Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum: Report on violence against peaceful protestors in Harare The march went down Second Street, Jason Moyo Ave., did a sort of loop via Chinhoyi and Mbuya Nehanda, back down Nelson Mandela to Leopold Takawira and then up to Samora Machel, and then turned in at the top of First Street. The atmosphere was excited but happy, almost carnival. There was some singing, whistling, occasional shouting but all in good spirits, and those on the street, in cars and buildings all waved back cheerfully. Most encouraging was the composition of the march – all ages and races. There were Nuns, disabled people, many children either walking or on their parents’ shoulders, people greeting those they knew, the elderly and schoolchildren all come together to demonstrate their desire for PEACEFUL CHANGE in this country. There were a wide array of banners calling upon God, fellow citizens, the Government, and so on to help bring about change and progress. At various points the march paused, and one of these was the junction of First Street and Union Avenue. It seemed there was a group coming in on Union Avenue to join, but as they drew closer there were cries of “It’s ZANU (PF)!” and people began to flee as the newcomers hurled rocks and other missiles. The few riot police on the scene ran to intervene but were vastly outnumbered and the attackers rampaged on up Union Avenue, wielding sticks and other weapons and lashing out at anyone who looked as if they might have been involved in the march. I was with two friends and we retreated under a shop canopy but were set upon and beaten on our faces and about our torsos. Our attackers appeared to be middle aged and set upon people indiscriminately. I could not say from our own situation whether whites were being more attacked than blacks; it seemed to be anyone connected with the march. Their weapons seemed to be opportunistic: sticks and branches, bricks and stones grabbed in a hurry. I saw no pangas or ‘formal’ weapons. My friend was hit in the face with a piece of concrete; his wife turned to help him and a man came in with a large stick to attack her; I yelled at him “Get away, she’s a woman!” and he backed off. My friend was bleeding profusely from his mouth and another head wound. He was also thoroughly beaten on his back and shoulders. His wife sustained a gash and large bump on her forehead, a nasty scrape down her arm, and other signs of being beaten. After an initial blow across the face that left me disoriented and sporting bits of leaf, I received a hard blow behind my right ear that put me down, another hard blow across the right shoulder, and various lesser blows. As we continued to be struck the shop personnel (Truworths, Union Avenue) in the face of this mayhem opened the door and took several of us in, including a pregnant woman. Inside we did what we could to attend to the injuries, which was somewhat hampered by the fact there was no water in the pipes! We tried to attend to the wounds and saw there was tear gas beginning to appear in the street. There were a small bunch of Police in the back alley who appeared to be discussing matters. As people dispersed we were later able to fetch our vehicles and take the more seriously hurt to medical facilities. However as we were collecting our friends there was further trouble and the tear gas canisters started to pop around us. We were relieved to get out of the city centre as the helicopters came roaring in overhead and the police began to seal off streets at risk.” No 3 – Report by members of the Media Monitoring Project MMPZ had five monitors covering the NCA march. Before the march, the Zimbabwe Republic Police manned roadblocks near the city and turned back some vehicles carrying people wearing Movement for Democratic Change and NCA tee shirts. A small number of members of the public and press gathered for the “March for Peace” by 8.30 a.m. outside Causeway Post Office. There were many uniformed police and reservists and riot police in the city and they were reluctant to let the march proceed, saying it was illegal. A group of about four or five at the post office were told to “disperse” as they were “forming an illegal gathering.” MMPZ was told by police they wanted to stop the march because war veterans had also applied to demonstrate, and the police feared violence. - 12 -