Zimbabwe and the Politics of Torture
Continuing to promote June as anti-torture month, today we turn our attention to Zimbabwe.
Since the disputed presidential elections of March 2002 (the results of which are widely regarded as illegitimate), turmoil in Zimbabwe has faded from the international community's attention, even though political and humanitarian crises there continue to worsen.
Torture and politically motivated violence are rampant. The Mugabe government has enacted draconian laws to gag the media, restrict free speech, and discourage opposition. For example, a new law requires that any public meeting of two or more people must be authorized by police.
The perpetrators of torture, according to experts, include agents of Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) political party, police officials, agents of the Central Intelligence Organization, and, recently, members of the pro-Mugabe youth militia, who appear to have been schooled in torture methods.
The country faces famine as a result of severe drought and farm seizures by the government. The World Food Program reports that 46 percent of Zimbabwe's population —more than 5 million people—face starvation.
The prospect of increased violence and torture looms as the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), considers organizing mass protests against Mugabe's retention of power.
The Mugabe government and ZANU-PF use torture as a systematic means of clinging to power by destroying people physically and mentally and by wreaking terror on those who might threaten Mugabe's rule, said Reeler. He added that there had been an "absolute onslaught" of torture after a failed constitutional referendum that ZANU-PF sponsored in February 2000 in the hope of cementing Mugabe's grip on power, and to break the back of the democratic movement. Reeler said torture had been entirely political in motivation and entirely associated with elections. During the months preceding the March 2002 presidential elections, Amani Trust documented a rise in torture cases to about 20 per day. Oddly, Amani officials found that reports did not decline after the election but, rather, increased to roughly 50 per day by the end of March. Some 90 percent of victims have been members of MDC. The remainder have been members of the legislature, teachers, trade unionists, and commercial farm workers.
Reeler said the only way for a Zimbabwean to assure that he will not be tortured is to be able to identify himself as a member of ZANU-PF. "I think it's no joke to say that in Zimbabwe, by our figures, probably 20 percent of the entire population has had intimate experience with torture."
Torture methods popular with ZANU-PF and others include beating the soles of victims' feet and subjecting various body parts to electric shock. Amani Trust has also seen many victims with ruptured eardrums, produced by percussive slapping of their ears. Reeler said this was not an incidental result of victims being hit on the head, but rather a deliberate and practiced slapping of the ears with the purpose of inflicting pain and long-term hearing damage.
Reeler said beating the soles of victims' feet was a newly popular torture method. He called this a "hard indicator" of torture in that it is impossible to beat a person that way without removing his shoes and restraining him. Rape cases, which Reeler said could only be described as "political rape," are prevalent. The victims are typically women who belong to MDC, are married to MDC members, or are so suspected. Their attackers tell them that is why they are being raped. The prevalence of this is hard to document, however, because rape victims seldom come forward and report the assaults.
Click title for full article.Torture and politically motivated violence are rampant. The Mugabe government has enacted draconian laws to gag the media, restrict free speech, and discourage opposition. For example, a new law requires that any public meeting of two or more people must be authorized by police.
The perpetrators of torture, according to experts, include agents of Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) political party, police officials, agents of the Central Intelligence Organization, and, recently, members of the pro-Mugabe youth militia, who appear to have been schooled in torture methods.
The country faces famine as a result of severe drought and farm seizures by the government. The World Food Program reports that 46 percent of Zimbabwe's population —more than 5 million people—face starvation.
The prospect of increased violence and torture looms as the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), considers organizing mass protests against Mugabe's retention of power.
The Mugabe government and ZANU-PF use torture as a systematic means of clinging to power by destroying people physically and mentally and by wreaking terror on those who might threaten Mugabe's rule, said Reeler. He added that there had been an "absolute onslaught" of torture after a failed constitutional referendum that ZANU-PF sponsored in February 2000 in the hope of cementing Mugabe's grip on power, and to break the back of the democratic movement. Reeler said torture had been entirely political in motivation and entirely associated with elections. During the months preceding the March 2002 presidential elections, Amani Trust documented a rise in torture cases to about 20 per day. Oddly, Amani officials found that reports did not decline after the election but, rather, increased to roughly 50 per day by the end of March. Some 90 percent of victims have been members of MDC. The remainder have been members of the legislature, teachers, trade unionists, and commercial farm workers.
Reeler said the only way for a Zimbabwean to assure that he will not be tortured is to be able to identify himself as a member of ZANU-PF. "I think it's no joke to say that in Zimbabwe, by our figures, probably 20 percent of the entire population has had intimate experience with torture."
Torture methods popular with ZANU-PF and others include beating the soles of victims' feet and subjecting various body parts to electric shock. Amani Trust has also seen many victims with ruptured eardrums, produced by percussive slapping of their ears. Reeler said this was not an incidental result of victims being hit on the head, but rather a deliberate and practiced slapping of the ears with the purpose of inflicting pain and long-term hearing damage.
Reeler said beating the soles of victims' feet was a newly popular torture method. He called this a "hard indicator" of torture in that it is impossible to beat a person that way without removing his shoes and restraining him. Rape cases, which Reeler said could only be described as "political rape," are prevalent. The victims are typically women who belong to MDC, are married to MDC members, or are so suspected. Their attackers tell them that is why they are being raped. The prevalence of this is hard to document, however, because rape victims seldom come forward and report the assaults.
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