First we will give you the AmeriKan press report.
"Violence dooming revote on Mugabe; Rights group cites brutality in Zimbabwe" by Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times | June 10, 2008
JOHANNESBURG - Persistent violence by government agents and supporters in Zimbabwe is making it impossible to hold a fair presidential runoff election later this month, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
In interviews with victims, the study detailed violence against opposition supporters across the country, with the creation of "no-go zones" in rural areas surrounded by roadblocks to prevent foreign journalists and human rights workers from witnessing the abuses.
The report said Zimbabwe was suffering the worst election violence in its history, overwhelmingly perpetrated by the ruling ZANU-PF party against activists and supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in advance of the June 27 runoff vote.
Unless it is stopped, there is no chance of free and fair runoff elections, warned Human Rights Watch, a research and advocacy group based in New York.
"Time has nearly run out for Southern African Development Community and the African Union to make the necessary political interventions to end the violence and ensure a free and fair vote," the report said, calling on regional powers to abandon mediation efforts with President Robert Mugabe and instead take strong action to stop the attacks.
"If current conditions are maintained, there is no possibility of a credible, free, and fair poll," the report added.
The report found at least 2,000 documented cases of beatings or torture but concluded that because many areas were inaccessible, the actual number would be much higher.
The report came as an independent medical group in Zimbabwe, the Specialist Doctors in Zimbabwe, comprising surgeons, anesthetists, physicians and pediatricians, reported that about 2,900 victims of political violence had been treated in hospitals since elections on March 29.
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition party, received about 48 percent of the vote in the first round, according to official figures, compared with about 43 percent for Mugabe, making a runoff necessary. The opposition insists it won in the first round.
I notice the Zionist-controlled MSM not making a big issue of the rigged election results. Is this why?
".... Israel's unstinting support for Mugabe... the government... bringing in computer "consultants" from the Mossad to manipulate voter rolls. (Which certainly surprised at least one Israeli software producer.)"
The Rights Watch report concluded that the violence is being orchestrated by the Joint Operations Command, the country's supreme military body, which includes the chiefs of police, prison, defense, and security forces.
It said ZANU-PF had set up hundreds of base camps for interrogating, beating, and torturing MDC supporters.
Zimbabwean military officers handed out a bullet to every villager called to compulsory political meetings in April, in an ominous threat that they should not vote opposition, according to the report.
"Each villager would be given a bullet to hold in their hands, then a soldier would say, 'If you vote for the MDC in the presidential runoff election, you have seen the bullets, we have enough for each one of you, so beware,' " the report said.
A man beaten to death by members of Mugabe's party was told he was being punished because he had let neighbors listen to his radio, tuned in to a Voice of America program aired in Zimbabwe, according to the rights watch report.
"In one particularly horrifying incident, at least 12 suspected ZANU-PF supporters abducted, beat, tortured, and murdered three MDC activists on May 7," the report said. The bodies were found some days later.
In Chiweshe on May 5, six men were beaten to death and 70 men and women were tortured, including a 76-year-old woman publicly thrashed in front of assembled villagers, according to the report."Well, three things are clear: Zimbabwe's government sucks (as do all governments); the MSM is grinding this particular oppressive dictatorship into our faces (why?); and the Zionist-controlled American MSM is soft-selling the takeover by the military junta.
I don't think the opposition has much chance anymore.
Here is a report on the same report, only from England.
"'Military coup' in Zimbabwe as Mugabe is forced to cede power to generals"
"The campaign of terror sweeping Zimbabwe is being directly organised by a junta that took over the running of the country after Robert Mugabe’s shock election defeat in March.
Details of the organised violence are contained in a report released today by Human Rights Watch, corroborated by senior Western diplomats who describe the situation in Zimbabwe as a “military coup by stealth”.
The human-rights group and the diplomats name Zimbabwe’s effective rulers as the Joint Operations Command, a shadowy security politburo made up of military and police generals, senior intelligence officers, prison service officials and leaders of the ruling Zanu (PF) party.
As the papers demonize Mugabe. Gotcha, Zio-press!!!
Yup, get rid of the bad guy while preserving the shit system.
That's why I call them bullshit political fooleys.
The report maps a chain of command leading down from the JOC to senior officers responsible for individual regions, and the local politicians and so-called “war veterans” and Zanu (PF) youth militias who carry out much of the violence as a proxy military force.
The report said that the scale of the attacks exceeds anything seen previously during Zimbabwe’s long history of electoral violence, and that for the first time militias are being armed with weapons such as AK47s, hand-guns and rifles. They have also used military transportation and even attacked from military bases.
A senior Western diplomat traced the military takeover to the days after the March 29 election, when a stunned Mr Mugabe was preparing to stand down before the generals moved in. “The generals didn’t let him go,” the diplomat said. “Afraid that Mr Mugabe’s departure would expose them to prosecution, they struck a deal guaranteeing his reelection.
“This is a military coup by stealth,” the diplomat said. “There are no tanks on people’s lawns, but the Joint Operations Command runs this country.”
The military takeover has meant an explosion in the level of violence in Zimbabwe, as well as the de facto militarisation of food distribution prompted by last week’s ban on aid agencies.
Witnesses interviewed by HRW identified numerous senior security officers who report directly to the JOC as being involved personally in the violence, suggesting they are carrying out orders from above. Police involved in the attack on American and British diplomats last week were quoted as saying that their orders came “directly from the top”. Documents leaked by disgruntled army officers name 200 of them, each assigned an area to oversee in OperationMakavhoterapapi? or Operation Where Did You Put Your Vote?, a campaign to punish those who voted for the Movement for Democratic Change, particularly in traditional Zanu (PF) strongholds, and to prevent them from voting in the June 27 presidential run-off when Mr Mugabe goes head to head with Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader.
The use of the “war veterans” and youth militias as proxy forces was intended to cover up the State’s role in the violence. But in many cases documented by HRW, military involvement was explicit. Scores of attacks in Harare and surrounding townships have been carried out by uniformed soldiers. One victim described armed soldiers going from house to house in the township of Chitungwiza searching for MDC supporters and beating them: “I did not know my assailants, but they were in army uniform and drove an army truck. They were boasting of being given a three-day assignment to ‘bring hell’ to the people.”
Army officers have been personally involved in a number of “reeducation” meetings at which local residents are forced to renounce opposition and swear allegiance to the ruling party after being beaten and tortured. Beatings at such meetings account for at least eight deaths. The Army has denied any involvement in the violence.
The extent of Mr Mugabe’s acquiescence to the terror tactics remains unclear, but the moment he agreed to stay on, the diplomat notes: “Mr Mugabe became beholden to the generals to stay in power.”
The tone and content of that last report sure was different from the American version, wasn't it? Much more information and much more direct.
Sigh. So much for AmeriKa's MSM!
