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 JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - Thousands crammed a soccer stadium near Zimbabwe's eastern Mutare city, their cheers rising to a deafening roar as the country's only effective opposition leader made a triumphant entrance in an open-topped vehicle.
Club-wielding police refrained from breaking up the weekend rally. But Human Rights Watch, in a report released Monday, says years of violence, intimidation and repression already have skewed this month's parliamentary vote in favor of the country's aging and embattled President Robert Mugabe.
As a result, the March 31 elections are "highly unlikely" to reflect the free expression of voters, the New York-based rights groups says.
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