PRESIDENT MUGABE . . . his ZANU PF party youth militia and war veterans allegedly raped women

JOHANNESBURG – Members of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party committed “systematic rape” to intimidate opposition supporters during an orgy of violence last year masterminded by Zimbabwe’s top security commanders, according to a new report released Thursday.

The report by anti-AIDS advocacy group AIDS-Free World, which details how mothers were forced to watch their daughters raped while scores of women were held as sexual slaves at ZANU PF torture camps, criticises the coalition government of Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of failure to act against perpetrators of the rights abuses.

“ZANU PF orchestrated its campaign of rape to terrorise, and destabilise entire communities,” said AIDS-Free World co-director Paula Donovan at the launch of the report in Johannesburg. “Clearly, the tactic worked, Mugabe is still president.”

Top army and police commanders are credited with keeping Mugabe in power after waging a ruthless campaign of violence last year to force then opposition MDC-T party leader Tsvangirai to withdraw from a second round presidential poll that analysts had strongly tipped the former trade unionist to win.

Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe in the first round ballot but failed to achieve outright victory to avoid the second round run-off poll.

The former foes eventually bowed to pressure from southern African leaders to agree to form a government of national unity that has been able to halt the economy from sinking deeper into the mire but has struggled to ensure the rule of law and to uphold human rights.

The report by AIDS-Free World entitled: “Electing to Rape: Sexual Terror in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe”, said the rapes and other crimes against humanity committed by Mugabe’s supporters have received little public attention, adding that there was need for a concerted regional effort to bring both high and low level perpetrators to justice.

The 64-page report is based on extensive interviews with 72 survivors and witnesses of rape and other violations, and documents 380 rapes committed by 241 perpetrators across Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces.

The report said the government of Zimbabwe was well aware of the widespread sexual violence against women during this period, adding that the Joint Operations Command (JOC) masterminded the campaign of violence and abuse.

The JOC is the supreme organ of Zimbabwe state security comprising the heads of the military, police, intelligence services, prisons, and the central bank.

According to the report, those who raped women were known because the ZANU PF supporters who carried out the attacks, including members of the pro-Mugabe “youth militia” and former soldiers in Zimbabwe’s war of liberation known as “war veterans,” identified themselves to their victims.

All the women targeted were supporters of Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party, the report says.

"The evidence is incontrovertible: Mugabe believes he can sanction rape without fear of consequences. Zimbabwe is perhaps the greatest test for ending impunity,” said Stephen Lewis, a co-director of AIDS-Free World.

Lewis said silence and inaction by international community made it complicity in the crimes committed against innocent civillians by Mugabe’s supporters.

He said: "It is terrible to say, but legitimate to say, that makes individual countries, sub-regions, entire regions and the international community complicit in what Robert Mugabe is doing.

“If President Zuma (Jacob, South Africa) were to condemn outright the behaviour of Robert Mugabe and make it clear that South Africa would no longer tolerate the destabilisation of Southern Africa, then Robert Mugabe’s days would be numbered."

The report said that all the women who testified described either their fear of reporting the rapes, or the indifference they encountered from the police whenever they mustered the courage to report the abuse.

It said both the police and the legal infrastructure in Zimbabwe were so compromised that it was impossible for victims of politically motivated rape and abuse to get justice in the country.

"The majority of public prosecutors, magistrates, and judges are well known for their connections to ZANU PF, making independent criminal prosecutions against ZANU PF supporters unlikely,” the report said.

"Zimbabwe’s domestic rape law requires that victims overcome insurmountable hurdles, and to risk the very real possibility of reprisals from authorities. And under Zimbabwe law, rape cannot be prosecuted as a concerted campaign, ordered from on high and executed on the ground," it added.

A prominent Zimbabwean human rights activist Eleanor Sisulu, who spoke at the launch of the report, called for perpetrators of rape and other abuses to be brought to book to ensure there is no repeat in the future.

“Accountability is the key to preventing the next round of rapes in Zimbabwe,” she said. – ZimOnline