ZIMBABWE, ENVIRONMENTALISTS, KILL, CHILDREN, DURING, CLEAN

It was inevitable there would be casualties resulting from Mugabe's retaliation against those who opposed his reelection:

Two Zimbabwean children were crushed to death by rubble during the demolition of illegal houses this month in a government crackdown that has made tens of thousands homeless, state media reported.

Rights groups Amnesty International and the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) said on Thursday that more than 200 African and international non-governmental organisations had called on the United Nations and African Union to intervene over the clean-up operation.

"The coalition of organisations urged Nigerian President (Olusegun) Obasanjo, as Chair of the Africa Union, to put the crisis in Zimbabwe on the agenda of the upcoming AU Assembly," Amnesty and the COHRE said in a statement.

"We would like to urge those demolishing illegal structures to ensure the safety of everyone," police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena told the newspaper.

Yes, they really should get together and discuss the situation. Meanwhile, Mugabe's thugs turn out to be environmentalists:

The UN estimates up to 1,5 million people were left homeless. The political opposition, which has its base among the urban poor, says the four-week-old campaign is meant to punish its supporters.

On Tuesday vegetable gardens the urban poor plant in vacant lots around Harare were added to the police's targets. The government says the plots are threatening the environment.

Anything for a better environment.