This is a guest post by Joe Trippi<\/b>.<\/i><\/p>\n
I’ve talked about Roy Bennett and his imprisonment for weeks, talked
\nabout his courage, about Roy really being the heart and soul of the MDC
\nopposition to Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and rejoiced when I learned he was
\nreleased from the horrors of the Mutare prison — a prison that is known
\nthroughout Zimbabwe as Robert Mugabe’s torture prison. A place where if
\nyou are lucky enough to escape torture, you still have to fight off
\nstarvation because you are lucky to be fed once a week.<\/p>\n
I met Roy Bennett in 2008. I was in Africa trying to help rid
\nZimbabwe of Robert Mugabe. I saw first hand the risk that Roy and
\nothers were taking to promote, through democratic means, new leadership
\nand real change in Zimbabwe – waging a campaign against Robert Mugabe
\nand the ruling Zanu-PF party. I saw the risk Morgan Tsvangirai was
\ntaking in having the guts to stand election and challenge Robert Mugabe
\nwith Roy’s help and the help of other brave Zimbabweans who were
\nwilling to make a stand for their country. <\/p>\n
At least 110 of them are dead.<\/p>\n
If you want to understand more about Roy Bennett, the kind of person I have excerpted a few key paragraghs here:<\/p>\n On the Mutare prison. “Emerging from the gates of Mutare remand He said: “I would not wish it on my worst enemy. There are people I was receiving updates on Roy throughout his imprisonment that I learned stuff that I have to say didn’t make much sense to me. I “The demeanour of the guards at the prison, which is close to Last week another guard asked officials of Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement Supporters of the Prime Minister’s party, many of them wearing Then I read the words that tell you about why Roy Bennett is so important to the future of his nation. One word. Forgiveness.<\/p>\n “Mr Bennett shared a small excrement-covered cell with 12 other men. “There are people who don’t want right to prevail, and want to keep I once again want to thank those who helped put a spotlight on Roy’s Roy is right, Robert Mugabe and his regime’s time is nearing an end. I know that Twitter had a lot to do with bringing too much attention I am not much of an idealist any more — at least not in the way I I find it strange that I live in a world in which BILLIONS of people Roy Bennett, Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC and the people of Zimbabwe Tell the story.<\/p>\n And Roy when this one gets to you — Thanks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe Trippi served as the campaign chair of Howard Dean’s legendary campaign for President in 2004, and has worked on the campaigns of numerous other major Democratic politicians over the years. Joe is an ardent advocate of human rights and reform, having been involved in the efforts for freedom in Zimbabwe for decades, and is working with the Change Congress campaign<\/a> for domestic reform of US politics. This post was originally posted at his website JoeTrippi.com<\/a>. Follow Joe on twitter at @JoeTrippi<\/a>!<\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is a guest post by Joe Trippi. I’ve talked about Roy Bennett and his imprisonment for weeks, talked about his courage, about Roy really being the heart and soul of the MDC opposition to Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and rejoiced when I learned he was released from the horrors of the Mutare prison — a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[150,26,245],"class_list":["post-269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nation-building","tag-guest-post","tag-politics","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nhe is, how in all the horror that has become Zimbabwe he represents
\nreal hope for the nation’s future, and how his ability to forgive is
\nperhaps the key to reaching that future — you should take the time to read this story from The Times.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nprison and struggling to hold back tears yesterday, he said that his
\nincarceration had been “a harrowing experience”.<\/p>\n
\nthere who look worse than the photographs of prisoners in Dachau and
\nAuschwitz. They get a handful of sadza [thick maizemeal porridge] and
\nwater with salt. Five people died while I was there, and their bodies
\nwere collected after four or five days. There are people there who have
\nbeen awaiting trial for three years.”<\/p>\n
\nbegan on February 13th. I knew that a prisoner died in Roy’s cell and
\nthat the body remained in the cell for days before it was removed. A
\nweek or so later I learned that another prisoner had died in the cell
\nnext to Roy’s and that the body was left in the cell for days again.
\nAnd I knew that food was scarce. <\/p>\n
\nlearned that Roy had gotten so fed up with the conditions that he had
\nstarted to organize the prison — and convinced the guards to let him
\nlead his fellow prisoners in cleaning up the place. And I learned that
\na few days later the attitude of the guards changed and that they
\nstarted to jump in with the prisoners in the cleaning effort. Could
\nthis possible be true? The first part sounded true — and my source was
\na friend I trusted but did he really win over the guards? I wasn’t sure
\nuntil i read what The Times reporter found when he got to the Mutare
\nPrison:<\/p>\n
\nZimbabwe’s eastern border with Mozambique, was a testament to how fast
\nthe mood in the country is evolving. One of them told me excitedly when
\nI arrived at the gates: “Mr Bennett is getting out today. Yes, we are
\nhappy.”<\/p>\n
\nfor Democratic Change, who had taken Mr Bennett disinfectant to clean
\nthe cell, and some food, for 18 “Free Roy” T-shirts. “Ten for the day
\nguards, and eight for the night guards,” he said.<\/p>\n
\nsimilar T-shirts, kept up a steady chorus of singing outside the
\nrickety gates.”<\/p>\n
\n“It breaks my heart when I think of them,” he said, adding that those
\nresponsible for the repression and ruin of the country over the past
\ndecade should “go on their knees and beg forgiveness” from God.
\nHowever, he also urged Zimbabwe’s new coalition Government to forget
\nthe past and work together to rebuild the shattered nation. “Conditions
\nin that jail are brought about by hate. I bear no malice. In my heart,
\nall I can do is move forward to build the country. If we don’t forgive,
\nand there isn’t a spirit of forgiveness, we are going nowhere.<\/p>\n
\nbelieving that they have the power to do anything. But they are few and
\ntheir time is near the end.” <\/p>\n
\narrest and helped keep the story alive when so many in the press
\ncouldn’t be bothered with something happening in Africa. <\/p>\n
\nIt will take people like you, who are reading this, to do something
\nsimple. Tell a friend to read this post. Blog about it — retweet my
\ntwitters about Zimbabwe. When the press doesn’t think there is a story
\n— we have to be the story’s tellers. People in Zimbabwe who have
\nInternet access are literally printing out our blog posts and handing
\ncopies out in mass in their towns and villages. People are gaining
\nconfidence that they can create change in their own country. And as The
\nTimes story points out the mood in the country is changing very
\nquickly. But we are providing more than morale. When I twittered about
\nthis David Shuster the host of MSNBC’s 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and
\n@shuster1600 on Twitter, started to look into the story and reported
\nabout it — on the air. And day after day updated the story — reminding
\nviewers that Roy Bennett was still in prision and vowing to continue to
\nupdate the story until Roy was released. <\/p>\n
\nto Roy Bennett’s imprisonment. The kind of attention that helped bring
\npressure on the Mugabe regime to release Roy Bennett. The simple act of
\ntelling others that this is going on is important — it matters and the
\nmore who know it is going on the more likely it will end. Roy Bennett’s
\nimprisonment has ended. Now it is time tell our friends about Zimbabwe,
\nand to urge them to tell their friends. The press and governments will
\nget the message and the pressure will increase on Mugabe and his regime.<\/p>\n
\nconsidered myself an idealist before I found my way to Africa last year
\n— but I still believe in the power of people conducting simple acts
\ntogether for the purpose of achieving what is right.<\/p>\n
\nlive on less than $2 a day yet many of us will pay 99 cents for an
\nIPhone app that makes our phone fart. But I don’t write this out of
\nguilt or to guilt you. Its just a fact that I find really strange.<\/p>\n
\nneed a little noise. That’s all it will take. Tell their story. Tell
\npeople to read this post. Retweet a twitter about Zimbabwe when you
\nfind it interesting, say something on your blog. Tell a reporter that
\nthey should follow and report this story. <\/p>\n