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Warning that Zimbabwe could drift towards a bloody civil war, Father Wermter called for a fundamental change of heart as violence erupts in many parts of the country.

The priest blamed the violence on the continued glorification of the heroes of Zimbabwe's liberation war in the 1970s. Many war veterans have, with the tacit approval of the government, been taking over white-owned farms, and, in some cases, murdering the owners. Violence has also been directed at the mainly black opposition movement, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

War veterans are also playing a leading role in campaigning against whites and against opponents of the government.

Father Wermter, a white priest and frequent critic of President Robert Mugabe's government, is the communications secretary of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference (ZCBC).

In an article he wrote for a Harare newspaper, The Daily News, Wermter said that respect for human life should overrule everything else. His criticisms follow the murder of Peter Mataruse, a member of the MDC in Muzarabani, 250 miles north of Harare, on March 24.

Robson Tinarwo, another supporter of the opposition party, drowned in Musengezi River on the same day while fleeing government supporters and war veterans in the same area.

In February, Gloria Olds, a 72-year-old white farmer in Nyamandlovu, about 320 miles south of Harare, was shot dead at her farm.

More than 30 people, mainly MDC supporters and white farmers, were killed in political violence during the run-up to parliamentary elections last June.

The ruling Zanu PF party and veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war have been blamed for the campaign of terror that began before the election.

Many here fear that violence could escalate in the lead-up to presidential elections next year. Robert Mugabe has already set the tone by declaring that the MDC—the major threat to his 21-year rule—will "never, never" rule in Zimbabwe.

Wermter said in his article: "As long as a party wants to retain or gain power at any cost, human lives will be sacrificed on the altar of ruthless ambition for power. Democrats know the risks of political life: it's a game where one day you win, another day you lose.

"But those ambitious for power 'at any cost' do not accept the risk of losing. For them it is not a game, it is deadly earnest.

"Respect for human life must overrule everything else. No political objective justifies that even one innocent human life be sacrificed, let alone 35 lives."

Father Wermter said the glorification of violence, which began during Zimbabwe's liberation struggle, should now come to an end. "Leaders ask their people for immense sacrifices in times of war while giving them the hope of a lasting and prosperous peace afterwards. So what is the use of a war that never ends? Who can endure it? We must put an end to this war and its killings once and for all.

"Spilling blood has been glorified on our heroes' acre for the last 20 years as something glorious. Heroes spill other people's blood and sometimes even their own. Nowadays it is only other people's blood that is being spilled."

"Heroes' acre" is a burial place in Harare set aside by the government soon after independence in 1980 for fighters killed in the war of liberation and for those who died after independence.

However, the selection of the heroes—a prerogative of Zanu PF—has been heavily criticised by opposition parties and civic groups as partisan and for ignoring deserving candidates outside politics.

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April (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45