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(NEWZIMBABWE) Rhodesian 'atrocities' cited as 280 bodies exhumed from mine

COMMENT - When 280 bodies are recovered, and there may be 400 more, why does the writer of this article put atrocities in quotation marks?

Rhodesian 'atrocities' cited as 280 bodies exhumed from mine
by Staff Reporter
14/03/2011 00:00:00

AT LEAST 280 bodies have been exhumed from a disused mine in Mt Darwin – all of them victims of “atrocities” committed by the white minority government of Ian Smith prior to Zimbabwe’s independence, state media reported.

There could be as many as 400 more bodies in the mine in Ruya Village, a spokesman for the Fallen Heroes of Zimbabwe Trust told the ZBC on Sunday.

“A number of prominent politicians and ordinary people disappeared during the liberation struggle and it is hoped that the exhumation may help solve the mystery of their whereabouts,” reported the ZBC, citing the Fallen Heroes of Zimbabwe Trust’s chief exhumer, Jimmy Motsi.
The ZBC said the mine where the remains were recovered used to be owned by a German company.

The discovery of the skeletal remains provided “evidence of massive human rights atrocities” committed by the Ian Smith led government, it added.

Zimbabwe War Veterans Association secretary general for Manicaland Province Godfrey Chitakira said: “The existence of the remains shows that the Rhodesian government committed genocide.”

The Trust said it hoped scientific testing of the skeletal remains would reunite families with loved ones whose disappearances during the 1970s war of independence remained unexplained.

Zimbabwe became independent from colonial rule in 1980 after a protracted bush war in which thousands of people died, and many disappeared.

A post-independence reconcilliation programme ensured no prosecutions were made for war crimes.

Labels: GENOCIDE, IAN SMITH, RHODESIA

posted by MrK @ 2:22 PM