Observing in Zimbabwe was no mean feat

Mario Galea During his trip to Zimbabwe as part of the Commonwealth Group

Nationalist MP Mario Galea, was in Zimbabwe as a Commonwealth observer for the presidential elections held on 9 and 10 March. Today he speaks to RAY ABDILLA about the violence and torture he encountered while over there.

There is no doubt in the mind of Nationalist whip Mario Galea that the recent election held in Zimbabwe was unfair and blighted by violence and intimidation

And as a member of a mission sent to the country to observe the election, Mr Galea had no qualms about describing what he saw in his report.

"Our final report was significant in the way we denounced the election," he says. "We declared that a high level of violence and intimidation, which preceded the poll, marred the election process. While we received reports of violence by Opposition supporters it was clear for us that Mugabe’s ruling party perpetrated the violence. Members and activists from the opposition were targeted systematically."

Mr Galea was asked by Don McKinnon, secretary general of the Commonwealth, to join the observation mission, which was composed of 42 observers and 19 Commonwealth support staff.

"I was in Zimbabwe for one month and after the debriefing and meetings in Harare I was deployed to the Midlands where a lot of violence and intimidation was taking place," he says.

There are two main political parties in Zimbabwe - the ZANU-PF led by President Robert Mugabe and the Movement For Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe has led the country for the last 22 years.

Mr Galea describes how the ruling party organised youth militia in every village, especially in distant rural areas.

"These youth militia are trained by the military," he says. "They camp in public premises including schools and clinics, from where they master a campaign of terror against anyone suspected of supporting the opposition party.

"They abduct people from their houses or during illegal roadblocks. Their victims are taken to their camps where they are beaten and tortured. This violence and intimidation created a climate of fear and suspicion."

He adds that he personally met numerous victims of violence, including a young girl named Pamela.

"The youth militia abducted her from her house in Imbizio," he says. "She was taken to their camp. They accused her brother, Baramu, of supporting the Opposition and asked her about his whereabouts. She was beaten and gang-raped.

"She was released late at night. Although she identified the rapists to the police, no arrests were made. When I met Pamela she was awaiting medical test results including ones for HIV/AIDS. In Zimbabwe hundreds of people, especially youngsters, die of AIDS each year."

Mr Galea then talks of another case, that of a man called Hansen who was abducted by the militia in the middle of the night from his house in Zhombe.

"He was handcuffed and taken to his uncle’s house," the Nationalist MP says. "His Uncle Celeste was also abducted. They were taken to some bushes where they were beaten with barbed wire and wooden sticks until they lost consciousness."

Mr Galea describes how he met the men in a safe house in another village where they were hiding. They had untreated, fractured bones but were afraid to seek medical help from fear of being tracked down by the militia.

"Their bodies had countless torture marks on them and they were both in great pain," he says. "I should know. I personally gave them first aid."

Mr Galea says there were other instances following which the victims did not survive the torture.

He recalls how a youth militia abducted a man called Charles Banda together with his friends from a public bus.

"They were asked to chant the ruling party’s slogan, which they didnot know," he says. "They were accused of supporting the Opposition and were taken to a nearby camp where they were tortured.

"Vusa, who was one of the group, was being treated in Kadoma’s hospital. He had multiple injuries from the torture," the Nationalist MP explains. "When I asked the nurse about his friend Charles Banda, I was informed that he did not survive the torture. His corpse was in the mortuary room."

A police sergeant, named Gutu, from Zhombe police station transported the man’s body to hospital.

"Yet no arrests were made," Mr Galea adds.

The chilling accounts continue. He describes how in Mashonaland East a school headmaster was abducted from his classroom.

"He was accused of favouring the Opposition party and was dragged to a nearby field were he was clubbed to death. His corpse was found dressed in a ruling party T-shirt.

"In Matebaland North, John Sabinda, local chairman of the Opposition party MDC, was abducted and killed when a large block of concrete was dropped on his head. No arrests were made.

"In the Midlands, only a few meters away from where my colleague and I were staying, an MDC supporter was killed. He was stabbed and then beheaded while he lay on the street injured."

Mr Galea stresses that these were only some of the instances they encountered.

"In our report we accused the police and military of failing to be impartial and of being not only lighthanded with the ruling party but also of being directly involved in the violence and torture of the Opposition members," he says.

Giving an example, he describes how Rodrick from Mbizo was arrested at gunpoint by the police.

"He was chained alive to a metal coffin, which was later closed and submerged in a river. When he was on the verge of drowning the coffin was recovered and shots were fired towards the coffin. After being beaten he was later released and told by the police that they wanted to teach him a lesson for supporting the Opposition. He named at least two police officials as being among those who chained him to the coffin. No arrests were made."

Speaking from firsthand experience, Mr Galea describes how about 200 supporters of the ruling party attacked a Commonwealth vehicle which he was travelling in.

"There were at least 20 policemen who witnessed this attack without doing anything to stop the mob," he says. "The Commonwealth immediately reported this incident yet no arrests were made."

The Nationalist deputy said that violence was only one negative element which characterised the campaign.

"The legislative framework within which the elections were conducted was flawed," he adds. "Limitations on the freedom of speech, freedom of movement and of association seriously hindered the opposition from campaigning freely.

"Thousands of voters were disenfranchised due to lack of transparency in the registration process and due to wide abusive discretionary powers of the Registrar General in deciding who is included or not in the electoral register."

Mr Galea says that the conclusion in the observers’ report made it clear in no uncertain terms that under these circumstances the conditions, Zimbabwe did not allow for a free expression of the will of the people.