More people flee political violence

The number of political refugees who have fled their homes in Mashonaland East province following threats by militants pardoned by President Robert Mugabe has risen from 16 to 24, the ‘Daily News’ reported on Wednesday. The latest refugees were allegedly targeted after their relatives who fled earlier had their identities revealed in newspaper articles. Munyaradzi Bidi, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) national director, said some “thugs” were demanding money from the victims for the time they spent in prison before the Presidential Amnesty. “We are challenging situations where people cannot be protected by the law,” said Bidi. “We have approached local authorities and the police to guarantee them safety.”

He said they had written to the police and the Mudzi district administrator requesting them to safeguard the lives of the refugees since it was their duty to ensure that they were free from intimidation. Calling on those in the same predicament to report to ZimRights, Bidi said they were doing this to ensure the victims felt secure when they returned to their homes.

The victims were being kept at a secret location and ZimRights started receiving them last month.
Bidi said the assailants also demanded party T-shirts and membership cards from their victims, whom they accused of supporting opposition political parties. The Presidential Amnesty resulted in the release from 17 October of 97 prisoners who arrested for political crimes between January and June. The amnesty benefited people convicted of committing acts of political violence during the February referendum on the draft constitution and the June parliamentary election. The majority of prisoners were from the ruling ZANU-PF party.