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HARARE - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was "in bad shape" today after suffering head injuries while in police custody, his lawyer said, and rights groups alleged he and other politicians were tortured.
Police detained Tsvangirai and dozens of other opposition figures yesterday and shot dead a man
while crushing a prayer meeting organised in defiance of a ban on political rallies.
Political tensions, which have been brewing over the soaring cost of living and President Robert Mugabe's increasingly controversial rule, erupted when riot squads fought opposition youths in the capital for the second time in a month.
A coalition of opposition, church and civic groups called Sunday's meeting to address Zimbabwe's deepening political and economic crisis. Police ordered organisers to scrap it amid fears the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was trying to launch a street campaign to oust Mugabe.
Tsvangirai's lawyer Innocent Chagonda said after visiting a Harare police station where the MDC leader was being held that he was badly assaulted and was taken to hospital.
"He was in bad in shape, he was swollen very badly. He was bandaged on the head. You couldn't distinguish between the head and the face and he could not see properly," he said.
Political pressure group National Constitutional Assembly said its chairman, Lovemore Madhuku, suffered a broken arm and a bad head wound in police custody.
"In addition to the killing, they (those detained) were tortured in custody," rally organisers said.
"Lawyers ... who visited the detainees report that Tsvangirai fainted three times after severe beatings by the police while Madhuku passed out and was rushed to (hospital) for urgent medical attention early this morning," they said.
Asked for comment, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena: "I wouldn't know about that because these people were arrested in different places."
But he added that police would use the "necessary force" to arrest those threatening law and order.
Dozens of police riot squads in trucks and on foot, armed with shotguns, teargas canisters and rubber batons, patrolled Harare's Highfield township on Monday.
"There is lots of anger but also lots of fear after what happened yesterday," said a security guard.
Washington called the crackdown "brutal and unwarranted". Foreign Office minister Lord Triesman of former colonial power Britain said: "I utterly condemn the violent and unwarranted action taken by the Zimbabwe government ... The UK holds Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe government responsible for the safety of all those detained."
But Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, appeared to be digging in. He said he would seek another term if asked by the ruling party to do so, whether elections are held as planned in 2008 or delayed for two years, state media reported.
"What happened yesterday is a clear indication that we are heading towards social and political unrest, that the opposition is getting bolder in confronting the Mugabe regime," said John Makumbe, a leading political commentator and Mugabe critic.
Zimbabwe's inflation exceeds 1700 per cent, the highest rate in the world, with unemployment over 80 per cent. The country is battling chronic food, fuel and foreign exchange shortages.
Police spokesman Bvudzijena accused Tsvangirai and others of inciting violence. He said a police patrol killed one man after being attacked by a mob of "MDC thugs" on Sunday.
Three police officers suffered severe injuries, an army truck was torched and MDC supporters attacked police using children as human shields, he said.
Under Zimbabwe's security laws, police can detain suspects for up to 48 hours before bringing them to court but can extend this period through a legal certificate issued by a magistrate.
- REUTERS