https://allafrica.com/stories/202010160323.html
As United States citizens, it is hard for use to imagine not being able to express civil liberties without the backlash of military, and government violence. In Zimbabwe- this is their everyday. Although it is limited the media, and what is displayed globally is remotely good and shows a somewhat democratic country, it is the opposite. This articles exposes the true colors of the Zimbabwe government. The Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa has always had close ties to the military, but is now using the military to infringe on everyday rights of these citizens. The article explains that since he got to office, he had promised a “clean break” to citizens and violence compared to how he got into office- but has failed tremendously. The article shows multiple different encounters within the country where the military has beaten, raped, or even killed its citizens. In addition to citizens being treated like this- the military has taken violence to the media. Doing these same things to journalists, cameramen, and others to limit the amount of raw information and footage that gets out on a national level.
This is by far the most pressing article I have read yet. With the older leader being over thrown by the current president, and having such close ties with the military- it makes for such a dangerous and scary place to live. The government is slowly taking away civil liberties, but is still titling the country as a democratic one- and with the abuse and violence that is happening towards the media too, this makes it hard to speak up about these issues- as it brings even more violence to a wider group of people. If this isn’t acknowledged , it could only get worse. A long term effect of this could result in a completely different government and a significance in the death rate of innocent citizens.
When I read this article- I kept thinking about one thing we talked about in class. NGO’s and humanitarian crisis. NGO’s are involved in humanitarian crisis and service and empowering. When this doesn’t really get acknowledged but these organizations, it makes it frustrating and it questionable. But, given the circumstances- it does make it limited involvement because of the underlying dangerous and abuse that even more people could have to undergo in order to fix this. When I consider this, I then think back to another discussion we had about morals, and when it’s important for other countries to step in and fight for people who cannot fight for themselves. This is wrong, and I find hard to believe that anyone would say anything different. I think this should be a consideration for intervention- because imagine if it was us.