OMG. Are Hutus from Rwanda now working as mercenaries for Mugabe?

[elehhhhna]

Mercenaries join Mugabe's ruthless terror campaign

By Ian Evans and a Special Correspondent in Manicaland
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
...
Local people claim the irregular forces are Hutus from Rwanda, but the human rights representative said he could not be definitive. There are an estimated 4,000 Hutu refugees living in Zimbabwe, some of whom took part in the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994.
...
"There are between six and 10 foreigners in each base, and there are 20 Zanu bases in the two constituencies. They wear military uniform, carry guns especially shotguns which we think are Russian. They are cruel and brutal. Each unit has an interpreter who tells them what to do. People here live close to several borders and they know Portuguese from Mozambique and languages from Malawi and Zambia. They don't speak any of those or English.

"The tongues are from much farther up north – Kenya, Uganda or Rwanda."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/mercenaries-join-mugabes-ruthless-terror-campaign-867620.html

"Never Again?" riiiight.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Oh, that's not good

[SoCalDem]

2. If people cannot earn a living, or support their families

they will resort to anything to survive.. If an evil person is willing to pay them to kill other people, and it's the only way they can feed themselves & their families, they will do it..
Mercenaries have always been "with us"..and they always will be..

[cobalt1999]

3. What's he paying them with?

Their money is worthless. Food?

[SoCalDem]

4. Probaby IS food.. Dictators commandeer most of the aid

and give it to the soldiers.. that's why so many people are so desperate:(

[elehhhhna]

5. best guess: promises of confiscated land

which, btw, he's running out of -- as well as confiscated domestic companies.

He's threatening to take and "redistribute" all Zimbabwean operations & holdings of foreign companies now. There is nothing left to steal.

He's threatening the multinationals now so I suspect we'll send military in soon.

[uppityperson]

6. k&r and bit more from the article, beware. Free rein, free land?

"Also the tactics they are using are not peculiar with Zimbabweans because they are cutting out the tongue, removing eyes and genital parts. We are not sure where they come from."
(clip)
The human rights official said: "These men do not speak any local languages and are extremely violent. They are attacking people in their homes and as they get off buses, giving them terrible beatings. We do not know what these people are doing in Zimbabwe. There is a problem identifying these people. You cannot go to the police because they say it is political – they are not interested."
(clip)
"People are very scared of them because they know no bounds. They go house-to-house in MDC areas and beat people and force them to shout for Zanu-PF. The men then get their victims to beat their neighbours in the same way. They have gang-raped women and abducted them. People are missing but families are too afraid to look for them."
(clip)
Among those Hutus staying in Zimbabwe is said to be Protais Mpiranya, the former head of the Rwandan presidential guard during the 1994 genocide. He is on the wanted list of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, but is suspected to have strong business links with senior Zimbabwe army officers.