Diplomatic sources said NGO leaders met Southern African Development
Community (SADC) observer mission head Jose Marcos Barrica on Tuesday this
week and presented him with chilling evidence of post-election violence,
including pictures of opposition supporters with broken limbs.
According to sources, the director of SADC’s Organ on Politics,
Defence and Security, Tanki Mothaey, also attended the meeting.
“The civic leaders told the SADC team of the deteriorating political
climate in the country since the disputed polls, specifically chronicling
the alleged deaths, beatings, rapes, maiming and torture of defenseless
citizens by soldiers, police and state security agents,” said sources.
Barrica and Mothaey were not immediately available for comment on the
matter but our sources said the two officials promised to convey the NGO’s
dossier to relevant authorities in the region.
Spokesman of Zimbabwe’s National Association of NGOs Fambai Ngirande
would not be drawn to discuss details of the meeting with the regional
officials although he revealed that civic leaders asked SADC to intervene
and help disarm war veterans and government militia who are brutalising
opposition supporters.
“We told them that SADC will have to stem up its efforts deal to the
critical security situation. SADC should help to disarm and disband so
called war veterans and youth militia,” said Ngirandi.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was not immediately available for
comment on the matter. But Chinamasa this week dismissed rejected charges by
human rights groups and the MDC that ZANU PF militants were victimising
opposition supporters.
Zimbabwe, facing its worst recession and food shortages, was plunged
deeper into political crisis after electoral authorities withheld results of
a March 29 presidential election that President Robert Mugabe is believed to
have lost to opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party leader
Morgan Tsvangirai.
The MDC says 10 of its supporters have been killed while at least 3
000 others have been displaced from their homes in what the opposition says
is a war being waged by government security agents against the people in a
bid to cow them to back Mugabe in an anticipated second round run-off
against Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai this week asked UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon for
intervention by the world body to stop the violence and murder while
Zimbabwe’s senior church leaders warned that the rising post-election
violence could reach genocidal proportions.
The leaders of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe
Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches – the
three main representative bodies for Christians in Zimbabwe – urged African
leaders and the UN to intervene to stop the country from sliding into
another Rwanda or Burundi. – ZimOnline.
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