By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press WriterThu Jun 19, 2:50 PM ET
Zimbabwe's opposition party said Thursday that it was facing
escalating violence as it tries to campaign in the last days before a
presidential runoff pitting its leader against longtime President
Robert Mugabe.
In recent weeks, party activists have been burned alive or have
turned up dead after being spirited away in trucks, the Movement for
Democratic Change said. Their rallies have been banned and police have
blocked campaign stops.
The violence, restrictions on opposition campaigning and the arrest
of a top opposition leader have raised concerns that the June 27
elections will not be free and fair, leading some in the region to
wonder whether the vote should be scrapped in favor of a power-sharing
arrangement.
Opposition presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai's party says more than 60 of its activists have been killed in recent weeks.
Independent human rights activists have implicated police, soldiers and Mugabe party militants in the violence.
Amnesty International said Thursday that 12 bodies had been found
across the country and that most of the victims showed signs of
torture. The London-based rights group said the victims appeared to
have been abducted by supporters of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
One of the worst single attacks came Wednesday, when the opposition
said four activists were abducted in Chitungwiza, about 15 miles south
of the capital, and assaulted with iron bars, clubs and guns,
opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.
The victims were forced onto trucks and taken away by militias
chanting slogans of Mugabe's party, witnesses said. The bodies were
found early Thursday, Chamisa said.
In a separate incident, the homes of three Chitungwiza opposition
councilmen and their families were firebombed Wednesday night, but
everyone escaped uninjured, Chamisa said. Attempts to reach police for
confirmation of the firebombing were not immediately successful.
Doctors at the main Parirenyatwa hospital in Harare said Thursday
they admitted victims injured in assaults in several townships on the
outskirts of Harare in recent days.
Residents of Harare's well-to-do suburbs reported gangs of militants
forcing maids and their family members to attend meetings known as a
"pungwe," a colloquial term for night-long political indoctrination
used by militants since the independence war that swept Mugabe to power
in 1980.
Among those killed in the violence was the wife of opposition
mayor-elect of Harare, said family friends, who did not want to be
identified for fear of repercussions.
Mugabe has denied being responsible for the violence — but also
threatened to return the country to war if he does not win the runoff.
South African President Thabo Mbeki held talks with Tsvangirai and
Mugabe in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, but canceled a news conference in
South Africa at the last moment Thursday "due to unforeseen
circumstances."
South African media reported Mbeki, who has steadfastly refused to
publicly rebuke Mugabe, was trying to persuade the two men to call off
the runoff and form a government of national unity.
The idea has been raised before, but the sticking point appears to
be that Tsvangirai refuses to share power with Mugabe, while Mugabe
insists on leading any coalition government. The opposition claims
Tsvangirai won outright, but according to official results, he came
first but not with the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a
runoff.
One Western diplomat based in the region said Tsvangirai remains
unwilling to join a national unity government that fails to reflect the
result of the March first round or in which Mugabe's party dictates the
terms.
Tsvangirai has repeatedly said he would invite moderate and
reform-minded members of Mugabe's party to join his government in an
attempt to encourage reconciliation.
The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of
the sensitivity of the situation, said that in the aftermath of a
contested election win, Mugabe's party is likely to eventually jettison
Mugabe and seek the endorsement of neighboring governments by offering
roles to the opposition and vowing to carry out economic reforms.
Jerry Simpson, a Human Rights Watch researcher, told reporters
in Johannesburg, South Africa, that if a government of unity was
formed, it should not include anyone responsible for the current
violence, and called on South Africa to end its "quiet diplomacy"
approach to Zimbabwe.
At the United Nations, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
cited "great international concern" Thursday that Zimbabwe is incapable
of holding a free and fair presidential election runoff under Mugabe's
regime, and urged the U.N. Security Council to intervene.
"I don't see anything that President Mugabe has done that has
been helpful to Zimbabwean people, so maybe it's time for international
pressure," she said. Rice was leading a U.S. push to put Zimbabwe's
election on the council's agenda this month, which could require a vote
if enough members oppose it.
Also Thursday, the Zimbabwean opposition party's No. 2
official, Tendai Biti, was brought back to court for a hearing a week
after he was arrested. Police accused him of treason and publishing
false statements among other offenses.
"It's all part of harassment," Tsvangirai told reporters during
a break, saying time spent in court was time away from campaigning.
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