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1500 affidavits attest personal experience of torture -- the tip of the iceberg

Yesterday James McGee, the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, spoke of the ZANU-PF horror he had seen personal evidence of on BBC Newsnight (available for six days).

According to Amnesty International, ZANU-PF political violence has been at crisis levels since the recent elections. Now according to Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch,

"ZANU-PF members are setting up torture camps to systematically target, beat, and torture people suspected of having voted for the MDC in last month’s elections."

Morgan Tsvangirai may be ready to take on Mugabe in the presidantial run-off elections. And as commentators have already said Mugabe will now surely lose whether he wins the election or not. It has also to be said that political leaders in Southern Africa seem to have been slow to grasp the reality of politically inspired beatings, torture and killing in Zimbabwe since ZANU-PF has been gearing itself up for war since the first election at the end of March.

It turns out that the principle "mediator" in all this, the President of South Africa, mBeki, is not in tune with his party. MDC may be ready for an election, but they know they have been let down badly.

It is clear that Mugabe is set on a course of doing the wrong thing and I suggest that whatever the outcome of the election this summer he will use his military junta to stay in power.

James McGee has said NO to Mugabe. The people of Zimbabwe have said NO to Mugabe. It is time for all women and men of honour to say NO to Mugabe.