Arrests, beatings and the grabbing of a corpse

By Tererai Karimakwenda

19 March, 2007

This weekend the government continued its violent campaign against the opposition amidst strong global condemnation and student protests in South Africa . The African Union’s top official, chairman Alpha Oumar Konare, issued a statement calling for Harare to respect human rights and democratic principles, but instead Robert Mugabe used the spotlight to threaten diplomats with expulsion and to remind all activists that police will “bash them.” And the police acted out his orders brutally.

Nelson Chamisa, spokesperson for the Tsvangirai MDC, was severely beaten at Harare airport on his way to meet with European Union officials in Brussels . It’s reported that he has a fractured skull and he had lost a lot of blood. Tendai Biti, the Tsvangirai MDC secretary general, said he had overheard a police officer bragging about being paid a million dollars a piece for beating the opposition leaders and activists. This is equivalent to one-month’s salary, apparently enough motivation for a struggling policemen.

On Saturday badly injured MDC officials Grace Kwinjeh and Sekai Holland were prevented from travelling to South Africa for treatment of injuries inflicted while in police custody. They were taken to a police station and then returned to the Avenues clinic. Professor Arthur Mutambara, leader of one MDC faction, was also seized at the airport as he attempted to go visit his wife in South Africa . He was re-arrested for organising the rally that was blocked last Sunday. An official from his party said Mutambara was still in police custody despite a High Court ruling ordering his release. The official said police are trying to prosecute him separately for the rally blocked illegally by police.

In government spin on the death of activist Gift Tandare state media showed pictures of the burial of Gift Tandare, who was killed by police last Sunday March 11 th. They presented a picture of a sympathetic government which had paid for funeral expenses and helped the family with other costs. But opposition officials tell a very different story. Professor Elphas Mukonoweshuro , secretary for international affairs in the Tsvangirai MDC, told us Tandare’s body was abducted from Doves funeral parlour at gunpoint by agents from the Central Intelligence Organisation. The CIOs then drove to Glen View and grabbed a few people who were driven to Mt Darwin for the funeral, without his relatives and friends.

Mukonoweshuro said this was to ensure there wasn’t the huge funeral organised by the family for Monday. The government has no intention of allowing Tandare to be turned into a hero and a focal point for further activism. He added that a memorial service is being planned by the MDC, in consultation with the family. A date will be announced. Asked whether police threats and those made by Mugabe would keep Zimbabweans from protesting in the streets, Mukonoweshuro said: “Zimbabweans have reached a desperate situation. They are hungry and cannot make ends meet. They do not need to be organised by anybody to take to the streets to resist police brutality.”

Amidst all the state sponsored abuses, South Africa is reported to have blocked debate on Zimbabwe in the United Nations Security Council, saying the situation is not a threat to international peace and security. But South Africa ’s umbrella labour union COSATU came out strongly against the ongoing assaults on the opposition. General secretary Zwelizima Vavi said the group was organising protest marches.