US embassy condemns Stevenson attack

US embassy condemns Stevenson attack

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By Staff Reporter

THE United States Embassy in Zimbabwe has joined the international condemnation of the attack on Harare North MP Trudy Stevenson, by a rival opposition faction.

However, the embassy was keen to emphasise that the culture of violence was deepest in Zanu PF.

In a statement released Wednesday, the American embassy also called on the ruling party to negotiate with domestic political parties.

Stevenson, a member of the MDC faction led by robotics scientist, Professor Arthur Mutambara, told reporters she was attacked by youths loyal to another faction led by the MDC's first leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

At least nine MDC activists and an MP, Mabvuku legislator Timothy Mubawu, have been arrested and charged with inciting violence.

The US embassy said: “The moral rot is deepest in Zanu PF, which has been responsible for the vast majority of the offences.

"Few, if any, of the perpetrators of these acts were ever punished. If it proves true that MDC supporters were behind the attack on Stevenson, it would be a sad testament of the extent to which the ruling party’s desperate tactics have institutionalized political violence in Zimbabwe."

The embassy noted the contents of a recent report by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Non-Governmental Forum that said since July 2001, more than 15 000 cases of organized violence and torture had been reported in Zimbabwe, with the police said to be responsible in most of the cases.

The statement also welcomed the appointment of a commission of enquiry by the Tsvangirai faction, which the Mutambara group has rejected as an attempt to divert attention.

“Without prejudging the results, wrongdoers must be brought to book and punished according to law regardless of their political affiliation,” it said.

On the issue of negotiations it said: “The US reiterates its call on the ruling party to negotiate with its domestic political opponents in good faith and to take the reforms needed to bring an end to the crises its misguided policies have wrought on a once prosperous and domestic nation”.
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