The rape of Zimbabwe

Guardian:

Yvonne Chipowera doesn't know the names of those who raped her, whipped her with sjamboks and urinated on her face while making her call Zimbabwe's opposition leader a dog. Her ordeal lasted 16 hours.

Her attackers were young men drawn from Robert Mugabe's militia, armed with knives and slingshots, who rule the streets of Epworth, a sprawling poor township on the edge of Harare.

But Chipowera, a 24-year-old opposition activist, knows who she blames. There is the ruling Zanu-PF party's district chairman, Teddy Garakara, in whose house she was held and tortured along with other opposition activists, some in a hole in the ground. Then there is Amos Midzi, a former cabinet minister and parliamentary candidate for the Epworth seat who lost to the opposition. He appeared at the house to encourage the militiamen as Chipowera was beaten. The victims say he is orchestrating the campaign of home burnings and demolitions engulfing Epworth. And there is Joana Mawira, a Zanu-PF local councillor, who other women say was giving the orders as they were assaulted.

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There is much more.

The Telegraph has its own story of the rape of the opposition in Zimbabwe.

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She was ordered into a car, driven a short distance, dragged out of the vehicle and thrown to the ground.

"I was left with no decision," she said. "I started to think, 'I'm dying now'.

"They raped me. There were 10 of them, all soldiers. They were beating me at the same time because I'm trying to refuse."

Her voice dropped to a whisper and she paused to wipe tears from her eyes. "One baby of Zanu-PF," they said as they brutalised her body. "They took a gun and put it to my head. They said: 'We will kill you. After this we are going to throw you in the dam'."

All 10 took turns to rape her. Asked how long the assaults lasted, she said simply "I don't know," and sobbed quietly.

"They started laughing and taking photos. They do what they want. And they beat me. They beat me with sticks, clubs, their feet and they kicked me."

Over and over again, they demanded she tell them where MDC MPs were hiding out, but she refused.

"I was scared. I thought they were going to kill me."

Finally the soldiers - she does not know their unit - took her to police.

"When I got to the police station they threw a bullet to me, they said, 'Kiss that bullet'. I kissed that bullet. They said, 'This is your death. You will not vote because we will kill you before the election because you are a troublemaker. You are selling the country to white men so we want to kill you'."

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How can African leaders live with themselves for letting this happen? South Africa could have done something to stop this and instead its President said there was no crisis. Other states are only now speaking out against the horrors of Mugabe rule. While the US and the UK speak out, the UN is thwarted in taking any action. Those who are stopping the action are complicit in the rape of Zimbabwe.

Has Obama heard of Zimbabwe and what is happening? I have not seen where he has uttered a word about this abomination of a regime.