Posted on 05/23/2003 7:42:49 AM PDT by Clive
Harare - A report issued by Zimbabwe's non-governmental organisations shows a massive increase in the use of state terror after by-elections in March.
The by-elections, won by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, were followed by a wave of arrests, rapes and incidents of torture that saw hundreds of township residents admitted to hospital.
While 13 people were abducted or kidnapped between January this year and the end of April, seven of those abductions happened in April alone, says the report, issued yesterday.
And while there were 141 cases of assault during the first four months of 2003, 80 of those occurred in April. More worrying still, all of the five reported cases of rape happened in April.
Of the 95 reported cases of torture, 75 were in April, said the report.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum reported 278 cases of unlawful detention, with 158 in April alone.
And it said 120 unlawful arrests last month contributed heavily to the 370 for the year. - Independent Foreign Service
What more do they need?
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