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Reports of politically motivated state-organized violence have
continued to be reported throughout the last 12 months. In
addition to the consistent reports of violence and torture against the
political opposition, the violence has now spread to include reported “rape
squads,” which have been attacking and raping the white minority around the
country.
Victims have reported uniformed police accompanying these squads, and actively participating in
the attacks on citizens in their own homes. The
political suppression of the independent media has now been institutionalized
with a ruling by the Supreme Court defining any newspaper or journalist
operating in the country without a government license as a crime.
Additionally, a ban has been placed on all foreign journalists thereby preventing any
non-government sanctioned news from reaching the international community. The
situation continues to merit international attention due to political violence,
politicized food aid, and general human rights’ abuses throughout the country.
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Types of Abuse and Danger |
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Man-exacerbated hunger gap (International Crisis Group)
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Torture (Physicians for Human Rights /
Denmark)
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State-sponsored violence (IRIN News)
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Suppression of the independent media (Media Institute of South Africa)
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Expulsion of foreign journalists (BBC News)
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Field Contacts Verification |
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Independent Domestic Media
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Embassies
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International Human Rights NGOs
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International Relief NGOs
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Field Contacts Verification |
International Contacts:
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
UN Secretary-General’s Office
US Contacts:
State Department
State emergency task
force
Zimbabwe desk officer
Congress
White House
Foreign Ministries:
US embassy
British embassy
Swedish embassy
Danish embassy
Norwegian embassy
Canadian embassy
South African embassy
Press:
Washington Post
Reuters
BBC
UN Security Council
UN Development Program
CNN
Mail & Guardian, SA
AP
UPI
Agence France Presse
Chicago Times
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
NGOs/Other:
International Crisis Group
Int. Committee for the Red Cross
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
Physicians for Human Rights / Denmark
Human Rights Watch
February 9 2004:
Rape Gangs Target Whites
February 6 2004:
Zimbabwe vows to keep ban on foreign journalists
February 7 2004:
Mugabe’s
ally in Supreme Court outlaws ‘Daily News’ paper
February 9 2004:
Southern Africa: Region May
Face Food Shortages in 2004/05 Season
February 8 2004:
Mugabe Tightens Screws On
Dissention
February 6 2004:
Political Violence
Persisted in 2003-Report
September 30 2003:
Eyewitness: Zimbabwe’s
endless queues
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