Pressure mounted on the Zimbabwe government on Thursday to admit foreign observers to oversee a presidential election run-off amid fresh claims that pro-government militias were instilling terror in communities in the countryside.
As the opposition alleged that 30 supporters had now been killed and a union leader said 40 000 farmworkers and their dependents had been made homeless, the authorities played down the levels of violence.
Meanwhile, six days on from the announcement of results from an inconclusive March 29 presidential poll, there was still no word on when a second round should take place nor whether the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will participate.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who believes he secured an overall majority over veteran President Robert Mugabe in the first round, has argued his rival is trying to spread fear in the population to ensure his victory in the run-off.
In its latest toll, the MDC said it now had information that 30 supporters had been killed by Mugabe supporters in attacks in rural areas.
”What is worrying is that each day comes with gory stories of how human beings are being treated,” said MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa.
”This is why we are appealing on bended knees to the international community to assist in ending the carnage.”
In a press conference in South Africa, the leader of a Zimbabwe farmworkers’ union said that 40 000 people had been driven off their land either as a result of direct attacks by militias or through fear.
”Since the elections we have recorded a total of 40 000 people who have been displaced,” Gertrude Hambira, general secretary of the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe, told reporters in Johannesburg.
”Our members and their families have been left homeless. They have been attacked by a group of militias wearing army uniforms.
”They have been accused of voting for the opposition. Most of them are either on the roadside or sheltering at some farms.”
A number of human rights groups, including the New York-based Human Rights Watch, have accused security forces of complicity in attacks since the elections on March 29 which have been concentrated in rural areas.
However the army has disputed the allegations, with a spokesperson saying earlier this week that it ”categorically distances itself and any of its members from such activities”.
In comments carried by the state-run Herald newspaper on Thursday, police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena also cast doubt on the MDC’s claims about the death toll, saying ”three of the cases had no basis whatsoever while others were under investigation”.
International disquiet however is growing, with the UN’s Secretary General adding his voice to calls for international observers to oversee the run-off.
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of former colonial power Britain, has asked for the run-off to be ”monitored by the whole international community”.
In a statement, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said ”future stages of the electoral process must be conducted in a peaceful, credible and transparent manner in the presence of international observers” while also voicing concern about violence.
The run-off should in theory take place on May 24 but the electoral commission has dropped strong hints that the deadline will be missed.
According to results released last Friday by the commission, Tsvangirai fell just short of an overall majority needed to avoid a run-off but his party says the figures were doctored to save Mugabe’s skin.
The 84-year-old, Africa’s oldest leader, has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980.
Once seen as a post-colonial success story, Zimbabwe has been in economic meltdown since 2000 when Mugabe embarked on a controversial programme of land reforms which saw thousands of white-owned farms seized by the state.
Inflation now stands at over 165 000%, unemployment is above 80% while about a third of the 13-million population has fled the country.
Reuters photographer detained
A Reuters photographer covering the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s elections has been detained for three days for allegedly using a satellite phone to transmit pictures, the global news and information company said on Thursday.
Reuters called for the immediate release of Howard Burditt, a Zimbabwean national, who has been held by police in Harare since Monday. He has not been charged.
”As part of its pan-African news operations, Reuters has long had a legitimate and fully accredited bureau in Harare, and has always complied with Zimbabwean regulations with the aim of accurately reporting the news,” a company statement said.
David Schlesinger, Reuters editor-in-chief, called upon the Zimbabwean authorities to release Burditt immediately.
Zimbabwean authorities say it is illegal to use a satellite phone unless it has been registered. – Sapa-AFP, Reuters