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Teen Rapes Reported at Mugabe Torture Camps

Pregnancy spike among victims as militia crushes Mugabe opposition

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 6, 2008 8:30 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Teenage pregnancy rates have spiked after youth militia members began raping Zimbabwean girls in President Robert Mugabe's torture camps, human rights workers tell the Times of London. The stigma against rape victims has kept the victims mostly silent, but a single hospital saw a spike of 16 expectant teenagers, and the trend is thought to be fairly widespread.

“It is a particularly brutal and disturbing element of the months of violence," said a human rights worker. The local militia is seeking to destroy support for the opposition party in the area. In Harare, Mugabe's regime are arresting, killing or driving away enough opposition parliament members to regain a majority.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is seen, at a news conference in Harare Wednesday July 2, 2008.
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is seen, at a news conference in Harare Wednesday July 2, 2008.   (AP Photo)
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe faces his largest threat from opposition-controlled parliament, but arrests and persecution of MDC MPs could soon give his party full power.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe faces his largest threat from opposition-controlled parliament, but arrests and persecution of MDC MPs could soon give his party full power.   (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Movement For Democratic Change supporters are camping within the South African Embassy premises in Harare. They are the lucky ones: those in Mugabe's torture camps suffer brutal treatment.
Movement For Democratic Change supporters are camping within the South African Embassy premises in Harare. They are the lucky ones: those in Mugabe's torture camps suffer brutal treatment.   (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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Winning by removing his opponents
Times (UK)

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Toronto Star (Canada)

'Coertion, intimidation, beating, displacement'
Times (South Africa)

Mugabe is a man corrupted by power
Chicago Tribune

 
torture • Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • rape • militia • parliament • teen pregnancy • Movement for Democratic Change • MDC

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