Gruesome photographs of Mugabe violence that the Daily Mail wouldn't publish

Yesterday I noted Peter Oborne's chilling article about a young woman called Memory, in Zimbabwe.  Memory had her buttocks repeatedly thrashed by wooden poles - all because she is a supporter of the opposition to Robert Mugabe.

I was speaking to Peter about his undercover journalism yesterday evening and he has emailed me two photographs of Memory's savagely beaten body.  The Daily Mail - quite understandably for a family newspaper - didn't want to publish the photographs but I reproduce them below as one powerful proof of the horror that Mugabe is presiding over in Zimbabwe.  They are gruesome so please do not press "Continue reading..." if you are disturbed by bloody images.

If you missed Peter's article - which describes a process of "electoral genocide" - it's here.

Comments

[Annabel Herriott]

These photos SHOULD have a wider audience than on CH. We protect the general public from reality at our peril. Mugabe and his thugs will continue unabashed, as the Nazi's did in WW2
Put them in a weekend supplement, and the reader is warned on the front of the mag that they are there. EVERY weekend supplement IMHO.
After all, we switch on to Holby city, Casualty, ER, House.......... The public may well be more adult than the editors imagine on this subject of mans inhumanity to man.

[englandism.com]

The Constitutive Act of the African Union provides in Article 4 the "right of the Union to intervene in a Member State pursuant to a decision of the Assembly in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity [as well as a serious threat to legitimate order]."

Well, that is all the criteria met and still nothing happens. At what point does the right to national self-determination become subordinate to common humanity?

And 200,000 dead and dying in Burma but still nothing happens.

[John Pickworth]

Thanks Tim (and of course Peter).

Yes more people should see these... and hopefully recall our Government's willingness to do nothing. And no, I'm not trying to score points here, I know its a difficult situation but Mugabe got Blair running scared from day one and ever since our Government has been paralised by inerta.

Its scandalous and deeply shameful we haven't done more. I'm embarrassed to be British frankly.

[comstock]

I wish I could say I'd be as brave in speaking out against such a regime, but if I'm honest I wouldn't be.

Just to ask, did this poor woman survive?

[Letters From A Tory]

Jesus christ. That is horrific. Of course, the British government sit back and throw a few nasty words at Mugabe while his reign of terror continues.

[Tim Montgomerie]

South Africa is key to this. The world needs to put much more pressure on Thabo Mbeki. As long as Mugabe as SA's support he has a chance of staying in power. Without that there may be more of a chance of preventing more attacks on innocents like Melody.

She did survive, comstock. Do read Peter Oborne's eye witness account.

[Cranmer]

Horrifying and absolutely appalling.

When he has wiped away his tears of helpless rage, His Grace shall turn to this story and give these pictures wider publicity.

They speak more than any condemnatory article, and make the superficial words of Miliband even more inadequate and irrelevant than they originally were.

[Disgusted]

This is horrendous - because of media self-censorship i'm sure this sort of disgusting activity goes on in other "democracies" too. You can blame Blair for letting things get out of control, but the mantle has clearly passed to Brown now.

Allowing this torture to go on is the clear effect of Brown's panick over domestic politics, giving him no appetite to tackle some of the issues in the rest of the world.

whatever you thought of Bliar, he had a lot more appetite for (albeit selective) intervention in foreign issues. Brown doesn't care.

Or is it just that, as a Scot, he's already intervening enough in "foreign" politics - the rapid demise of his support in England.

[John Selby]

Shocking unspeakable crimes, the whole world should see these pictures, perhaps then Mugabe would be hunted down and brought to book.
The British government should lead the way in condemning this farce about so called elections instead of giving credibility to this tyrant. Thank you Peter for letting the world see some of what is taking place.

[Bexie]

As I have said elsewhere the thug should be arrested for crimes against humanity the moment he steps outside his country. He has no mandate to rule anyway.

[Tony Makara]

Why won't the Daily Mail show these pictures? If theses atrocities had been carried out by the Ku Klux Klan they would have been on the front page. Why is it that media is so unwilling to show left-wing atrocities? One wonder how Mugabe sleeps at night? The man must have no conscience, no soul.

[Umbrella man]

Interesting that one comment was received on Tim's post yesterday on exactly the same subject but without photos and already 11 comments on this one with photographs. Images really are very, very powerful.

[Duncan]

Mugabe and his henchmen should be forced to account for this horrific abuse of his own people and brought to the Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity. What is the UN for if it cannot prevent such evil take place? Mugabe may have destroyed the fabric of Zimbabwe but he will never break the spirit of its people. The failure of South Africa to stand up to Mugabe is equally deplorable.

[Steevo]

"Why won't the Daily Mail show these pictures? If theses atrocities had been carried out by the Ku Klux Klan they would have been on the front page. Why is it that media is so unwilling to show left-wing atrocities?"

Therein lies the bottom line in my opinion. If major media and elitist bodies like the UN and EU spoke out loud and clear, as they most certainly would if this were right-wing, i doubt such open display would be carried out.

[Bexie]

I note that in SA there is rampant ethnic cleansing of Zim refugees now

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=339323&area=/insight/insight__national/

It does not show well for SA's citizens attitude for people displaced by monster mugabe, and shows the disruption he is causing in the region

[steve schaedel]

What is going on right now is a tactic used by nazis. This ruler needs to be overthrown and shot for the human rights violation he has done. What good has he brought their country ? The opposition needs to show the world these actrocies and bring this hitler down.

[John Pickworth]

Did someone meantion Brown?

Yeah, while Blair certainly has something to answer for allowing Mugabe to run riot in the first place, its also true that this is now Brown's problem. But... there's the little issue of Brown not being elected. He just doesn't have the moral authority to lecture Mugabe and he knows it. Until we change our lame duck leader I'm unsure what we can do?

[englandism.com]

Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa

‘Despite all this evidence of gross inhumanity, President Mbeki insists there is “no crisis” in Zimbabwe. ‘

‘Mugabe is worse than the white supremacist leader, Ian Smith, who he overthrew. He has murdered more black Africans than the apartheid villains Hendrik Verwoerd, John Forster and P W Botha. Yet we never hear a squeak of protest against Mugabe from Mbeki. He and his fellow ANC leaders sit on their hands and look the other way while Zimbabwe burns.

Mbeki has nothing to say about the terrible abuses being inflicted on his fellow Africans. His silence is a shameful betrayal of the ANC’s once proud tradition of pan-African solidarity and support for liberation movements against dictatorships.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the South African trade union federation, COSATU have spoken out against Mugabe’s despotism, why hasn’t Mbeki?’

By Peter Tatchell*. The Guardian – Comment Is Free – 15 April 2008

What hope humanitarian intervention by the African Union if the President of South Africa refuses to accept there is even a problem?

*Peter Tatchell on ConHome?

[cricket from Northern Teritory ,AUSTRALIA]

He's has obviously lost the election and now he is punishing the people as he continually did during his rein, internatinal communities ,take your head out of the sand and step in, or is there nothing ie OIL there to defend for your own greed

[George Hinton]

Publish and let everyone, including the apologists, see what sort of leader Mugabe is.

[Buckinghamshire Tory]

The only thing that can overthrow Mugabe is some sort of western intervention. The African Union does not have the power to clean up in it's own backyard, and South Africa does not want to do anything about it.

[Bexie]

(Sarcasm on) Lots of copper there and we are short of that (Sarcasm off)

[Bexie]

On the Mail and Guardian Forum, an excellent analysis of what happened in the zim Election

http://forum.mg.co.za/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1802212870&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1#1802212870

[englandism.com]

Hi Bexie -A good tool for posting a long address (URL) is:

www.tinyurl.com

It compresses the address for you and it is free.

:)

[Zehra Zaidi]

Another good source of information is Sokwanele (http://www.sokwanele.com/), the website run by the Zimbabwe Civic Action Support Group. Its blog is quite informative. Again, some of the images are quite gruesome.

[englandism.com]

'Chinese troops have been seen on the streets of Zimbabwe's third largest city, Mutare, according to local witnesses.

China's support for President Mugabe's regime has been highlighted by the arrival in South Africa of a ship carrying a large cache of weapons destined for Zimbabwe's armed forces.

Three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and more than 3,000 mortar rounds and mortar tubes are among the cargo on the Chinese ship, according to copies of the inventory published by a South African newspaper.'

http://tinyurl.com/4x5lke

Because of platinum. Just like nickle, copper, and molybdenum, China wants a slice of this and Zimbabwe is the world's #2 producer.

Olympics? Anyone feel like a boycott?

[Mandebvhu]

Hi. You are to be commended for publishing these photographs. And I hope that they do shock someone into actually doing something.

I write about Zimbabwe every day and publish photos of violence and death (yes, I publish the photographs of those that have been killed in the post-election violence) - with the intention of shocking the people...

If they don't like it, they can always move on to the other pages on the internet.

Thank you for the exposure of the brutality of Mugabe's rule.

Take care.

'debvhu

[Mrs Sue Toft]

Yes, the public should be shown these images. Zimbabwe does not need words from world leaders it needs action now! to view more pictures of torture such as these of memory go to the Zimbabwe Vigil held every Saturday outside Zimbabwe House on the Strand between 2pm and 6pm (The vigil will hold its 6th anniversary later in the year) You will be able to meet many Zimbabweans and hear first hand about torture.

[Patricia Shadwell]

Perhaps we should all take a copy of these pictures and send them to Gordon Brown. They are truly appalling and I feel very saddened by them. Where is democracy?

[Ulster Tory]

Maybe Dave could raise the Mugabe issue at PMQT next week? Or maybe Hague could challenge Milliband over our foreign policy?

This kind of appalling atrocity needs to be condemned widely.

[eugene]

We should boycott the Olympics.....and these photographs are the reason....China supports Mugabe.

[Jim Mcleod]

Oh dear God I thought it would not affect me. I feel quite sick, I have seen some horrors in my day but this ........ Speechless!!

[Tony Hannon]

Not so appalling that a couple needed to make moronic anti left-wing points.

These are absolutely awful pictures but they only illustrate what we knew about Mugabe anyway. If it takes shock to wake people up to this, well, so be it.

God forgive me, but I'm reminded of the pictures of limbless Kurds a few years ago which made me very angry and how I remembered those pictures the day Saddam Hussein's blasted neck was broken at the end of a rope.

Perhaps, some day, the most severe justice will catch up with you, Mr Mugabe...

On that sombre note - it's the weekend. Go have a drink!

[Stefan]

It is absolutely imperative that the next Conservative government not only condemns Mugabe, but pursues military action to depose him if all else fails.

Yes, we will be accused of colonialism, yes the so-called African Union will condemn us, yes they may even boycott our oh-so-precious London Olympics. But it is our moral duty to intervene - far more so than Iraq, and definitely a higher priority even than Iran (Israel has proved itself more than capable of defending itself on its own).

This could not be more different than the botched American-led conflicts in the Middle East. There is a native government-in-waiting, so no power vacuum. Al-Qaeda will not descend upon the place as soon as the government has been removed. We may enrage the Africans, but African Christians do not tend to strap explosives to themselves and commit indiscriminate murder. Perhaps we will have furious protests in Parliament Square, but we will not have bombs exploding on the Tube.

One could even argue that we are partly responsible for the situation today. In the over-zealous process of decolonisation, arguably more damage was done to Africa than during the days of the Empire itself: certainly the way we acted towards Zimbabwe/Rhodesia was, in retrospect, short-sighted and foolish.

If Cameron has an ounce of moral fortitude, he should, as Leader of HM Opposition, unequivocally condemn Mugabe, and, as Prime Minister, immediately pour our military resources into removing him.

[Pooter]

"The horror! The horror!"

[j morrison]

see what happens when you don't have a gun.

[Booty]

COMMENT OVERWRITTEN

[rachel]

Dear God. There is this kind of insane brutality happening everywhere around the world now. And the world looks the other way....but they think BUSH is the bad guy? The world has gone nuts.

[Jim Mcleod]

You know it took me quite some time last evening to gather my wits after seeing this.
My own fault I looked at them after a long drive back home from Scotland where I spend 4 days fortnightly on business. My great Grandfather was a Scot I am English ( that is in case it is misconstrued I am defending a Scot for being a Scot it is not).
One thing that also shocked me.
It does the Conservative party no good to make the ribald remarks about Brown and Blair regarding those pictures.
Neither of these men would condone what happened I think people should be a tad careful with throw away remarks.
It is one thing to dislike Blair and Brown intensly it is quite another even suggesting they would allow this to happen and do nothing about it.
The truth is Mugabe is a law unto himself and each time the UK government complains about him he uses it against them to sway his ill educated rabble that it is all the fault of the UK.
Those remarks earlier on in the thread about Brown are a lot below the belt. I would suggest people think first then post. Neither Brown not anybody else has any influence over this monster who has no conscience to begin with. The man is a power hungry despot nothing more nothing less.

[Phil Jones]

Africa is a lost cause. To think we allow these savages into western countries.. The reason Mbeki won't step in is because he has the same plans for SA. Just wait for the land reforms. The 4 million whites there are on borrowed time.

[LCBrendan]

"It is absolutely imperative that the next Conservative government not only condemns Mugabe, but pursues military action to depose him if all else fails."

Or did you mean....

"It is absolutely imperative that the next Conservative government not only condemns Saddam Hussien, but pursues military action to depose him if all else fails."

You lot have vilified the President and PM Blair over Iraq, but now want the Government to go do the same thing in Zimbabwe?

Where was your righteous outrage when Hussein was gassing his own citizens and sponsoring terrorism worldwide??

Where are your heartfelt thanks to President Bush and PM Blair for removing that homicldal tyrant?

YOU HYPOCRITES.

[David Gold]

I quite udnerstand why the Mail chose not to publish these horrific images but applaud the decision to show them here.
The Mugabe regime has got away with too much for too long and yes, the South African government should be ashamed for allowing this to go on with its tacit support.

[Stefan]

LCBrendan, I initially supported the invasion of Iraq as did most of the Conservative Party.

However, we now know that it was based on questionable intelligence, and there was not an adequate plan for reconstruction afterwards. Whilst it is a good thing that Hussein was removed, there are few who would deny that, to put it lightly, we have left a bit of a mess. My reason for mentioning Iraq was merely as a point of contrast, for I believe military intervention in Zimbabwe would be different, and intended to refute left-wingers who would cite Iraq as an example of why Britain should somehow never use its military forces again.

[Patrick M. Walsh]

I cant think of one black run country that is prosperous. I have never even seen a prosperous black neighborhood. Yet the liberals in the USA want to elect a black man as Prez? That's retarded!!!

[Steevo]

Stefan your point is a bit tiring. When Bush laid out the case for the war in his 03 State of the Union address, he said the United States should not wait for an imminent threat. Furthermore, he was told by intelligence Iraq did have WMD. You haven't said "Bush lied" and the fact is he didn't, that mantra began with our Democrats, and was quickly promoted by a very willing media.

"Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent," Bush said. "Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein ... is not an option."

This is interesting from Andrew Sullivan:

"Let's go back here. Clark [general Wesley Clark and Democrat presidential hopeful] essentially concedes that the war in Kosovo was, under international law, indistinguishable from the war in Iraq. Actually, even that's not entirely true. It should be recalled that the United States and its allies, particularly Great Britain, secured a 15-0 Security Council Resolution demanding complete and unfettered access to potential sites of WMD development--or else--in Iraq. The "else" was subject to debate, but the notion that it ruled out any military action is one only Dominique de Villepin would argue with a straight face. No such 15-0 vote occurred at any time before the Kosovo war. So, if anything, the war against Iraq had more international legitimacy than the war in Kosovo. If viewed as a continuation of the 1991 war--the terms of which cease-fire Saddam had grotesquely and systematically violated--it was impeccably legitimate. The 1991 war, after all, was one of very few post-World War II conflicts that had unimpeachable U.N. credentials."

A huge problem with the Iraq war has been the major media and consequently the general perception derived by many of you. It's waged by a Republican President, and with respect to conservative Americans obviously in the United States' national interest. To some people, those characteristics are enough to this day to brand it a failure or even evil? with never-ending distortion and smear.

But for these same media, liberals and just plain anti-Americans that is better than admitting that if they had it their way, Saddam Hussein would still be shoveling children into mass graves, I suppose. And that's what this has really been about. Having lost the argument about the war, and having had Saddam's brutality proven beyond any reasonable doubt, the anti-war folks had to do something to regain the moral high ground - because, to them, the moral high ground is theirs by right, regardless of the nature or consequences of their would-be actions.

So, while there's some truth in "Whilst it is a good thing that Hussein was removed, there are few who would deny that, to put it lightly, we have left a bit of a mess"... would the realities of his continued reign be better? And what about the realities of success? Do you understand the dynamics beyond the BBC? Even the free world has been against us and yet the outcome can well be far more humane and secure. This has been a matter of willingness to forsake the efforts with a horrendous I-told-you-so outcome - or, stay the course, be thankful, and firmly on the side of humanity and justice.

[FreedAGunter]

A famous african once said about african politics:

"One man, one vote, once" -I.D. Smith

Sadly he was right.

[Ruth Robinson]

Ian Smith has been vindicated. He said the blacks would not be capable of ruling for 1000 years. Where are the anti-apartheid people now? Where are the western liberals? If a white-ruled Rhodesia had perpetrated all these atrocities the whole bar of western liberal opinion would have been at their door. Blacks can get away with murder. Rhodesia never had a colour bar. They had a civilized society and were a prosperous nation.

By the way, how is it that an ethnic baby born here is suddenly as English as the indigenous population, but a fifth or sixth generation white African is still foreign?

One rule for them and one for us.

[Mazambane]

Hi there,
I work with many brave people who are fighting to restore peace and freedom in Zimbabwe. the pictures you see can be multiplied by at least 1000 times. I just wish Zimbabwe had oil, it just might make a difference. There is no other way to put it. There is a grnocide underway in Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe is using state infrastructure to cower the people into submission. There are many heroes in Zimbabwe and Memory is one of them. If anyone wishes to help, you can by going to www.zimfund.com and making a donation. Any donation you give will be greatly appreciated by the victims of Mugabe. Please appreciate that the victims are turned away from government hospitals so they have to be treated at private clinics. You can make a difference by giving something small. I thank you

[John Newell]

Email list below, delete list from email!
Some Ideas that might be useful in Opposition to the EU

1) Shadow Parliament. Form a shadow Parliament with
capable, honest, constituency loyal shadow MPs. The MPs
could be selected as follows: form independent bipartisan
organising committees of 10 to 20 persons. The function of
the committees would be to organise independent Labour and
independent Conservative associations. Once formed, the
associations should advertise for Ten or one Hundred
applicants for the position of MP, then, using rigorous tests,
including, most importantly, psychological evaluation,
and investigation to select the best applicant to become
the shadow Parl. candidate. Should the Conservative and
Labour Parties not allow the new associations to use their
names, new names should be found for the new left and
right parties. The new associations would be open to only
Labourites and Conservatives. The new associations should
then offer the Labour and Conservative parties, respectively,
primary elections. The Shadow Parliament could used to
pressure the real Parliament. If the the Shadow Parliament
should have enough support, it could replace the old Parl-
iament, particulary should there be political or social dis-
integration, a distinct possibility. See:
www.home.earthlink.net/~jnewell957 , art#1

2)On behalf of a possible future democratic government, it
is suggested that a warning be issued that the above govern-
ment may enact retroactive laws that may result in the pro-
secution for acts of treason and for acts that violate natural
morality. For example, denial of democracy, aiding illegit-
emate surveillance by the present government, relinquish-
ing the immutable sovereignty of Great Britain, etc. Punish-
ment could include heavy fines, imprisonment, loss of cit-
izenship etc.

3) The Iron law of Organisations
Unless specifically excluded, all organisations with power,
audience or capital will become controlled, dominated, ruled
or ruined by one or more of the following triad: opportunists,
neurotics or the partisan.

4) The Establishment is in the has a habit of controlling all
organisations that it can. It will send some peer, say, Lord
Kindly or Viscount Friendly to become patron of an organ-
isation, despite their very busy schedules. The patron will find
a convenient space for the organisation's office and help in
fund raising, etc. But the real reason is to make sure that the
organisations do nothing inimical to the Establishment and,
if possible, be used for the Establishment's purpose. Thus it
imperative that any new organisations avoid this control. All
political parties are very firmly under their control. It is to be
expected that the Establishment will be very keen to control
any shadow Parliament. Thus, care must be taken to exclude
anybody who might represent or work for the Establishment
from the organising committees; more care must taken in the selection of members of the new political associations: and
even more care in the selection of shadow MPs. It would be
desireable if the organising committees were organised by
Lawyers and psychologists. Members of organising comm-
ittees should not be allowed to belong to political associations
that they organise. Members of political associations should
not be allowed to become candidates selected by their assoc-
ciations, nor candidates in their Parliamentary area. These pro-
hibitions are to discourage any possible corruption.

5) Oppose Oppression with Ten Billion Pricks

Organised opposition to an oppressor requires leaders, who will
then be eliminated. But the oppressor can still be opposed by the
the oppressed if every one were to attack the oppressor daily with a
series of little pin pricks. The pricks would demoralise the oppressor
and give the oppressed greater morale Some possible examples are as
follows:
1) Never show intelligence or initiative when working for the
oppressor
2) Only understand the simplest instructions
3) Commit many acts of minor or symbolic destruction
4) Be inefficient when working for the oppressor
5) Leak the oppressor's secrets slowly
6) act on behalf of the individual, not the oppressor
7) Act a bit strangely
8) Arrange objects in a patterns that are understood to be
a protest against the oppressor
9) When walking in squares or street intersections,
walk in a counterclockwise direction to show opposition
10) Avoid streets with names associated with the oppressor
11) Do not join any judicial or security organisation unless to
oppose the oppressor
12) When appropriate, members of security forces shall make
their superiors less effective at oppression unless these
superiors have made their own superiors less effective
13) vote and attend mandatory meetings as late as possible
14) Work to rule
15) In the street, gather in bunches, walk in bunches, walk in
lock step
16) Everyone is to get into minor trouble
17) Disable illegitimate surveillance equipment
18) Laugh, ridicule at the oppressor
19) Invent, invent, think, adapt, reject, add
20) Do what other people do, so that all will do the same
thing to show opposition to the oppressor
21) Have Fun
22) Take photographs of the oppressor's personnel
23) Distribute
24) Use irony

[Trevor Mann]

There are many reasons the South African Government under Mbeki cannot intervene in Zimbabwe. First and foremost is the fact that Mugabe supported the ANC in it war against the aparteid government. He supplied logistical support in Zimbabwe to the ANC. Mbeki, as part of the Old Guard, cannot now stab is old buddy in the back, hence the quiet diplomacy of the current ANC led government. The new leadership has already started voicing it's disapproval of the Zimbabwe situation, but I would not like to get anyones hopes up just yet. The reality of the situation is that the ANC has it own agenda to destroy the opposition within South Africa, they are just doing it in a far more subtle manner - the build up is evident - South Africa will more than likely burn, as the rest of Africa has, Botswana excluded. African men are by nature power hungry and gennerally once they get it they don't like the idea of relinquishing it. It is unlikely that Africa will ever have another leader like Mr Nelson Mandela, God bless him, but we can hope. In the mean time how can we expect the rest of the world to intervene, when the AU and other such organisations have said in the past, "let Africans take care of African problems on the African continent". The fact that the South African and all other African governments have done nothing substantial to stop the atrocities in Zimbabwe shows that they like the model that Mugabe has used to retain power. Keep the power and you get rich. The Zimbabwean people rose up against the White oppressors with great success because they were supported by countries with vast resources. The MDC has very little chance of success because they cannot wage a bloody conflict. They do not have the financial backing. The only way Mugabe will be forced out is through the barrel of a gun, that is the way he came to power, and it is the way most governments in africa have come to power. It is the way of Africa. Even if an intervention force overthows Mugabe, the same force would have to eliminate, incarcerate or remove all the Zanu PF people from Zimbabwe, another genocidal type action to create stability in the long term. And then what? Morgan? Please dont be so naieve to think that with the economy in tatters as it is, that Morgan will be happy with his prize. He will more that likely follow suit but will do it in a different way.