POLITICAL VIOLENCE REPORT

  Although the pre-election environment recorded lower levels of incidences of politically motivated violence as compared to the election periods of 2000 and 2002, pre-election violence remains a worrying trend in Zimbabwean politics.  Pre-election violence has been used in the past Zimbabwean elections as an instrument of influencing election outcomes and this, among other administrative irregularities, has marred the electoral process in Zimbabwe.

Organised violence and intimidation of the opposition was rife in the run up to 29 March.  Groups of thugs, mainly but not exclusively belonging to the ZANU (PF) party, terrorised and harassed residents, supporters and purported supporters of their opponents.  There was a lot of tension, intimidation and violence in perceived opposition strongholds such as Mbare and Epworth where members of the ZANU (PF) party used coercion to try and win the support of the electorate.  Of grave concern is the degrading manner in which some of these attacks were carried out.  Of note are the incidences in Epworth in which two women were stripped of their MDC party regalia leaving them half naked.

As documented in this report, also of grave concern was the partisanship and selective application of the law by the police in favour of the ZANU (PF) party.  It is reported that armed police officers in Mbare watched as ZANU (PF) supporters pelted MDC members in clear disregard of their duty to serve and protect all Zimbabwean citizens.  Members of the police force have also been reported to have effected arrests of MDC supporters at the instigation of ZANU (PF) youths without prior investigation, and have refused to effect arrests on ZANU (PF) members.  Such partiality by the ZRP has contributed to the unlevel political playing field and has in he past influenced outcomes not only of electoral but also judicial processes in which members of the opposition have sought restitution.

Trends from previous pre-election periods reveal that ZANU (PF) youth militia, the police, the army and intelligence service have, been the main perpetrators of politically motivated violence.  In their attacks these groups have used weapons ranging from gun butts, logs, iron rods and even broken bottles.  In the 2008 elections the ripping off of MDC t-shirts has also been common on victims that have been attacked whilst putting on MDC party regalia.  The month of March saw a total of 24 cases of torture being recorded by the Forum.  Most of these incidences have been perpetrated by ZANU (PF) supporters against members of the opposition as retribution for not supporting the ruling party.     Also of significance are the high figures of 287 recorded incidences of political intimidation, victimisation and discrimination as well as 270 incidences of assault.  ZANU (PF) supporters also mainly but not exclusively carried out these violations.

The pre-election period also saw incidences of clashes between the two MDC factions.   This report documents the attack on a member of the MDC (Mutambara ) by members of the MDC (Tsvangirai) faction. Also of note is the mobilisation of thugs by prominent government officials, to beat up and intimidate opponents.  Hubert Nyanhongo, the Deputy Minister of Transport and Energy, who has been implicated in other incidences of inciting violence, reportedly declared Harare South a no go area for the opposition and led a group of ZANU (PF) youth in an attack against MDC supporters who were on their way to a rally.  The Human Rights Forum deplores such actions of intimidation by any political party or individual and calls upon all political players to exercise political tolerance.

The tense and anticipative environment that prevailed during the pre-election period set the tone for an even more volatile post-election environment.  A day after the elections reports of attacks on those celebrating, or purported to be celebrating the victory of the candidates of their choice, were made.  It is alarming that the violence and intimidation has continued even after the voting process.  The SADC Principles and Guidelines for Democratic Elections specifically provide for the free participation of political parties, the public media and voters in the electoral processes of their country.  This participation is to be without coercion or intimidation and the ruling party must not be permitted to use state resources to gain unfair advantage in the election.  These conditions have been breached by the Zimbabwean government as some of the cases documented in this report show.   The ruling party has neglected the core democratic principle that Zimbabweans have the right to freely choose whom to elect into government1.  This has thereby tainted the credibility of these elections.