Villagers want torture camp destroyed

via Villagers want torture camp destroyed

WHEN a Zimbabwean nongovernmental organisation, Manicaland Development Association (MDA) came up with the idea of establishing a skills training centre at Biriwiri business centre in Chimanimani during the early 80s, there was unprecedented jubilation from the locals but little did they know that one day the centre would be a curse.

Indeed true to the villagers’ expectations, the training centre did further the socio-economic development in this area, dominated by the alienated minority Ndau tribe.

A lot of villagers benefited immensely from skills development programmes offered by the training centre in areas such as cattle rearing, borehole maintenance, basketry, farming and bee keeping among other skills.

The organisation wrapped up its activities in the area in the late 90s after fulfilling its mandate, leaving the centre in the custody of the locals.

The good intentions and achievements of the centre were however marred during the build-up to the controversial Presidential run-off elections in June, 2008 when it was   converted into a Zanu PF campaign base, one of several such bases which sprouted in Manicaland province during that period.

This is the place where scores of MDC supporters were tortured and maimed by war veterans and Zanu (PF) youths. About two people in the area are said to have died as a result of the torture while scores of other villagers sustained injuries of varying degrees.

During the time the torture camp was operational struggling rural entrepreneurs and villagers lost their goods and livestock to the marauding youths who grabbed whatever they needed to use to facilitate their heinous operations.

The locals and most of the victims still have fresh and chilling memories of what suspected MDC supporters went through at this place, located a stone’s throw away from the Mutare–Chimanimani highway.

“What I went through at the MDA centre is hell on earth. Zanu (PF) youths raided my homestead early in the morning and took me to the centre where I was detained for two days. In a crouching position, I was forced to insert my head into a disused tyre while the youths took turns to stroke my buttocks with sticks and logs in the traumatizing and humiliating episodes. The beatings were so severe that I was bed ridden for almost a week after my release from the camp,” recalled Itai Muusha, one of the victims in an interview with New.zimbabwe.com

Muusha said some of the youths who are his relatives have been clandestinely sending emissaries to ask for forgiveness but he said he will never forgive them.

“We cannot talk of forgiveness when there is no justice. These people should just be arrested and brought before the courts for their crimes,” he said.

One Joe said he was also force marched to the base by the youths.

“A dozen youths armed with an assortment of weapons stormed my homestead on a Sunday morning. They took me whilst I was naked to the centre where they severely assaulted me. As a result of the beatings, my left hand was fractured,” narrated Joe while in tears.

Both Joe and Muusha said following  their ordeal they vowed never to set foot at the centre again.

The centre is currently used for holding Zanu (PF) meetings as well as a distribution point for relief aid and farming inputs.

“The best way to cleanse this place is to demolish all the structures which were used as torture chambers. The place brings very bad memories to the victims,” said Joe.

According to the victims, the youths kept a register of all suspected MDC supporters in the area and every morning they, led by one lady identified as Mafaone and a retired soldier Lovemore Utseya, would abduct targeted suspects. The victims also named a retired Zimbabwe National Army Colonel, Charles Muresherwa, as the “commander” of the torture camp at the time.

The youths’ also routinely raided local shops, grinding mills and homesteads for supplies to the camp.

“Every morning we were forced to donate groceries such as bread and drinks. Bottle store operators were forced to donate both clear and opaque beer. Some of the youths even followed us to our homes after working hours each time they ran out of supplies,” said a businessman who also refused to be named for fear of victimisation.

The abductees’ were first taken to an interrogation room which was manned by war veterans and senior Zanu (PF) district officials.

After being subjected to severe interrogation the victims would then be taken to another room where they were either cleared or detained for further interrogation. Others were subjected to less severe punishments such as rolling in the mud. Those “convicted” of serious cases would be detained for several days during which they were severely tortured before being released and warned never again to support the “western sponsored” opposition.

Three of the Zanu (PF) activists accused of political violence in the area (names supplied) have since died under mysterious circumstances, villagers said.

Before his death, one of the accused‘s stomach had mysteriously ballooned while another had developed an outlandish tumour on his left cheek.

The other one died at her homestead after a long illness.

The deaths have become the talk of the area, with some villagers suggesting they are related to avenging spirits of the tortured victims.

“The trio tortured a lot of MDC supporters in the area during the election period. I remember during that time there was a traditional healer by the name Gorimbo whom they thoroughly assaulted at the base after accusing him of being an MDC supporter. While in agony, Gorimbo warned the Zanu (PF) youths that one day their past nefarious activities would catch up with them,” said another villager who was also tortured at the same base alongside the traditional healer.

Sources in the area said the funerals of the three activists were largely ignored by the villagers.

Some of the Zanu (PF) activists who were at the forefront of torturing MDC supporters at the base are said to have also developed mental disorders.