Aside From Extreme Poverty, Cholera Threat Looms Over Zimbabwe

Harare, Zimbabwe (AHN) - Amnesty International is alarmed over the risk of extreme hunger in Zimbabwe after a failed agricultural season. The economic difficulty of Zimbabweans is worsened by the ongoing political crisis in the country.

AI pointed out most of the victims of political violence after the March elections were subsistence farmers. Some became crippled because of secret police beatings that left them too weak to work in the fields. The bulk of the violent incidents were made by state security forces, AI said.

Simeon Mawanza, Zimbabwe researcher of AI, told BBC, "Every day that passes without a political solution, the living conditions for ordinary Zimbabweans become more and more desperate... If we think the food situation in Zimbabwe is bad now, just wait until the end of this year, when half of the popularity is likely to need aid."

Another threat to the country is a cholera outbreak after its first victim from Harare died Thursday, while 20 other natives were hospitalized. Outside the capital city, 27 people have died from cholera, a highly infectious intestinal ailment spread by bad food and water.