By Mónica Adame
“I had been at the base for about two days when a group of three men instructed me to enter a room. They forced me to lie on the ground and stripped off all of my clothes. All the men in that room were either raping or waiting to rape women. They said they wanted to show MDC supporters that we had no power against them.”
This testimony belongs to one of 70 women survivors of rape in Zimbabwe interviewed by Free-Aids World, an international advocacy organization based in New York City.
Their stories, published in the report “Electing to Rape: Sexual Terror in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe,” account President Robert Mugabe’s (ZANU-PF) use of systematic rape as a political tool to demoralize and intimidate supporters of opponent Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC) during the months leading to the runoff presidential election of June 2008. These charges, the document states, amount to crimes against humanity.
Fears of a similar violent outcome began to surface in the first week of February when MDC members denounced mob attacks of ZANU-PF youth militias in provinces and warned these assaults could be preparing the ground for a possible early election in June 2011.
In 2008, 253 people were killed and hostilities led to the withdrawal of Mr. Tsvangirai five days before the runoff election. In an attempt to stabilize the country, both contenders signed an agreement allowing the formation of a government of unity and calling for a new constitution. Mugabe retained the presidency, while Tsvangirai became the Prime Minister.
“There have been areas with violence, but police say it is now contained. There is no lawlessness,” said Mr. Nhamo Matambo, Counselor at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Zimbabwe to the United Nations. Mr. Matambo considers the recent violence a reaction to rumors about early elections, but also to the grave economic situation. “We don’t know if those perpetrating the violence were members of a political party or if they were doing it as individuals,” Mr. Matambo added.
“Early elections would hurt the constitutional reform process before its full implementation,” said Jennifer McCarthy, former Director of Women Leaders Intercultural Forum at Realizing Rights, an NGO based in New York City that recently shut down. Ms. McCarthy traveled to Zimbabwe in April 2010 to witness the commitment of ministers from the ZANU-PF and MDC to work together in advancing women’s rights.
One out of every three women around the world is subject to abuse in her lifetime. In 1979, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and 2010 marked the tenth anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) calling for the protection of girls and women against gender-based violence in conflict-affected countries. “The problem with 1325 is that a significant number of mass rapes are not undertaken in armed conflict or in recognized war contexts,” noted Betsy Apple, legal director and general counsel of Free-Aids World.
Ms. Apple, who also teaches a course on International Human Rights Law at SIPA, was part of the team of lawyers who traveled to Zimbabwe to collect women’s testimonies. She recalls how during the interviews she encountered some women who seemed to have lost all will to live, and few others who seemed to carry on despite the horrors they had survived. “There was one resilient woman living outside Zimbabwe. She was 24 years-old and had been raped twice, three years apart, got pregnant both times. She was also HIV positive. To her, Zimbabwe meant rape,” Ms. Apple said.
Zimbabwe is a party to CEDAW and to the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development. In 2008, nevertheless, many rape survivors who tried to lodge complaints with the police were turned away because officers refused to implicate the ZANU-PF, President Mugabe’s party, for the crimes. Fears of social stigmatization and retribution also hinder women to speak out. “The possibility to prosecute these crimes in Zimbabwe is zero,” Ms. Apple said.
The government of Zimbabwe has a different take on the matter. In the last decade, the country instituted the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development and Parliament enacted the Sexual Offenses Act (2001) and the Domestic Violence Act (2007) to protect women from sexual abuse, give relief to victims and criminalize marital rape and willful transmission of HIV. Police officers, members of the judiciary, traditional leaders and medical personnel receive training, with support of the UN and civil society, on how to handle survivors of rape and domestic violence.
The country has a high HIV prevalence rate with over 13 percent of adults infected. During the 2008 rape campaign, perpetrators announced women they were intentionally infecting them with HIV. Of the 70 survivors interviewed by Free-Aids World, 26 tested HIV-positive after the rape. “That is political terrorism,” Ms. Apple, flushed and raising her voice, said.
Mr. Matambo, the Zimbabwean diplomat, regards the Free-Aids World report with reluctance. On the wall hangs the portrait of President Mugabe. “I don’t dismiss or accept it,” he said. “Minister Sekai Holland, the Minister for Healing and Reconciliation, took the accounts of violence as having some truth. But said we should not focus on what happened, we should move forward.” He agrees on the need to give remedy to victims and on perpetrators confessing their crimes. “In our tradition we believe in avenging spirits, but most have forgotten it.”
There were mixed reactions among diplomats and advocates after the launch of the “Electing to Rape: Sexual Terror in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe” report in late 2009. “Most of the talk centered on how this had been “opportunistic rape” rather than rape as a planned attack. Meaning that men were men and since they had the opportunity to rape vulnerable women they took it,” Ms. Apple said.
Mr. Matambo sees women differently. “Women in Zimbabwe are very strong. They head households, participate in politics and are the backbone of our agriculture,” he said.
In February 10, the U.S Embassy in Harare released a statement “condemning the recent spate of political violence perpetrated by youths and opportunists affiliated with elements of ZANU-PF.” The statement also mentions the violation of the GPA and concerns for the rule of law and human rights.
“It is very likely that it will happen again,” Ms. Apple said. “Violence against women has ensued for years and inadequate attention is paid to sexual violence. The only thing we can do right now is say, “hey, we are watching you.”