The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum told the ongoing 44th session of
the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) that it had
recorded 653 cases of torture in the country between April and June alone,
adding that many opposition supporters were left maimed or dead after being
tortured.
The Forum said: "Torture has been used systematically in Zimbabwe by
ZANU PF youth militia, war veterans and state agencies in order to thwart
growing opposition against the government and the ZANU PF party."
Zimbabwe witnessed some of the worst political violence and torture
after a March parliamentary election won by the opposition MDC while the
opposition party’s leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a parallel
presidential poll but with fewer votes to avoid a second run-off ballot.
In a bid to ensure Mugabe regained the upper hand in the second round
vote, ZANU PF militia and war veterans unleashed violence and terror across
the country, especially in rural areas many of which virtually became no-go
areas for the opposition.
The Forum said: "Most rural constituencies became no-go areas as ZANU
PF youth militias and war veterans set up torture bases at schools, shopping
centres and other public places.
"There were reports of collusion by state security agents such as the
police, army and central intelligence officers with alleged ZANU PF
supporters in setting up these terror bases."
Tsvangirai later withdrew from the June 27 run-off election because of
violence against his supporters, leaving Mugabe to win uncontested in a
ballot that African observers denounced as a shame and Western governments
refused to recognise.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and his Home Affairs counterpart
Kembo Mohadi were not immediately available to respond to charges raised by
the Forum.
But Harare has in the past rejected such criticism by the Forum and
other non-governmental organisations that it accuses of seeking to use false
claims of human rights abuses by state agents as part of a wider Western-led
plot to tarnish and vilify Mugabe’s government.
The Forum called on the ACHPR to "actively engage the government for
the eradication of torture in Zimbabwe as well as to urge the government of
Zimbabwe to ratify and domesticate the Convention Against Torture."
The MDC, which together with its breakaway faction led by Arthur
Mutambara dominates Parliament, has asked the House to set up a joint
committee to probe political violence after the March poll and for
perpetrators to be brought to justice.
The House is expected to debate the matter when it resumes sitting
next month. – ZimOnline
Post published in: News