Rights Lawyers to Investigate Rape in Zimbabwe

An international advocacy group says it is sending a team of lawyers to Zimbabwe to collect evidence of mass sexual violence, which it says is part of an anti-opposition campaign by supporters of President Robert Mugabe. The group, AIDS-Free World, says Zimbabwean women and girls have been subjected to gang rape, beatings, torture and the threat of HIV infection in a campaign of violence by the ruling ZANU-PF party. Speaking Thursday at a press event at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico, a Zimbabwean women's rights activist, Betty Makoni, said many of the victims are relatives of people involved with the political opposition. AIDS-Free World says at least 53 women and girls have stepped forward to document their cases so that justice can be pursued. Makoni said some of the rapists are members of the ZANU-PF youth... [read full story]