ABC
Wednesday, 6 May , 2009
Reporter: Andrew Geoghegan
TONY EASTLEY: Zimbabwe’s unity government has been trying to convince other countries and investors that real political and economic reform is underway in the country.
But the arrest of a group of prominent human rights activists overnight has only reinforced opinion that little has changed in Zimbabwe and that the heavy hand of Robert Mugabe is there for everyone to see.
Human rights lawyer David Coltart is Zimbabwe’s Education Minister.
He’s been telling Africa correspondent Andrew Geoghegan that time is running out for the Government.
ANDREW GEOGHEGAN: Are these charges trumped up? Certainly these people who have been detained say they were beaten up, they were tortured into confessing as being part of this plot to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.
DAVID COLTART: I have got no reason to dispute the allegations that they were tortured, which we all condemn unreservedly, but if there are allegations that have some basis in truth, well let the courts decide as soon as possible and let’s get it out of the way.
ANDREW GEOGHEGAN: David Coltart, is progress being made in Zimbabwe? Foreign investors are very keen to see something happen before they commit any money to the country.
DAVID COLTART: Well, it’s not surprising that foreign donors are reluctant because the agreement in some respects has not been implemented in its true spirit and sometimes even the letter of the agreement hasn’t been adequately implemented so in that context it’s hard to justify why western taxpayers money should be spent.
Having said that, to answer a number of your questions, has there been any progress, well yes there has been some progress.
Zimbabwe is a far more peaceful place this year than it was last year but of course we have not achieved much that we hoped that we would have achieved by this stage and that is largely because the international donors haven’t come to the party yet and there are clearly elements who are determined to derail this process and that is setting us back.
TONY EASTLEY: Human rights lawyer David Coltart, who is also the Zimbabwean Education Minister, speaking there with Andrew Geoghegan.