Posted on 03/31/2003 1:06:17 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Opposition leaders claimed that ruling-party militants harassed and frightened voters trying to cast ballots during elections held in two Zimbabwe townships.
In an atmosphere thick with political tensions, Maxwell Zimuto, a spokesman with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said government trucks ferried ruling party militants around the two townships, both opposition strongholds.
Zimuto said militants, beating drums and waving clubs, blockaded entrances to some polling stations to frighten voters away.
"They said the election was over and warned people to go home. This was two hours before polling ended," Zimuto said.
Militants with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF ruling party knew "a high turnout was not in their favor," Zimuto said.
Opposition leaders warned that the only way the governing party would win the elections would be if it stole them. On Friday, opposition leaders accused the ruling party of fraud, showing reporters copies of government voter rolls that the opposition said listed some 19,000 fraudulent names.
There were unconfirmed reports of scuffles at the polls Sunday night, but no reports of more serious incidents. Still, human rights advocates and foreign diplomats said the election campaigns had been marred by the same allegations of fraud and intimidation that tainted Mugabe's re-election last year.
Mugabe has become increasingly authoritarian, spearheading media controls and takeovers of white-owned farms.
According to state television, the Electoral Supervisory Commission said close to 30,000 people cast ballots in the parliamentary election by the time polls closed in township districts of Kuwadzana and Highfield. Voter turnout was 30 percent.
In the nationwide parliamentary election in 2000 and the presidential election a year ago, voter turnout was recorded at more than 50 percent. The opposition overwhelmingly won those elections.
Independent election observers said the earlier parliamentary and presidential elections, both narrowly won by Mugabe and his ruling party, were deeply flawed.
Earlier Sunday, independent election monitors reported voting was slow amid tensions in the two districts. Vote counting is scheduled to begin early today, state television reported.
Police reported no serious violence during polling. The opposition, however, said five people were hospitalized after being assaulted and two of its officials were abducted. It said the whereabouts of one was still unknown late Sunday.
The elections this weekend followed a violent crackdown by Mugabe against opposition leaders and supporters who had staged a two-day strike against the government that crippled business and industry. At least 500 people were arrested in the days after the strike.
At the end of the strike, the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai set today as the deadline for Mugabe to begin fulfilling a list of 15 demands, including disbanding government militias, restoring press freedom and releasing all political prisoners.
In a statement titled "Countdown to the Final Reckoning," Tsvangirai indicated on Saturday that he did not expect Mugabe to comply with the opposition demands. He predicted a "long and hard struggle" that might call for "the supreme sacrifice."
Meanwhile Mugabe, 79, who has governed Zimbabwe since the end of white-minority rule 20 years ago, delivered a defiant address on Saturday. He accused foreign governments of "aiding and abetting the creation of instability and disorder" in Zimbabwe.
New York Times and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The State Department has called on the Zimbabwe government to "cease its campaign of violent repression" and to bring to justice the perpetrators of "serious and widespread human rights abuses." Amnesty International, in a March 21 report, issued a warning: "The alarming escalation in political violence is a clear indication that the Zimbabwe authorities are determined to suppress dissent by any means necessary, regardless of the terrible consequences. We look upon the next 10 days with fear."
Sunday, voters in two important townships controlled by the opposition are supposed to go to the polls to elect new representatives to the Parliament. In a news conference Thursday in Harare, opposition leaders showed reporters copies of the government's voter rolls and said dozens of people on the lists did not exist. Government officials dismissed those charges. Monday will mark the deadline set by the opposition for Mugabe to accept and begin addressing a list of 15 demands, including disbanding government militias, restoring freedom of the press and releasing all political prisoners. ***
Mugabe Crackdown - Zimbabwe Opposition Beaten, Tortured, Sexually Assaulted*** WASHINGTON, D.C. March 28 (OneWorld) - International human rights groups are becoming increasingly concerned about a growing crackdown by the government of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe against his opposition in advance of two key by-elections in the capital Harare this weekend.
As many as 400 activists of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have been arrested following a largely successful two-day general strike last week in Harare and Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo. Many of those detained reported they were beaten, tortured and sexually assaulted while in police custody.
"What we are witnessing is much more than the government's usual tactic of raising the level of violence in the run-up to elections," said Amnesty International. "This is an explosive situation where there seem to be no limits to how far the government will go to suppress opposition and maintain its hold on power."
Some analysts believe that Mugabe is trying to strike hard at the opposition now that global media attention is focused almost exclusively on the war in Iraq. The State Department this week strongly criticized Mugabe and called for an immediate end to the repression, but neither the events in Zimbabwe nor State's comment received any coverage in major U.S. newspapers. Attacks on important local MDC leaders have been particularly violent over the past 10 days.***
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