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. ***
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.***