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X-rays provide an unsparing look at Zimbabwe political violence

THE WORLD

July 02, 2008|From a Times Staff Writer

"Every time that person puts his foot down for the next five years, it will hurt," he says.

"You have four metatarsal fractures," the doctor continues, gesturing at the bones in the central part of the foot in the first X-ray. "You just don't get full metatarsal fractures at the same time. It's very unusual. It requires a huge amount of force.


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"You could drive a car over someone's foot and if you broke two of them it would be a lot," he says.

He jabs a finger at the X-ray of the tibia injury. "Will you look at that bone? The massive strong part of the tibia has been separated. You just don't get complete severing of the tibia from the knee like that. I could not hit someone hard enough to do this.

"It's an illustration of unbelievable, intentional brutality," he says. "This is not over when the election is over."

The areas hardest hit by the violence were traditional ZANU-PF strongholds that had swung strongly to the MDC in the March vote.

Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights, a group of independent doctors, reports that 2,000 people were treated for injuries suffered in political violence in June and more than 5,000 since February. The doctor is a member of the organization.

"One of the most disturbing things is that there is nowhere that people can turn to. You have got no refuge, no ombudsman, no policeman," the doctor says.

He switches off the lighted screen behind the X-rays, takes them down and slides them into two brown envelopes. There are many others like them, he says.

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