Zimbabwe: Frightening Violence and Repression
A WIP Contributor in Harare recently sent us this update:
i have been lucky and i am alive and well. here the levels of violence and intimidation and state repression are getting to really frightening levels. hundreds of the people have fled their homes and are internal refugees. until April 25, more than 300 victims of political violence were housed at the MDC headquarters here in Harare but police raided and arrested them. among the arrested are women and children and babies. the police claim they are criminals. how can a five month old baby be a criminal? the situation gets worse and worse here and i want the world to know whats happening here.
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Comments (1)
Thank you, Pat, for passing this information to us. I have been very anxious about the safety of WIP contributors from Zimbabwe.
I saw in the Times that the reporter who was arrested for practicing journalism has been released. He was helped by
Beatrice Mtetwa, Zimbabwe's top human rights lawyer, who has been persecuted in the past also. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/world/africa/27bearak.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
I will not be easy until the elections are resolved. Will Mugabe's supporters accept his defeat even if he does? If there is another round of voting, will the results be rigged to keep Mugabe in power? These are worrying questions.
Most worrying is the safety of innocent people. Thanks to the WIP for giving the women there a place to speak and for keeping in touch with those brave writers.
Posted by Nancy Vining Van Ness | May 2, 2008 11:33 AM