Mugabe's latest wave of terror

Independent:

Fears are mounting in Zimbabwe for the lives of more than 40 opposition officials and human rights activists who have been abducted as part of a renewed crackdown by the regime in Harare. At least two more members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have disappeared in the past week, along with a freelance investigative reporter.

"The abductions are increasing and it now seems to be happening nationwide," Nelson Chamisa, an MDC spokesman,said yesterday.

The operation, codenamed Chimumumu according to sources in the army, aims to eliminate political opponents and remove human rights monitors. The kidnappings follow a pattern familiar from the past two years of political intimidation, where key middle- and lower-ranking officials are "disappeared" in an attempt to terrorise or destabilise opponents of the ruling party. Among those taken in the past month are Chris Dlamini, the head of security for the MDC, and Jestina Mukoko, the director of Zimbabwe Peace Project. The ruling party and security services have denied any part in the abductions.

Mr Dlamini was amongst the first to be abducted this month. Under normal circumstances he would have been the MDC's spokesman about such disappearances. His daughter, Victoria, has travelled from South Africa and is refusing to leave the country until her father's fate is known. She said the family have received no help from the police. "I don't know who to talk to at the moment. This is an incredibly tough time for us. By now we just want to know if he is alive or dead," she said.

Repeated appeals, including lawyers' petitions and, in the case of Ms Mukoko, a high court order, have failed to force authorities to release details of where the abductees are being held.

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Mugabe is giving up all pretensions of observing the rule of law in Zimbabwe. The people being abducted have no chance as long as Mugabe is in power. The should leave the country immediately.