Zimbabwe Riot Police Leaves Protesting Women Bloodied

This is a bloody slipper belonging to one of the protesters who were savagely beaten yesterday by Zimbabwe Riot Police in Bulawayo. They were commemorating the International Day of Peace.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 23 September 2009

Here's the latest news on Zimbabwe's feared riot police, who appear to continue behaving as though the Agreement between Tsvangirai and Mugabe, which guarantees freedom of assembly, does not exist.

Activists of the organisation Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), were beaten up for attempting to commemorate the United Nations International Day of Peace! This was yesterday, 22 September 2009!

The police dispersed them and in the process, one of those protesting had to run through broken glass, resulting in her feet being cut badly.

WOZA says a senior policeman in the Bulawayo area, upon seeing the protesters regroup, told his men that they had not beaten them hard enough.

This is par for the course in Zimbabwean society.

The riot police are trained like automatons: see protester, beat.

It matters not whether the protest is peaceful or not. Mugabe and his henchmen realised a long time ago that a small protest can easily get out of hand and lead to the toppling of a government.

So the tactic is to ensure that there are never any protests unless they are ZANU PF. You still have to notify the police if there will be more than fifteen of you gathered anywhere in Zimbabwe.

This allows the police to see who is organising the protest and what their perceived politics are.

Of course, this repression has been cited by Zimbabweans as a reason they can not get rid of Mugabe, pleading that they are unarmed and can not take on an armed state that has gone rogue against its own people.

Nonsense, of course, as these brave women have shown over and over again.

The truth of the matter is that Zimbabweans, as a people love life more than freedom. The very few of them who are actually nation-shapers in the mould of the bravest and strongest men of all Ages are the ones currently ruling.

At one point, they made the decision to love freedom more than their lives: Mugabe, Tsvangirai, the Generals - they are made of sterner stuff than 99.9 percent of the people they rule.

Which is why this country will always do whatever the politicians what it to.