Death toll mounts for Zimbabwe’s Operation Murambatsvina victims
People who were made homeless in Zimbabwe under the mugabe government’s horrific human rights violating ‘Operation Murambatsvina‘ (’clear out trash’) are still suffering terribly. Our Sokwanele article, mailed out today, describes some of their heartbreaking experiences and focusses on how the devastating consequences of Operation Murambatsvina has resulted in deaths. Some extracts from the article follow, the full item can be read here:
But the statistics alone, as horrifying as they are, hardly convey the trauma, pain and wretchedness of the victims. To put a name or a face to even a handful of the victims somehow brings home the intensity of the suffering in a way any number of statistics cannot do.
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For Patrick, whose whole life had been a continuous struggle against dehumanizing poverty, it was just too much. To a caring pastor who had shown a remarkable degree of compassion for the family in their wretched plight, he confessed that he felt a sense of guilt and failure. He had failed to provide for his wife and children as a good husband and father should. Nor was there any prospect that the situation might improve. The family was now immeasurably worse off than when they lived in their own fragile structure at Killarney. And the local people who had been forced to find a space for the little family clearly did not want them to stay. They had no ties of family or clan. They simply did not belong. “I have nowhere to go”, confided Patrick. “No one wants us. The government wants us out of the way - dead.”
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Until the forced removal from Killarney in June Mavis had been in reasonable health. She had no medical history to cause any concern. But now back in Killarney after the trauma and incredible hardships of the last five months, she began to complain of stomach pains. When the pain continued her pastor took her to the United Bulawayo Hospitals. There she was examined and kept under observation for a few days. Whether the medical staff were able to diagnose her condition is not known, but some time later she was discharged to her secret “home” in Killarney.
Read the full article on our website here. Subscribe to receive Sokwanele articles here.
November 26th, 2005 05:12
This brought tears to my eyes, For innocent, honest and hardworking people to be treated like this is criminal and the sooner the present government is brought down and all prosecuted in the international courts the better.
November 29th, 2005 00:04
A criminal fiasco ! I was born in Harare but moved via Durban S.A. to Scotland. I was last in Zimbabwe in ‘98 and have vowed never to return until Mugabe is out of the picture. Now, this makes me feel a traitor to the country and people of Zimbabwe. I am heartbroken at being powerless to help and at seeing a truly great country destroyed by a man who has long since lost the best interests of his people.
Although news coverage in U.K. does give small insight into the troubles of Zim… it frustrates and angers me that world leaders do not step in to avert, what I can only say is genocide.