbabwe yesterday, throwing the basic commodity far beyond the reach of many people struggling to make ends meet in the country.
There is much more.
The latest outrage is a proposal to empower the secret police to eavesdrop on mail, e-mail and phones without any court approval. Yes, the government of Zimbabwe wants to spy on its own people without accountability. Why? To combat crime or terrorism? I don't think so.
However, this is the point at which someone chimes-in, "well, if you have nothing to hide there is nothing to fear." In fact, the Zimbabwean government has already said it:
...a man who would be involved in any government monitoring effort told a gathering there was no cause for concern because the proposed law was only a threat "to criminals and human rights activists."Did a government representative actually state they would target human rights activists? Those standing up for the rights of others (in this case the life of others) are rather problematic for a tyrannical dictator.
The bottom line is that this government is corrupt and has a documented history of abusing its power. Additional reforms that would enable the monitoring of Zimbabwean's will be used for population control, countering political opponents, and obtaining insider information for personal profit.
Related:
Deportations soar as thousands fleeing economic meltdown pour south - more
Only 40% of Zim's seized farms are used
News and Information: ZimNews
Posted by tim at July 24, 2006 5:44 AM
