Tsvangirai's tears for slain activist

Tsvangirai's tears for slain activist

HARD TO TAKE: Tsvangirai breaks down for slain activist (left), and (right) MDC leader with Shepherd Jani's son

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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWEAN opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday fought back tears as he buried a second prominent opposition activist said killed by death squads loyal to President Robert Mugabe.

Shepherd Jani, the former MDC provincial treasurer for Murehwa, was seized by four armed men from his office on May 22, and his body was found by a farmer in the Goromonzi area two days later.

A second MDC activist, Langton Mafuse, who stood for the MDC in council elections in Murehwa North, is still missing.

Tsvangirai, who appeared to wipe off tears while meeting Jani’s relatives, fingered President Mugabe’s shock troops as responsible for Jani’s murder.

The MDC leader, who led the funeral procession for Harare-based activist Tonderai Ndira on Sunday, says at least 50 opposition supporters have been killed since general elections on March 29. The MDC gained control of parliament and narrowly missed out on ending Mugabe’s 28-year rule in the presidential ballot.

Zimbabweans vote in a run-off election between Tsvangirai and Mugabe on June 27, and the opposition chief says Mugabe’s Zanu PF is using a terror campaign to frighten his supporters.

On Wednesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights strongly condemned the murders.

Louise Arbour said: "It is hard to get a very precise picture of the full range of the violence or the exact number of politically motivated extra-judicial killings.

“At one level, there appears to be an increasing pattern of people being targeted for politically motivated assassination. At another, arrests, harassment, intimidation and violence - directed not just at people with political affiliations, but also at members of civil society - are continuing on a daily basis."

The High Commissioner called on the Zimbabwe government to investigate and prosecute those responsible, as well as to take urgent measures to prevent more attacks.

MOURNING: Tsvangirai addresses mourners in rural Murehwa on Wednesday
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