Politically motivated violence in Zimbabwe 2000-2001
A report on the campaign of political repression conducted by the Zimbabwean Government under the guise of carrying out land reform
August 2001

3. TARGETS OF VIOLENCE

The terror campaign in the urban areas prior to the June 2000 General Election was on a much smaller scale than that in the rural areas, and had little impact. The urban vote in the election was overwhelmingly pro-MDC, and the MDC won all the constituencies in the two main cities, Harare and Bulawayo. Notable incidents prior to the election included the establishment of a torture centre in the Harare suburb of Budiriro. The centre was a medical surgery owned by the "war veteran" leader, the late Dr Chenjerai Hunzvi. A number of people were abducted, taken to the surgery and subjected to protracted torture.

Immediately after the General Election the violence in urban areas intensified. Soldiers in armoured vehicles and police support unit officers were deployed in the suburbs of Harare and other cities and towns, allegedly to maintain order and prevent an outbreak of post-election violence. Instead, they assaulted residents, including senior MDC party officials, as part of a strategy to punish urban people for having voted for the MDC in such large numbers.

This campaign of terror by army and police personnel continued sporadically into 2001. An example is the attack on the MDC Member of Parliament, Job Sikhala, and his pregnant wife in February 2001, referred to earlier. In the same month soldiers went on the rampage in Chitungwiza, near Harare, entering a nightclub, forcing its patrons to lie face down and then beating them for being "MDC supporters".²⁶

Since May 2001 the number of attacks on MDC officials and supporters has increased. In early April, Hunzvi announced that the "war veterans" were going to set up "mobilisation bases" in each of the 42 urban constituencies; from these bases they would conduct "an aggressive Presidential Election campaign" on behalf of ZANU (PF). ²⁷This announcement was followed by a wave of attacks on MDC Members of Parliament, officials and supporters. In one of the worst cases, an MDC supporter was allegedly abducted and taken to a place where he and several other MDC supporters were tortured. The torture took the form of placing a red-hot metal chain across their backs so as to create burn lines in the form of an "X". The details of this incident are given at the end of this report.²⁸

In July 2001, following a 2-day work stay-away organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), soldiers beat up unarmed civilians as a punishment for participating in the protest. One such incident is described in the following report:

Armed soldiers and policemen are alleged to have severely beaten up people in Harare’s Warren Park, Kuwadzana and Dzivaresekwa suburbs yesterday, accusing them of taking part in the two-day stay-away which ended on Wednesday. At around 3.00 a.m. yesterday, the soldiers and policemen entered homes and bars in Dzivaresekwa and attacked occupants for allegedly barricading roads. On Wednesday evening several people returning from the city were beaten up. In Warren Park 1, soldiers burst into the Babylon Inn Night Club, just after midnight yesterday, and accused patrons of holding an MDC meeting. They beat them up. Even workers were not spared. A patron, William Sharara, 24, sustained a broken left arm and other injuries. Those who tried to escape through the back entrance were beaten back by other soldiers who were outside. Beatings were reported in Kuwadzana, Budiriro and Mufakose on Wednesday and after midnight yesterday. The MDC Budiriro 1 district secretary was beaten up so severely he could hardly walk or sit while another man is now bed-ridden from injuries resulting from the beatings.²⁹   TOP

²⁶ Daily News 17 February 2001.

²⁷ Financial Gazette 5 April 2001. Joseph Chinotimba, the self-styled "commander in chief of white farm invasions" moved into established a base at one of northern suburbs in Harare and was seen drilling about 100 ZANU (PF) youths on the streets. The youths were chanting ZANU (PF) slogans.

²⁸ See Case Studies Section D.

²⁹ Daily News 6 July 2001. The same newspaper also reported that on 5 July 2001 an author, George Mujahati who lives in Glen Norah in Harare was severely assaulted by seven men in army uniform because he had heeded the call to stay away from work.  TOP