Babies abandoned as police beat mothers
Source Date: 27-07-2007

Six nursing mothers were among 160 people, including grandmothers, who were rounded up at the offices of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), an organisation dedicated to constitutional reform, after activists tried to hold a demonstration.

They were taken to Harare central police station and (the mothers were) told to leave their babies in the corner of a hall and join other adults lying on their stomachs. For the next four or five hours, the infants screamed as police lashed their mothers and the other adults continuously with metre-long, heavy rubber sticks.

The beatings were the largest mass assault yet carried out by Zimbabwean police. Violence in March, when Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, and about 30 others were beaten for 2½ hours, sparked international outrage.

Source: Times, The (UK)
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SADC standards breached

• 2.1.2: Freedom of association;
• 2.1.3: Political tolerance;
• 4.1.1: Constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of citizens
• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 7.4: [The member state holding elections shall] Safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens …
• 7.9: [The member state holding elections shall] Encourage the participation of women, disabled and youth in all aspects of the electoral process …