Rhodesia - Massacre of the Innocents

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MASSACRE OF THE INNOCE NTS

Pnblubrd by rftr Mi nirrry of I nformnnon. Jrnnugrcnon retd Fascism P.O. Ros byfl, Cmrsrnny, Rftodcnn

JANLiAR Y. lurb

Ibo material is prcnarcd, cditcd. issued or circulated by thc Rhodesian Informsuon Offtcc. 2SS2 MeGtll Terrace. NW, Wasbtngton. DC. 2000$. tsbteb u rcdtstcrcdunder the Forctbn Agents Rebrstrauon Act as an egest ol tbc Mtmstry of laformstion. Government nf Rhodesia. Salisbury. Tbo mstcnal ts Sled «ith tnc Deparuncnt of Jmuce «ttete tbe required rcgistra. tioa wtcmcnt is available tor pubbc taspccuoa Rcnsstrauon does not indtcate approval of the contents ot this matcnal by tbo Umtcd States Government.

Cover picture: Nacasha Gicnny, sh nad • buff mnntba oll vrho om bnyoumrd to death by Jb errurfssn ln cpscmbce, I pyy.

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"Feoohos ttshteet" henley' thne tace, states seat ehitdtea lato the hst. theo • el Sta to the that thed toot.

MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS Rural black Rhodesians —men. women and cbddren — have been the major vicums of the country's escalating terror war. As it enters its sixth year. more than 2 500 black civdians have been kiged. compared with 12I ~hite civilians and 400 members of the Security Forces lblack and white) Thousands more black civdians have been injured Known terrorist losses amount to over 3690 vithin Rhodesia. many more have been killed in raids on terrorist bases in Mozambique. and it tv ccrtiun that many hundreds more have died as the result of wound«malnutrition and discase in base camps across the bonier.

Tragically. Ihe vdlagers are dying in a war they do nm want. waged to funher a polincal creed they do nnt understand or care about. Many have dred agnniungly after torture. mutilation. burning and beating Others have had lips. ears and cheeks hacked olf. which relatives haic been forced to cook and eat. Conic and other livestock «crc slaughtered or hamstrung. huts and grain stores «erc burnt by marauding gangs during tbe carly part of the var. I.'narmed villagers were forced to watch the senseless destruction by tcrronsts cquippcd with automauc «capons Today, many thousands have taken grateful mfuge in protected villages or live in communities protected by the security forces and the para mihtary wingot the Ministry of internal Affairs The increasingly heavy toll exacted by the security forces has caused tbe desperate terronsts leaders and pohtical commissars to abduct schookhildren for training. Many wbo attempted to escape have been shin

In some remote areas, mission schools have been closed because of the murder and intimidation of tbe staff by terrorists Although white farm and livestock output rose during the ftrst eight months of I977. black otuput fell by 8.7 per cent to $18,8 milhon riccauic of thc war The terrorists are themvclves terrified of the security forces and make every ctfort to avoid aintacts «ith them I7tey concentrate instead on

"soft" targets, High on their list ate mission stations where thc residents are known to be unarmed. Dedicated missionaries. fenudo and male, htcluding a 71-yearold

former Bishop of Bulawayo, have beengunned down. Chikbun, black and white. have alto been victims of tbe heavilyarmed gangs. In one instance, a six.mouthed child. Natasha Gknny, «as dragged from tbe arms of ber nanny and bayoneted to death by a 20.strung group. In another. a gang of children wctu mortared as they phtyed on the lawns of a country club.

But tbe majority of child casuahties have been black. They died «ith their parents ia massacres. burnt to death m their buts as they slept, or were blown up by landmines planted ind'scriminately throughout the Tribal Tnnt Lands.

In the first weeks of Ipyg terrorist savagery reached a peak which seemed timed to co.iocide with the visit to Mozambiqueot Lord Carver. ihe resident commissioocr~ g n ate for Rhodesia under the Aaglo-

American proposals. In four bloody da)s-from January 7 to January IO — terrorists

kigcd I7 people, six of whom were children Three of the children were «hi», They were murdered when terrorists anackcd tbe larms oo which they were Uving. Three adults were kiUed in the attacks One. a 74-year~ w omao who was congncd to hcf bed arid was reliant on oa)gen. was shot through a bedrooln window while eaung her eveniog meal from a tray. Three black children oo their way to school were callously butchered by terrorists who ambushed the vehick in which they were traveUiog. shooting two in the head at point blank range after gring rige grenades into the vchick. The dard schoolboy died oa tbe way to hospital The driver of the vehicle was kiged instantly, A I S-yearold white schoolboy was murdered on Jaauary I I. Terrorists struck when Colin Tigey and his pareats arrived at their home near gal»bury, riddhog the car with automatic lire from close range When Colin's father returned gru, d» terrorists Acd. AU these atrocities have bccn condoned by tbe IJnitcd Nations, and governments and individutds wbo constantly provide funds for the

"freedom fighters". Convenieady ovcdookcd has been the faction Ughting between ter. rorist bands who support one or other of tbe power hungry nationahst badcrs. They are kudcrs wbo. though agcgcdly united under a single ideology, know that failure to triumph tribally will mean their bloody chuunauon il power is ever handed to any but themselves.

TERRORISM AND TRIBESMEN The high rauo of rural blacks murdered by tenorists compared with any other sector of the communny underlines tbe blatant hypocrisy of tbe terrorists' claims to be "frccdom fighters". Similarly, their claims to have tbe backing and suppon of tbe tribesmen have been disproved by their nccd to forceably abduct youngsters, teenagcn and thc elderly to join their ranks. either as potential fighters or as ponen Thc frccdom from intimidaiion. mutilation and murder increasingly

provided by the tough, highly moMe wings of tbe security forces has denied food supplies previously extoncd by terrorbt gangs. Bids to rustle cattle have been similarly thwaned. As a result, death by starvation is another of tbe haxnids faced by terrorists. It is not uncommon for thc spoorot a terrorist to cnd with the drstxivery of bis emaciated corpse. and for the subsequent autopsy to show he had been existing on grass and roots.

The announcement by the Prime hfinister, Mr. lan Smith. of bis qualified acccptencc of the Kissingcr peace proposals appeared to spur the terrorists to new depths of despcnue murder. Sixteen tnbcspeople were kdkd less than two weeks after tbe announcement. by a gang which attacked Nakiwa consolidated village CARNAGE

A "Rhodesia Herakl" reponer who visited thc scene wrote: -Amid thc carnage an African woman sat uying to feed sadza fpomdgc) to a baby with shrapnel in both hps. Tbc chikl was four months okf. Perhaps six. B was difftcuh to say.

"Thc shrapnel protruded from bleeding gums. a grotesque epitaph to terrorist savagery. "But the baby was alive. Around the woman and her child were mutilated bodies. victims of one ol the most cowardly tenorist attacks in the war to date Six bodies were heaped around the tail fin of a llloftar,

"There was • child wnhout arms or legs Another without a groin. A youth with gross stomach wounda A man with luags gl1cd with

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"There was • woman with hcr hack blown out. Another with her buttocks blown tdf.A 70-yearold woman lay some thnance away. Shc had ao head. tbc shattered telnalns lay solnc 40 In away "Another woman lay on thc ground, Sbe was wounded. but ahve.

Tbe baby strapped to her back was dead. its bead filhd with shrapnel There was a pregnant woman lnlnus a Icg. Shc later aborted

"ln ag, l6 were dead — mne of them children. Another l6 are in hospital. Some may die, othem have wounds that wiU leave them per. manently disahhd." One of tbe victims. • deputy headmaster. was shot through tbe head at point blank range. The others died as a result of mortaring.

OVIRAGE Thc terroruts lied as soon as secunty forces, alerted by a villager, arrived at the scene. ln a second ouuage. less than a week later, tenrorists shot dead l2 black men and wounded Uve others. One ot tbe largest tcnorist auocitics commiacd again their own

people occurred on December 20. l976. in tbe Honda Vagcy. which borders on Morambtque, It was reported by the "Rhodesia Hcrakl"

defence reporter Chris Reynokb He wrote: "Teaorists massacred 27 unarmed black workers as their wivm and chddren watched on a tes estate. The mass killing was described as the most cagous in tbe terrorist war — if not in the country's history. "The terrorists, numbering between 20 and 30, entcrcd a compound at 8.38 p,m, and rounded up aU tbc mrn. women and cbiklren they could find.

hIARCHKD "They stnpped them of aU their personal possessiom. including clothing and radios, and marched them for more than one kilomeue to a lighted factory building, "There they herded the 35 women and children imo a separate group. They were forced to put their beads between their knees.

The men were forced to be on tbeground. For thme or four minutes the terrorists grad at the bclpkus bodies. "Nine Mozarnbitiuc nationals diaL Eight Malawi astioaals died.

So did l0 Rbodcsians. Ebvcn other men werc injured, some of them Zambians-

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Reynolds mtcrvicwcd the wife of onc ol the Malawian victims, the father of gve children. She told him: -The terrorists have been herc before telling us not to work for the «hite man When they came last night they told us wc had disobeyed their instructions. They told us they were taking us away. They told us our salanes were so low we woukl be beuer olf dead. so they were going to shoot us."

Dunng that Chrisunas period, thc war claimed the lives nf 4$ Africans. In onc mcident, tcnorists tortured eight Africans. lour of them women, before sbootmg them. On December 22. terronsts locked Mr Stephen Chindomu and his wile. Alrcda. a couple m their sixncs, m their hut. They had earhcr dragged their son, Wonder, outside and shot him through thc hip before bayoneting him to death.

BABIES They took the couple's two daughters. Connie, aged 19. and Cbipo aged 23, and roped them together before gunning them down at point

blank range. Chipo waspregnant. and both girls had babies. Eight days later in the extreme north. east ol the country • 20strong terrorist gang homed down 2l2 of 380 huts in Kandcya consolidated village complex. before tbe tribesmen had an opportunity to salvage their belongings. The gang used mvihans as a human shield when security lorces arrived, Twentywne died in the ensuing action. On Apnf 9. 1977. seven African men were herded out of a kraal in the Eastern Districts by a terrorist gang and brutally beaten before

bemg shot dead %VATCllED Tbe lollouing month, on May 22, an overcrowded pick.up truck hit a terrorist landmine while travelling on a road never used by tbe sccurny forces. Evidence found at the scene later indicated that a single terronst hid and watched as the «xplosion ripped apart thc vehicle. detonating petrol in a container in the rear Fourteen occupants. includ. ing two cbddrcn and six women, died a hideous death. Four others who sustained severe burns wem taken to hospital by members ot the security forces. where two later died, A Combined Operations communique issued oa July 20. I9 77. reported the murder by terrorists of the 23 members of a kraal vho werc forced into a hut and burnt alive

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The fogowtng is a su mmary of a rc port by Defence Reporter Reynolds, who was a member of a Press party which visited the scene: "Murdcrcd were Mr, Iobn Chirtwa, bis mne wives and l3 of hi s

36 children The chgdrcn included two girls agedtwo and four, a boy and girl. both aged six, and two boys aged six, He quoted security force Captain Fred Ingram, wbo was first on the scene. "When wc got here «e found the enure vrUage had been wiped out and the kraal gutted "The vwmmv were dragged from their sleeping quarters and herded together in one hut. The terrorists then set Are to tbe thatched rool," The atrocity took place at Chiriwa Kraal, in tbe Rushinga area, cast of Mount Darwin.

IIDRROR Wrote Reynolds: "The massacre scene yesterday was one of unspeakabh horror. wiih 22 charred bodies lying in twisted positions of agonising death inside thc hut. -Teo metrcs from tbe hut were thc charred remains of the other body. Wild dogs or hyena had dragged it from tbe but and chewed at theremains.having only thc nb cage and skuU. "The 26-hut kraal was a scene of devastation. All huts bad been gutted, wnh thc excepuon of the skcpmg quarters where there were signs of the struggfe put up by the women and children as they were dragged to their deattu "In cath bcdrooom blankets liucred the floors where they had been thrown aside as the vicums»ere pulled from their beds SL'Rfvff "Goats and sheep were burnt alive in their pens Farming equip. ment was destroyed. AU that remained were a fcw goats and chickens

that hadesc apedThe cattle and dogshad been driven olt.

-In the sleeping quarters. dresses and other ckxhing hupg from the ceiling I rcasurcd possevsions lined thc shelves ol each room There were a fcv school booksThe gang left a note at the scene It said -Zimbabwe" woukf ciime through the barrel o( a gun and "Forward with 2 A.NL.A." I12re Zunbabwc Alncan National Liberation Army) Refcrnng to -Smith's soldiers" as "pigs. dogs and baboons" the note said "Don't think you are gomg to win Uus»ar. Forget it. On thisday you aregoing to sce how had wc can hc."

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In the eastern operational area, on July 27. an African woman

ntorekeepcr was bcatcn to death with rocks by a terrorist gang Tbe store was robbed, then sct alight by the gaag wbo unsuccessfully attempted to rob another store in the same area.

Tenorist action agauut thc urban black has been more often sndividual rntimxlation than open viohmce. An exception was tbe suitcase bomb planted in a Salbhury department store — poptdar with

the local township"s population — on a busy Saturday morning ut August, I 977.

lite ensuing blast killed I I ptxrplc — three of them Europeanand in>ared 76 others, Women and children «cre among the dead Two ofthe women were pregnant. PREGNAhT "Tbe Sunday Mart" reporting team covering the carnage quoted a grcman He said: "We' re supposed to be tough, hut I have never seen anythutg like this. I don't think I saw a complete body on thc top llissionaries just out for the ahernoon "Wc sa>d: 'll you really need money. come back vnth us to tbe nusuon and we «ill help you' "The >crronst replied that as «c had no money he would have to shoot us. He began gunninc us do«n. star»ng with >he bishi>p Hc riddled him wuh bullets Then he mowed down the others." Sister frmenfried said she presumed tbe terrorist thought she, too. «as dead. He fired at her leg which»as protruding from under thc car In a suhsc>lucnt statement. she said the terronst said "missionarcs

are cncmies of >hc people". immediately before he opened fire SH(jCKED Albert Sumhe Ncuhc «as a member of the Nkomo tcrroria organirat>on. Z x> P.U. It v.as Bishop Schmiu «ho, in l 9 49, gave Mrs N k o mo. a R irnan Cathohc. permission to marry her h l ethodist husband Sj>c is

pres>dcn>.general of the Ca>hoke Women's Assoc>at>on of Matabeleland, and a for>n>gn> bcforc the murder had travelled on the same fhght (rom Furope to Rhode>ss as the B»hop. S hc sa>d atter thc shoo:>ng >he «ax shocked and wddcncd " T he missionaries are hke my pareots to me "

IT>c joint leaders of tbc Patriotic Front, Messrs Mugabe and Nkon>o. «ere in Cieneva at the time nf the murders. and self.nghte >usly

denial that ihcir organ>rat>on >vasresponsible. They blamed the securny forces Fight Catholic Bishops attended thc funeral. which drew a large muhiracial congregation. in Bulawayo Although the black Archbishop nf Rhodesia. the m thc result of Rusdan indoctrination l n m y o pinion. d y ou «ant proof that thc commurdst s «cre behmd th ss. come to this mission. "The terrortsts must have been got at to hase that brutality in them. One day an cnd «ill come to aif this. I just hope and pray it will bc souls Predictably, the Patriouc Front blamed the atrocity on the security forces.

GRIEF In a message to Archbishop Chakaipe. the Pope expressed "pro. found gncf". Later, hc described thc kills as "painful acuon for tbe Church and civdtsauon". TIte National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States deplored thc murders asthd many other Catholic leaders. However. Father Josef Amstutz. Superior~ er a) of the Immensee Missionary Congregation. to which most Rhodesian Catholic missionabelong. said in Luceme on February 8. l977. that tbe "guerrtllas" were rcptyutg with vtotencc to thc " violence the African population bas sulfcrcd from Govcrnmcnt uoops". The "Rhode ia Herald' reported on February I'. that the Roman Catholic Justice and PeaceComnussion had declined to investigate. On August 9. 1977, a terrorist gang entered St. Paul's Mission, in the Lupane district. and rnurdcred Dr. Johanna Maria Decker, aged 59. of i4umberg, Germany, and Sister Anna Plonner, aged 53. a South African national wbo was born in Kotten. Austria IhfPACY In a statement issued immcdtately aherwanls. tbe Prime Minister. Mr. Ian Smith. said the Patriiitic Front was stepping up terrorist atroci. ues in order to make an impact on thc cve of tbc London talks between the U. S. Secretary of State. Mr Cyrus Vance, and the British Foreign Secretary, Dr. David Owen.

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Re(erring to the murder of the nussioo doctor and thc nun, Mr. Smith said: "Tlus savage murder of two defencekss women wbo have

given tbeu fivesin tbe cause of helping the African pnopk of Rhodesia. is tbe latest in a long list of barbaric deeds perpetrated in Matabekland

by Russian-armed terrorists of Z.A P.ll. These cold-blooded murderers were acting on tbe direct instruction of Joshua Nkomo, joint kader of the Patriotic Front.

"A few da>s ago tbc other wing of the Patnotic Front, kd by Robert Mugabe. played its pan i n Mashonaland vntb tbe callous. indiscriminate frilling of l l peopk in the Salisbury bomb ouuage. "lbere is no doubt that these. and other recent atrocities. are designesf to warn the Bntish and Amencans that peace through talks is not tbe Patriotic Front's idea of a solution of Rhodesia's problems.

As they have usted so many umea they wish to gam power only through vioknce. "lt is significant that there has bccn not one «ord of condemnation from either the British or American Goicrnmcnts of these foul murders. Their silence can only he interpreted as indicating they condone and,

indeed. encourage such deeds in thc belief that they «iit cause the Rhodesian pcoplc to surrender.

"Dr. Owen and Mr, Vance arc about to have a meeting to dis. cuss the future of Rhodesia. but without any ~hite b odcsian representation. I hope they will start by searching their consciences. with particular reference to their support id the kadcrs of tbe Marxist murderers wbo have commincd these acts ot brutal termnsm." 'fbcre have been other missionary murders Lessihan a month after the St. Paul's massacre. the baucred. mutilated body of F ather lose Manucl Rubio Diaz was discovered near a mission station m southeastern Rhodcsm. Father Diaz. who was Sg. was born in Spam. and had worked in Rhodesia for 2tt years The birdy was found following the discovery of his car, abandoned and with the winds~veen sbauere J. The fate of a 42 yearold Swiss. born missionary, Father George

Joerger, wbo disappeared more than a year ago. was revcakd during tbe trial of a Iclrohrt, in Septenlber. Hc said Father loergcr. «ho belonged to tbe Order of Be%chem. and worked at Bondotfl Mission. had been murdered.

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Referring to the murder of the mission doctor and the nun. Mr.

gustit b said: "This savage murder of two defenceless women wbo have ~ van their lives in the cause of helping tbe African people of Rhodesia. m thc latest in a long hsi of barbaric deeds perpeuatcd in Matabckland

s~ Russian armed terrorist of LA P.U. These cold blooded murderers srcre actiag on tbe direct instrucuon of Joshua Nhomo. joint kader of kae Patriotic I'rout. "A few days ago the other wing of tbc Patriotic Front, lal by Robert Mugabe. played its part in Mashonaland with tbe cagous,

cadiscnminaie hifhng of I I pcopk in the Sahsbury biimb outrage. "There k oo doubt that these. and other rccem atrocities, are c signed to v am the British and Americans Umt peace through taBts not tbe Patriotic Front's idea of a solution of Rhodesia's problems, sun they have stated so many umes, they wish to gain power only

Ia rough violence. "It is significant thai there has been not one word ot condemnauon . cm eiiher tbc British or American Governments of these foul murders . keir sikncc can oaly be interpreted as indicating they condone and. >deed. encourage such dcutlv in the belief Umt they will cause tbe t gt