Earlier today, one of the most courageous men I've ever met, Roy Bennett, was abducted by police and was seen being taken to Marondera, one of Robert Mugabe's infamous torture camps. Roy was returning to the country from exile in South Africa after being appointed Minister of Agriculture by the newly sworn in prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Even before he began living in exile in 2007, Roy has been one of the loudest voices against Robert Mugabe. He's most well known for standing up to one of Mugabe's men in parliament, wrestling him to the floor after it was announced that his family farm was being taken over by the Mugabe government. Afterwards, he was tortured and fled to live in exile.
I know Roy personally from my work in the region, fighting for the rights of MDC supporters and against the horrible human rights abuses perpetrated by the Mugabe regime. But this incident comes as a personal shock to me. As the MDC has finally begun getting a foothold inside Zimbabwe with the implementation of the new power-sharing deal, Robert Mugabe will stop at nothing to continue to keep a firm grip on the innocent people of Zimbabwe. Mugabe views Roy as a threat because he is a passionate man with unending commitment to a safe and prosperous Zimbabwe. I do not blame him.
We must not let Roy's story go untold. If we do not act now, I fear that Roy Bennett's story may end much too soon.
I will be Twittering updates all day with the hashtag "#releaseroy." Please do anything you can to spread this story.
You can also follow the story at Sokwanele, a great site that gives a voice to all those in Zim that are working to overcome the oppression imposed on them by Robert Mugabe.