The New York Times - August 7, 2008
Lawrence K. Altman

Hers is one of 53 cases documented by AIDS-Free World, an advocacy group investigating rape as a political weapon in Zimbabwe, activists said Thursday at a news conference at the 17th International AIDS Conference here.

Betty Makoni, director of Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe, said at the news conference, "Rape is being used as a weapon of political intimidation to instill fear in us, our families and communities." Youth militias have raped an estimated 800 girls on bases, she said.

Other rape victims include the wives, sisters, mothers and grandmothers of political opponents, Ms. Makoni said. Some were teachers, ward leaders and clergy members, she said. Some were raped in front of family members and some men were forced to rape their mothers-in-law. The victims were often forced to say they would never support the opposition, she said.

"Pesticides, sticks and other objects have been inserted in their vaginas," Ms. Makoni said.

Many victims went to state hospitals to seek treatment to prevent pregnancy, as well as H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted infections, she said, but they were denied treatment, even when they were in pain and bleeding. The victims said that doctors at government hospitals did not treat them, fearing repercussions.

AIDS-Free World is a Boston-based advocacy group that focuses on international AIDS issues. Stephen Lewis, the co-director of the group, said it was collecting evidence of rape and other atrocities committed in the campaign that was aimed at the political opposition in Zimbabwe. Rape and other atrocities have long been part of wars and political campaigns in many countries. But the evidence for charges of atrocities is often obtained long after alleged crimes.

Documenting personal accounts now as well as collecting photographic and laboratory evidence obtained soon after the alleged crimes, AIDS-Free World said, should eventually make for stronger legal cases to present to prosecutors under new governments in Zimbabwe than has been possible in similar situations elsewhere.

Noah Novogrodsky, a human-rights lawyer and the advocacy group's legal director, said the evidence would also be shared with the office of the United Nations high commissioner for human rights for possible prosecution as crimes against humanity.

The United Nations' latest report on AIDS says "widespread violence against women not only represents a global human rights crisis but also contributes to women's vulnerability to H.I.V."

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