By Lance Guma
12 March 2010
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has stated for the first time what many Zimbabweans quietly acknowledge – how do you confront a dictator using democratic means? Speaking at the launch of a damning report on the use of torture by Mugabe’s regime Tsvangirai said; ‘It is very difficult to come to an occasion of this nature and not feel the cries of the victims. On hindsight how do you confront a regime that does not see any benefits of negotiation? How do you confront a dictator using democratic means?’
On Thursday the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition launched,‘Cries from Goromonzi - Inside Zimbabwe’s Torture Chambers’, a report which contains 23 harrowing testimonies from individuals tortured between 2000 and 2009. Tsvangirai was there to commission the report and showed visible anguish as the wife of Glen View North MP Fani Munengami narrated how 10 armed soldiers broke into her home and raped her in front of her 9 month old son. She revealed that one of her abductors was the late ZANU PF Minister Elliot Manyika, who died in a car accident 2 years ago.
The Prime Minister told all those gathered that it was difficult to balance the cries of victims and the fear of persecution. ‘There cannot be real forgiveness without justice. National healing has not begun meeting the needs of the people.’ Although the coalition government formed a national healing organ, this has been criticized for doing nothing. Tsvangirai said the country needed some form of transitional justice before elections, which are being touted for next year. He added that the progress in the government that has been made in the last 12 months is being threatened by the unilateral decisions being made by Mugabe and ZANU PF ministers and the government was taking ‘two steps forward and three steps back.’
‘Cries from Goromonzi’ examines the ‘pervasive use of torture and imprisonment of citizens in secret detention camps in Zimbabwe to extract information, stifle public dissent and determine political processes and electoral outcomes,’ a statement from the Crisis Coalition said. The report has recommended that government should criminalize acts of torture and should educate ‘law enforcement personnel, civil or military, medical personnel, public officials, and other persons who may be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any individuals subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment about the prohibition of torture’.
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