Report Details Massacre In Zimbabwe

A confidential church report details atrocities by government soldiers during a rebellion in the 1980s, including 2,000 civilians allegedly slaughtered in a six-week period, a newspaper reported Friday.

The newspaper said the report included thousands of cases of torture, rape and human rights abuse between 1981 and 1987 in the western Matabeleland province.

The Weekly Mail and Guardian, published in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday, gave details from the 300-page report compiled from more than 1,000 witness accounts by the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission and an independent lawyers group, the Legal Resources Foundation.

Father Oskar Wermter, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Harare, said the report of the church’s human rights arm was submitted to President Robert Mugabe on March 17. He said he did not know how the report was leaked to the newspaper.

The report spoke of 2,000 civilians slaughtered over one six-week period by soldiers of the North Korean-trained Five Brigade.

It said homes were burned, villagers were frequently beaten and corpses were left to rot and be eaten by wild animals. Mourning by survivors was forbidden, in breach of traditional tribal custom.

Pregnant women were bayoneted and both women and men were sexually mutilated and tortured.

Mugabe’s office said Friday officials wanted to study the Mail and Guardian disclosures.

In the past, Mugabe has acknowledged civilians were killed in Matabeleland but said they were the victims of war.