Horrific torture stats raise concerns for future

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We are appalled at the revelations of the severe psychological trauma that now affects one in 10 Zimbabweans. This is a direct consequence of actions taken over the years by the Zanu (PF) regime. When is enough going to be enough?

As Amani Trust correctly points out, the long-term implications of mass trauma for an entire society are almost too ghastly to contemplate.

What is also disturbing is the fact that there is daily evidence that torture, in one form or another, continues unabated in Zimbabwe. In a country where the health system has collapsed for even the most basic, preventable, diseases, the specialised care required to treat victims of trauma and torture is totally beyond all reasonable hope.

The victims are thus condemned to continue in their suffering. Little wonder that irrational behaviour is on the increase as evidenced by the frustration of the young man in South Africa who, as reported elsewhere in this newspaper, attempted to hi-jack a South African Airways plane. Why he wanted to defect to Mozambique is beyond our comprehension.

Alarming as this incident was, in that the lives of a planeload of people were endangered, it comes as a timely warning to the rest of the world that no man is an island.

What happens in Zimbabwe affects the global community, to a lesser or greater extent – Britain and South Africa to a significant extent. Desperate people do desperate things. The international community simply cannot afford to stand by and watch an entire nation being traumatised without lifting a finger to help.

Yes we realise it is a complex problem. Yes we understand that there is no quick fix or easy solution. But these are no reasons to do nothing. A solution must be found, and the global community must play a responsible part in seeking and facilitating that solution as soon as possible.

As the late Prince Claus of the Netherlands famously said: “If we don’t bring it to them, they are going to come and take it from us.”