VOA标准英语2009-Union Says Zimbabwe Farm Workers Worst Abuse

By Peta Thornycroft
Southern Africa
13 November 2009

A new report from a Zimbabwe union says workers on the country's white-run farms were subjected to even greater violence than their employers during violent farms seizures¹ under

 
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe (file photo)
's chaotic² land-reform program.

The report from the General Agricultural and Plantation³ Workers Union of Zimbabwe says more 60 percent of farm workers said they were tortured and forced to leave the farms that were their homes during seizures since 2000. The report says farm workers reporting such abuse outnumber their former white-farmer employers by 100 to one.

The report was produced for Zimbabwe's largest farm workers' union by the Research and Advocacy Unit and the agricultural advocacy group, Justice for Agriculture.

Researchers found many workers forced to leave the farms went to towns, a few went to neighboring countries to seek work and a minority remained on the farms working for the beneficiaries of the land, usually senior members of ZANU-PF. Some found shelter in nearby communal⁴ lands.

The report says some white farmers who have kept in contact with their workers after they were all evicted⁵ estimate about 40 percent of their employees have died since they were evicted.

The union's long-serving general secretary, Gertrude Hambira, says membership in the union has declined dramatically. She says the aim of the study was to bring the plight⁶ of farm workers to the leaders of the Southern Africa Development Community. "Prior to the land-reform program, we used to have a membership of 150,000 members. But today we have 25,000 members left. This is an appeal to SADC leaders to end violence on Zimbabwe's farms," she said.

About three quarters of those interviewed for the study said they believed those who had invaded the farms and harmed them should be prosecuted⁷.

The same number said they would like to turn the clock back to before 2000 and reclaim⁸ lives lost when the farm invasions began. The report says this is despite the fact that in the 1990's there was an urgent need for better living and working conditions for farm workers. 

Their losses of possessions averaged out at less than $200, but included clothes, pots, pans, and beds that they say they can never replace. They also lost land on the farms where they grew crops for themselves and chickens and other livestock⁹ and most importantly the homes in which they lived.

Many farm workers told researchers their families were divided as their children were living with relatives or friends.

A majority of those interviewed said they sought relief from the Zimbabwe Republic Police during invasions, but were not helped because they were told the workers' traumas¹⁰ on the farms were "political."

Workers told researchers that traditional leaders, ZANU-PF members, and people who claimed to be veterans of the liberation war were mostly responsible for their abuse.

Before land invasions the report said about 1.8 million people lived and worked on white farms and many of them, like their employers, became supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change, which nearly defeated ZANU-PF in elections in 2000.  It was after these elections that the majority of violent land seizures took place.

Some workers from farms still occupied by whites say they are continuously being threatened.

The man whose identity was protected for fear of retribution said he did not understand why. He said the workers are unable to live peacefully in their own homes because they fear abduction, that they would be forced to disappear or even killed.

Workers employed by white farmers who last year sought and won relief from the regional court of last resort, the SADC Tribunal, feel particularly vulnerable the report says, because their farms are targeted in extremely violent takeover attempts. The report says this is because tribunal ordered the then ZANU-PF government of President Robert Mugabe to leave the farmers and their workers in peace.

Another older worker in charge of a valuable engine on a farm complained he was forced to turn it on for invaders¹¹.

The worker says the invaders arrive at any time they choose and force him to operate the engine. He asks why would they hold a gun on him and why is he being forced to do something against his will?

An old man, who despite his advanced years still needs to work to put food on the table, laments¹² his situation.

He said his heart is broken and bleeding because the goal of those involved in land seizures is not to build the country, but to destroy it.

Commercial Farmers Union President Deon Theron, who has been evicted, recalls with evident emotion a moment in the early days of land invasions when his employee, Paradzai, disappeared in the tumult¹³ of the eviction¹⁴. "The next day, the police contacted me and said to me, you can come and fetch Paradzai. I said can you just give him money and tell him to come to the farm. And they said no, they said to me, come and fetch his body. He had been with me for many, many years. He had seven children," Theron said.

Gertrude Hambira is hoping to take her report to SADC leaders and diplomats¹⁵ in the region.

1 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

2 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

3 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

4 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

5 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

6 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

7 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

8 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

9 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

10 traumas   

n.心灵创伤( trauma的名词复数 )；损伤；痛苦经历；挫折

参考例句：

• She felt exhausted after the traumas of recent weeks. 她经受了最近几个星期的痛苦之后感到精疲力竭。
• Conclusion: Safety lens of spectacles can protect the occurrence of ocular traumas. 结论：安全镜片可以预防眼镜碎片所致的眼外伤。 来自互联网

11 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

12 laments   

n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside. 在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
• In this book he laments the slight interest shown in his writings. 在该书中他慨叹人们对他的著作兴趣微弱。 来自辞典例句

13 tumult   

n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹

参考例句：

• The tumult in the streets awakened everyone in the house.街上的喧哗吵醒了屋子里的每一个人。
• His voice disappeared under growing tumult.他的声音消失在越来越响的喧哗声中。

14 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

15 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》