Amnesty International blasts government over human rights

An Amnesty International (AI) research team has found widespread evidence of politically-motivated murder, torture, rape and violence. Tor-Hugne Olsen, head of the team, told IRIN on Wednesday that after spending a week in the country, they had established that such acts were “commonplace” and that the government was doing nothing to stop them. “Extra-judicial executions and torture are occurring throughout Zimbabwe, but particularly in legally-disputed constituencies,” Olsen said. “We saw a clear pattern, where the constituency is the subject of a legal case, witnesses who could confirm allegations of violence are now being targeted,” he added. The team noted with concern that some witnesses had been badly assaulted by self-styled war veterans and ZANU-PF supporters and some had disappeared. The amnesty team said it had received the names of at least eight missing people, all opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists. The MDC is contesting results in 38 of 120 parliamentary districts. In April, a judge overturned election victories by two ruling party lawmakers, declaring that they illegally used violence and intimidation to defeat the opposition party leader and another candidate for parliament in elections last June. More cases are pending. Olsen said the team found the assault of two elected opposition MPs, Justin Mutendadzamera and Job Sikhala particular worrying. “When MPs are attacked it sends a very strong message to the rest of the people in society that there is no atmosphere conducive to freedom of expression,” he said. During their stay in Zimbabwe, the AI team looked at the recent killing of a student at the University of Zimbabwe. “Police say he was trampled in a riot on campus, we’ve interviewed many people who witnessed police brutally assaulting him,” said Olsen. “The international community should be alerted particularly when these acts of violence are happening with the apparent acquiescence of the government,” Olsen added. As well as opposition supporters, student and civic organisations, the team met police and government representatives during its week-long fact finding trip. “Police denied use of excessive force and government blamed the violence on opposition supporters and those they say are against legitimate land reform, this is totally unacceptable,” Olsen emphasised to IRIN. Amnesty International plans to draw up a report on its findings and to use it to pressure governments. “We’re calling for the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions and the Special Rapporteur on Torture to go to Zimbabwe now and see what is going on there,” Olsen said.