SUPPORTERS OF Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe have begun re-establishing the rural militia bases his regime used as torture camps during the disputed 2008 presidential election, independent election monitors in the country have claimed.
In its latest news bulletin, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network said its observers had reported the bases in rural voting districts were reactivated in the first few months of this year following calls by Mr Mugabe and his Zanu- PF party for fresh elections by the end of 2011. On Wednesday, the network called for the immediate destruction of “these structures of violence which have created a culture of fear in communities”.
In the run-up to the second-round presidential election in June 2008, between Mr Mugabe and his transitional government partner prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai, it was reported that these militia camps were used to torture and murder people opposed to the Zanu-PF leader’s rule.
Terrified rural voters were allegedly brought to the bases to witness the torture and killing of high-profile opposition supporters as a way to ensure they did not vote against the ruling regime.
Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party has claimed that more than 600 of its members were killed during this period by Mr Mugabe’s regime, and that many of the murders were carried out at the militia camps after individuals were kidnapped and brought there.
Although the Southern African Development Community and the MDC say Zimbabwe is not ready for fresh elections this year, Mr Mugabe and his supporters have been pushing for a new poll by December, saying the transitional government is no longer working.
The development community and the MDC insist that a new constitution and electoral reforms are introduced before any new poll.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, an umbrella organisation for a number of civil society groups, also said its resident observers in many of Zimbabwe’s parliamentary constituencies noted a build-up of “intolerance to diversity and free expression”.
It added that human rights violations were continuing and police still failed to show objectivity in routine investigations.
The MDC also reported this week that at least 30 of its members were arrested in a police crackdown in a Harare township.