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3. TARGETS
OF VIOLENCE
3.2 MDC supporters
in rural areas
The rural areas were, and remain, the epicentre
for the violence against MDC supporters. In the run-up to the June 2000
General Election, at least 35 MDC supporters were killed by ZANU (PF)
militias, mainly in the rural areas. The militias kidnapped and tortured
people at centres specifically set up for this purpose. They raped women.
They set fire to houses and food stores. They assaulted and drove away
teachers, doctors and nurses whom they suspected of encouraging people
to support the MDC. They warned hospitals and clinics not to treat MDC
supporters injured in these attacks.
The violence in the rural areas goes on.
ZANU (PF) militias continue to terrorise the rural population, with little
or no intervention from the police. In effect, the protection of the law
has been removed from anyone who supports the MDC, making MDC supporters
more vulnerable than ever. "War veterans" are now in charge
of many rural police stations and there has been an increasing number
of incidents in which the police have participated in the violence against
MDC supporters, sometimes in the police stations.21
There are numerous allegations that MDC supporters have been tortured
in police stations where they have been held after being arrested. Many
people have had to flee from violence-racked rural areas and have sought
refuge in the slightly safer urban areas.
In May and June 2001 ZANU (PF) stepped up
the violence in the rural areas. The violence was particularly intensive
in Mashonaland Central Province. Here is a typical report of the situation
in this area in June:22
A reign of terror has rocked Bindura as
Mashonaland Central Governor, Elliot Manyika, launches his campaign
to succeed the late Border Gezi as Member of Parliament for the area.
Police in Bindura yesterday confirmed the escalation of violence in
the constituency…
On Wednesday about 100 ZANU (PF) youths
and war veterans who were transported by a ud Nissan lorry destroyed
two cars and a shop belonging to the MDC Mashonaland Central provincial
co-ordinator Joseph Mashinya at Chidembo business centre… [Mashinya]
said at around 4 p.m. a truckload of war veterans and ZANU (PF) youths
descended on Chidembo with the intention of abducting him. "They
came here looking for me but I managed to find somewhere to hide. That
is when they started beating everyone who was at the shopping centre.
Their reason for this terror is to wipe out any MDC element in the province,"
he said. "Before departing from the business centre they turned
on my two cars and several others which were parked nearby. They smashed
the cars and shattered all windows. My Toyota Cressida station wagon
was set ablaze before they attacked my shop with stones, iron bars and
hammers,’ Mashinya explained…
Last Sunday Manyika is also said to have
led a group of ZANU (PF) supporters in attacking an MDC "safe-house"
which accommodates victims of violence from Mashonaland Central province.
The ZANU (PF) supporters then effected "citizens’ arrests"
on 15 of the 25 victims. The arrested victims are alleged to have been
in possession of petrol bombs which the police have classified as "arms
of war". In the attack on the safe-house several neighbouring houses
were also attacked on suspicion that they also housed MDC supporters…
Manyika is said to have personally assaulted the Bindura MDC district
chairman, Felix Kunaka, at gunpoint while the war veterans accompanying
the Governor also assaulted him.23
A typical report of the situation in south-western
Zimbabwe at this time reads:24
Armed bands of former zipra combatants
have caused panic among the civilian population on the new resettlement
areas in the Nyamandlovu area, north-west of Bulawayo. The war veterans
are said to be harassing suspected supporters of the MDC, and sexually
abusing women settlers. According to some settlers at one resettlement
scheme near Deli, groups of rowdy war veterans, some clutching Kalashnikov
combat rifles, roam the resettlement areas on a daily basis, intimidating
those who do not possess ZANU (PF) membership cards. Seven settlers
were reported to have abandoned the new homes after war veterans kept
on harassing and threatening to kill them.
"Nobody feels safe in this place because
of harassment by war veterans. Whenever we make reports to the Nyamandlovu
police, they tell us they can’t touch war vets," one villager said…
Police in Nyamandlovu refused to speak to the reporter from the newspaper,
saying they were instructed not to talk to journalists from the independent
media. The officer who answered the phone told the paper to send questions
to Harare. "Anything to do with war veterans, please ask our Harare
headquarters," said the officer.
When this reporter arrived in the Deli
resettlement area, he was confronted by four war veterans dressed in
military style khaki outfits, who promptly "arrested" him
for entering what they called "a protected area". The men
took the reporter to their leader who simply introduced himself as the
field commander of Nyamandlovu resettlement area and was "licensed"
to eliminate suspected MDC spies and foreign journalists… He denied
accusations that his men were sexually harassing women on the farms,
and that one of his men wanted to kill a villager suspected of being
a member of the MDC. "We don’t harass civilians here. We only kill
spies sent by whites."…
However, the women settlers who were brave
enough to speak to this paper said two of their colleagues had been
raped by war veterans on the farms. The victims had been attacked after
allegedly turning down the war veterans’ advances. "If you are
raped here, the police will not do anything because they were told not
to interfere with the war veterans," said Cecilia Moyo who was
allocated a stand in the area when land was being parcelled out.25
TOP
21
See, for instance, Case Studies Section F for a report on the incident
involving a Harare lawyer assaulted at a police station in Chikomba after
he had gone to Chikomba to investigate reports that witnesses in an MDC
constituency challenge had been assaulted by ZANU (PF) supporters.
22 CNN
report June 2001.
23 CNN
report June 2001.
24 Standard
1 July 2001.
25 Standard
1 July 2001. TOP
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