| The Unleashing of Violence: A report on violence in Zimbabwe as at May 15, 2000 |
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Contents « » Psychological Violence It is also hard to convey to outside parties how effective verbal threats can be in silencing and terrifying rural civilians, particularly in Matabeleland, where before the 1985 election, hundreds of prominent ZAPU supporters were picked up at night and have never been seen again. Merely to threaten to make people disappear, is a powerful weapon against defenceless people who have personal memories of witnessing executions and of being tortured by this government in the recent past. Psychological torture of this nature is widespread and underestimated in its power to reduce entire populations to silence. Sources TOP The accounts of violence have been gathered from multiple sources, and are backed up by a formal running database of victims which is being updated daily. The sources include human rights organizations in Bulawayo and Harare, political parties, the CFU, the Catholic Church, media reports, and victims in rural areas. Those affected are predominantly those suspected to be MDC supporters. The exact ratio of MDC and ZANU-PF as victims and\or perpetrators is summarized at the end of this brief. As the CFU has its own comprehensive system of daily reporting, incidents on commercial farms are not given much space in this summary, but are presented as total figures of farms so far occupied and assaults recorded. Much of this violence has already been well documented elsewhere, but this account specifically includes mention of incidents in Matabeleland which are perhaps less well known. Human rights violations range from interference with freedom of movement, speech and association, to death threats, destruction of property, serious assaults and premeditated murder. The violations referred to below have been documented by an independent human rights NGO, Amani Trust. STATISTICAL OVERVIEW OF VIOLENCE TOPTOTAL RECORDED VIOLATIONS: 5078 (as documented on Amani Trust’s data) Total assaults/injuries: Includes with
blunt weapons, gunshot wounds, burns, attempted stranglings: 1012 (NB of these 15 were either MDC members, supporters or sympathizers. Not one ZANU (PF) supporter has been killed) Total property destruction: Houses and property destroyed: 417 Other violations include threats of violence and death, interference with freedom of movement, speech and association, refusal to register voters. POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS OF VICTIMS: POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS OF PERPETRATORS: It will be clear from the above that ZANU (PF) members and supporters are overwhelmingly responsible for the violence. Whilst the President of the MDC has repeatedly affirmed the MDC’s commitment to non violent democratic elections, no such undertaking has been forthcoming from President Mugabe. On the contrary his statements have initiated, condoned and inflamed the violence. The violence is clearly State sponsored and targeted at the members of a specific political party, the MDC, and a specific ethnic minority. Accordingly the political violence is a crime against humanity and the international community should now investigate whether President Mugabe and those also involved in directing and perpetrating the violence should not be indicted for these crimes. David Coltart Secretary, Legal Affairs MDCMay 10, 2000 TOP |