He then got a taste of the second part in his native Zimbabwe, carving a productive farm out of the bush. Until 2003, when the thugocracy led by Robert Mugabe forced him off the land. Captain Pope, back serving with the Army in Northern Irleand, tells the Belfast Telegraph today about the reality of Mugabe's Zimbabwe: a place where brutality has outstripped any notions of proper democratic conduct.

It's been almost five years since Captain Pope credits a handgun and a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with allowing him to escape his own home with his life. Since then life in Zimbabwe has got worse.

Today is Zimbabwe's Independence Day. It should be a day of celebration. Instead, it is a day when the crisis engulfing the country is reaching its peak. The long period of secrecy surrounding the results of the March 29 election has convinced the world that Mugabe is desperately seeking ways to cling to the power he has held now for 28 years.

For most of us, Zimbabwe is a far away country of which we know little. But the erosion of democracy anywhere should be a matter of grave concern to democrats anywhere. Zimbabwe could be, as Captain Pope describes it, the " jewel of Africa". Instead it is a society rapidly decaying into chaos. Inflation at its most recent register was at 165,000%. Unemployment is over 80%. Food is becoming scarce. Mr Mugabe has sought to spray blame for the country's crisis on a variety of scapegoats, including the UK, but it must be laid at the 84-year-old's door.

His regime's refusal to release the results of the election and his paranoia about the international media are sure signs that the people of the country agreed when they went to the ballot box.

The white minority goverment that preceded Mugabe and the era of colonialism left obvious inequalities in the country. But where their neighbours in South Africa have made a relatively peaceful and stable transition in a much shorter time frame, the same cannot be said of Zimbabwe. The policy of forcing white farmers, like Kevin Pope, off their land, in the name of redistribution of wealth, has been disastrous and can be directly traced to the food shortages. The world can't shrug its shoulders at Zimbabwe's plight any longer. There are encouraging signs that the UN is galvanising and — crucially — South African President Thabo Mbeke, a longtime defender of Mugabe, has been bounced into criticism by his own party, the ANC.

But finger-wagging at Mr Mugabe will not be enough. Economic sanctions are a blunt instrument, especially as they often hurt the most impoverished. But South Africans argue that they helped end apartheid, and there is a case for stepping up the existing sanctions. They can hardly do more harm than Mugabe has done to his own people.