U.N. Slams Zimbabwe's Slum Destruction

[Eugene]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5158858,00.html

U.N. Slams Zimbabwe's Slum Destruction

Friday July 22, 2005 7:31 AM

AP Photo HRE101

By NICK WADHAMS

Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Zimbabwe's destruction of urban slums is a
``disastrous venture" that has left 700,000 people without homes or
jobs, violated international law and created a grave humanitarian
crisis, according to excerpts of a harshly worded U.N. report.

The report details the devastating extent of Operation Murambatsvina,
or Drive Out Trash, for the first time. It says a further 2.4 million
people have been affected by the countrywide campaign that began with
little warning on May 19 and has seen thousands of shantytowns,
ramshackle markets and makeshift homes demolished.

"While purporting to target illegal dwellings and structures and to
clamp down on alleged illicit activities, (the operation) was carried
out in an indiscriminate and unjustified manner, with indifference to
human suffering," says the executive summary, obtained late Thursday
by The Associated Press.

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[wli]

1. they're doing it in the US, too

Only they don't even have the pretext of the dwellings being illegal.