State torture and unwarranted arrests have increased dramatically in Zimbabwe in the past week, highlighting a drastic decline in the country’s security that should force the International Cricket Council (ICC) to re-think the six World Cup matches planned for next month, opposition leaders claimed last night.
Prominent Zimbabwean journalists who have attacked the ICC for not getting firm guarantees from President Robert Mugabe’s government that international reporters will be able to freely cover the cricket tournament, now believe many may be denied entry into the country at all.
As food riots pointed up the increasingly volatile situation, the government stepped up violent repression in an effort to hamper the organisation of major anti-Mugabe demonstrations it believes are being planned to coincide with the World Cup matches.
In the past week police arrested and tortured two opposition members of parliament, held the mayor of Harare in jail for 48 hours before releasing him without charges and detained and beat more than a dozen others.
Opposition member of parliament Job Sikhala wept in court last Friday as he described electric shock torture on his genitals and prolonged beatings inflicted by police. Opposition MP Paul Madzore was also beaten in police custody last week.
Opposition leaders now say the impending cricket matches are actually causing the Mugabe government to step up the violence.
‘The World Cup authorities must know that they bear the responsibility for the current terrorisation of Zimbabweans by the Mugabe regime in a last ditch effort to silence its critics,’ said Welshman Ncube, secretary-general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Paul Themba Nyathi, MDC representative said, ‘the Mugabe regime is increasing its violence to try to stamp out any opposition before the cricket matches. This does not bode well for the World Cup. It underlines the increasing security risks to both players and supporters. The ICC cannot afford to ignore such ominous developments.’
Iden Wetherell, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, said: ‘It is shocking that the ICC is proceeding as if nothing is amiss. They have no assurances that journalists will be able to report freely on what they see in Zimbabwe. It is against the interests of a free press and the fair play cricket is supposed to stand for.’
The deterioration of Zimbabwe’s security comes as famine grips the country, threatening an estimated two-thirds of the country’s 12 million people.
In response, top members of Mugabe’s own party, Zanu-PF, have suggested Mugabe step down to allow a coalition government to rescue the country’s rapidly declining economy, restore the rule of law and prepare the way for free and fair elections. – Guardian Unlimited Â