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Women's Watch Bulletin 11/2008
Veritas
June 12, 2008

Women of courage
This is the story of two courageous Zimbabwean women. What they have been through is what many women in this country have suffered during this election period. Theirs are not the worst stories. Some women have been killed, some more severely injured. Others have been raped. It is also the story of the kindness of a strong woman helping other women. The names of the women in this story have been changed to protect their identity.

Forty nine-year-old Amai Tapiwa's eyes sparkle mischievously as she triumphantly holds up her metal identity card. "I also have my daughter-in-law's ID. They did not get them because I hid them away."

She is determined that she will go back to her homestead and vote. "They have beaten my husband and burnt our home. We have already suffered and lost everything. I have nothing else to lose so yes I WILL go back and vote," she says.

Despite being beaten up, losing her home, her possessions and her livelihood, Amai Tapiwa who is in hiding maintains her dignity, her resolve and her quirky sense of humor. That she has manage to retain, after being brutalized and injured, any form of identification (which can be used to go and vote in the election re-run) is for her a victory over tactics targeted at thwarting her of her right to vote.

Amai Tapiwa is just one of the hundreds of women who have fled their homes because of the relentless post-election violence ravaging many parts of the country. She is fortunate in that she has managed to find someone to take her in. Her refuge is a nondescript small house, a haven for several homeless women and their children ranging in age from 2 months to 12 years. They all sleep in a small room and it is a tight squeeze. It is not only the bedroom, but also the dining room and the playroom for all the women and children. "But women desperate for shelter come and knock on our gate during the night and we just can't turn them away," explains Rurimai Ndlovu, the woman who is sheltering them.

The children run around oblivious to things around them while their mothers cook, clean and tend to the younger children. Other children were left behind as their mothers fled their homes. The mothers wait anxiously for news of their whereabouts. Have they been sheltered by other relatives? Will they see them again? One of the tragedies of the present situation is that it is splitting families. Some of the women have not heard whether their husbands are safe.

Each day politically motivated violence grows more intense. Burning plastic on skin, rape, torture and even murdering rival party supporters have become familiar outrages. It is reminiscent of the violence experienced during the run up to and after the 2000 and 2002 elections, but as the 2008 presidential run-off election approaches, the volume of political violence has been turned up, the brutality is far more intense than it has ever been before, and the force used has been ratcheted up to incredibly high levels.

The 29th March election was the first election where people were allowed to campaign freely in certain areas in the run-up to the elections. This put people at ease and many men and women exposed themselves as supporters of the political party of their choice. Amai Kuda holds the position of ward chairperson in her area and is one of the women who campaigned openly.

"On 8 April youth militia came to our area and started singing abusive songs about our leader. They did not do anything at that time but came back a few days later. They burnt our tobacco barns, our fields and our home," explains Amai Kuda. "There were at least fifty of them. They first beat my husband and then turned on me. We were hit with bicycle chains, hosepipes, logs - in fact anything they could find. They tore my clothes and carried me to their base half-naked. On the way they dumped my husband and I in the river and wanted to drown us. But some of the men said no and fished us out."

Amai Kuda and her husband were continuously beaten for several hours. Each time they passed out the militia would throw water on them and as soon as they regained consciousness they would be assaulted once more. They were only rescued in the evening when the older war veterans arrived.

Vomiting blood battered and bruised Amai Kuda and her husband crawled and dragged themselves towards their home. Neighbors found them along the way and carried them back on a wheelbarrow. "Our house was still burning when we arrived home," she recalls with sadness. They were taken to hospital and after five days Amai Kuda made her way to the house where she is in hiding.

These stories are the stories of so many women in Zimbabwe, although they may differ in details. What they tell is the tragedy of our country where youth militia and party political supporters have unleashed a wave of election violence that is far more vicious than has ever been experienced before.

Vice-President Joice Mujuru's stance against violence
Zimbabwe's Vice-President Joice Mujuru has spoken out against the political violence that is taking place and has been visiting and assisting victims of violence in many rural areas.

As she addressed villagers, she indicated she had nothing to do with the on-going violence.

The Vice-President said she believed in a democratic state where people vote for someone they want, not beating up people or fighting each other.

Women burnt to death because of husbands' political affiliation
Pamela Pasvani, the 21-year-old wife of a newly elected councillor, was burnt to death last Friday night. Militiamen came in three truckloads accompanied by armed men in a Mercedes Benz. They burst into the home to search for the councillor, but he managed to break free and run. They then locked the door of the family room, smashed the windows and threw petrol inside. Then they lit it. The young brother broke the door. He and the nephew escaped with minor burns, but the councillor's little boy aged six was burnt to death. Pamela was carried out still alive but with 80 per cent burns. She died on Saturday in the burns unit of Harare hospital. "No one survives more than 50 per cent burns" a doctor there said. She was 18 weeks pregnant. In the same incident all the neighbours were beaten and many of them are still in hospital. The councillor is in hiding.

Dadirai Chipiro, 45, a former pre-school teacher and the wife of a party official, was burnt alive after she had first been savagely mutilated. Men in three white pickup trucks visited her rural home on Friday and were told that her husband was away in Harare, but would be back later in the day. They came back an hour later and chopped off one of her hands and both her feet. Then they threw her body into her hut, locked the door and threw a petrol bomb through the window. The atrocity was witnessed by their four year old nephew. The post mortem report described the cause of death as "hemorrhaging and severe burns." The police report stated that "seven men assaulted her before dragging her in one of the houses and set all three houses on fire. Body was found in one of the houses showing signs of assault since all hands and legs were broken." At the funeral the coffin lid could not be closed because Mrs Chipiro's outstretched arm had burnt rigid. In the coffin, a witness said, "I saw the corpse and parts of the limbs that had been hacked off." Her charred hand was found amid the debris after police had taken the body and severed feet away. It was swept up as women cleaned the hut. When the husband tried to buy white sheeting from the local general dealer for a shroud for his wife. "They refused. They said they don't sell to that political party."

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