U.K. aid to Zimbabwe under close scrutiny

Press, 9 October 1982, Page 14

U.K. aid to Zimbabwe under close scrutiny

From

STEPHEN TAYLOR,

in Harare

Zimbabwe’s human rights record, until recently a beacon in the Third World but now a somewhat flickering light, will be under scrutiny in coming weeks as the British Government considers two top-level reports on further military commitment to Robert Mugabe’s regime. Retiring British Defence Secretary, John Nott, on the last leg of an Asian and African.tour, met Mr Mugabe on September 26 against a background of strife in the west of Zimbabwe and amid investigations into a sabotage operation which crippled the country’s Air Force two months ago, The reaction of the authorities to both matters will have given Mr Nott some cause for plain speaking at a time when Britain’s military priorities are being re-examined.

The integration of former Zimbabwean guerrillas, during which British officers and' N.C.O.S supervised the amalgamation of Z.I.P.R.A. and Z.A.N.L.A. fighters into a national Army, remains the Thatcher Government’s most valuable contribution to Zimbabwe since independence. About 40,000 men of the two rival factions were brought together in a programme which, at its peak, involved 170 British military personnel. It was originally. planned ■. that when integration was complete the British Military Advisory and-. Training Team (8.M.A.T.T.) would be phased out fairly rapidly. Instead, Mr Mugabe asked for a large part of the. team to stay on and, with a complement of about 80, it is still Britain’s biggest and most costly military presence in Africa. -■

The team’s role has not always been a comfortable one and some officers here are -beginning to find the responsibilities irksome. With recent political strains exposing

cracks in the iacaue oi Zimbabwean unity, there is concern that the British should not be linked with the conduct of some of the troops they have trained.

In operations to track down dissidents in the western province of Matabeleland, soldiers of the Zimbabwe National Army have been responsible for beatings, rape and widespread intimidation of civilians.

Some government officials tend to dismiss such excesses. An editorial in the “Herald” newspaper summed up the attitude of the ruling Z.A.N.U. (P.F.) Party: “Which Army in the world has been known to treat people who are almost in rebellion with kindness? The British in Northern Ireland?” British instructors do not see it the' same way. “We do not want to be seen to be guilty byassociation,” one said. General Sir John Stanier, Britain’s new Chief of Staff, who arrived here this month on an annual review of 8.M.A.T.T., was also expected to raise the treatment in custody of senior members of the

Zimbabwe Air Force, held in connection with a sabotage operation in July in which the strike capability of the Z.A.F. was devastated.

Britain has provided assistance for the .Air Force since independence and has flight instructors on secondment here.

Lawyers acting for Air ViceMarshal Hugh Slatter, Deputy Commander of the Z.A.F., and another top officer, claimed at a press conference last month that the two men had been tortured before making statements. The lawyers did not expand on the allegations but independent sources said the men had been subjected to electric shock.

The case has further implications. An uneasy truce has existed between High Court judges and the Government after a confrontation over detention without trial in July. With lawyers now seeking to have the officers’ statements nullified, the stage seems set for another clash between the judiciary and the executive. Copyright, London Observer Service.