Rape is being used as a political weapon by the youth militia and other groups allied to Zimbabwe’s ruling party, according to human rights workers and church groups. Investigations by the Guardian reveal allegations of politically motivated rape against opposition supporters.
According to victims’ testimony, President Robert Mugabe’s militia are also forcing young women to be their concubines with impunity.
Zimbabwe’s human rights forum reports seven cases of politically motivated rape in 2002, alongside 58 murders and 1 061 cases of torture. But the reported rapes, verified by medical examinations and interviews, are just the tip of the iceberg, human rights workers say.
”There is a serious problem of political rape in Zimbabwe. The documented cases are low, but there is considerable stigma and fear about reporting rape,” said Tony Reeler, human rights defender for the Institute for Democratic Alternatives for Southern Africa. ”From enormous anecdotal evidence we know the number is much higher.
”The victims are mostly young females, relatively uneducated, poor, rural, the most vulnerable members of society. Many urgently require antiretrovirals for HIV infection.”
Abducted
The trauma of rape is evident in the dull gaze of Sithulisiwe (21). For eight months she was held captive at a ”youth camp” for President Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party, where, she says, she was repeatedly gang raped and tortured. She said she was abducted in December 2001 and marched to a camp in a Bulawayo suburb.
”It was surrounded by security guards so we could not get out,” she said. ”There were hundreds of us. We were fed horse meat and rotten food. They woke us up at 3am and we had to run 20 kilometres. Then we had to do 200 press ups and other exercises. If anyone failed to do so, they were beaten. We had to chant slogans and sing Zanu-PF songs.
”They taught us the history of our country, starting from colonial slavery, and they told us we should hate whites. We slept in large rooms, the men and women together. We were raped by the boys. I can’t even count how many times by how many different men. If we complained to the camp commander, we were beaten and they would call us sell-outs to the MDC [the opposition Movement for Democratic Change].”
Sithulisiwe says she felt sorry for the young girls, of just 12 and 13, picked out, by the camp commander and taken to a nearby hotel to be raped. Her voice is flat and only when she talks to her five-month-old child does her face light up. ”I have named her Nokthula, which means peace. I want her to find peace – imagine, I do not even know who her father is.”
Sithulisiwe and others were caught trying to escape. She says they were buried up to their necks. ”We were beaten and thought we’d be killed, but the camp commander rescued us. They made us roll in mud, then would not let us take a bath.”
The camp closed in July 2002. Many of the youths went to government training camps, and Sithulisiwe was sent away. Aided by a church group, she and other women then reported the rapes at Hillside police station near Bulawayo.
”Then the doctor gave me a blood test. He told me I was HIV positive.”
Testimony
Sithulisiwe’s story has been independently verified. This month she testified at a service led by Archbishop Pius Ncube at the Bulawayo Catholic cathedral. People across Zimbabwe told of rape and torture at the hands of Zanu-PF.
”We have several reports of gang rapes and beatings at the youth militia camps,” said a human rights worker. ”The camps have become centres of torture and sexual abuse. Reports are made to police but they take virtually no action.”
Zimbabwe’s police deny this. ”Irrespective of whether they are political cases or not, if they are true rape cases then we will investigate them,” said Wayne Bvudzijena, an assistant commissioner. ”If it proves to be a serious charge, then the culprits will go to court.” He was not aware of reports of rape at the Bulawayo militia camps.
But investigations have revealed other accounts of politically motivated sexual violence. Rebecca (36) says she was dragged from her home in eastern Zimbabwe by youth militia. ”They beat me, saying I wanted to give the country back to whites. Six guys raped me. These people threatened to kill me and my family. I am afraid I may be infected with HIV, but this has made me stronger. I feel we are in a war and I must be prepared to die.”
Sarah (22) from central Zimbabwe, tells how Zanu-PF youth attacked the homestead where she farmed. ”They burned our house and destroyed everything we owned. They beat me, even though I had our baby on my back. They took my baby away. They called me Tsvangirai’s whore [a reference to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai], and they beat the soles of my feet. Then, they raped me.” – Guardian Unlimited Â