Nelson Chamisa attacked by CIO agents at Harare International Airport

Nelson Chamisa was viciously attacked today at the entrance to Harare International Airport.

He said he had been approached by unidentified men as he got out of his car outside the departures’ hall at Harare Airport.

“I was suddenly surrounded by, I think, about eight men,” he said later.

“One wore a green t-shirt. The other ones had suits. Then I was hit, I think about three times… Then I fell to the ground.”

Mr Chamisa said he had seen his attackers running off towards two vehicles without registration plates. (via BBC)

Nelson has only just recovered from being tortured last Sunday. He was one of many opposition figures arrested while trying to attend a Save Zimbabwe Campaign prayer rally. An article in today’s The Observer carries his account of their horrific ordeal last week:

… a gang of about 35 very rowdy police came in. They told us to lie on our stomachs. They beat us with truncheons, metal bars, rifle butts and a sjambok (a short whip).’

‘They shouted things like “Mugabe is king of this country. He will die in office. You will die first”. They lifted my legs and stomped on my testicles so hard they moved up into my abdomen. I screamed. They beat my back and my head with truncheons. Then I was hit with an iron bar on my buttocks. They used that bar on Morgan and on Grace Kwinjeh. The sjambok is terrible because it rips away your flesh.

‘Other police watched as if they were spectators at a wrestling match shouting “Hit him. Make them bleed.” They called out Madhuku and made him stand and then beat him badly. Then Grace. They used the iron bar on her head until her ear was flapping. They called my name and I was in the roasting pan. At that point they all went for Tsvangirai, hitting his head so hard his blood flew on the wall. When he fell unconscious they poured water on him and beat him some more.

Nelson Chamisa is still in Harare, in Intensive Care, suffering from serious head injuries.

Mugabe appears desperate to prevent people from leaving the country.

Sekai Holland and Grace Kwinje, who were also tortured last week (see our YouTube video and Sokwanele posts with images here and here), both need medical treatment in South Africa for their torture injuries. They were prevented from leaving on the spurious - and never required before - grounds that they could only go with the permission of the government Health Department.

And Arthur Mutambara was re-arrested as he tried to leave the country yesterday, to visit his wife in South Africa. Arthur is still in custody as I write (via the BBC).

It seems clear to me that Mugabe is afraid of the stories these four people will tell once out of the country, more afraid of that than he is the international outrage that these senseless actions will provoke. Beyond Zimbabwe’s borders waits a press eager for first hand accounts of what happened last Sunday and during the week.

If Mugabe keeps them within the confines of our country he can, to a certain extent, limit the amount of exposure their stories will get. Stories that will inevitably turn the spotlight onto him, his thugs and his slipping sweaty grip on power.

Stories that will provoke inevitable questions, chief among them being, “When and how will Robert Mugabe be brought to justice for these crimes?”

That’s a question that Robert Mugabe doesn’t want people to spend too much time contemplating. He has his back against the wall and is fighting to regain some legitimacy amongst regional leaders who are finding it increasingly difficult to stand by him.

But the truth is a slippery fish and will come out no matter what he tries to do. Mugabe and the people who carry out these attacks will all one day have to face the full consquences for his actions.

I have a small message for Thabo Mbeki whose spokesman recently described the attacks in Zimbabwe as “alleged assaults”. He said:

The ANC is concerned about the current situation in Zimbabwe, including reports of the alleged assault of opposition leaders while in police custody

My message is this (and if I sound disrespectful it is because I am disrespectful):

Thabo - look at the pictures on this blog. It happened. Get a grip, and deal with it like a man!

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, MDC, Robert Mugabe, CIO, violence, torture, Nelson Chamisa, Grace Kwinje, Sekai Holland, Arthur Mutambara, Thabo Mbeki, South Africa

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