A
Anonymous
Dear Sir (To friends in political circles) I wrote to you yesterday concerning my family in Beit Bridge, the south eastern part of Zimbabwe.
My father, Samuel Knott Cawood, was taken into police custody yesterday, 9 October 2002, in the late afternoon and is currently being help in the police cells at Beit bridge Police Station in Zimbabwe.
His crime?
He humanely ordered his staff to cut the throats of the week old calves as he loaded their mothers for slaughter during last week so that they were not killed in the trucks taking their mothers for slaughter.
My father has been a cattleman and landowner in Zimbabwe since 1965. He is well known for his conservation and good livestock practices. He built up a herd of Brahman Hereford cross cattle as well as a Brahman stud which has become the envy of many people. He was instructed by the National Task Force of Zimbabwe to vacate his farm by last Friday. He had nowhere to take his breeding herd of cows, many of which had just calved down but many which were heavily in calf. He was able to get a booking to send his cattle to slaughter. He did so.
During the months and weeks prior to making this awful decision, settlers on his farm, which he had bought and paid for under the Mugabe regime, regularly penned his cattle in the kraals without food or water to harass him. He was assaulted on a number of occasions, beaten, locked into a kraal while trying to dip and brand his cattle. His staff were systematically beaten and intimidated by government forces, including the police, army and politicians.
In a last desperate attempt to do what he felt was the only humane thing he could to protect his livestock and his investment, he sent the cows for slaughter. He was so traumatised by this that he was unable to witness the slaughter of his calves himself.
Yesterday, 9 October 2002, Mr Kembo Mohadi, the Minister of Home affairs, and the local member of parliament for Beit Bridge area, gave a direct instruction to the police at Beit Bridge to put Sam Cawood in jail. During this past weeks the minister's wife, Mrs Mohadi, has been going around the farms along the Bubye River where theses cattle were, trying to acquire the cattle for their own purposes She was unable to "liberate" these cattle as my father sent them for slaughter. In addition, my family are aware of how the election was won both in 2000 and in 2002. Their local member of parliament is punishing them for their knowledge of these matters.
Mr Mohadi gave an instruction last week to the police at Mwenezi, to put my brother, Brian Cawood, in jail for "attempted murder". Fortunately when he went before the Judge in Masvingo on Saturday morning, 5 October 2002 in Masvingo, the Judge realised this was a conspiracy by the Minister and very bravely sent Brian home on $10 000 bail. He is to appear in court on 4 November 2002. My brother is being falsely charged.
THESE ARE CRIMES AGAINST MY FAMILY BY GOVERNMENT FORCES IN ZIMBABWE.
Please help us to stop the crimes against the people of Zimbabwe. Help us to get our human rights back.
PLEASE help me to get my father out of jail. He is 74 years old and innocent of the crime charge against him.
Yours faithfully JEAN SIMON
<A HREF="http://www.justiceforagriculture.com/" TARGET="_blank">http://www.justiceforagriculture.com/</A>
[email protected]
My father, Samuel Knott Cawood, was taken into police custody yesterday, 9 October 2002, in the late afternoon and is currently being help in the police cells at Beit bridge Police Station in Zimbabwe.
His crime?
He humanely ordered his staff to cut the throats of the week old calves as he loaded their mothers for slaughter during last week so that they were not killed in the trucks taking their mothers for slaughter.
My father has been a cattleman and landowner in Zimbabwe since 1965. He is well known for his conservation and good livestock practices. He built up a herd of Brahman Hereford cross cattle as well as a Brahman stud which has become the envy of many people. He was instructed by the National Task Force of Zimbabwe to vacate his farm by last Friday. He had nowhere to take his breeding herd of cows, many of which had just calved down but many which were heavily in calf. He was able to get a booking to send his cattle to slaughter. He did so.
During the months and weeks prior to making this awful decision, settlers on his farm, which he had bought and paid for under the Mugabe regime, regularly penned his cattle in the kraals without food or water to harass him. He was assaulted on a number of occasions, beaten, locked into a kraal while trying to dip and brand his cattle. His staff were systematically beaten and intimidated by government forces, including the police, army and politicians.
In a last desperate attempt to do what he felt was the only humane thing he could to protect his livestock and his investment, he sent the cows for slaughter. He was so traumatised by this that he was unable to witness the slaughter of his calves himself.
Yesterday, 9 October 2002, Mr Kembo Mohadi, the Minister of Home affairs, and the local member of parliament for Beit Bridge area, gave a direct instruction to the police at Beit Bridge to put Sam Cawood in jail. During this past weeks the minister's wife, Mrs Mohadi, has been going around the farms along the Bubye River where theses cattle were, trying to acquire the cattle for their own purposes She was unable to "liberate" these cattle as my father sent them for slaughter. In addition, my family are aware of how the election was won both in 2000 and in 2002. Their local member of parliament is punishing them for their knowledge of these matters.
Mr Mohadi gave an instruction last week to the police at Mwenezi, to put my brother, Brian Cawood, in jail for "attempted murder". Fortunately when he went before the Judge in Masvingo on Saturday morning, 5 October 2002 in Masvingo, the Judge realised this was a conspiracy by the Minister and very bravely sent Brian home on $10 000 bail. He is to appear in court on 4 November 2002. My brother is being falsely charged.
THESE ARE CRIMES AGAINST MY FAMILY BY GOVERNMENT FORCES IN ZIMBABWE.
Please help us to stop the crimes against the people of Zimbabwe. Help us to get our human rights back.
PLEASE help me to get my father out of jail. He is 74 years old and innocent of the crime charge against him.
Yours faithfully JEAN SIMON
<A HREF="http://www.justiceforagriculture.com/" TARGET="_blank">http://www.justiceforagriculture.com/</A>
[email protected]
