By: Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria

President Robert Mugabe’s government was accused yesterday of a “widespread, systematic and planned campaign of organised violence and torture to suppress normal democratic activities”. The British charity Redress, which helps torture survivors, gave documented examples of 8,871 human rights violations in 2001-2003 to show that torture incidents were concentrated in election periods, especially the March 2002 presidential elections. Its report quotes estimates that more than 200,000 Zimbabweans have been tortured in recent years. “The most pressing conclusion is the association between serious violations of human rights and elections,” it says. It adds: “With the announcement that parliamentary elections will be held in March 2005, addressing the problem of organised torture in Zimbabwe becomes a matter of urgency.” It asks the international community to take steps to forestall torture and other acts of political violence in the election campaign.

The victims have included opposition MPs, trade union leaders, lawyers and ordinary citizens. State agents are blamed for 24% of the incidents and supporters of Mr Mugabe’s party, Zanu PF, for 74%, Redress says. Its executive director, Kathleen Rose-Sender, said: “This report presents a cool statistical analysis that shows a verifiable pattern of abuse during election periods. This needs to be recognised and, if possible, stopped. “We hope that South Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will not ignore the evidence put before it. Regional pressure is always the most effective, coming from neighbouring countries that share culture and values. “For southern African countries to turn a blind eye in the face of such evidence would be irresponsible, because it damages them all,” she said. The report is backed up by the findings of the African Union’s commission on human rights, whose factfinding mission to Zimbabwe led to a condemnation of Mr Mugabe’s government unprecedented by an African organisation. Zimbabwe prevented it being considered at the AU summit last month, but it is expected to be raised at this month’s SADC meeting.

Source: WWW.ZwNews.Com