Document - Zimbabwe: Further Information on Abduction/Torture

PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 46/026/2008

15 July 2008

Further Information on UA 198/08 (AFR 46/024/2008, 8 July 2008) - Abduction/Torture

ZIMBABWE 11 youths

Nine of the 11 youths abducted from a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) at 1am on 7 July have now been accounted for. Information is limited at present as to the exact details of the circumstances of those found, however it has been confirmed that these nine people are safe.

The remaining two who were abducted are believed to have run away from their abductors. Amnesty International is working with partners in Zimbabwe to get information on their whereabouts.

At least a dozen armed men, believed to be linked to the ruling Zimbabwe Africa National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party, attacked a camp for IDPs and abducted 11 youths from the camp who were keeping watch. The men who attacked the camp, at Ruwa Training Centre, some 25 km east of the capital, Harare, were in military fatigues and were masked. Some of them went into a building and attacked the men who were sleeping in one room, accusing them of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Others went into another room and attacked the women who were sleeping there. At least five women and three men were injured so badly that they needed to be kept in the centre’s clinic for treatment. The IDP camp houses around 400 people forced to flee their homes by the violence that has followed the general elections of 29 March.

Security for IDPs at this camp and other locations remains a concern. Amnesty International will continue to put pressure on the Zimbabwean authorities to provide adequate security for IDPs.

No further action on this Urgent Action is required. Many thanks to all those who sent appeals.