ANGLICAN-INFORMATION
‘A voice for the voiceless’

More news from Zimbabwe - Violent Assault and Torture Remains Unchecked
From a correspondent in Harare:

‘Self-styled ‘Archbishop’ Nolbert Kunonga (who has declared independence from the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa) has gone on the offensive again. Last Saturday, April 19th there
was a big Mother's Union meeting at St. Michael's Mbare, the church which has
supported Sebastian Bakare (the official Provincial bishop) from the beginning.

An eyewitness, who was at the Mother's Union meeting, said there were far
more on this occasion from all parts of the huge diocese. “They had to hire
Chairs”. Most Mother's Union members are happy to spread out their
cloths and sit on the ground. The service started around 9am and at midday the
church was surrounded by the youth militia, the ‘green bombers’ as they are
called. Ruth Bakare (Bishop Sebastian Bakare’s wife) went out and spoke to them, and they
allowed the women to go home without any violence. The next day the green bombers were again
surrounding the church, refusing to let anyone in. The Sunday Service had to be abandonned.
When the police were asked why they were doing this they replied it was “because
there was an appeal against the Court Order to allow services, if services by
Kunonga priests were not disrupted”.

There are said to have been disturbances in other Anglican churches, but as yet
no reliable information. Several Roman Catholic priests, who have been outspoken
about the political situation, have also been harassed. ANGLICAN-INFORMATION points out that the Roman Catholic Church has been particularly courageous in speaking out against the Mugabe regime.

One Catholic priest in Harare, of whom we have first hand information, was arrested after his Sunday service, but a member of the congregation followed the police car so that they knew where he
was. Some one else got one of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who went to
his aid before he was charged, and pointed out there was no case against him and
he was released. One of the current problems is that police will not tell the
lawyers in which station they are holding a victim, and days may be lost before
he is found.

So the problems in the Anglican Diocese and in the country are certainly
entwined.’

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION reports that there has been a press release by Zimbabwean Churches warning of ‘violence and genocide’. In the statement signed by the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches it was stated, “We appeal to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union and the United Nations to work towards arresting the deteriorating political and security situation in Zimbabwe”. In a separate statement the leaders of the Methodist and United Reformed churches in Zimbabwe condemned “the violence and intimidation” being waged by the ruling party against Zimbabweans.

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION comments that this is good news as the churches are a powerful force for change in Zimbabwe – but asks where is the independent voice of the Anglican Church as represented by the Anglican Central African Province – why is it hidden in the generality of ‘The Zimbabwe Council of Churches’ - why is Bishop Sebastian Bakare now the only visible Anglican point of resistance in the front line?

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION comments that in the recent past the Anglican Church, through previous Archbishop Bernard Malango, through dissident Nolbert Kunonga and some of the other bishops, has been dangerously close to the Mugabe regime to the point of complaisance and complicity.
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Remember:

Sunday 27th – A Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe

As reported by us in our previous issue, the call to prayer for April 27th from the Harare Diocesan Chancellor, Bob Stumbles has now gone round the world. Please organise prayers on that day.
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New Report from the: Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights - 23rd April 2008

Violent Assault and Torture Remains Unchecked

Further to the two statements ZADHR issued last week we report a further 81
cases of organised violence and torture which have been seen and treated by
members of the Association in the three days ending Monday 21 April 2008.
This is not a cumulative total ˆ this is the number of cases seen in these 3
days alone. The total number of cases seen since 1 April 2008 is 323. It
seems likely that there are substantial numbers of similar cases occurring
across the country which have not presented to ZADHR members and are
therefore not represented in these figures.

54 of these cases occurred in Harare, Chitungwiza or Epworth, 20 in Glen
View alone. 13 more occurred in Mudzi and Murewa, 4 in Mount Darwin, and 6
in different areas of Manicaland.

By far the commonest alleged perpetrators are now the uniformed forces (ZRP
and ZNA).

Fourteen (17%) of these 81 patients were women. They include a 7 year old
girl who suffered a fracture of her right radius and ulna on falling down
while running after her father who was being chased by members of the
security forces, and a 10 year old boy with a probable dislocation of the
right elbow resulting from being kicked by a soldier who was trying to kick
someone else. One 47 year old woman reported being sexually assaulted.

Soft tissue injuries again predominate, with 6 probable fractures. These
include the case of a 39 year old man who was abducted from his home at
midnight, was beaten and suffered a fractured left ulna, fractured ribs on
the left side, and a pneumothorax underlying the rib fractures. A
pneumothorax is when air leaks out of the lung through a hole in the lining
of the lung, caused for example by a broken rib, and collects in the virtual
space between the linings of the lung and the inner surface of the chest
wall. It can rapidly threaten life because it may enlarge and cause collapse
of the lung itself and distortion of the large blood vessels arising from
and draining into the heart. This patient required a tube to be inserted
into his chest to prevent that complication.

4 cases of falanga were recorded. Falanga is torture in which the soles of
the feet are repeatedly beaten with a hard object such as a baton or bar.
There is often severe tissue damage beneath the skin, within the sole of the
foot, which never fully heals, resulting in walking being painful for the
rest of the victim’s life.

Physical injuries are the most visible. Many of these patients report
extreme psychological stress which itself results in both mental and
physical symptoms. The stresses reported include many having had their homes
and property completely burnt, being forced to roll in muddy or
sewage-containing water, running and hiding in -the bush- from fear of
assault, being abducted and detained with beatings continuing over several
days with no knowledge of when it will end, and having no knowledge of the
safety of spouse or children. One 64 year old man presented with full-blown
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - the major manifestation of which was his
being incapable of speech.

Some of the reported physical and psychological wounds will take a long time
and require much care and attention to heal.

ZADHR condemns the continuing violent assault and torture on Zimbabwean
citizens, in particular that allegedly perpetrated by security forces. We
continue to appeal to the UN, AU and SADC to engage with the authorities to
bring an end to this systematic assault on large numbers of Zimbabweans.

ZADHR further appeals to the Zimbabwe Medical Association, the World Medical
Association and other concerned national medical associations to condemn
these acts of violence, and engage their Governments in working towards
resolution of the crisis in Zimbabwe.

For further details contact: zadhr at mweb dot co dot zw

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