A SMUGGLED film has graphically exposed the tactics used by Robert Mugabe's supporters to rig the presidential run-off that handed power back to his discredited regime.
Mugabe claimed 90% of the vote in the run-off last weekend – following a campaign of violence against opposition politicians by his Zanu-PF party activists – undermining international attempts to persuade him to relinquish control of his country or f
orm a government of national unity.
But a film made in secret by Shepherd Yuda, a prison officer who last week fled Zimbabwe with his family, shows how he and his colleagues at Harare's central jail had to fill in their ballots in front of Zanu-PF activists.
He also obtained footage of Zanu-PF rallies where voters were told to pretend to be illiterate so that officials could fill in their forms, supporting Mugabe, on their behalf.
Yuda decided to make the film after his uncle, an activist for the MDC opposition party, was murdered two months ago following the March 29 parliamentary elections, which Mugabe lost to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
The run-off was held because Tsvangirai did not get an outright majority and he pulled out of the run-off because of the violence aimed at his supporters.
"I had never seen that kind of violence before," said Yuda."How can a government that claimed to be democratically elected kill its people, murder its people, torture its people?"
He described how he and his fellow prison officers had to fill in their ballots in the presence of Zanu-PF officials, who inspected them before sealing them in envelopes. He felt intimidated into marking his cross next to Mugabe's name. "This was the most difficult moment of my life," he said.
Yuda has now left Zimbabwe for a secret destination. He added: "I've lost my uncle, my father was also beaten by Zanu-PF. Please God, deal with Zanu-PF ruthlessly."
Last week, his security forces and 'war veteran' and youth militias continued their murderous attacks on opposition supporters prior to this week's push by Britain and the US in the United Nations Security Council to force the Zimbabwean president to negotiate with the opposition.
The sanctions proposed by George Bush and Gordon Brown include an international arms embargo and punitive measures against the 14 people deemed most responsible for undermining the June 27 run-off through a campaign of deliberate violence.
Besides Mugabe, those targeted in the draft resolution to be subjected to an international travel ban and a freeze on personal assets include the chiefs of the various branches of the armed forces, the governor of the central bank, the head of the justice department and the presidential spokesman.
"We want to respond in a way that encourages a move towards resolving the legitimacy crisis without negatively impacting the people of Zimbabwe, who are suffering a great deal at the hands of the regime," said Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to the UN.
The Prime Minister, speaking in parliament last week, made his call for intensified sanctions against Mugabe and his top men following news that London-based Anglo American is to go ahead with a £200m investment in a new platinum mine in Zimbabwe.
"Businesses and individuals who have any dealing with Zimbabwe must examine their own responsibilities and must not make investments that prop up the regime," said Brown.
The Security Council resolution will pose a dilemma for permanent member China, Mugabe's main political and economic supporter together with South Africa. China will have to decide whether or not to exercise its veto: if it does, it will raise fresh questions over China's commitment to human rights and cast a pall over the Beijing Olympic Games next month.
In Zimbabwe, concern is growing concerning the whereabouts of an MDC MP. Naison Nemadziwa, who was elected to the National Assembly on 29 March, was abducted last Monday outside the Mutare High Court, in eastern Zimbabwe, by five armed men in army fatigues. He has not been seen since.
The ruling party's forces are also targeting the families of opposition MPs they are unable to find. Five relatives of Festus Dumbu, MDC MP for Zaka West, in the southeast of the country, were abducted last week – and are still missing.
The MDC says more than half of its MPs are in hiding or have fled abroad. Among those in hiding is Ian Makone, the party's chief election organiser.
Meanwhile, two bodies of MDC supporters murdered in the aftermath of the 27 June run-off presidential election
were recovered in southern Masvingo province. That brought to at least 11 the number of MDC supporters killed since 27 June. More than 100 MDC supporters were killed between the 29 March and 27 June votes. Some 4,000 were hospitalised and an estimated 200,000 made homeless. The MDC also says 1,500 of its activists have disappeared, many of them presumed dead.
The full article contains 827 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
