'Dramatic escalation of attacks' seen in Zimbabwe as Mbeki arrives

International Herald Tribune

By Celia W. Dugger Published: May 9, 2008

JOHANNESBURG: President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa arrived in Zimbabwe on
Friday for talks with the country's longtime leader, Robert Mugabe, as fresh
evidence emerged that forces sponsored by the government were accelerating
their attacks on the opposition.

With a runoff election looming between Mugabe and the opposition leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai, the question confronting diplomats is not just whether a
free and fair election is possible under the current circumstances, but also
how to stop the increasing violence.

Zimbabwean doctors treating victims of violence and torture released a
report Friday that documented what they called "a dramatic escalation" of
attacks directed and carried out by agents of the government and the ruling
party.

The number of wounded soared to more than 900 since the disputed elections
on March 29, with 22 confirmed deaths, the report said.

"This figure grossly underestimates the number of victims countrywide as the
violence is now on such a scale that it is impossible to properly document
all cases," the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said. So
many victims had come in with broken bones over the previous 24 hours that
hospitals and clinics in Harare were running out of plaster of Paris,
according to the report, which was dated May 8.

On his last visit to Harare four weeks ago, Mbeki, the region's chief
mediator for the situation in Zimbabwe, was sharply criticized and even
mocked at home and abroad for saying that there was no crisis in the
country.

But this week, Mbeki sent a team of retired South African generals to
Zimbabwe to investigate allegations of political violence.

Doctors handling truckloads of victims pouring into Harare from the
countryside said Friday that the generals had been briefed by church and
medical groups and that they had personally interviewed victims in a Harare
hospital.

South African officials are now also speaking out publicly about the
violence, although they are not attributing blame.

"You cannot have the next round taking place in this atmosphere," Kingsley
Mamabolo, a senior South African official who led the southern African
region's observer team for the elections in March, said Wednesday.

"We have seen it, there are people in hospital who said they have been
tortured," Mamabolo told reporters at a briefing in Pretoria, according to
the South African Press Association. Mamabolo also acknowledged that the
violence was taking place on both sides.

Human rights groups and doctors in Harare agree that there is some
retaliatory violence by supporters of the opposition. But they say that the
armed security forces, along with veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation struggle
and youth militias allied with the ruling party, have overwhelmingly
instigated what the doctors' report said was a level of brutality
unprecedented in Zimbabwe's already violent past decade.

Mbeki arrives at a moment when the government is cracking down on its
critics and rivals by arresting and detaining them. On Thursday, the police
arrested the editor of one of the country's few remaining independent
newspapers and two senior leaders of the nation's trade union movement.

The high profile arrests in the capital did not, however, overshadow the
repression being meted out in the countryside.

Gertrude Hambira, general secretary of the General Agriculture and
Plantation Workers' Union, said at a press conference Thursday that Mugabe's
party had driven about 40,000 farm workers and their families from their
homes because they were believed to have voted against him in the first
round.

Since the election handed Mugabe a second place showing to Tsvangirai, the
government has targeted a broadening array of groups in advance of a runoff
vote. Targets have included opposition workers, journalists, civic leaders,
trade unions, teachers and election monitors.

Davison Maruziva, editor of The Standard, was arrested and jailed Thursday
for printing an opinion piece by a prominent opposition politician, Arthur
Mutambara, that accused Mugabe's government of seeking to intimidate its
opponents. Maruziva, who was released on bail Friday, according to Beatrice
Mtetwa, a local human rights lawyer, was charged with publishing false
statements against the state.

The state-run newspaper, The Herald, described the opinion piece as "a
scathing attack on President Mugabe, Government and ZANU-PF." But Iden
Wetherell, group projects editor at the Zimbabwe Independent Media Group,
which owns The Standard, said that the newspaper would not be scared away
from reporting critically on the government.

"The majority of the people in this country voted for a party that supports
a free press," he said. "We have a responsibility to the public to go on
reporting, especially at a time when the state media is doing its best to
keep information from reaching the public."

The police also arrested Lovemore Matombo, president of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions, and Wellingon Chibebe, its secretary general,
according to Japhet Moyo, acting secretary general of the congress. The two
men were charged with inciting others to overthrow the government, Moyo
said.

The trade unions have long been a bulwark of support for the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change and contributed to making Tsvangirai the
leader of the party.

Harrison Nkomo, a human rights lawyer who in recent weeks has represented
journalists charged with violating the country's restrictive press laws, was
arrested Wednesday and was later moved to a hospital because his blood
pressure spiked. He was charged with making a critical comment about Mugabe
to a court officer and undermining the president's authority, a charge he
denied.

He was released on bail Friday, according to Mtetwa, the human rights lawyer
and his legal partner.

On Monday, Howard Burditt, a Reuters photographer who has documented the
violence against opposition supporters by taking pictures of the victims and
their wounds, was detained for having used a satellite phone to transmit the
images.

Reuters said that Burditt, a Zimbabwean national, was released on bail
Thursday.

David Schlesinger, the wire service's editor-in-chief, told Reuters that he
was relieved that Burditt was no longer detained, but disturbed he had been
held so long.

Mutambara, whose opinion piece so outraged Mugabe's government that it
arrested the Standard's editor, was himself waiting for a knock at the door
that would mean the police had come for him, too. "I'm ready for them if
they want me," he said.

Mutambara leads a faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
that recently reunited with Tsvangirai's dominant wing of the party. He said
Thursday that he stood by every word in his article and would work for
Mugabe's defeat "come hell, come sunshine.""It's our country," he said.
"We're not going to run away."

Zimbabwe opposition won't meet with visiting mediator Mbeki

Yahoo News

By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 13 minutes ago

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's opposition declined to meet with visiting
South African President Thabo Mbeki on Friday and said that he should be
replaced as mediator in the country's political crisis.

President Robert Mugabe met Mbeki on Friday on the South African leader's
third visit as mediator on behalf of the Southern African Development
Community.

The two men, wearing flower garlands, laughed as they walked hand-in-hand
from the aircraft on Mbeki's arrival. They did not speak with reporters, but
later posed for photographs in Mugabe's residence, State House, where met
for nearly four hours.

Mbeki departed later Friday

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai did not sit down with Mbeki, whom he
sees as biased toward Mugabe, opposition spokesman George Sibotshiwe said.

Tsvangirai "has no confidence in Mbeki," and has called for him to step
aside and allow Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa to take over mediation,
Sibotshiwe said.

Mwanawasa has been more critical of Mugabe, while Mbeki — believing Mugabe
will not respond to confrontation — has stuck to so-called "quiet diplomacy"
on Zimbabwe.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai have been in a tense political standoff. The
opposition leader insists he won March 29 presidential election outright.

The electoral commission said last week that Tsvangirai had won the most
votes but failed to win the simple majority required for a first-round
victory, and so would have to face Mugabe again in a runoff.

Mugabe has been accused of orchestrating violence against the opposition
since the first round, raising questions about whether a runoff would be
free or fair.

Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for Democratic Change, is expected to make
an announcement Saturday in South Africa on whether it will take part in a
runoff.

No date has been set for the vote, although Mugabe has already begun
campaigning.

Meanwhile, opposition party supporters are increasingly under attack.

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said 22 people had died
and 900 were tortured in postelection violence.

But "violence is now on such a scale that it is impossible to properly
document all cases," the association said in a statement Friday, citing a
"dramatic increase" in violence since the start of May.

In the last 24 hours, Harare hospitals and clinics have treated 30 people
for broken limbs, the association said. Those admitted to hospitals with
injuries included elderly men, breast-feeding women and a 3-year-old boy
struck in the eye by a rock, it said.

"The level of brutality and callousness exhibited by the perpetrators is
unprecedented," the statement said.

The doctors also raised concerns about the intimidation of health workers
and a shortage of medical supplies.

Meanwhile, the deputy director of army public relations, Maj. Alois
Makotore, denied accusations that soldiers had harassed or assaulted people,
the state-owned Herald newspaper reported Friday.

The newspaper also accused opposition supporters of burning the homes of
ruling party supporters. Government and party officials have denied they
were responsible for the violence and instead blamed the opposition.

Carolyn Norris from Human Rights Watch, speaking Friday by telephone from
London, said opposition supporters had occasionally retaliated, but that
violence on the opposition's part was "tiny in proportion to absolute
campaign of violence and intimidation by the ruling party." She said there
was no evidence of the opposition "organizing a revenge campaign."

Zim brutality, torture soars - doctors

IOL

    May 09 2008 at 03:52PM

Harare - Levels of organised violence and torture have escalated
dramatically in the last fortnight in Zimbabwe amid mounting tensions over
the country's disputed elections, a coalition of doctors said on Friday.

"Since the last report on 25 April, our members have reported a
dramatic escalation in incidents of organised violence and torture with the
number of victims documented in the post election period now standing over
900," the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said in a
statement.

"This figure grossly underestimates the number of victims countrywide
as the violence is now on such a scale that it is impossible to properly
document all cases."

The association said that the number of cases appeared to have risen
particularly sharply in the last week, blaming the security services and
hardline supporters of veteran President Robert Mugabe for the attacks.

"In the last 24 hours alone, 30 victims have been treated for limb
fractures in Harare hospitals and clinics and supplies of plaster of Paris
bandages are reported to be exhausted in most health centres," it said.

"The current pattern of organised torture and violence being
perpetrated by state security agents in the rural areas of Zimbabwe is
similar to that documented prior to the 2002 elections" when Mugabe was last
re-elected.

"However, the current violence is dramatically more intensive and
unrestrained. The level of brutality and callousness exhibited by the
perpetrators is unprecedented and the vicious and cowardly attacks by so
called war veterans on women, children and the elderly shames the memory of
all true heroes of the liberation struggle." - Sapa-AFP

-------

I hear the CIO is collecting all x-rays, reports etc from hosipitals - eg
Chigutu and Chinhoyi - to prevent proof of violence- are you keeping record
of such criminality?
Trudy

Morgan Tsvangirai 'may lose leadership if he boycotts run-off'

The Telegraph

By Sebastien Berger In Johannesburg
Last Updated: 4:02PM BST 09/05/2008
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will face demands for his
resignation if he boycotts a presidential election run-off against Robert
Mugabe, the country’s top political analyst has said.

Morgan Tsvangirai and most of the MDC's top executives have been in
self-imposed exile for several weeks

According to official results Mr Tsvangirai beat the octogenarian president
into second place in the first round in March, by 47.9 per cent to 43.2 per
cent, and Eldred Masunungure, professor of political science at the
University of Zimbabwe, said that the second round was a “golden
 opportunity” for the Movement for Democratic Change.

But Mr Tsvangirai is maintaining silence after threatening to boycott the
poll in the face of a campaign of violence by Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party, and
Prof Masunungure said doing so “may open the floodgates for a leadership
change”.

“There would be some big questions that would be posed that he may have
difficulty in answering,” he said. “He would have to justify why he withdrew
after going through so many difficulties and after his supporters had been
subjected to all sorts of brutalities post-March 29.

“They may decide that after all he has been at the helm for nearly 10 years
and it’s high time he steps aside. There are many who are waiting in the
wings and keen to take over.”

He believes the boycott threats are a negotiating ploy and added: “The MDC
are terrible vacillators. They say one thing and do another but at the end
of the day I think Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC will participate. The
sooner they commit themselves the better so they don’t confuse the
electorate.”

Military intelligence officers have told the MDC that contesting the poll
will invite unprecedented violence and terror.

The violence would do two jobs, a senior MDC executive said: “ensure our
supporters will be too terrified to vote if Morgan does agree to go ahead,
or it will be so bad that we ourselves decide he is not going to take part
because the people will suffer too much”.

Zanu-PF agents within the MDC’s national council will also argue for the
boycott, he added. “We have known for a long time we were infiltrated.”

Even though the date for the second round has yet to be set, Zanu-PF has
already begun its electoral campaign, with its spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira
claiming many of its supporters did not bother to vote in the first round
because they assumed Mr Mugabe was safe in office.

“We urge all our members to vote for President Mugabe - a man who has
transformed this country from being a colony to an independent, sovereign
and dynamic state,” he said.

A third of Zimbabweans need food aid and new currency notes in denominations
of 100 million and 250 million Zimbabwe dollars have gone into circulation
this week to try to cope with the world’s highest hyperinflation.

But Mr Tsvangirai and most of the MDC’s top executives have been in
self-imposed exile for several weeks, and Prof Masunungure said his absence
was “self-defeating” and “politically very damaging”.

“Zanu-PF and its leader have always dubbed Tsvangirai a coward, now they
will say to the electorate, 'We told you this guy is wet. He’s not genuine,
he’s not committed to the Zimbabwean people, he’s fled Zimbabwe and sought
security outside the country’,” he said.

“His physical presence to symbolise he is with the people at the moment of
their suffering is politically important. He is damaging his credibility and
the sooner he comes back the better for his prospects. It doesn’t present
him in a good light. I think it was very unwise.

“His absence has created a vacuum, and it is not just him, almost the whole
executive has relocated to neighbouring countries. The structures are being
destroyed while the top leadership is out there.”

Many MDC sympathisers and even some members of the party’s own national
executive felt the same way, Prof Masunungure added. “More active civil
society activists are now beginning to question who Morgan Tsvangirai is and
his leadership qualities.”

Zimbabwe Opposition Leader to Announce Decision on Election Runoff Saturday

VOA

By VOA News
09 May 2008

Zimbabwean presidential challenger Morgan Tsvangirai plans to announce on
Saturday whether he will take part in a runoff election against the
incumbent, Robert Mugabe.

Officials from the Movement for Democratic Change party say Mr. Tsvangirai
will make a "definitive statement" on his intentions at a news conference in
South Africa's capital, Pretoria.

The candidate has said in the past he will not take part in the runoff
unless it is observed by international monitors and run by the regional
Southern African Development Community.

Mr. Tsvangirai says he won an outright victory in Zimbabwe's March 29
presidential election.  The electoral commission says he won the most votes
but fell short of a majority.

If Mr. Tsvangirai does not contest the runoff, Mr. Mugabe will remain
president by default, extending his 28-year rule over Zimbabwe.

Election officials have to announce a date for the projected runoff.  But
the MDC and human rights groups say Mugabe loyalists are trying to
intimidate MDC supporters in anticipation of the vote.  Today, a Zimbabwean
doctors' group said its members have attended to more than 900 cases of
torture and assault since the election.

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights says that figure is
likely a fraction of the real number of victims, as many incidents go
unreported.

It says the vast majority of those seeking treatment say they were hurt by
supporters of President Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party.  ZANU-PF has rejected
allegations that it is responsible for the violence.

Mr. Mugabe held talks Friday with visiting South African President Thabo
Mbeki, who is trying to mediate an end to the election crisis.  It is not
clear whether Mr. Mbeki will meet with anyone from the MDC.  The party has
criticized Mr. Mbeki for refusing to take a tough line on President Mugabe.

Tsvangirai losing momentum?

IOL

    May 09 2008 at 02:04PM

Harare - A week after being declared the winner in the first round of
Zimbabwe's election, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is fast losing
momentum with a series of blunders ahead of a run-off, say analysts.

Tsvangirai's victory over the incumbent Robert Mugabe in the first
round, falling short of an overall majority by barely two percentage points,
was announced last Friday only days after his party won control of
parliament.

But while the twin defeats should have left Mugabe on the ropes,
Tsvangirai appears to have been left equally stunned and his judgement
impaired by an outcome that few would have predicted before polling day.

With his party still to decide whether Tsvangirai will actually
contest the run-off and the man himself dithering over a return to Zimbabwe,
analysts say the Movement for Democratic Change leader is in danger of
snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

Eldred Masungure, a political lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe,
said Tsvangirai's decision to stay away at such a crucial time was
ill-advised.

"Whatever motivated him, be it security or anything it was an unwise
decision," Masunugure said.

"We are now having a shepherd who has abandoned his flock. He is
leaving his sheep to the predators. He has eloped to safety and left his
supporters under all sorts of risk."

Tsvangirai left Zimbabwe a week after the elections and has since been
busy trying to drum up diplomatic pressure to persuade Mugabe to stand down
gracefully after a 28-year rule.

However he has managed in the process to alienate South African
President Thabo Mbeki, the region's chief pointman on the crisis in
Zimbabwe, by calling for him to be stripped of his role as mediator.

He has also failed to persuade any African leader to back up his
assertion that he won an overall majority in the first round.

Neo Simutanyi, a Zambia-based political commentator, said indications
were that the MDC would take part in the presidential run-off "under
protest" but questioned the wisdom of delaying the announcement.

"MDC members are anxious to know the decision so that they can begin
campaigning. The more they delay in making the decision, the more Mugabe
gains momentum on the ground," he said.

"Leaving everyone guessing is lack of political strategy on the part
of MDC," added Simutanyi, a lecturer at University of Zambia.

In a hard-hitting editorial entitled "Morgan, Come Home" the
privately-owned Zimbabwe Independent said Tsvangirai should be more visible
locally.

"The MDC arguably won the March election but it behaves as if it
lost," the weekly said.

"Tsvangirai needs to return home. He is needed here. His supporters
are taking a beating from the thugs who have been unleashed across the
country.

"It is time for him to identify with their suffering and give a lead
to his followers."

According to the MDC, at least 30 of its members have been killed and
thousands of its supporters displaced in the aftermath of the March 29
polls.

Bill Saidi, deputy editor of the privately-owned Standard weekly, said
Tsvangirai's absence raises questions about his ability to lead.

"His continued absence raises very, very difficult questions about his
leadership qualities," Saidi said.

"He owes it to supporters to be present. This is a crucial time to
galvanise his supporters, their morale might be lifted."

Although he has been accused of treason by one of Mugabe's senior
lieutenants, Tsvangirai insists that he is not in exile and recently told
reporters he would return home "when appropriate". - Sapa-AFP

Time for Africa to lean on Mugabe and his cronies

International Herald Tribune

Published: May 9, 2008

There is little doubt that Morgan Tsvangirai was elected president of
Zimbabwe in March. There is no doubt that President Robert Mugabe's henchmen
have used the weeks since to massage the count and terrorize Tsvangirai's
supporters and anyone who dares to criticize the government. Now Zimbabweans
are being told there will have to be a runoff.

Tsvangirai has not yet said whether he will participate, and we understand
why he would hesitate. But the unfortunate reality is that unless he runs
again, Mugabe will automatically get another presidential term. Zimbabwe
cannot afford five more years of incompetence and brutality. On Thursday,
the government arrested two senior trade union leaders and the editor of one
of the country's few independent newspapers.

The international community must step in quickly to insist that this next
election is fair and transparent. Credible monitors from Africa and other
regions must be allowed to supervise the voting and the ballot count. And
they must certify the results. Bitter experience has shown that without that
transparency and pressure, Mugabe will do whatever is needed to stay in
power.

Mugabe is also a master at feeding racial resentments and blaming "the West"
for his own failures. That is why African leaders, particularly South
Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, must take the lead.

Mbeki has refused to accept that responsibility. Thousands of terrorized
Zimbabweans have been pouring across the South African border, and he still
refuses to acknowledge that the chaos in Zimbabwe threatens the stability of
his own country and the region. The only explanation is his misplaced sense
of loyalty to Mugabe, who was once a hero for leading Zimbabwe to
majority-rule. Those days are long past, and Mbeki cannot sacrifice an
entire country for one man.

Mbeki and other African leaders should immediately send envoys to press
Mugabe and his generals into accepting international supervision of the
runoff vote. Mugabe and his cronies must be told that they will instantly
become pariahs - with their foreign bank accounts blocked and their visa
applications denied - if they make any further effort to rig the vote.
Mugabe's supporters are feeling no pressure nor any need to hide their
cynical plans. A top ruling party member recently declared: "We're giving
the people of Zimbabwe another opportunity to mend their ways" adding
chillingly, "This is their last chance." It reminded us of Bertolt Brecht's
1950s quip about the East German Communist regime: "Why doesn't the
government dismiss the people and elect another?"

After years of enabling Mugabe, it is time for South Africa and all of
Zimbabwe's neighbors to enable democracy.

War Vets Continue to Target Homes of Election Observers

SW Radio Africa (London)

9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008

Tererai Karimakwenda

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) report that there is continued
targeting of their accredited observers, in Mashonaland Central and
Mashonaland East.

The attacks were carried out by known ZANU PF supporters and war veterans,
who accuse ZESN of working with the MDC to make sure ZANU-PF was defeated in
the March 29 elections.

The group said there have been arson attacks on the homes of 5 accredited
observers in the past 3 days. Most were at Logan Farm near Shamva. This is
the area where ZANU PF supporters, particularly war vets, had been
threatening to evict resettled farmers and burn down the homes of those who
had observed the election.

A group of war veterans and ZANU PF supporters descended on the home of one
ZESN supervisor and torched her hut in broad daylight, destroying her food
reserves and furniture. Two other observers' homes on the same farm were
attacked in the same way.

ZESN said in all the incidents the perpetrators are known ZANU- PF activists
who have been making such threats since the announcement of election results
in April. In each case there has been extensive damage to property and
destruction of food stocks. ZESN said the police have been informed of the
incidents but they have made no arrests.

In Mutoko and Mudzi North areas, the perpetrators have also been destroying
accreditation cards and other identification documents. They are also
restricting the movement of people in the area and ordering them to report
to their base camps.

State sponsored violence in the Shamva area has been very intense in the
last week. This is the area where we reported that over 100 victims of arson
attacks have been camping at Shamva Police Station for the last few days.

Detentions, Violence And Tensions Escalate In Zimbabwe

VOA

By Peta Thornycroft
Southern Africa
09 May 2008

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights says the number of
people it has treated as a result of post-election torture or political
violence has suddenly escalated. For VOA, Peta Thornycroft reports that
doctors say the figure is only a fraction of the victims who never got to a
hospital for treatment.

Political assassinations, torture, beatings and detentions continue in
Zimbabwe in what some analysts believe is the worst internal conflict since
the 1980s when Robert Mugabe crushed political opponents by sending North
Korean-trained troops to hunt down opposition supporters. Thousands of
people, mainly civilians of the minority Ndebele tribe, were killed.

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said the 900 cases of
torture and assault it has attended to since the March 29 elections are only
a fraction of those injured in many other parts of the country.

Senior South African foreign affairs spokesman Kingsley Mamabolo told
journalists this week that violence has been committed by both the MDC party
which won the parliamentary election and Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF.

The small team of medical personnel who make up the Zimbabwe Association of
Doctors for Human Rights say their records show that the overwhelming number
of people who seek medical treatment say they have been hurt by people loyal
to ZANU-PF.

One injured person said that the health minister, David Parirenyatwa, a
medical doctor, led an armed attack on civilians in his home district Murewa
in north eastern Zimbabwe shortly after the elections.

Since Wednesday, 30 victims of violence have been treated for fractures in
Harare hospitals and clinics, according to the doctors association which
says medical supplies are scarce in most health centers.

One hospital in Harare says it has treated an average of 23 victims a day
over the last week.

Numerous incidents of violence are being reported from remote rural areas
where there is no access to transport. There are also widespread reports of
the injured being denied treatment at health centers where staff have been
intimidated and, in some cases, are acting under specific instructions from
state agents not to treat victims of violence.

In one area called Headlands, about 100 kilometers southeast of Harare,
government doctors are reportedly refusing to provide medical care to
injured people unless they had a letter from the police authorizing
treatment.

The doctors association says their colleagues and nursing staff at rural
hospitals are working under severely stressful conditions. Many health
workers have reported intimidation with some having been specifically
instructed by state agents not to treat members of the Movement for
Democratic Change.

These health workers, who, according to some reports, are treating up to 60
victims of torture and violence a day. Many are emotionally traumatized by
the conditions.

The level of brutality and callousness exhibited by the perpetrators is
unprecedented in Zimbabwe's history, according to the doctors.

The doctors called for an immediate, large scale deployment of teams of
observers ahead of the presidential run off and for all military personnel
to be confirmed to barracks. They also called for the immediate arrest of
the perpetrators of the violence.

Two Zim leaders 'interrogated'

IOL

 

    May 09 2008 at 07:31PM

The president and general secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions are being subjected to "intensive interrogation", police in Harare
confirmed on Friday.

The two were arrested on Thursday on charges of inciting violence and
making inflammatory statements about the government during a May Day rally.

Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe are said to have made "false
statements" about farm workers and others in the rural areas being killed
and harassed by forces supporting the ruling Zanu-PF.

Human rights lawyer Aleck Muchadehama, who represents the two union
leaders, has not had access to them.

He said no court papers had been prepared for a possible court
appearance, and there were fears that the men were being tortured. - Sapa

ZCTU Leaders to Spend Weekend in Custody

SW Radio Africa (London)

9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008

Lance Guma

The President and Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
will spend the weekend in police custody, after the state deliberately
delayed their appearance in court Friday.

Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibhebhe were arrested Thursday over
allegations they incited people to rise against the government during their
May Day speeches at Dzivarasekwa Stadium in Harare.

The two leaders had presented themselves to the police on Thursday and were
interrogated for 6 hours before charges were laid. Their lawyer Alec
Muchadehama said the relevant paper work had not been done to ensure his
clients appeared in court within the stipulated 48 hours. Weekends and
public holidays are never included in that legal window and are often used
by the state to prolong the detention of perceived anti-government
opponents.

Meanwhile Davison Maruziva, the editor of the weekly Zimbabwe Standard, was
released Friday after spending the night in police custody. Police picked
him up from the newspaper's offices and accused him of publishing an
'offensive' article by Arthur Mutambara the leader of one of the MDC
factions. The article entitled, 'A shameful betrayal of national
Independence,' is said to have been 'prejudicial' to the state. Maruziva was
granted Z$10 billion bail.

Hunger drives post-election violence, deepens poverty

Photo:

Food for violence

HARARE , 9 May 2008 (IRIN) - Hunger is giving a brutal edge to the alleged work of militias implementing Operation Mavhoterapapi (Who did you vote for?), a campaign launched by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government in the wake of the ruling party's loss of its parliamentary majority for the first time since independence in 1980.

The post-election crackdown, allegedly orchestrated by police, soldiers and veterans of the liberation war, has led to widespread reports of torture, the razing of houses and killing of livestock, perpetrated mainly against people in rural areas suspected of voting for the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change.

Sergeant Mungofa (not his real name), 44, was previously stationed at the army headquarters in the capital, Harare, but within days of the 29 March poll was sent to rural Matabeleland South Province, where he leads a team of militias.

Mungofa's eight-member team is alleged to have set alight the homes and food stocks of perceived MDC supporters, leaving a trail of destruction that has forced entire families to seek refuge in the bush or to flee to larger towns and cities.

From the orders and briefings that I received from my superior in the province, a lieutenant-colonel, the war is just beginning

"From the orders and briefings that I received from my superior in the province, a lieutenant-colonel, the war is just beginning. MDC supporters have to be flushed out before the run-off presidential election," he told IRIN.

The official tally in the presidential election, only published last week after a delay of more than a month, put MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who garnered 47.9 percent of the vote, ahead of incumbent Robert Mugabe, who took 43.2 percent. A minimum of 50 percent plus one vote was needed to avoid a second round of voting for the presidency.

The youth were particularly easy to seduce, especially in times of want, according to David Chimhini, president of the Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust. It was easy to woo the young militias by promising them material things and giving them "a sense of usefulness".

"ZANU PF is dangling short-term gains to the youths, who fall prey because of the current poverty. Systematic propaganda is being employed, and when they are given guns and military uniforms, that gives them a new image, albeit a bad one," Chimhini told IRIN.

No food for militias

Sergeant Mungofa alleged that his team and others like it had not been supplied with sufficient food rations or money, and this had driven them to looting.

"Maiming people or killing them for supporting the MDC are two evils that we are fully aware of, but because of the hunger that we are suffering, the torment against those villagers is going even further. We are being forced to raid the people for food and other material belongings that we can lay our hands on in order to keep going," he claimed.

Maiming people or killing them for supporting the MDC are two evils that we are fully aware of, but because of the hunger we are suffering, the torment against those villagers is going even further. We are being forced to raid the people for food

Instead of just burning down granaries or torching livestock, he alleged that the militias were now resorting to slaughtering cattle to feed themselves and selling the remains for cash. Any reserves of grain stored by subsistence farmers after the meagre harvest were also taken, he alleged.

"People would be better advised to remove their belongings to secure places because, the way I see it, even wardrobes, blankets and pots will be seized in the coming few weeks," Mungofa said.

The military has denied any involvement in the violence. "The Zimbabwe National Army wishes to raise concerns over articles being published in the print and the electronic media on allegations relating to the alleged political violence, assaults, harassment and robberies perpetrated by men in army uniforms. The army categorically distances itself and any of its members from such activities," army spokesman Alphios Makotore said.

According to an army captain based in the Dema district of Mashonaland East Province, about 70km south of Harare, who chose to remain anonymous, there was division among the ranks, with the lower ranks opposing the violence.
 
He alleged that support for the campaign came from higher up, mainly from veterans of Zimbabwe's independence war, "because they have been given big farms, have the latest cars, enjoy fat salaries and allowances, and know that political change will take all those things away", the captain claimed.

"This is bad. People should not be killed for supporting a political party that is recognised by the law. The unfortunate thing is that, being in a military establishment, you just have to follow orders." He also claimed that in a number of cases, victims were simply labelled as MDC supporters if they owned something a soldier wanted.

According to Thokozani Khupe, deputy president of the opposition, "20 MDC supporters have been killed by ZANU-PF militias, while over 5,000 families have been displaced, with over 1,000 homes burnt or destroyed" and more than 2,000 opposition activists hospitalised across the country.

Seduction of violence

Japhet Moyo, Deputy Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), said it was "shocking that some people are submitting themselves to ZANU-PF to be used as tools of violence", and that in addition to being forced to carry out orders, militias and war veterans had been brainwashed.

"If cabinet ministers can be made to believe that all our evils are authored by Britain, and the MDC is a puppet party of the whites, what more can you expect from the war veterans and militias, who underwent intense indoctrination at youth training centres?" he said.

If cabinet ministers can be made to believe that all our evils are authored by Britain, and the MDC is a puppet party of the whites, what more can you expect from the war veterans and militias, who underwent intense indoctrination at youth training centres

Since 2000, when the government launched a controversial land-reform programme that saw over 4,000 white-owned farm redistributed among landless blacks, the government has run national youth centres throughout the country, purportedly to train young people in patriotism. But the graduates, popularly known as 'Green Bombers', have allegedly instead been used to terrorise opposition supporters.

John (who declined further identification), from Mount Darwin, a town in Mashonaland Central Province, about 300km northeast of Harare, is a Green Bomber.

He said he and around 20 other militias was given brief lessons in weapons-handling at a "re-orientation course" in mid-April, after swearing allegiance to Mugabe and ZANU-PF.

He was subsequently given an army uniform, an AK-47 assault rifle and Z$5billion (US$45). "Since graduating from the training camp, I had not been employed, and which government in the whole world can just give you Z$5 billion, with promises of more. In fact, I had never handled so much money at any one time in my entire life and I managed to buy new clothes for myself," John said.

Among those that John and his team have allegedly targeted are his 76-year-old uncle, cousins and the neighbours he grew up with. He claimed that "Even during the war [of liberation], freedom fighters were made to swear that they could kill even their own parents if they turned out to be sell-outs."

Chief fingered in Post Poll violence

Zimbabwe Metro

By Philip Mangena ⋅ May 9, 2008
A chief from Hwange is among those alleged to be torturing MDC supporters
and instilling terror in the Matebeland. On the 20th of April Chief Nelukoba
of of Mavalebu accompanied by Khameni Tshuma, Mjubheki Ndlovu, Patrick
Mdenda, Smart Ndlovu, and Siphiwe Mafuwa the losing ZANU PF Candidate
viciously assaulted MDC official Alphonce Sibelo at Nechilibi School.

The matter was reported to the police and no arrests were made.

Meanwhile Police on Thursday raided Mufakose Methodist Church which was
providing sanctuary to MDC violence victims.

Over 100 MDC victims of political violence who had sought refuge at the
Methodist Church in Mufakose, Harare have been evicted from the church
following a pre-dawn raid by armed riot police officers.

The victims some of them women with children as young as three months, had
fled from their homes following an up surge in violent attacks that are
being perpetrated by Zanu PF supporters across the country.

Some of the victims were receiving treatment for injuries they attained
following assaults from the Zanu PF supporters.

They had been offered temporary shelter by the Methodist Church after the
church officials had been touched by the plight of the victims.

However, in the early hours of today, the police armed with rifles and baton
sticks descended on the church and evicted them.

Some of the victims were taken to Mbare Bus terminus where they were dropped
and told to go back to their homes while another group which is from
Muzarabani in Mashonaland Central has been ferried there.

The police raid comes at a time when a delegation from the South African
government is visiting Zimbabwe to ascertain the crisis that has been
created by Zanu PF after the party lost the 29 March 2008 elections.

Zim tensions worry monitors

Afrol News, Norway

afrol News, 9 May - Election monitors from the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) are worried by the increasing spate of clashes between
government and opposition supporters in Zimbabwe, ahead of an election
run-off between President Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai of the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Most of the clashes occured in the rural areas, with supporters of both
parties blaming each other for igniting attacks.

"The fact that the two parties [Zanu-PF and opposition MDC] accuse each
other shows that it is widely acknowledged that the violence is perpetrated
from both sides,” said South African Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Kingsley
Mamabolo.

Ambassador Mamabolo said it would be difficult for Zimbabweans to return to
the polls in a tense and divided atmosphere.

For the head of the Pan-African government observation mission, Marwick
Khumalo, it was about time that the world interven in Zimbawe's political
development "before the situation goes out of control."

Under the electoral laws, the electoral commission is mandated to schedule
the date of an election run-off within 21 days after the announcement of the
results. Though a date is yet to be fixed, both the Pan-African Parliament
and United Nations want more international observers to be allowed to
monitor the run-off to ensure the highest degree of transparency.

MDC leader has kept mute over his participation in the run-off. His party
accused the ruling party militias of killing 30 opposition supporters in the
provinces.

A Zimbabwean union leader, Gertrude Hambira, said a total of 40,000 people
had been driven off their land as a result of Zanu-PF orchestrated attacks.

"Since the elections we have recorded a total of 40 000 people who have been
displaced," said the General Secretary of the General Agriculture and
Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe.

"Our members and their families have been left homeless. They have been
attacked by a group of militias wearing army uniforms. They have been
accused of voting for the opposition. Most of them are either on the
roadside or sheltering at some farms," Hambira said.

Several human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch, have
grilled security forces of complicity in attacks on opposition supporters
since 29 March.

However, the army has distanced itself and any of its members from carrying
out reported attacks.

Human Rights Watch's Africa Director, Georgette Gagnon, was not at ease with
the arrest of a prominent human rights lawyer, Harrison Nkomo.

"The arrest of a leading human rights lawyer may signal the government’s
escalation of its crackdown on perceived opponents," said Gagnon.

"It would be unfortunate if Harrison Nkomo became the ‘canary in the coal
mine.’ He should be released immediately."

Arrested near his office in central Harare on Wednesday, Nkomo has been held
in Harare central police station. He faces criminal charges of "insulting or
undermining the authority of the head of state" under the Public Order and
Security Act of 2002.

He had recently defended detained journalists, including a correspondent of
New York Times, Barry Bearak.

Nkomo has been allegedly hunted for telling a staff member at the Attorney
General's Office that President Mugabe should leave office, contrary to the
Public Order and Security Act of 2002, which criminalizes criticism of the
president, whether his person or his office.

"The ruling party’s continuing brutality against the opposition makes a
mockery of the runoff vote. The arrest of a leading human rights lawyer
takes the intimidation one step further," Gagnon said.

By staff writer

Zimbabwe Court Stresses 6-Mo Limit On Parliament Vote Challenge

nasdaq

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP)--The head of the Zimbabwe High Court stressed Friday
that all challenges to parliamentary results from the country's March
elections would be completed within a six-month period.

The ruling party and opposition filed legal challenges with the Electoral
Court to half of the parliamentary results, casting further doubt on the
disputed and violence-ridden electoral process.

President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, which lost its majority for the
first time in the March 29 election, is contesting the outcome in 53 of the
210 constituencies while the opposition Movement for Democratic Change is
disputing 52.

Rita Makarau, judge president of the High Court, told a meeting attended by
judges and lawyers that no delay beyond six months, which is stipulated in
the law, would be allowed for the record number of challenges.

"All electoral petitions must be held within six months. We owe it to
Zimbabwe to complete the cases within six months."

Makarau also warned the lawyers that if they asked for a postponement "it
may not be granted so that we will meet the deadline.

"We are not going to allow postponements that take more than six months."

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai also beat Mugabe in the presidential election
but fell short of an overall majority needed to avoid a second round.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is yet to announce the date for a second
round of the presidential poll which Tsvangirai is threatening to boycott
after insisting he passed the 50-percent threshold in the original ballot.

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires
  05-09-080827ET

Vote for Mugabe or you'll be shot, police officers told ahead of Zimbabwe run-off

Daily Mail, UK

Last updated at 14:56pm on 9th May 2008

Police officers voting in Zimbabwe's presidential run-off have been
threatened with the firing squad if they defy an order to re-elect Robert
Mugabe.

Bulawayo police chiefs have warned junior officers they will be shot unless
they pledge support for the Mugabe regime.

The firing squad threat is allegedly just part of a plan to rig the
election.

Junior officers said senior police in Bulawayo had ordered them to register
for postal ballots whether they were registered with the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) or not.

"They said that we should not worry about not being registered for the
elections because ZEC knew about, and was part of, the grand plan.

"Assistant Commissioner Muzeza said that we should all vote for Mugabe
because the situation has now become a war.

"He also accused us of being sell-outs and said that during the liberation
war, sell-outs were brought before a firing squad and shot," said a junior
police officer who asked not to be named.

The junior officers also revealed their bosses told them the electoral
commission would bring postal ballot papers to all police in the province.

"They said that they would make sure that all of us vote for Mugabe by
opening the papers," said the junior officer.

Police officers have been herded into rallies meant to drum up support for
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

All junior officers were ordered to bring their spouses for registration.

A senior police officer in the city confirmed the order, which he said came
from police headquarters in the capital, Harare.

"We were told to do this and that it has been done in all uniformed forces
around the country.

"There is no way the juniors can escape the detection of their ballots,
whose serial numbers will be written against their names on the nominal
rolls.

"The same thing happened in 2002 and those that voted otherwise were
summoned to a hearing in Harare," said the senior police officer, who asked
not to be named.

Some junior officers have vowed not to toe the line, accusing Mugabe using
them to cling onto power.

"If they want to shoot, let them do so, but they should know that we
outnumber them.

"I would rather spoil my ballot than vote Mugabe," said a Constable based at
a station in Bulawayo.

The planned election run-off follows the official claim that opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe by only 47 per cent to 43 – not
enough votes for outright victory.

Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change insists he won the March 29
vote outright and accuses Mugabe - in power for 28 years - of rigging a
victory.

The stand-off over the election has raised fears of widespread bloodshed.
Many opposition supporters have already been beaten, tortured or killed.

Harare diary: Violence and intimidation

 

09:37 GMT, Friday, 9 May 2008 10:37 UK

Esther (not her real name), 28, a professional living and working in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, is writing a regular diary on the challenges of leading a normal life. Zimbabwe is suffering from an acute economic crisis. The country has the world's highest rate of annual inflation and just one in five has an official job. I have a friend whose brother works as a teacher in an area that is said to be experiencing some of the worst post-election violence. When schools opened about two weeks ago, he decided to stay away from there. After a while he thought it would be safe to return to his school, as he had heard no reports of violence there. He was abducted from his home on Monday night, beaten up and returned to his home. He managed to send text messages to his family, and told them not to come and collect him to seek medical treatment as he was instructed by his assailants not to leave the area "Or else." Because he does not hold a Zanu-PF membership card, it was assumed he was an MDC supporter. And the worst part was that he was given a "certificate" to show he had received his beating. He was told to produce it whenever someone else wanted to beat him as proof that it had already been done. The paper even had a date stamp and the signature of the leader of the group. Another friend of mine had an uncle who recently passed away. He told me he was debating whether or not to go to the countryside for the funeral. A number of farms have been attacked by "war veterans" His parents had told him that "war veterans" in the area had set up road blocks, were stopping and searching all vehicles, and telling people travelling in from Harare to go back where they had come from. There is a good chance that warning would come after a beating they said. In the end, he decided to go and honour his uncle's memory, and face whatever he came across. He has not yet returned, so I do not know how he fared. People are saying this is what the run-up to the presidential election run-off is going to be about - violence and intimidation. The idea is to force supporters of the opposition to stay away from their homes so that on voting day they cannot cast their vote. There is no chance that these people are lying. The reports are too numerous and are coming from too many areas. Life in the city For the urbanites, the struggle is - as always - with ever increasing prices. Public transport fares doubled over one week. Last Friday, a single fare was $50m, today, exactly one week later it is $100m. The list of what we thought were basics that have since become luxuries continues to grow. For example, laundry soap now doubles up as bath soap. You can do without bread, and grow your own sweet potatoes instead. If you cannot grow them, then buy them, they are still a lot cheaper. But this week, I do not feel so much for my people as I do for the Burmese. Cold, wet, hungry and homeless as their leaders think about whether or not to accept foreign aid. The suffering ordinary people have to endure as the world respects sovereignty is beyond belief. Read Esther's last diary

Militias 'part' of police in Zimbabwe vote

Published: May 9, 2008 at 7:04 AM
HARARE, Zimbabwe, May 9 (UPI) -- Militias indicated they plan to intimidate
voters by posing as police officers during a presidential election runoff in
Zimbabwe, police said.

The militiamen wearing police uniforms planned to be inside polling stations
during the runoff between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Movement
for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, a police officer told the
BBC.

The information was revealed Friday as South African President Thabo Mbeki
prepared to travel to Zimbabwe discuss the volatile situation with Mugabe.

The Zimbabwe Election Commission determined Tsvangirai won the presidential
election, but didn't reach the 50-percent threshold to win outright, forcing
a runoff.

"The war veterans will be wearing police uniforms," the police officer told
the British broadcaster. "They will be given ranks and force numbers.
They'll be part and parcel of the police deployed in every ward. So when
people come in to vote they will see war veterans from their area in among
the police, and they will be intimidated."

MDC leaders said its supporters have been targeted by the Mugabe supporters
of Mugabe ahead of the runoff, which the election commission said could be
delayed up to a year instead of the constitutionally required 21 days after
the results are official.

A letter from the diaspora

www.cathybuckle.com

9th May 2008

Dear Friends.
The sixteenth century Venetian philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli may seem an
inappropriate reference when discussing a present day African dicatator but
much of what Machiavelli wrote in The Prince seems entirely applicable to
what Robert Mugabe is doing to fill the dreadful hiatus since he lost the
election. Machiavelli's work is a guide book on what the Prince or Ruler
must do to gain and retain power. Machiavelli advocates the use of force,
though never excessive or prolonged, as a justifiable means to an end and
that end is to stay in power. I have heard that Mugabe is not unfamiliar
with this work; maybe it is bedtime reading for him but whatever the source
of his idealogy, whether it is Marxist political philosophy or simply the
ravings of a half-mad meglomaniac he certainly seems to be following the
Machiavellian dictum that to rule, 'It is better to be both feared and loved
but if you can't be both it is better to be feared'

Having lost the love of his people, Mugabe has gone for the Machiavellian
option: fear; for Mugabe the means justify the end. And the end is to stay
in power at all costs. The violent onslaught on opposition supporters that
we are seeing all over the country is being directed from the highest level
and with the compliance of the Zimbabwe Republic Police who for the most
part do nothing to stop this further descent into barbarous anarchy. The
evidence is now so visible and widespread that even Zanu PF loyalists can no
longer deny it but they can and do attempt to justify it. Speaking this last
week, Didymus Mutasa said that the violence only occurs when the loyal Zanu
party activists are provoked. 'They are being beaten ( the people who voted
the wrong way) because they are provoking people. People don't cease to be
human because of an election. They still get irritated by an act of
provocation and beat they will if they are angry'!
Such one-sided and nonsensical statements have become the norm as government
officials seek to defend the indefensible. Images of tiny children, their
eyes huge with fear, their faces swollen, their mothers beaten, sometimes
raped by men who have surrendered their own humanity in a desperate attempt
to keep one man in power defies all belief. For anyone who lived through the
violence of the Third Chimurenga as Mugabe called the farm invasions when
they began eight years ago, it is all horribly familiar. The same ludicrous
excuses were used then by the ruling party propagandists. The white farmers
in Chinoyi were alleged to have deliberately trashed their own properties
and caused mayhem to bring shame on the country's international image. This
week the government made the claim again; it is the MDC which has carried
out all the political violence in order to tarnish Mugabe's name the
argument goes. With complete disregard for common sense or truth the
propagandists trot out the same tired old nonsense - and no one believes a
word of it.

Bright Matonga is the new 'government spokesman' it seems. Every word he
utters is regarded by naïve and often not very well-informed foreign
journalists as being the official voice of the Zanu PF government. He
certainly makes the right kind of idiotic utterances. The Bright One is
actually only the Deputy Minister of Information so one is justified in
asking: Where is the Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu himself and why is he not
the one doing all the talking to the world's press on behalf of the
government? Dig a little deeper and you will discover that Matongo's rapid
advancement is one consequence of the internal battles going on within the
ruling party. Matongo is Mnangagwa's man and Emmerson Mnangagwa is once
again Mugabe's choice for successor in State House. Ndlovu has been
side-lined; perhaps because he was not a loud enough praise singer for
Mugabe?
The trouble for dictators who surround themselves with praise singers and
parasites is that they can never be sure that such men have the intelligence
to argue the case convincingly before a sceptical world press. After all it
does not take very much intelligence to parrot every word the master says
including all the hateful racist rhetoric. Despite the fact that Matonga
himself has a British wife he spent twenty minutes of an interview with
South African Radio 702 this week ranting and sneering at white farmers who
he said had rushed back into the country when they heard the MDC had won to
'invade' their former farms. When asked by the interviewer for evidence of
this return of white farmers he was of course unable to give any but
continued to rant and rail about the inhumanity of the white farmers and how
little they had paid their workers and how racist and greedy they were. Not
true Zimbabweans at all, said Matongo. The implication being of course that
if they were they would support the ruling party!
The President (?) of the CFU was also on the programme but he very soon gave
up the struggle to argue with the man. There was no chance of logical
argument with this rabid apologist for the ruling party. Logic and common
sense were just not in his vocabulary; all he could do was to drone on and
on about the evils of the past and the racism of the white people apparently
unaware that his own racism was showing very clearly. 'But two wrong don't
make a right' observed the interviewer - herself an African by the way - and
how can you defend the violence now taking place on the farms'? And in one
leap that surpassed logic or morality Matongo answered that the war vets
were angry because the so-called returning whites were trying to take away
'their' land. And, he added the war-vets' anger was so great that the
government simply cannot stop them!

By that time tears were not far away but whether it was hysteria or sorrow
or anger, I cannot say. It was a phone-in programme and the contempt in the
people's voices was obvious as one after another they unpicked the Bright
One's nonsensical rubbish. There was, however one more gem for the listener
to marvel at. Right at the end of the programme Matongo was asked a direct
question, 'Are you a racist?' 'I am not' he replied 'I just speak my mind.'
Well, so did the apologists for apartheid as they defended their hated
philosophy of racial separation or the Nazis as they propagated their
concept of racial purity. They all 'spoke their mind' but that didn't make
them any less racist. In Zimbabwe, 'Speaking your mind' is a privilege
confined to the ruling party; while lawyers and journalists, trade unionists
and students are arrested for seeking and speaking the truth men of Bright
Matonga's calibre are permitted to speak any racist rubbish that is in their
minds.
And all to keep one man in power.
Yours in the (continuing) stuggle. PH

Masvingo Students Riot Over Arrest of Their Leader

SW Radio Africa (London)

9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008

Lance Guma

The arrest of Courage Ngwarai, a student leader at the Great Zimbabwe
University in Masvingo, sparked riots on campus as students clashed with
riot police.

Police came to the campus Thursday evening to arrest Ngwarai over a
demonstration held last week. Students however vowed to defend him and this
led to clashes, which saw police indiscriminately assault everyone within
sight. Several students were injured in the chaos. Police claim Ngwarai, a
legal and academic secretary with the Zimbabwe National Students Union,
incited students to demonstrate during an address he made last week. The
university has also suspended him.

Meanwhile over 600 students at the Chinhoyi University of Technology
demonstrated on campus Wednesday, demanding that Robert Mugabe step down for
bringing untold misery to the population. At least 2 truckloads of riot
police descended on the campus and assaulted the peaceful students. Police
arrested 5 student leaders, including Faith Mutepa and Priviledge
Matizanadzo. They were taken to Chinhoyi Central Police Station where they
are still in police custody. ZINASU said no charges have been filed against
them, but there are unfounded allegations that the group assaulted some
police officers.

ZINASU Information secretary Blessing Vava, Treasurer Themba Maphenduka and
Chinhoyi University Students' Union leader Faith Mutepa, all addressed
students in the dining hall. The speakers attributed the total collapse of
tertiary education to the crisis of national governance in the country.
ZINASU say war veterans later abducted Vava and his whereabouts are still
unknown. ZINASU President Clever Bere issued a warning to Mugabe's regime
saying Zimbabweans will not accept any games in the event of a run-off. He
called for international supervision of the election and that results be
announced within 48 hours. The students have also demanded an end to the
politically motivated violence.

Support for Bishop Bakare v Kunonga

We are reliably informed that out of some 69 vicars in the Anglican Church in Harare Diocese (= Zimbabwe), 59 support Bishop Bakare and only 10 support Kunonga.  Those 10 were ordained by Kunonga.
Meanwhile the doors of St Mary's Anglican Cathedral in Harare, the mother Anglican church in Zimbabwe, remain locked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except one very early hour every Sunday for about 30 of Kunonga's supporters, who attend the only service every week.
This information is freely available overseas, but in Zimbabwe it is suppressed. 
Please spread the truth to others.
Regards
Trudy

Two views... who is telling the truth?

ZEC has lost control of the Zimbabwe polls: PAP
May 07, 2008, 17:00

The Pan African Parliament (PAP) says the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission
(ZEC) has lost control of the election process in that country.

PAP's observer mission says that judging by the mystery surrounding the
outcome of presidential results and the unorthodox recounting of ballots, it
is evident that the ZEC's constitutional obligation has been gravely
compromised.

The observer mission has recommended that the situation in Zimbabwe be
closely monitored and called for an intervention by the African Union (AU)
and the South African Development Community (SADC) before the situation gets
out of control.

The PAP observer team to the Zimbabwe elections says that country has failed
to meet both the AU and SADC principles on election observation.

The 20-member team tabled its report at the ninth ordinary session of the
PAP in Midrand today. PAP also received the report on the Kenyan elections.

http://www.sabcnews.co.za/africa/southern_africa/0,2172,169054,00.html

-----------------------------
PAP Hails Polls As Free, Fair

The Herald (Harare)  Published by the government of Zimbabwe

9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008

Harare

The Pan African Parliament Election Observer Team to the March 29 harmonised
elections has presented its report to the continental parliament in which it
endorsed the polls as free and fair.

Presenting the report to the parliament in Midrand, South Africa, on
Wednesday, chairman of the PAP election observer mission Mr Marwick Khumalo
said the elections were held in a free and fair atmosphere.

The observer team deployed more than 20 lawmakers from across Africa to
Zimbabwe in the run-up to the elections. Zimbabwe, whose parliamentary
session has not yet started, is being represented by Deputy Clerk of
Parliament Ms Helen Dingane. In the report, PAP said it had held talks with
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which assured the mission that the pending
run-off would be held at the earliest possible time. However, the
continental parliament bemoaned the delay by ZEC in announcing the
presidential poll results, saying the commission had "lost control of the
process".
PAP held several meetings with stakeholders during its tour of duty in the
country and these included ZEC, political parties that were contesting the
elections, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, civil society and the
National Constitutional Assembly. ZEC has since announced the presidential
election results in which none of the contestants emerged with an absolute
majority to be declared outright winner.

Consequently, a run-off would be held between the two candidates with the
highest votes -- President Mugabe of Zanu-PF and MDC-T leader Morgan
Tsvangirai. ZEC is yet to announce the date for the run-off.