Zimbabwe opposition supporters describe violence

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE (Reuters) - Opposition supporters from Zimbabwe's countryside described on Tuesday a campaign of arson and violence against them since President Robert Mugabe's ruling party lost a parliamentary election a month ago.

"My house was burned down, so were all the clothes and my children spent a week sleeping in the bush," said Chengetanai Chimunhu, a 70-year-old activist and father of four from Marambapfungwe, a rural district east of Harare.

Precious, a tearful 22-year-old with a six-month-old baby who was too afraid to give her second name, told a similar story.

"They torched our house, they burnt our livestock, I have nothing left and don't know where to start...," she told reporters.

Human rights groups, Western governments and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change all say that Mugabe has unleashed his militias in the countryside since the March 29 vote both to punish and intimidate before an expected presidential run-off.

Electoral authorities confirmed last weekend that the MDC defeated Mugabe's ZANU-PF party in the parliamentary poll but results of the presidential vote have still not been released.

Thousands of people have fled their homes and the MDC says more than 15 of its supporters have been killed by ZANU-PF militants. The ruling party denies this.

Precious, like many other opposition supporters, fled her smoldering home in northeastern Zimbabwe and took refugee in the MDC offices in the capital Harare.

But then she was arrested with more than 200 other victims of the violence in a police raid on the offices on Friday. She and her baby were released from a police cell after two days. The remaining detainees were released on Tuesday without charge.

FORMER SOLDIERS

Chimunhu, a widower, was also arrested at the MDC offices but was released quickly because of his age.

He has since been re-united with three of his adult children and like Precious is staying at a secret location.

"We know the perpetrators, they are even killing people but police are reluctant to act. Some of them fought in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) war but they are no longer soldiers. They are moving with rifles," Chimunhu said.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF lost its parliamentary majority to the MDC for the first time in 28 years and the opposition says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the parallel presidential vote.

Results from that poll are now expected to be cross-checked by party agents and the outcome is likely in about a week, after a long delay that has stoked accusations Mugabe is trying to rig the vote.