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Sapa-Sapa-AFP

BULAWAYO — A candidate for Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change, David Coltart, said yesterday he had been informed of a new death threat against him, apparently linked to his work as a human rights lawyer during the Matabeleland massacres in the 1980s.

Coltart, who has been threatened on several occasions during the election campaign, said news of the threat came from a sympathetic senior police officer in Bulawayo, who had asked to meet Coltart’s campaign manager, Simon Spooner.

“Simon was told we should be extra careful because there were plans to eliminate me if I revealed the information I have on Gukurahundi, the Fifth Brigade.”

Gukurahundi was the name given by President Robert Mugabe to the programme of genocide carried out by his Korean-trained Fifth Brigade in the province between 1983 and 1985. At least 10000 people were detained and 7000 beaten or tortured. While investigators could confirm over 2 000 deaths, they said possible dead could be more than five times that number.

Coltart investigated many of the incidents and was co-author of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission report on the episode.

The MDC has proposed war crime tribunals for those responsible for the killings, who include several Zanu-PF candidates running in the election.

The original reports and other “damning” documents used in compiling the commission report are now housed in London for safekeeping.

Coltart said he had no intention of using the documents in the election campaign, and did not in any case have any authority to do so, as they were controlled by the commission and the Legal Resources Foundation, co-sponsor of the project.

MDC Legal Affairs

Dedicated Human Rights activist

David Coltart was born in Gweru in 1957. He is committed to Zimbabwe and Bulawayo, a city he has lived in for many years and where his three children attend school. He is the candidate for Bulawayo South.

Coltart notes: “Zimbabwe’s economy has collapsed because ZANU-(PF) is violent and undemocratic. It has spent our hard earned money on a huge cabinet, imported Mercedes Benz vehicles, involved Zimbabwe in a futile war in the Congo - the list of the Government’s incompetence is a long and sad song.”

From work at the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre where he started his legal career, he learnt that the people of Zimbabwe are unaware of their fundamental rights. Decades of human rights abuses have left citizens feeling cut off from the justice system. To improve society, the Centre now runs 10 legal advice branches for the underprivileged in Matabeleland, organises workshops and seminars, is involved in test case and public interest case litigation. In the past year the Centre has been responsible for a number of landmark Constitutional decisions handed down by the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe.

“Do not be fooled by ZANU(PF)’s use of land to divert our attention away from the disastrous state of the economy and their corruption. Since 1987 this party has had in its hands all the constitutional power to solve the land issue but it has failed dismally. Now they want to dump people on small plots without giving them ownership of that land, without providing roads, water, schools or clinics to ensure success for these abandoned communities. They cannot provide the needed infrastructure because the economy is bankrupt and they will not get any funding for their land policy because of their irresponsible behaviour.