The Zimbabwe Situation

Opposition Leader Withdraws as Pre-Vote Violence Escalates

By DANA HUGHES
NAIROBI, Kenya, June 23, 2008

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has sought refuge in the Dutch Embassy in the capital Harare, after announcing Sunday he is withdrawing from the country's presidential election runoff because of what he has called President Robert Mugabe's "campaign of violence," against voters.

Police lead detained supporters of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change onto a bus...

(AP Photo)

The Dutch Foreign Ministry confirmed today Tsvangirai's whereabouts.

Tsvangirai charged that government-sponsored youth militias and bands of self-proclaimed "war veterans" have stepped up attacks on opposition supporters in an attempt to persuade them to "vote correctly" in the elections, scheduled for Friday.

It's estimated that at least 86 people have been killed and 200,000 displaced since the country's first elections in March when Tsvagirai's Movement for Democratic Change party narrowly defeated Mugabe, triggering the runoff. In the weeks since, the violence has continued to grow bloodier, with Mugabe declaring that the bullet is mightier than the pen and that he will declare war before handing over power.

Tsvangirai's decision to step down is receiving a mixed reaction in Zimbabwe. Most civil society groups have called it smart, saying it will spare lives and put pressure on the international community to intervene and stop the current bloodshed. But thousands of Zimbabweans who have already experienced the violence are wondering what recourse they have if they no longer have anyone to vote for.

The following is one family's story as told to a researcher from Harvard Law School who's conducting interviews with victims of Zimbabwe's violence. For his safety, we have changed all names in this account.

Until recently, the perpetrators of violence have operated primarily in rural areas. However, in June, violence entered the cities. Two low-income suburbs of Harare, Epworth and Mbare, have been particularly hard hit. Suspected MDC supporters living in those areas have been threatened, beaten and violently driven from their homes. Many have been killed.

Two weeks ago, I was collecting information on the outbreak of violence in Harare when Malvin, a 37-year-old father of three from Epworth, entered the office where I was working. He was accompanied by his brother-in-law Fanuel. The previous night the two men had seen their homes burned and Malvin's wife, children and sister abducted. Malvin explained what happened:

"I was asleep in my house at midnight. About 10 men in a white twin-cab pickup truck came to the house. They had metal rods, catapults and hammers. They banged on the door of my house. I was able to break a window in the back and jump out. Fanuel also managed to escape."

The two men ran and hid in bushes behind the house. Malvin did not recognize the attackers, whom he perceived to be members of a youth militia loyal to Zanu-PF, Zimbabwe's ruling party. He was sure that they had been shipped in from another district. "In Epworth, the Zanu-PF people don't have vehicles," he said.

The attackers moved next door where Malvin's wife and sister, a widow, were sleeping with their children. The men watched as the youths dragged the women and children from their home and placed them in the back of the pickup truck. The women were pinned to the bed of the truck and beaten as their children clung to them.

Soon the attackers were joined by a large group of youths singing "Hondo-Hondo" ("War-War") and other Zanu-PF regime songs. As the truck drove off with the women and children, the mob, now numbering more than 100, began to loot and burn the houses.

"They used petrol bombs and hammers to destroy the homes," Malvin explained. "They spent four hours trying to destroy everything. They made sure that it was all burned to ashes. Now we only have the clothes we are wearing."

After the attackers left, Malvin and Fanuel reported the incident to the police. They were told, "We cannot give you help because this is a political issue. If we arrest a Zanu-PF person, we will lose our jobs. Go get your friends and revenge yourself if you can manage to do it."

Malvin believes that he was targeted because he is a local officer of the National Constitutional Assembly, a civil society organization that has been pushing for democratic reform since 1997. NCA activists are assumed to support the opposition and have frequently been the targets of attacks by security forces and government-sponsored militias.

As Malvin headed back to Epworth to look for his family, I asked him if he was still going to vote in the upcoming election. Although tears had been in his eyes during the entire hour that I spoke with him, he grinned and said, "Yes, for sure."

Two days later, I met up with Malvin. He had found his missing family members. His children were now staying with a relative in a town 15 miles outside Harare. His wife and sister were in a local hospital, recovering from 20 hours of brutal captivity at the hands of the Zanu-PF supporters. I went with Malvin to visit the women.

The hospital was clean by Zimbabwean standards, and appeared to be well staffed. Even so, as I entered the room, I noticed that both women's sheets were stained with blood.

The hand of Malvin's wife, Sekai, was bandaged, with a splint on the middle finger. She was wearing a beanie that almost covered a cut above her right eye. Malvin's sister, Moleen, had a visibly bruised and swollen face.

Moleen described their abduction: "They pushed our heads against the bed of the truck with their hands. They put their feet on our backs and stepped on us. They pushed our kids to our sides and held them there. They beat us with an iron bar in the back of the truck. This continued until we reached their base."

The "base" that Moleen described was the home of the Zanu-PF district chairman, a man they both knew. His home was serving as a hub for the attacks that were going on throughout Epworth. They recognized many local Zanu-PF supporters at the home. "Some were our neighbors," Moleen said. The women provided me with the names of the attackers they knew, including a few local Zanu-PF officials.

Moleen, Sekai and their children were placed in a thatched room with other women who had been rounded up by the militias. They were beaten continually through the night and the following day.

Moleen explained that the violence was unrelenting. "They told us to lay facedown. They started beating us with irons and with their feet. They were beating us everywhere: face, back, legs, buttocks. They would beat us until they started to sweat and then they would go outside and call another to take over beating us. They took cold water and poured it on us. Then they started beating us again. They never stopped the whole night or the next day."

The children sat against the walls of the room while their mothers were beaten. They were spared from the attacks except when they grew afraid and clung to their mothers. In those instances both mother and child would be struck until the child withdrew.

While the women were assaulted, their attackers threatened further violence and death. "MDC will never rule this country; we want war," they yelled. "You supported MDC, so we want to beat you until you die."

The women claim that during the night the police visited the house where they were being held, saw their condition, and departed silently.

At 5 p.m. the following day, the women and children were released without explanation. Not knowing where to go, they walked to the home of the NCA chairperson for the area, who took them in and alerted Malvin to their whereabouts.

Both women told me that they were suffering injuries to bones and internal organs. Moleen had lost vision in her left eye and could not hear out of her left ear. They allowed me to photograph their scratched and swollen faces and pulled back the sheets of their beds to show me deep bruises and cuts across their hips and buttocks.

As I left the hospital I asked a nurse about the possibility of seeing other patients in the hospital. She blocked my access, saying that I had to consult with the head doctor in the city center first. But when I asked if there were many other victims of political violence in the facility, she leaned close and whispered, "The place is full of them."

In the past week, I have been in touch with Malvin almost daily, trying to keep tabs on his family's condition.

A few days after I spoke with her, Sekai was transferred to a new hospital. Malvin told me that state intelligence agents had been looking for her and she was no longer safe at her previous location. She remains in this hospital, which Malvin says is safe, despite the continued efforts of Zanu-PF supporters to find her.

Malvin's children remained with his cousin for a few days despite the cousin's protests that he had no way of providing for them. The children had only the clothes they were wearing the night of the attack and no blankets to warm them as they slept on the floor at night. Four days ago, the cousin notified Malvin that pro-Zanu-PF militias were mobilizing in his neighborhood and sent the children to Harare.

Malvin and his three children now live with more than 2,000 other displaced individuals in Harvest House, the MDC headquarters in downtown Harare. Like most of the opposition supporters seeking refuge in this office building, they remain indoors, fearing that ruling party thugs might be waiting for them on the streets. They are provided with one meal each day and no assurance that their stay will not be interrupted by a police raid or arrests.

Malvin has been warned that it is not safe to return to Epworth, where the militias are still hunting for him. Moreover, he has nothing to return to, with neighbors informing him that his land is now being used as a second base for militia operations in the area.

Today, Malvin has no savings and no income. Everything he possessed, including a few wads of Zimbabwe's worthless paper currency, was looted or burned by his attackers. His livelihood as a firewood vendor was destroyed as well, when his stock went up in flames with his house.

Malvin, like thousands of other Zimbabweans, is now wondering how to piece his life together in an environment of social turmoil and political uncertainty. Speaking to me in front of his wife and sister at the hospital, Malvin said, "Even if they are discharged, we have nowhere to go. Especially my sister. She has no husband. I am still standing, but what kind of husband am I? I cannot even provide food and clothing for my family. We have nothing."

Deborah Summers, politics editor
guardian.co.uk,
Monday June 23, 2008

Zimbabwe election posters of Robert Mugabe covered in opposition slogans. Photograph: EPA

Gordon Brown said today that his thoughts were with the people of Zimbabwe facing an "unprecedented level of violence and intimidation" as he pledged to help with the reconstruction of the country once democracy had been restored.

In a Commons statement, the prime minister urged the African Union to withhold its recognition of Robert Mugabe's government, insisting the current regime "should not be recognised by anyone".

"The African Union commission has called for violence to end. The current government – with no parliamentary majority, having lost the first round of the presidential elections and holding power only because of violence and intimidation – is a regime that should not be recognised by anyone," Brown said.

Insisting that the status quo could not continue, the prime minister told MPs: "In recent weeks under Robert Mugabe's increasingly desperate and criminal regime, Zimbabwe has seen at least 84 killings, 2,700 beatings, the displacement of 34,000 people and the arrest and detention of opposition leaders including Tendai Biti and Morgan Tsvangirai."

Brown said that he had been speaking to African leaders today about the deteriorating political and humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, and that the EU council was still seeking to impose travel and financial sanctions on those in the inner circle of Mugabe's regime.

He called on the international community to send a powerful and united message: "That it would not recognise the fraudulent election rigging and the violence and intimidation of a criminal and discredited cabal."

The prime minister said that Britain was ready to offer help with the reconstruction of Zimbabwe once democracy there had been restored.

The Tory leader, David Cameron, welcomed Brown's comments on Zimbabwe and urged him to ensure that the introduction of sanctions "really happens this time".

He also called for a UN commission of enquiry into abuses of human rights.

"Will you set out a detailed rescue package for the post-Mugabe era, to make it absolutely clear that when Mugabe goes we will do all we can to breathe new life into that country and into those people who have suffered so much."

He said that the government ought to also make clear that it was prepared to withdraw international recognition from the Mugabe regime.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, said he hoped the international community would look at "all options available" to put an end to Mugabe's regime.

This should include the option of restricting the electricity supply from South Africa and Mozambique, he said.

But the prime minister could be doing more from Britain, such as allowing Zimbabwe's asylum seekers to live and work temporarily in the UK, he added.

Brown said each asylum case was dealt with on an individual basis.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the Tory former foreign secretary, who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, said Mugabe's government should be threatened with suspension from the African Union and the South African Development Community if it did not embark immediately on the necessary reforms.

Brown replied: "You are absolutely right that African leaders must be vocal in their condemnation of what is happening …

"I agree that none of the African states should recognise the legitimacy of the Mugabe regime and should certainly not recognise any elections, if they were to go ahead, that took place at the end of the week."

Later, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, told MPs that this was a "crucial moment" for the people of Zimbabwe.

William Hague, his Tory shadow, described Mugabe's government as a "despotic regime that cares for no one, not even the welfare of it's own people".

He said there should be "no place for the man at any summit table" and he called on the South African Development Community to withhold its recognition of the Mugabe regime.

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Mugabe more isolated

Christian Science Monitor

The opposition's pullout from Friday's vote raises pressure on Zimbabwe's
leader.
By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of the Christian Science Monitor
and a correspondent
from the June 24, 2008 edition

Johannesburg, South Africa; and Harare, Zimbabwe - Opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai's decision Sunday to pull out of Friday's runoff election is
increasing international pressure on President Robert Mugabe to stop the
violence and allow a peaceful transfer of power in Zimbabwe.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, chair of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), said Sunday that it is "scandalous for the SADC to remain
silent on Zimbabwe."

Now all eyes are trained on South African President Thabo Mbeki, who the
SADC has charged with mediating a peaceful solution to the Zimbabwe crisis,
including a possible unity government. "I would hope that the leadership [of
both parties] would still be open to a process which would result in them
coming to some agreement," he said.

Sunday's turn of events may succeed in saving lives - at a time when more
than 80 opposition activists have been killed and thousands displaced by
pro-government militias - but in diplomatic circles it has had the effect of
an ultimatum.

Britain's Africa Minister Mark Malloch Brown said Monday that the United
Nations Security Council, the European Union (EU), and the African Union
(AU) should consider wider sanctions.

And, as news broke that Mr. Tsvangirai is holing up in the Dutch Embassy in
Harare for safety concerns, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said
Monday that Mugabe's government cannot be considered legitimate without a
fair runoff.

Neighboring countries, frustrated with stalled talks under Mr. Mbeki's
tenure may push for fresh efforts, or even for new leadership, in the talks
for a power-sharing agreement, observers say. No new details on the makeup
of a possible unity government have emerged, however.

"There has been a shift in sentiment on the continent, and not all of it is
reported as fully as it should be," says Steven Friedman, a senior analyst
at the Institute for Democracy in Southern Africa in Tshwane, as Pretoria,
South Africa, is now called. Not holding the runoff election "deprives
Mugabe of his legitimacy," Mr. Friedman says, since the previous election of
March 29 had him trailing Tsvangirai 47 percent to 43 percent.

While Mugabe is famously impervious to criticism, especially from the West,
"effective isolation of the clique that runs Zimbabwe at the moment could
create a situation where the mid-level and upper-level members of [Mugabe's
ruling ZANU-PF party] reassess their options," says Friedman.

Until recently, African leaders have been reluctant to criticize Mugabe.

Mbeki's government - which currently chairs the UN Security Council - has
twice blocked efforts to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis in Security Council
meetings.

But all that may be changing, as it becomes clear that Zimbabwe's politics
affects all its neighboring countries, sending millions of Zimbabwean
refugees into places where they are often not wanted.

"[Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change] took the right decision,"
says Chris Maroleng, an expert on Zimbabwe at the Institute for Strategic
Studies in Tshwane. "This stole the initiative from ZANU-PF."

Having won the first round of the election in March 29, Mr. Maroleng says,
the MDC has enough clout to start talks toward a power-sharing agreement
with ZANU-PF, and by pulling out of the second round, it has also shown that
ZANU-PF's reign of terror undermines its legitimacy.

But in Harare, Tsvangirai's pullout is more controversial. "It is the most
unwise decision that they have ever made," says former minister of
information in Mugabe's administration, Jonathan Moyo. "How can they
withdraw five days before the election and yet people were being beaten and
killed all along?"

Mr. Moyo says it was unfortunate that Tsvangirai had made such a decision
when all along he had been saying "no amount of violence or intimidation
would stop the opposition from romping to victory."

Other political analysts view MDC's withdrawal from the race as a tactic to
force Mugabe to stop his militias from committing acts of violence. They say
Tsvangirai could still change his mind and reenter the election on
Wednesday, when the party meets to review the situation.

Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) chairman George Chiweshe said he was not
aware that the MDC had withdrawn from the election. "None of the two
candidates has withdrawn from this election as far as we know. If the MDC is
serious about withdrawing, it should follow the normal procedure of writing
a withdrawal letter to the chief elections officer, which it has not done,"
Mr. Chiweshe told observers and journalists Monday.

The briefing was attended by observers for the SADC, AU, and the Pan-African
Parliament.

Chiweshe, who said there was "no war" in the country, added that he was
confident that the elections would be credible as well as free and fair
despite the violence, which the MDC says has claimed 86 lives of its
supporters.

"This is not a war. We don't have a war in the country. What we have are
political candidates targeting each other at various times. As far as I am
concerned, we will be able to have a credible election. I believe we will
have a free and fair election but the problems of course are there," said
Chiweshe, who was quick to add that "every election anywhere in the world
has its own share of problems."

ZANU-PF's election spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa told state media that MDC
has withdrawn from the runoff because it was afraid of being defeated.

. A reporter in Harare could not be named for security reasons.

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Thabo Mbeki to make final plea to Robert Mugabe, as condemnation grows

Times Online
June 23, 2008

Jan Raath, in Harare, and James Bone, in New York
President Mbeki of South Africa is expected to travel to Harare tomorrow to
make one final attempt to push Robert Mugabe into negotiating a settlement
with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, The Times has learned.

Mr Mbeki's decision to travel to Zimbabwe for the second time in a week came
after a day of frantic diplomatic activity in which governments worldwide
condemned Mr Mugabe for a campaign of violence which forced Morgan
Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, to withdraw from this Friday's election
run-off.

Britain appeared to be taking the hardest line with diplomats revealed to be
circulating a draft UN resolution which declared that - in the absence of a
second round of voting - the result of the first round should be made
binding. Mr Tsvangirai defeated Mr Mugabe in that contest, held in late
March, although by an insufficient margin to win without a second ballot.

Mr Mbeki's impending visit comes after the Zimbabwean President rejected a
similar call for national unity last week and reflects the growing pressure
by the West on southern African leaders to take a stand against Mr Mugabe,
84.

The opposition says Mr Mugabe and his armed militia are responsible for the
deaths of more than 80 activists during the election campaign, which Mr
Tsvangirai said left him with no choice but to withdraw. The opposition
leader was tonight under the protection of the Dutch embassy in Harare, as
threats to his safety increased.
As the fallout to yesterday's withdrawal announcement intensified, British
diplomats circulated a draft Security Council statement declaring the
government's "campaign of violence" had made a "free and fair" run-off in
the presidential election impossible. The Security Council is due to meet
tonight.

"Until there is a clearly free and fair second round of the presidential
election, the only legitimate basis for a government of Zimbabwe is the
outcome of the 29 March 2008 election," the draft statement said.

"The Security Council calls on the Zimbabwean authorities to allow African
Union and United Nations envoys to find a peaceful way forward that allows a
legitimate government to be formed that reflects the will of the people."

The British proposal faces serious opposition from South Africa and
potentially other countries on the 15-nation council, such as Russia and
China, that oppose UN intervention in member states.

South Africa moved quickly to signal its opposition to key parts of the
British proposal, suggesting the draft favoured Zimbabwe's opposition
Movement for Democratic Change.

Dumisani Kumalo, South Africa's UN ambassador, said his country would back a
Security Council statement as long as it "edges the process forward".

"It should take into account that we are in a very sensitive stage," he
said. "There are talks that are happening between the parties through the
mediator in Harare, through South Africa. The parties are talking."

The United States backed the British initiative. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US
ambassador, said Washington was seeking a "strong statement that calls to
account and assigns responsibility".

"It's clear that the country is in crisis, a political crisis, a crisis of
legitimacy. Without a run-off election that's fair, that people can have
confidence in, the government cannot be legitimate," he said.

Security Council ambassadors were due to discuss the growing crisis at their
monthly meeting with Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, as experts from
each mission met separately to try to agree the text of the proposed
statement. The meeting was due to start tonight and Mr Ban was expected to
make a statement later.

Gordon Brown led international condemnation of Mr Mugabe's regime today,
calling on the international community to refuse to recognise the run-off
result if the Zimbabwean president decides to go ahead with a vote without
an opposition.

In a House of Commons statement he said Britain would now be pressing for
fresh sanctions against Mr Mugabe's inner circle - including travel bans and
the freezing of financial assets held abroad.
"The regime has made it impossible to hold free and fair elections in
Zimbabwe. State-sponsored terror and intimidation has put the opposition in
an untenable position," Mr Brown told MPs.

The Prime Minister said that no nation should be prepared to recognise Mr
Mugabe's regime as the legitimate government of Zimbabwe.

"The international community must send a powerful and united message that we
will not recognise the fraudulent election-rigging and the violence and
intimidation of a criminal and discredited cabal," he said.

Later, in a separate statement to MPs, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said
the campaign of violence by supporters of Mr Mugabe had set the stage for
the "most rigged election in African history".

Hours after his withdrawal decision, meanwhile, it was confirmed Mr
Tsvangirai had taken refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare.

"He is temporarily at the embassy of the Netherlands in Harare," said Bart
Rijs, a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman. "A request was made yesterday by
his party, the MDC, and Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen decided that
if he sought safety it would be granted."

The campaign of violence and intimidation against the MDC today appeared to
be continuing unabated, as police raided the party's Harare HQ and took away
about 60 people. Most were said to be women and children sheltering from the
state-sponsored violence around the election.

Meanwhile Patrick Chinamasa, the Zimbabwean justice minister, claimed that
Friday's presidential voting would go ahead, as MDC leader Mr Tsvangirai was
"too late" in deciding to withdraw.

Comments

Negotiations may be going on in Harare but these must not be used by the
South African Government as an excuse to refuse to condemn the state
sponsored violence that is continuing in Zimbabwe. Does SA really think that
this is the way an election should be run. If so there is no hope left for
us.

Jeff Fenwick, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Odd, the only Zims responding are not in Zimbabwe!. Maybe they are too busy
trying to find a few trillion to buy some Mealie Meal. Having been to the
land, Zim people are great, but zanu-pf is the devil run amok. The
international community will do nothing, you are as doom as the Czechs in
'39.

Carl, Lexington, USA

I am anti-imperialist. Mugabe is (this is hard to say) Ian Smith
resurrected. What a travesty. What sacrifices to put this Oligarch in
power-for what?
Joe Morrissey, California, usa

Joe Morrissey, Sacramento, USA

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Tsvangirai's campaign that wasn't

IOL

June 23 2008 at 07:50PM

by Fanuel Jongwe

Harare - She shouted to Morgan Tsvangirai as his convoy drove past,
but the opposition leader could never stop for long - the authorities
prevented him from doing so.

"Please, don't let us down," the woman yelled as she ran alongside
other residents in the poor township of Mufakose. "We are suffering."

Before Tsvangirai announced on Sunday he was pulling out of the
presidential run-off and later took refuge in the Dutch embassy, he faced
severe restrictions on his campaign and was detained five times by police.

He was forced to engage in a kind of speed-rally, where he would exit
his car for two or three minutes and shake a few hands, then take off again
to avoid breaking laws on holding public meetings without police
authorisation.

On a recent day in Mufakose, ecstatic youths yelled and whistled as
the opposition leader stopped at a shopping centre, calling him "president"
and "dhara redu" - Shona for "our big man."

Tsvangirai quickly shook hands with supporters and jumped back into
his car, part of a convoy that included two cars and an 80-seater bus with
his picture and the inscription "Morgan is the One."

Police seized the bus at one point, too.

Besides those obstacles, Tsvangirai was vilified in the state media
and labeled a stooge of former colonial power Britain. Police banned a
series of rallies, and the party's number two is in jail on treason and
vote-rigging charges and faces the death penalty.

When announcing his withdrawal at his Harare home on Sunday,
Tsvangirai said, "the regime has crippled" his campaign.

Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the March first round of the election but
officially failed to garner enough votes to be declared outright winner.

He had said he would participate in the run-off only under protest
since he claimed he crossed the 50 percent threshold in March.

But on Sunday he said he could no longer stay in the presidential
election because he could not ask supporters to cast ballots "when that vote
would cost them their lives."

After the announcement of the first round results, the opposition says
authorities unleashed a campaign of violence, initially in rural areas with
suspected ruling party militias attacking opposition supporters.

Tsvangirai says more than 80 members of his party have been killed and
200 000 people have been internally displaced.

Given the restrictions on rallies, he used other platforms such as
press conferences, a self-styled state-of-the-nation address at a hotel and
even graveside oratories at funerals of party activists to address his
supporters.

His party distributed campaign advertisements by email.

When he took to the road to campaign, Tsvangirai and other senior
party officials were stopped at several roadblocks.

He faced obstacles right up until the end. On Sunday, before
Tsvangirai made his announcement to quit, hordes of ruling party youths
armed with sticks gathered at the venue of a rally planned by the MDC on the
outskirts of the capital. - Sapa-AFP

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Voices out of the violence

HARARE, 23 June 2008 (IRIN) - Yvonne Chipowera endured 16 hours of beatings,
rape and being urinated on, all because of her support for Zimbabwe's
opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

She said about 30 militiamen loyal to President Robert Mugabe and his
ZANU-PF party broke into her house on 9 June in Epworth, a sprawling
township on the edge of the capital, Harare. They began marching the
24-year-old MDC activist to a house allegedly owned by a local ZANU-PF
leader, beating her all the way.

"Three men pushed me around as we were walking. They took me off the road
and blindfolded me. One man held my arms, another pinned down my legs and a
third raped me," she told IRIN.

When they had finished, they continued walking to the house, which is used
as a base by ZANU-PF militia, according to local residents. Chipowera was
forced into a room with a clutch of other prisoners; still more were
imprisoned in a hole in the ground in the garden, she said.

Since the MDC won the 29 March parliamentary election, and party leader
Morgan Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the first round presidential poll,
Epworth - and other urban suburbs - have become no-go zones for the
opposition, mirroring the terror documented by human rights groups in the
countryside.

According to the MDC, ZANU-PF militia, armed with sling-shots and knives,
hunt those perceived to be opponents, forcing hundreds to flee their homes
to avoid capture. The unlucky are taken to one of the several "reorientation
centres" in the township.

"They threw cold water on me and men were urinating on my head. They made me
say Tsvangirai is an ***hole, a dog, all dirty names. I said it of course,
because they were beating me," Chipowera recounted.

"They raped me again, and then put me back in the room; they used a whip,
which cut me across the back, buttocks and legs. All night they punched,
kicked and slapped me."

Chipowera was released at 5.00 a.m. on 10 June. She was able to find her
young son, who had spent the night outside their home in the winter cold.

"I hope God will take them away and kill them all," she said, holding her
boy. "Now I might have HIV/AIDS those men were so dirty."

Orchestrated violence

She accuses ZANU-PF leaders in Epworth of orchestrating the violence. While
she was being tortured, she recognised a former government minister who was
in the house, but the militia group was led by a female local councillor,
she said.

The same local councillor was named by another Epworth woman IRIN
interviewed last week while she was recovered from her injuries. The
38-year-old MDC official, who asked not to be identified, was snatched on
the same day as Chipowera. She managed to get away with just a beating from
the militia the first time, who also looted her home.

Two months pregnant, she decided to get out of Epworth, fleeing with another
female MDC activist. But she was wearing a Tsvangirai t-shirt and was
stopped.

"There were more than 50 of them. They took us to the graveyard on Aerodrome
Road [in Harare]. They put a black cloth over my eyes and they raped me.
Then they urinated all over my face and put their penis in my mouth. There
was semen over my face," she said.

"I was trying to fight them off but they were using a hot wire they put in
the fire to burn me. They raped the other woman too. She was raped by three
guys and bleeding. They were kicking us; they were saying, 'You want
Tsvangirai to be president. You want to sell our country to the whites'."

IRIN is unable to verify the accounts of the two women, but they are
consistent with the reports of extreme violence meted out by soldiers,
police and militants of the ruling party. There have also been accounts of
MDC violence against ZANU-PF supporters and so-called "war veterans", but on
a far lower scale.

According to the MDC, 86 of its supporters have been killed since the
general elections on 29 March. Party spokesman Nelson Chamisa told IRIN that
"state sponsored violence" had displaced over 200,000 people, with over
20,000 homes destroyed and more than 10,000 people injured.

[ENDS]
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

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Crackdown hits new intensity

HARARE, 23 June 2008 (IRIN) - Despite furious international criticism of
political conditions in Zimbabwe ahead of this week's presidential poll,
riot police on Monday picked up around 60 people - mostly women and
children - sheltering at the headquarters of the opposition party in the
capital, Harare.

"The women and children were victims of political violence, who had fled
their homes in rural areas and were at our head office seeking either legal
or medical attention," said Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Meanwhile Zimbabwean civil society has backed an MDC decision to pull out of
the presidential run-off on 27 June, saying it would save lives. According
to the MDC, more than 86 of its supporters have been killed by ruling party
militia since the first round elections in March.

While announcing his decision to withdraw from the poll, MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai told a press briefing in Harare on Sunday that he was willing to
negotiate on a government of national unity, if it is seriously proposed.

Tsvangirai has since sought refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare, but has
not applied for asylum.

Levy Mwanawasa, Zambian president and the chair of the South African
Development Community (SADC) on Sunday also called for the postponement of
the presidential run-off on the grounds that conditions did not exist for a
free and fair ballot.

Tsvangirai's press briefing came hours after the MDC were prevented from
holding a public rally in Harare on Sunday by the police and militants of
the ruling ZANU-PF. The MDC's decision to pullout has been interpreted by
some analysts as an attempt to persuade SADC, the African Union or the
United Nations to intervene decisively in the crisis.

Embarrassment

"I really hope that most leaders will agree with me that the situation in
Zimbabwe does not allow for free and fair elections, and if allowed to go
ahead, the outcome of such an election will be an embarrassment to the
region and the continent as a whole," Mwanawasa told a press briefing in the
Zambian capital, Lusaka, on Sunday.

The African Union (AU) Commission chair Jean Ping, has also reportedly
voiced his concern, and said he had started consultations with AU chairman
Jakaya Kikwete, the president of Tanzania, and with SADC to see what could
be done.

Reuters reported that Angola's foreign ministry said on Monday that SADC
foreign ministers were meeting in Luanda to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis and
might issue a statement later in the day.

Mwanawasa, explaining his decision to call for a poll postponement, said
over the past five days he had tried to contact all SADC leaders: "But
unfortunately I have only managed to speak to not more than four - there are
supposed to be 14. Now I had an option to decide whether to leave smatters
the way they are or exercise my discretion as chairman to do something which
I consider to be right. I have decided to exercise the second option."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday said he backed the SADC chair's
call for an election delay.

Tsvangirai said the beating of MDC supporters on Sunday, in the presence of
foreign election observers, had convinced the party of the futility of
participating in the poll.

Patrick Chinamasa, the minister of justice, told IRIN that the government
did not take Tsvangirai's threat seriously. "The law is very clear, if
Tsvangirai wants to pull out of the presidential race, he should put that in
writing and inform the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

"We are going ahead with our campaign where we will romp home to an emphatic
victory on Friday. Tsvangirai is now afraid of a humiliating defeat, he is
running scared."

Withdraw from parliament

Lovemore Madhuku, chair of the National Constitutional Assembly, an NGO
lobbying for a "people-driven" constitution, said the MDC's decision to pull
out "will save the lives of a lot of people but to complete the whole
process the MDC should also withdraw from parliament because if they attend
parliament they will be endorsing Mugabe's rule".

The MDC won the 29 March parliamentary poll, and Tsvangirai beat incumbent
Robert Mugabe in the presidential election, but fell short of 50 percent of
the vote plus one to secure an outright victory.

Macdonald Lewanika, spokesperson for the pro-democracy Crisis Coalition,
said SADC needed to help create the framework for fair elections.

"Whether Mugabe declares himself winner without an election or goes ahead
with the election without the MDC, he knows fully well that he is not
legitimate, so Zimbabwe's problems will not end," Lewanika said.

[ENDS]
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

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African foreign ministers to discuss Zimbabwe

Gulf News

Agencies
Published: June 23, 2008, 15:14

Luanda: Southern African foreign ministers will convene to discuss the
political crisis in Zimbabawe on Monday, a spokesman for Angola's foreign
ministry said.

"The withdrawal of the main candidate from Zimbabwe's election is new and
SADC (Southern African Development Community) will be discussing this,"
Angolan foreign ministry spokesman Abreu Breganha said.

Breganha said a statement could be issued at the end of a meeting of SADC
ministers in Luanda.

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Zimbabwe's Morgan Tsvangirai takes refuge in Dutch embassy

Police Raid MDC HQ And Arrest Over 60 Victims of Violence

Zimbabwe Police: People Taken From Opposition HQ Over Health

Crisis in Zimbabwe - Statement by Secretary Rice

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Pressure increases on Mugabe but no end in sight

Foreign Office: 'Freeze out the tyrant Mugabe to curb violence in Zimbabwe'

US calls for international action on Zimbabwe violence

Tsvangirai Slammed For Taking Refuge

Election pull-out best decision ever taken by MDC

Tsvangirai ready to negotiate if violence stops

Madhuku Says Tsvangirai is Bound By Law to Participate in Poll

Tsvangirai's withdrawal irrelevant - delay has nullified run-off

Mugabe's Victims: 'They Were Beating Us Everywhere'

Opposition Leader Withdraws as Pre-Vote Violence Escalates

Inside Zimbabwe's Poll of Terror

Brown pledges to help reconstruct Zimbabwe if democracy is restored

Mugabe more isolated

Thabo Mbeki to make final plea to Robert Mugabe, as condemnation grows

Tsvangirai's campaign that wasn't

Voices out of the violence

Crackdown hits new intensity

African foreign ministers to discuss Zimbabwe