Torture, murder, threats as Zimbabwe sinks into violence

Johannesburg/Harare - Mid-April, state-controlled radio in crisis-ridden Zimbabwe began to play its first war songs. A handout picture dated 21 April 2008 and made available on 29 April 2008 shows the feet of a man who was tied to a hut door and then set alight by government forces during reprisal attacks under the codename Operation Mavhoterapapi (Where you put your 'X') after Zimbabwe's disputed parliamentary and presidential elections held on 29 March. EPA/THE ZIMBABWEAN/SOKWANELE/HANDOUT

A handout picture dated 21 April 2008 and made available on 29 April 2008 shows the feet of a man who was tied to a hut door and then set alight by government forces during reprisal attacks under the codename Operation Mavhoterapapi (Where you put your 'X') after Zimbabwe's disputed parliamentary and presidential elections held on 29 March. EPA/THE ZIMBABWEAN/SOKWANELE/HANDOUT Songs such as Mr Government, containing the words: 'We are living like squatters in the land of our heritage ... give me my spear so that I can kill the many sellouts in my forefathers' country.' Another song entitled Tora Gidi (Take the Gun) is a call to arms in the fight for freedom, according to the non-governmental organization, Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ). The songs are supposed to incite hatred and violence and target opposition members, from whom the fruits of the struggle against colonialism must be defended. The United Nations confirmed early Wednesday that the wave of violence in Zimbabwe had reached alarming levels. In neighbouring South Africa, media like the private TV-Station e-tv or newspapers like the Sunday Independent are already talking about the threat of civil war. Secretly-filmed footage revealed the extent of the violence with frightening images of tortured, traumatised people with horrific injuries. A variety of human rights groups independently confirmed these claims. These reports show that the army and police are, at the very least, indirectly involved in the campaign of terror, being conducted by the thuggish militias of President Robert Mugabe, 84. The victims have all one thing in common - they are suspected to have voted for the opposition. They are dragged off, beaten with clubs or belts, tortured or burnt. One victim reported that militia members had put a plastic bag filled with inflammables on his back and set fire to it. Hospital doctors in the surrounding area had been strictly warned not to treat the injury, the opposition claims. The police did nothing. 'There is a de facto state of emergency in the country, Movement for Democratic Change(MDC) Secretary General Tendai Biti said ahead of the largely-ineffective general strike to press for the release of March's presidential election results. The MDC has warned of 'massive violence' through state repression leading to the deaths of Zimbabweans. Speaking at UN headquarters in New York Wednesday morning, Biti warned: 'Zimbabwe is a war zone with the militias deployed everywhere. There is a complete militarization of the country by the military junta and people are disappearing.' Biti said his country was facing a 'humanitarian catastrophe' because of the lack of food supplies since the turmoil after the March 29 presidential elections. According to observers, President Robert Mugabe hopes through widespread intimidation tactics to win a possible run-off election with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. A month after the presidential election there are still no official results. According to Tsvangirai, Mugabe had expected defeat immediately after the election and had made contact with the opposition. But than all contact had been broken off. 'I think what went wrong is this: some of the hawks in the military said we can't accept a transfer of power,' Tsvangirai told the South African newspaper City Press. 'And that's when the problem started,' he said. Owing to human rights abuses, many of the generals in Mugabe's regime would fear the retribution of the international courts.