Human Rights Monitoring Report - Kubatana

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• In Manicaland province, traditional leaders are reportedly exercising extra legal powers to evict villagers from their
communal homes on the basis that they do not support the ruling party. In some instances, burial space is also
denied.
• Some police officers are allegedly harassing members of the public who they view to be supporters of the opposition
MDC. In Harare, for instance it was reported that police ordered a citizen to take off an MDC t- shirt.
• The price reductions launched in June 2007 have resulted in increased victimization of persons criticizing the
activity. People are being harassed for expressing discontent with the current economic environment. Some cases
were recorded in Midlands.
• Denial of aid in the form of food is rampant with a significant number of cases being documented in Mashonaland
West, Manicaland and Matebeleland south.
• Civil society organizations are facing increasing threats in accessing rural areas for the purposes of conducting
human rights workshops. ZPP documented incidents involving CIVNET in Manicaland and ZESN and the
Women’s coalition in Masvingo as they could not get clearance from the police.
• Members of the United Peoples Party (UPP) have reportedly been harassed by both MDC and Zanu PF supporters in
Bulawayo. UPP members are labelled Zanu PF ‘puppets’ while in Masvingo they were labelled opposition
members.
• In Manicaland Province, they have been reports that in some provinces nurses are using political affiliation to
discriminate against those members not supporting the ruling party.
• Farm invasions have resurfaced in some provinces including Masvingo and Mashonaland East. Farm invasions
resulted in the death of one Zanu PF member at Stock hill farm.
• In Mashonaland West, gender based violence has also been recorded with one youth having been raped by three
Zanu PF youths. The use of rape as a political weapon to punish the fathers, brothers and husbands of women is
deplorable.
• In Mashonaland Central, people were harassed for wanting to benefit from Operation ‘Maguta scheme’ while they
do not support the ruling party. According to the Zanu PF supporters government initiated projects should benefit
those who support the current government.
• The redressive operations such as ‘operation hlalani kuhle’ and ‘operation maguta’ are heavily politicized. In
Mashonaland West, it is reported that some beneficiaries of operation ‘hlalani kuhle’ who are not sympathetic to the
ruling party are under threat of eviction from the project. Eleven families have so far been evicted in Mashonaland
Province alone.
• Access to information in the sense of hearing an alternative voice is severely limited in the current environment.
There are reports that people are being harassed for reading Newspapers from the independent media such as The
Zimbabwean and listening to Short Wave Radio and Studio seven. In Mashonaland Central one person was harassed
for reading a ZESN pamphlet.
• ZPP has received reports that the mobile registration which is being done by the Registrar’s office has been
politicised. Some persons viewed as supporting the opposition have been denied access to procure documents and
also register to vote.
• The wearing of MDC t-shirts, and t- shirts from NGOs and red colours in the form of caps, has resulted in the
harassment of some persons in Harare.
© ZPP Programmes Dept. June 2007
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