(Johannesburg, April 29, 2008) – The Zimbabwean army is responsible for a
new wave of rights violations throughout Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch said
today. Military forces are providing arms and trucks to so-called ‘war
veterans’ who have been implicated in numerous acts of torture and other
violence against opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) members and
supporters.
‘The army and its allies – ‘war-veterans’ and supporters of the ruling party
ZANU-PF – are intensifying their brutal grip on wide swathes of rural
Zimbabwe to ensure that a possible second round of presidential elections
goes their way,’ said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights
Watch. ‘The African Union and UN Security Council should take immediate
steps to help prevent a further escalation in violence.’
Human Rights Watch called on the African Union and the UN Security Council
to intervene in the crisis to protect Zimbabweans at increasing risk of
violence. They should publicly and privately press the government to stop
the violence, take action against those responsible, and take steps to
ensure that the police and army remain impartial and act to protect all
Zimbabweans. They should also urge the government to permit international
human rights monitors and the media unfettered access to the country.
In the aftermath of general elections that took place on March 29, 2008,
Human Rights Watch has documented serious abuses in the worst-affected areas
of Zimbabwe – the capital Harare, and the provinces of Mashonaland East,
West, and Central, Manicaland, and Masvingo. Members and supporters of the
Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), the army, police,
and ‘war veterans’ have organized and carried out a brutal campaign of
torture and intimidation against anyone perceived as supporting the MDC.
According to scores of victims and eyewitnesses interviewed by Human Rights
Watch, ZANU-PF supporters and ‘war veterans’ are drawing up lists of MDC
activists who are then systematically targeted for abuse. These ZANU-PF
allies are also forcing people to attend meetings to swear allegiance to
ZANU-PF and denounce those remaining MDC supporters.
For example, Human Rights Watch investigations in Manicaland province
indicate that ZANU-PF supporters are collaborating with the army in
unleashing a campaign of terror and violence against MDC members and
supporters. Eyewitnesses told Human Rights Watch that ‘war veterans’ have
set up camp at an army base called ‘Three Brigade,’ which is the official
military barracks in Manicaland. Sources told Human Right Watch that the
army had given the ‘war veterans’ guns and army trucks to carry out raids on
the homes of known MDC supporters and members. Military officers are also
directly involved in these raids.
On April 23, in Manicaland, a group of ‘war veterans’ and ZANU-PF supporters
fired at a group of 22 MDC activists who had enquired about the whereabouts
of 12 MDC supporters. Earlier the ‘war veterans’ had abducted the 12 MDC
supporters and taken them to Chiwetu Rest Camp – an informal torture center
set up by the ‘war veterans’ and ZANU-PF youth in Makoni West, Manicaland
province. When the MDC activists arrived at the camp they found up to 50
‘war veterans’ and ZANU-PF supporters – 12 of whom were armed. The ‘war
veterans’ ordered the activists to sit on the ground and then fired shots
into the air. As the MDC activists tried to flee, the war veterans fired
another round of shots, this time at the group, hitting three of them. One
activist, Tabeth Marume, was shot in the stomach and died of her wounds on
the way to the hospital. Two other activists were also injured during the
incident.
One of the victims of the shooting told Human Rights Watch that the man who
fired the shot that killed Tabeth Marume was a known ‘war veteran.’ When the
victims informed the local police about the incident, the police refused to
take action, claiming that such an incident could not have happened since
they had no knowledge of any civilians in the area who were allowed to keep
firearms.
The current whereabouts of the 12 abducted MDC supporters are not known. The
activists who went to the camp told Human Rights Watch that they saw their
colleagues at the camp with their hands tied behind their backs, lying on
their stomachs. They said the 12 activists were badly bruised and injured.
The activists also reported to Human Rights Watch that they later saw the
‘war veterans’ bundle their colleagues into pickup trucks and drive off.
The lack of arrests and investigations into this and other incidents of
organized political violence carried out by ZANU-PF and its allies contrasts
starkly with the arrest of 215 people last Friday accused of committing
reprisal attacks against ZANU-PF, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights
Watch expressed concern that those arrests were politically motivated
(http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/25/zimbab18653.htm).
‘With increasing incidents of politically motivated, state-sponsored
violence in Zimbabwe it is essential the African Union and the UN Security
Council work together to press for the protection of civilians,’ said
Gagnon. ‘Getting international human rights monitors and the media on the
ground provides Zimbabweans some protection in the face of the escalating
crackdown by the army and police.’
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