A group of about 200 Zimbabweans gathered on Thursday outside the United States embassy in Harare, pleading for political asylum and food after being displaced in recent election violence.
The group, which included breast-feeding mothers and toddlers, sat patiently on the ground outside the embassy where they asked to speak with US officials.
”I need to go out of this country, I don’t feel safe,” said a 25-year-old from the populous township of Mbare who said he was targetted for being a polling agent for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.
The MDC’s leader Morgan Tsvangirai won a first round of elections against veteran President Robert Mugabe in March but withdrew from a run-off poll held last Friday after nearly 90 party supporters were killed in attacks.
The agent, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that he had initially sought refuge in the MDC’s headquarters but did not feel safe there after it was raided last month.
One woman said she had and her one-year-old daughter had been left homeless after suspected ruling party militants burned down her house in a rural district east of the capital.
”About a month ago some people came at night saying my family were MDC supporters and burned our house,” said the woman, her baby snuggled in her lap.
”We managed to escape in different directions and sleep in the bush but we lost everything. Up to now I don’t know where my husband is.
”I need food and shelter. That is my appeal to anyone who can help.
I came here with fellow victims who were staying at the MDC headquarters. We are hoping the embassy can give us some help.”
Embassy spokesperson Mark Weinberg said US officials would speak with the group.
”There are about 218 people gathered outside the embassy. They are displaced people looking for assistance,” he said.
The US has been at the forefront of criticism of Mugabe, calling his one-man election a farce.
US expects sanctions vote at UN next week
The US said on Thursday it expects the UN Security Council to vote next week on sanctions against Mugabe and top aides.
US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters after a closed-door council session that he formally submitted the US-drafted resolution, which also calls for an arms embargo against Zimbabwe, to the full 15-nation council.
”We expect a vote on the resolution sometime next week,” Khalilzad said.
It was not clear if the other council members shared Khalilzad’s optimism about the timing for a vote.
”Many members of the council need time to consult their capital,” Vietnamese Ambassador Le Luong Minh, president of the council for the month of July, told reporters.
Before last week’s election, the Security Council unanimously condemned Mugabe’s plans to go ahead with the poll, saying the campaign of violence and restrictions on the opposition made a free and fair election impossible.
Khalilzad said the council had no choice but to respond to Zimbabwe’s defiance. But they do not want to do anything that would harm the country’s already-suffering people, he added.
”We have proposed a resolution that will impose targeted sanctions on those that are responsible for the crisis with the expectation and hope that they will be incentivized to cooperate,” he said.
In addition to Mugabe, the draft text says Zimbabwean central bank governor Gideon Gono, army chief General Constantine Chiwenga and Happyton Bonyongwe, Zimbabwe’s head of intelligence, would also face travel bans and asset freezes.
Council diplomats have said South Africa, Russia and China oppose the idea of sanctions though they said it was not clear if Moscow and Beijing were prepared to use their veto powers given the wide condemnation of Mugabe’s re-election. – Reuters