Gukurahundi Genocide Similar To Holocaust

The fact that Mugabe has labelled himself as 'Hitler - tenfold' will never help in his case in defence of heading a totalitarian government. And, incredibly, his government prosecuted a woman for agreeing with Mugabe, by called him 'Hitler'...

There are many other similarities. The 'brown bombers' are Mugabe's equivalent of the 'brown shirts' - his total disregard for the people of Zimbabwe, the people who he claims put him in office, and his eagerness to ensure that the ZANU PF policies are beaten, literally, into the people.

The attempted killing of his political foes, the incarceration of his opposers for crimes manufactured by his party, his refusal to acknowledge defeat in any election, and his hatred of the Ndebele people.

And, of course, the Gukurahundi...

"A retired Anglican Bishop has warned that more innocent Zimbabweans will be tortured and killed by Robert Mugabe’s machine, while the world watches, as was the case with the Gukurahundi massacres and previous elections.

The Gukurahundi massacres saw tens of thousands of innocent Zimbabweans killed by soldiers loyal to the Mugabe regime in the mid eighties. Last year, the Gukurahundi was officially classified as genocide by the internationally recognized group Genocide Watch.

Robert Mercer, the former Bishop of Matabeleland, made the remarks in an interview to mark this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day, held on Thursday last week. Mercer said although the Jewish genocide involved millions of deaths, it still reminded him of the Matabeleland killings. While stationed in Matabeleland he saw mass graves and shells from guns. "I am a Zimbabwean, so those atrocities stick in my mind," he said.

Mercer went on to warn that with talk of an upcoming election, Mugabe will again torture people using units of the army and his Green Bombers, who butchered political opponents previously. In the run up to the polls in 2008, hundreds of MDC supporters were killed and tens of thousands tortured by ZANU PF using soldiers, secret state agents, and youth militia to carry out the atrocities.

"This is the very, very strong possibility," Mercer said, "We can learn from the past. The past teaches us that Mugabe will stop at nothing to force people into voting for him, and will destroy people who will vote against him."

"The world won't take much notice - there isn’t oil. There are diamonds in Zimbabwe of course, and that goes into the pockets of the oligarchs and kleptocrats," he said.

Mercer said African leaders are not going to stop Mugabe as he is part of their dictators club. "They certainly appear not to care. What pressure do they bring on Mugabe? Nobody wants to rock the boat over Mugabe," Mercer said.

The theme for this year’s Holocaust memorial was "untold stories". The Gukurahundi is one of the worlds great untold stories and the ZANU PF regime has always fought to silence the Gukuranhundi story. Last year an art exhibition about the Gukuranhundi was outlawed, and the artist thrown in jail.

In another development, the head of the Anglican church around the world, Dr Rowan Williams, on Monday called on Robert Mugabe to stop persecuting Anglicans. Williams was referring to a faction of priests, led by an excommunicated bishop loyal to President Mugabe. The priests receive police backing to attack parishioners - many of whom have been shut out of church buildings and forced to worship in the open air."

I was a member of the ZRP during the early days of the Gukurahundi and witnessed things that no person should ever see. Then, when I began to uncover the truth of the genocide, I was made an offer I could not refuse, and swiftly left the police.

Cowardice? Perhaps. But sometimes a person has to make decisions based on the situation at the time and that decision is a momentary choice.

In 2006 I wrote "Without Honour", an autobiographical work that looks entirely at the experiences I had within the ZRP in Matabeleland South province and the discoveries I made.

without honour february 2011 56mCE 16744

The book is available on Lulu, Amazon and Create Space as a 'print on demand' item.

Robb WJ Ellis

The Bearded Man