Jul 7, 2008, 15:55 GMT
Harare - More than 350 people who were removed last week from the South African embassy in the Zimbabwean capital Harare after seeking sanctuary there from political violence were attacked early Monday at the government camp, where they had been relocated.
About 20 men in military fatigues and balaclavas carrying shotguns burst in on the refugees at the state rehabilitation camp near the village of Ruwa about 30 kilometres east of Harare, where they had been assured last month by the South African embassy they would be secure, said eyewitnesses.
Eight people, three of them women, had to be taken to hospital after sustaining beatings, while 14 young men, the group's own unarmed sentries, were missing, said Tangai Takarusa, their spokesman.
'We have no place to go,' he said. 'Maybe someone will take us to Mars. Maybe we will feel safe there.'
The 354 refugees at Ruwa were displaced from their homes in northern Zimbabwe by a countrywide wave of state-backed militia violence against supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) before the June 27 presidential run-off election.
The violence caused MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai to pull out of the run-off, leaving President Robert Mugabe to sweep up a controversial sixth term uncontested.
The group had been sheltering at Harvest House, the MDC's headquarters in Harare, last month when police raided the building.
Most were able to flee and make their way to the South African embassy's car park.
After spending nearly five days in the open in midwinter, they were finally provided with food, water, sanitation, tents, blankets and mats by local non-governmental organizations.
On June 27, they were moved again by Zimbabwe authorities, with the agreement of the South African embassy, after obtaining assurances they would be protected by police.
But at about midnight Sunday, men in military fatigues and shotguns appeared in the gallery of the squash court where the 137 men in the group were staying, said Takarusa.
'It was pandemonium, people were screaming. These men were beating people with the butts of their guns and kicking them.'
'We forced our way out of one exit, but they were waiting for us there too, and beat us as we passed. We found the women also running away from where they had been attacked in their dormitories next door,' he said.
The lone policeman on duty hadn't responded to the outcry, he added.
The group fled into the bush, returning only at first light to discover eight of their number had been injured.
The ongoing violence against MDC supporters, which the party says has killed over 100 people since the first round of voting for president on March 29 came as the leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrialized countries met in Japan for talks on issues including Zimbabwe.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, southern Africa's mediator in Zimbabwe, was expected to come under pressure at the talks to take a tough stance with Mugabe in negotiations on the unity government prescribed for Zimbabwe by the African Union.
The MDC on Monday repeated its demand for an end to violence as a condition for entering talks with Mugabe.
To bolster its position the party released gruesome photographs of the burnt body of a man it said was missing MDC driver Joshua Bakacheza.
Bakacheza was abducted by armed men in Harare nearly two weeks ago.
The photographs circulated by the MDC on Monday shows the body of a man whose trunk is so badly burnt the flesh has melted off his bones, revealing his rib cage.
The MDC also repeated Monday it would not recognize Mugabe as president.
'MDC does not recognize the 27th of June 'event' and accordingly does not recognize the outcome, thereof,' the MDC said in a statement, calling again for Tsvangirai's victory over Mugabe in the first round of voting to be the basis for the talks.
At the weekend Tsvangirai boycotted talks with Mugabe brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki, southern Africa's mediator in Zimbabwe. The leader of a smaller MDC faction, Arthur Mutambara, was in attendance.
On Monday, the party's number two Tendai Biti, who is facing a charge of treason, appeared briefly at the Harare magistrate court for a routine remand and was ordered to return on August 27 to be given his trial date.
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