Under the Agreement, Robert Mugabe would remain the President of
Zimbabwe and chair the Cabinet, Morgan Tsvangirai would become Prime
Minister and chair the Council of Ministers as well as being the Deputy
Chairperson of Cabinet whilst Arthur Mutambara would become one of the
Deputy Prime Ministers.
Under Article 11(2) of the Agreement, the parties agreed to "work
together to create a genuine, viable, permanent, sustainable and
nationally acceptable solution to the Zimbabwe situation and in
particular to implement the (following) agreement with the aims of
resolving once and for all the current political and economic
situations and charting a new political direction for the country".
Further Article X (10) indicated that the parties had agreed there
should be "free political activity throughout Zimbabwe within the ambit
of the law".
Article XVIII (18.5(a)) committed the parties "to promote values and
practices of tolerance, respect, non-violence and dialogue as means of
resolving political differences" and the Government to "apply the laws
of the country fully and impartially in bringing all perpetrators of
politically motivated violence to book" (18.5(c)).
This report marks the first test to some of the terms of the Agreement.
Contrary to the spirit and letter of the Agreement,
politically-motivated human rights violations continue to be recorded
with some violations being perpetrated by members of the ZRP under the
guise of preserving public order.
The September MPVR marks an increase in the total number of human
rights violations and incidents from 81 in August to 385 in September.
Furthermore most of the violations in the report occurred after the
signing of the power-sharing Agreement.
In situations that confirm the high levels of political intolerance
attendant on the political scene in the country, violence broke out
amongst rival supporters of ZANU PF and the MDC who were waiting
outside the Rainbow Towers in Harare to witness the signing ceremony.
In other matters relating to the power-sharing deal, the police
allegedly arrested MDC supporters in Buhera and Masvingo for
celebrating the signing of the Agreement.
The report documents 44 cases of unlawful arrests and unlawful
detention for the month of September whilst incidents of political
discrimination rose from 19 in August to 96 in September.
The report further documents 93 cases of assault. In Mbare, MDC
supporters were allegedly assaulted by ZANU PF youths at Mbare Police
Station as they attempted to reclaim their homes, which had been
confiscated by ZANU PF supporters at the height of the June 2008
electoral violence.
Apparently, the houses are owned by the Harare City Council and thus do
not belong to individuals who are now facing victimisation for being
MDC supporters.
Other people fell prey to attacks by ZANU PF supporters after they were seen wearing MDC t-shirts.
A remarkable incident is alleged to have occurred in Harare Central
where an MDC supporter, clad in party regalia, was assaulted and told
that the violence would continue until President Mugabe acknowledged
Tsvangirai’s role as Prime Minister.
The Human Rights Forum contends that whilst the numbers of violations
recorded in this report seem very marginal as compared to the violence
from March – June 2008, it is still deplorable that Zimbabweans are
being victimised for their political affiliations.
The state cannot purport to be protecting peace and stability in the
country by trampling on citizens’ rights to express their views on
governance issues such as the provision of education, health and food.
In the same vein, the Human Rights Forum condemns the arrest and harsh
treatment of Bindura University students who were arrested for
demonstrating against the hikes in tuition fees.
TOTALS: 1 September to 30 September 2008
Cumulative Totals: 1 January -30 September 2008
The graphs and tables could not be reproduced.
Key Abbreviations
AIPPA – Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
CIO – Central Intelligence Organisation
WOZA – Women of Zimbabwe Arise
ZANU PF – Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front
MDC – Movement for Democratic Change ZCTU – Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
MP – Member of Parliament ZNA – Zimbabwe National Army
NAGG – National Alliance for Good Governance ZPS – Zimbabwe Prison Service
NCA – National Constitutional Assembly ZRP – Zimbabwe Republic Police
OVT – Organised Violence and Torture ZNLWVA – Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association
POSA – Public Order and Security Act ZIMTA – Zimbabwe Teachers Association
PTUZ – Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe ZUPCO – Zimbabwe United Passenger Company
UMP – Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe
ZINASU – Zimbabwe National Students Union
Sources: The information contained in this report is derived from
statements made to the Public Interest Unit of the Zimbabwe Human
Rights Forum, its members and statements taken by a network of human
rights activists and newspaper reports,
Notes to the tables:
Torture: All cases of torture fall under the definition of torture
according to the general definition given in the United Nations
Convention against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman and
Degrading Treatment and Punishment.
The four elements of torture are:
1 Severe pain and suffering, whether physical or mental
2 Intentionally inflicted
3 With a purpose
4 By a state official or another individual acting with the acquiescence of the state.
Those individuals referred to in point # 4 as state officials include the ZRP, ZNA,
Unlawful arrest and detention: Arrest by the Zimbabwe Republic Police
(ZRP) with no reasonable suspicion that an offence has been committed.
Detention thereafter for a period exceeding 48 hours without access to
redress through the courts or subsequent release without charge.
Abduction/kidnapping: A kidnapping by a member(s) of an organised group
that is not the ZRP, ZNLWVA, ZNA, ZPS and the ZNLWVA (as a reserve
force of the ZNA).
Disappearance: Kidnapped persons whose whereabouts remained unknown at the time of reporting.
Property related: These are incidents in which property rights have
been violated. This includes arson, property damage and destruction and
theft.
Cases of Political Violence
Note: The identities of victims whose names have not been published in
the press and are not public officials are protected. This is done in
order to protect the victim from further violence, intimidation and
possible recriminatory attacks.
The purpose of this report is to record the nature of the politically
motivated violence and intimidation that continues to prevail in the
country. The Monthly Political Violence Reports are primarily based on
victims’ accounts, accompanied by medical evidence where possible,
obtained from member organisations of the Forum and other partner
organisations. Use is also made of press reports.
The Report cannot be considered as the exhaustive record of all
incidents of politically motivated violence in Zimbabwe in the period
under review.
Nevertheless, every incident reported to the Human Rights Forum
directly or through its members is meticulously documented and included
in the reports.
Care is also taken to record the incidents in the language in which they were reported to the Forum.
The situation prevailing in the country is such that it has not been
possible to verify all of these accounts. The Human Rights Forum has
done what it can to verify the reports, and is satisfied that the vast
majority of them are substantially true. It is also not possible to
rule out whether a victim’s account is exaggerated or contains
inaccuracies.
All reports derived from the press are denoted with the symbol ?
Political violence report: September 2008
Post published in: Politics