On December 3rd at 5am, in the small town of Norton (40km west of Harare), fifteen armed men in civilian clothing burst into the home of Jestina Mukoko. The executive director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project was seized by these members of the Zimbabwean secret police, in one of the highest level abduction operations carried out by Mugabe’s government so far. According to Abel Chikomo of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, the armed men also assaulted Mukoko’s caretaker before taking her away.

The Zimbabwe Peace Project, run by Jestina Mukoko, has proved greatly embarrassing to President Robert Mugabe. Its work includes the cataloguing of incidents of violence and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe for the last eight years. Detailed and reliable accounts were provided through the network of hundreds of monitors throughout the country, co-ordinated by Jestina Mukoko, who provided information on the campaigns of brutality and human rights abuses carried out by the Zimbabwean government under Mr Mugabe. These included detailed records of thousands of incidents of murder, assault, torture, arson and other incidents of violence, including the names of the perpetrators.

According to one human rights lawyer, the Peace Project had just shifted from cataloguing the violence to highlighting the abuse of food aid by the government, which resulted in a choice between supporting Mugabe or starving to death. Had this information been publicised, it would undoubtedly have been extremely embarrassing for the Mugabe administration. The CIO (the Central Intelligence Organisation, Mugabe’s secret police) was naturally keen to prevent the release of such information.

This is the second serious kidnapping in over a month, following a government hit squad seizing activists from the town of Banket, 100km north of the capital. Fourteen MDC activists (including the two-year-old daughter of one) were seized, and witnesses have identified the names of police officers forming part of the squad. Mugabe’s government initially claimed that the abducted men were involved in ‘training insurgents’ against the regime, but now denies that they are in official custody. The whereabouts of the fifteen are unknown, and none have been seen since their abduction 43 days ago. The police have ignored court orders for the activists to be produced in court.

Police have also been active in breaking up numerous demonstrations in Harare, including those by the national trades union movement and by health workers pressing for ‘a safe working environment’ during the country’s current cholera epidemic.