Zimbabwe has begun purging black farmers from properties it ordered them to seize in violent takeovers just a few years ago. Amnesty International estimates that in September the administration of Robert Mugabe drove about 60,000 peasant farmers, former foot soldiers in his racial purge of the nation's agricultural sector, from the land they took over, the Times of London reported Friday. The most common tactic has been to burn residences on the farms. Mugabe's minister responsible for land resettlement referred questions to local officials, who declined to comment. The latest evictions have come without prior legal notice or court orders and violate the Rural Land Occupiers (Prevention of Eviction) Act passed by Mugabe's government specifically to stop white landowners from evicting black squatters. Those evicted have been left without water or sanitation and have little food. "It's a humanitarian crisis," Obert Chinhamo, Amnesty International's development officer, said. "No one is going to their assistance. The organizations that usually help people like this are too scared to do anything because they might be closed down by the government or arrested." © Copyright 2004 by United Press International

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