I begin this post by paying tribute to the brave people of Zimbabwe, who are trying to take a stand for freedom and democracy and against Mugabe's tyranny. In that context, I applaud Conservativehome's decision to devote today's blog to Zimbabwe.
Today's Times perhaps had the best coverage, and the best angle on Zimbabwe. The headline, War crimes warning to Mugabe as terror grows, caught my attention, as did the editorial. The Times and others are now arguing that evidence should be collected of Mugabe's crimes against humanity, and that if the situation does not change soon he should face prosecution in the International Criminal Court. A Western diplomat summed it up well by saying that Mugabe needs to understand he is only "minutes away" from an indictment in the ICC.
I am a supporter of the ICC. I believe thugs like Mugabe should be treated for what they are - criminals - and brought to justice. I am also passionately - though not uncritically or unthinkingly - pro-American, and am generally far more favourable towards the current US administration than many others would be. And so for both reasons it saddens me that the Bush administration has been so hostile to the ICC - a mechanism that was long overdue before it was formed, and much under-utilised since its creation. A case against Mugabe should certainly be brought, and I hope that the next US administration will be more positive about mechanisms such as the ICC.
If a case is brought, swiftly, to the ICC against Mugabe, it would be a positive step not only for Zimbabwe, but for the people living under tyranny in other parts of the world too. The parallels between Zimbabwe and Burma, for example, are profound. Both countries were once the wealthiest in their region - respectively the bread basket of Africa and the rice bowl of Asia - and both are now in economic ruins, destroyed by their brutal rulers. Both countries are places where democracy has been violently and brutally crushed, and the rulers have undergone a charade of a democratic process and then either ignored, or rigged, the results. In both countries, rape and torture are used by the regime in a widespread, systematic and horrifying way. Aid has been denied, restricted and manipulated in both places, causing starvation and death for hundreds of thousands of people. Six years ago, in the Wall Street Journal's Asian edition, I wrote an op ed making this comparison, under the headline: "Two Thugs in a Pod". Since I wrote that article, the situation in both countries has simply got worse. It is time to treat Mugabe, and the Burmese junta, as we would treat any rapist, thief and axe-wielding, gun-toting, knife-carrying murderer on a killing spree: prosecute them, and lock them up for life. David Cameron has expressed support for a prosecution of the Burmese junta, writing in The Independent, and Andrew Mitchell made a similar call at the party's Scottish Conference. Such calls, and those today for similar action against Mugabe, should not be allowed to fall on deaf ears. Failure to act will simply embolden other tyrants, and we will see Mugabe-like regimes continue and flourish.