NGO Releases Political Violence Videos

saviour kasukuwere

The Solidarity Peace Trust has released four videos to the media showing the victims and testimonies of the horrific political violence last year towards June.

 This was after President Robert Mugabe lost to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the first round of the presidential elections in March.

 The videos which were shot last year as the country's political and economic crisis worsened, shows victims, mainly opposition supporters narrating their ordeals.

On two of the videos titled Democracy: Missing Presumed Dead and After the elections: A crisis in Zimbabwe, supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) narrate the ordeals they went through, how they were abducted, beaten using various weapons that included chains,iron bars, whips while others were burnt under their feet with burning grass for supporting a 'British' funded party.

The other two videos are titled Death of a nation and A marriage of in-convenience narrate the effects of the cholera epidemic and while the other video chronicles stages to the formation of the inclusive government.

The videos on violence shows property and houses that were burnt down and destroyed which were for MDC supporters in various parts of the country as Zanu PF supporters and state security agents reigned on anyone perceived to be an MDC supporter.

The role of the dreaded government spy agency the CIO, the police and the army is told in the videos , how they were using state institutions to suppress ordinary people and how they used cars without registration plates to abduct and kill opposition supporters.

Names of Zanu PF Members of Parliament, Newturn Kachepa, Edward Raradza , Saviour Kasukuwere are mentioned frequently in the testimonies by the victims of the political violence on their role in the violence against MDC supporters.

Mugabe's presidential run-off election campaign last year was spearheaded and led by the military at the highest level leaving dozens dead, thousands displaced and resulted in Tsvangirai pulling out of the presidential race days before the polling day citing 'unprecedented' violence against his supporters by Mugabe's Zanu PF supporters and state security agents.

The MDC has said over 200 of its supporters and officials were killed in the violence towards the presidential run-off election after the March general elections.

Although the government formed an organ on national healing and reconciliation led by the three political parties, victims of the violence have called for justice to be done and for the police to arrest perpetrators of violence.

The Solidarity Peace Trust is a Non government organisation based in South Africa and led by church leaders in Southern Africa who are committed to human rights , freedom and democracy. The trust has already documented rights abuses in Zimbabwe in the past years.