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Zimbabwean church leaders: Opposition voters targeted for torture CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Zimbabwe’s Christian leaders have called for international intervention in the country’s crisis, saying that those accused of voting for the opposition in March 29 elections are being tortured, abducted and murdered. “We warn the world that if nothing is done to help the people of Zimbabwe from their predicament, we shall soon be witnessing genocide similar to that experienced in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and other hot spots in Africa and elsewhere,” said the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe in an April 22 statement from the capital, Harare. Noting that they recently “issued statements commending Zimbabweans for the generally peaceful and politically mature manner in which they conducted themselves before, during and soon after the elections,” the leaders said recent reports from their churches throughout the country gave cause for alarm. “Organized violence perpetrated against individuals, families and communities who are accused of campaigning or voting for the ‘wrong’ political party … has been unleashed throughout the country, particularly in the countryside and in some high- density urban areas,” they said. “People are being abducted, tortured, humiliated by being asked to repeat slogans of the political party they are alleged not to support, ordered to attend mass meetings where they are told they voted for the ‘wrong’ candidate and should never repeat it in the runoff election for president, and, in some cases, people are murdered,” they said. The church leaders urged the people of Zimbabwe “to refuse to be used for a political party or other people’s selfish end, especially where it concerns violence against other people, including those who hold different views from your own.” Commending Zimbabweans for turning out to vote and “for exercising your democratic right peacefully,” the church leaders urged their members “to maintain and protect your dignity and your vote.” The church leaders expressed their “deep concern over the deteriorating political, security, economic and human rights situation in Zimbabwe,” where official results of the presidential and parliamentary elections have yet to be released. Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he won the presidential election and that his party took a majority of parliamentary seats. President Robert Mugabe, 84, and his supporters are preparing for a runoff as well as challenging some of the parliamentary results. The church leaders urged Zimbabwe’s electoral commission “to release the true results” of the elections, noting that “the unprecedented delay in the publication of these results has caused anxiety, frustration, depression, suspicion and in some cases illness among the people of Zimbabwe” at home and abroad. “A pall of despondency hangs over the nation, which finds itself in a crisis of expectations and governance. The nation is in a crisis, in limbo, and no real business is taking place anywhere as the nation waits,” they said. The church leaders appealed to the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the United Nations “to work toward arresting the deteriorating political and security situation in Zimbabwe.” The church leaders said that, “as the shepherds of the people,” they were appealing for an “immediate end to political intimidation and retribution arising from how people are perceived to have voted.” Youth militia and military base camps “that have been set up in different parts of the country should be closed,” they said. “The deterioration in the humanitarian situation is plummeting at a frightful pace,” the church leaders said, noting that the cost of living “has gone beyond the reach of the majority of our people.” Zimbabwe has the world’s highest inflation rate – more than 100,000 percent – an unemployment rate of more than 80 percent and severe shortages of basic foods and fuel. “There is widespread famine in most parts of the countryside on account of poor harvests and delays in the process of importing maize from neighboring countries. The shops are empty and basic foodstuffs are unavailable,” said the leaders. “Victims of organized torture who are ferried to (the) hospital find little solace as the hospitals have no drugs or medicines to treat them,” they said. Zimbabwe’s Jesuits said that if the concepts of national sovereignty and noninterference “prevent the people of Africa from coming to the aid of their oppressed, abused, starved brothers and sisters, then we must question the value of such concepts, inherited from 19th-century colonial powers, and redefine them according to our” present needs. “The real people of Africa, men, women and children, their welfare, health, education, work and shelter must be the center and focus of all political endeavors and (hold) the attention of statesmen,” they said in their April 17 newsletter. Monks search for new ways to support Mepkin Abbey MONCKS CORNER, S.C. – The Trappist monks at Our Lady of Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner are looking at a variety of new ways to support themselves as they phase out their popular egg production business. A 10-member advisory panel made up of Charleston-area business and banking executives, an organic farmer and two representatives of the Catholic community recently held an all-day brainstorming session on how the monks could continue to make a living. Suggestions range from growing agricultural products as diverse as bamboo, mushrooms, heirloom corn and wheat, organic vegetables, and beets to be used as an organic road de-icer to pursuing such nonagricultural ideas as licensing beer; book scanning, the process of converting physical books into electronic books; and establishing a public cemetery on the Mepkin property. The abbey announced in December that it would begin phasing out its 56-year-old egg business, citing pressure from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals over the treatment of chickens as one of the reasons. Public protests and a threatened boycott by PETA that started in the summer of 2007 put unwanted pressure on the Trappist monks and interfered with their quiet life of prayer and work. The end of the egg business meant the abbey had to find a new way to support itself. Sales averaging 9 million eggs a year have generated around $140,000, which is about 60 percent of the abbey’s annual income, according to Abbot Stan Gumula. In a statement, Abbot Gumula said he was impressed with suggestions the panel generated. “We hope to find a business that will respect the monastic tradition of working on the land and caring for the environment, and the advisory panel’s ideas certainly meet these criteria,” he said. “Our land is a wonderful resource, and … the panel has come up with great ways for us to use it creatively and wisely.” Members of the panel agreed there should be an effort to find new products that can be sold locally so the monastery can maintain its strong connection with neighbors. Mepkin’s eggs have been available in Piggly Wiggly grocery stores for years. Since the abbey’s establishment in 1949, the monks also have sold bread, flowers, timber, milk and beef cattle to support their way of life. “There’s a lot of work and planning that needs to be done,” said panel member Dennis Atwood, retired chief financial officer for the Diocese of Charleston. “The abbey has a lot of challenges, including an aging workforce and not a lot of working capital to fund a new operation. The abbey is a wonderful resource and it’s a shame they’re having to face this.” Atwood said he thought the public cemetery idea was a good one. “There’s obviously got to be a future demand for that kind of service and a lot of people are going to want traditional burials,” he said. Monsignor James A. Carter, pastor of Christ Our King Church in Mount Pleasant, said any agricultural venture would need to take into account Mepkin’s aging monks and existing resources. He said the monks will probably have to consider both long- range projects and a number of smaller projects that will help sustain the monastery in the interim. “I suggested bamboo, especially because they have the property to plant bamboo and it doesn’t require a lot of care,” Monsignor Carter said. “The wood is becoming extremely popular for use in paneling and flooring, and in China they’ve even started using it for fabric. Some people say its softness is similar to cashmere.” Monsignor Carter also suggested raising mushrooms or beets. In recent years, some communities in the northern United States have started using road de-icers derived from desugared beets. “This beet substance is environmentally friendly and doesn’t corrode like salt,” he said. The abbey also needs to consider how to maximize revenue that can be drawn from existing assets, according to Robert Macdonald, a retired museum director from New York who has been a close friend and consultant for the abbey for many years. Macdonald said the panel suggested the abbey increase the use of its conference center by businesses and other groups and look into increasing its retreat program. Other suggestions included expanding the sale of existing abbey products such as fruitcakes and Drizzle, a syrup that can be used over desserts, meats and other dishes. “The reality is that the abbey will probably be unable to make up the shortfall from the loss of the egg business solely through labor-intensive agricultural ventures,” he said. “The solutions to this situation will be varied. It’s going to be a combination of saving money, finding new sources of revenue and increasing the income stream from current resources the abbey already has,” he said.

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