Human Rights Monitoring Report - Kubatana

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Victims by affiliation 27% 2% 18% 1% 6% 46% MDC Zanu PF Unknown Affiliation State NGO Official/activist Other parties The reports received by ZPP indicate that the bulk of the victims are members of the opposition MDC (46%). Members of NGOs or human rights activists are also vulnerable to political violence as the report indicates that 27% of the total numbers of victims were from the NGOs 18% were persons with no known political affiliation. The current political environment is highly polarized and those not supporting the ruling party are viewed as ‘enemies of the state’. Only a few of the incidences had persons belonging to the ruling party as victims (6%). Table 1: Summary of cases reported to ZPP Violations Period January February March April May June Displacement 68 19 19 18 24 31 Harassment and intimidation 498 299 341 337 395 453 Unlawful Detention 19 19 42 27 28 17 Torture 4 4 13 13 6 5 Malicious Damage to Property 17 4 2 7 6 13 Discrimination - - - - - 34 Arson 6 3 9 3 2 - Theft/ Looting 17 12 15 11 14 11 Assault 194 155 173 229 176 214 Kidnapping/Abduction 6 5 9 20 17 12 Rape 2 6 4 3 2 1 Murder 1 1 2 1 1 1 832 527 629 669 671 792 Fig 1 showing incidences recorded between January and June 2007 HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS – JANUARY – JUNE 2007 In the period between January and June 2007, the Zimbabwe Peace Project has recorded 4122 incidences of human rights violations that are in most instances politically motivated. There were 7 murder cases, 18 cases of rape, 34 cases of food aid discrimination, 69 cases of abduction/kidnapping, 459 cases of torture, 2323 cases of harassment/intimidation, 1141 cases of assault, 152 cases of unlawful detention and one case of a politically motivated suicide. ZPP has reliable information that those being abducted are being tortured at a camp in Mazowe. The majority of the violations are perpetrated against known and suspected members of the opposition parties with the MDC topping the list, however, there are incidences of human rights violations that are perpetrated mainly by the opposition MDC against known and suspected supporters of the ruling ZANU PF and other opposition parties. The Zimbabwe Peace Project is also © ZPP Programmes Dept. June 2007 6
cognizant of the fact that there are other incidences that go unreported because the victims would rather not risk reprisals of being outspoken. ZPP recognizes the courage of those victims who have reported violations perpetrated against them. The facts and figures at ZPP’s disposal demonstrate that the political temperature is definitely rising with June recording 792 cases up from 671 cases in May. HALF YEARLY ANALYTICAL REPORT – JANUARY – JUNE 2007 To date January recorded the highest incidences of human rights violations standing at a staggering 832. Of these 633 occurred in the Northern region which comprises Harare/Chitungwiza, Mashonaland West, East and Central and Manicaland and 199 were recorded in the Southern region made up of Bulawayo, Matebeleland North and South, Masvingo and Midlands. More specifically, 498 cases of harassment/intimidation were recorded, 194 of assault. In January there were four cases of torture, 6 of abduction/ kidnapping, 2 cases of rape and one case of murder. In January, the nation started the year on a controversial note after the ruling party Annual People’s Conference the previous month which had made a proposal to harmonise Presidential and Parliamentary elections in 2010. The proposal sparked outrage from all sectors and some citizens faced harassment/ intimidation, assault for expressing opinion on the matter. While most citizens appreciated that harmonization was a noble idea they felt that the proposal to have elections in 2010 was a ploy by the sitting Head of State to want to extend his term of office through the back door. In the opposition circles, the proposal sparked outrage and it appeared the opposition was ready for a confrontation as they made it clear that come 2008 they were going to the polls. Operation ‘Chikorokoza Chapera’ which had been launched in late 2006 continued to take its toll. January also saw the last stages of the preparation for the Chiredzi South by-election which had been slated for February. Election campaigns have always been violent in Zimbabwe and this particular election was no exception, as it saw traditional chiefs threatening villagers with eviction and hunger if they did not vote for the ruling party. Intra party violence in the opposition MDC had its fair share of incidences recorded but of particular note was intra party violence within the ruling party whose cracks were amplified by the harmonization and elections in 2010 proposal. In February, there was a marked reduction in cases recorded at 527 with 350 of these being in the Northern region and 177 in the Southern region. Like in January the cases of harassment topped the list at 299 followed by assault recording 155 cases. There were 6 cases of rape, 5 of abduction/kidnapping, 4 of torture and 1 of murder. The significant decrease of incidences in February could be attributed to the banning of rallies and demonstrations which saw the heavy handedness of state security agents fall on citizens who were also subjected to unofficial curfews. Although there was a marked reduction in recorded incidences February experienced cases of people being forced to contribute towards the President’s birthday. As the voice of teachers and nurse got louder against their meagre salaries they were responded to with harassment. In Manicaland, the diamond rush saw the police violating the rights of innocent civilians by subjecting them to inhuman body searches for the elusive stone. Women were subjected to searches in their private parts. Citizens in general and teachers specifically were victims of the government and the ruling party as the search for shortwave radios continued in particular Mashonaland East. Grade one pupils in most schools were more than happy to provide information on who they had seen with the said radios. March 2007 has gone down in history as the most violent month in the period under review not as a result of the recorded cases but because of the intensity of the violations. On March 11, opposition and civil society leaders who were going to attend a prayer meeting organized by Save Zimbabwe Campaign, were detained and tortured in police custody. It was the events of March 11 that saw even SADC looking closely at Zimbabwe resulting in the meeting in Dar es Salaam where President Thabo Mbeki was tasked to initiate dialogue between the ruling party and MDC. Two cases of murder closely related to the March 11 events were recorded. From 500 cases in February, incidences increased to 657 in March. In the Northern region 439 cases were recorded as compared to 218 in the Southern region. Thirteen cases of torture were recorded a significant increase from 4 the previous month. In March there were 27 cases of partisan distribution of food that were recorded. Cases of unlawful detention rose sharply from 19 to 42 and this is explained by the swoops on the opposition offices in search of petrol bombers. In the aftermath of the March 11 events there was a spate of petrol bombings of a police station, a commuter train, a ruling party office in Mbare and the attack of public transport in Harare. A large number of citizens also experienced abuse for putting on either MDC regalia or just the colour red as it is associated with the MDC. © ZPP Programmes Dept. June 2007 7
Page 1 and 2: Human Rights Monitoring Report June
Page 3 and 4: DEFINITIONS OF TERMS (HUMAN RIGHTS
Page 5: • Intra party violence within the
Page 9 and 10: METHODOLOGY This report is based on
Page 11 and 12: NORTHERN REGION Harare North 9 June
Page 13 and 14: NORTHERN REGION legislator, GC and
Page 15 and 16: NORTHERN REGION Hwedza 2 June 2007
Page 17 and 18: NORTHERN REGION At Mutoko centre, i
Page 19 and 20: NORTHERN REGION opposition. Rushing
Page 21 and 22: NORTHERN REGION A group of unidenti
Page 23 and 24: NORTHERN REGION AW (42), JM (52) an
Page 25 and 26: NORTHERN REGION GMB maize, by Zanu
Page 27 and 28: NORTHERN REGION Some unnamed police
Page 29 and 30: SOUTHERN REGION Bulawayo Bulawayo T
Page 31 and 32: SOUTHERN REGION Matabeleland South
Page 33 and 34: SOUTHERN REGION 8 June 2007 At Mpal
Page 35 and 36: SOUTHERN REGION 14 June 2007 At Mus
Page 37 and 38: SOUTHERN REGION Masvingo Masvingo 5
Page 39 and 40: SOUTHERN REGION 20 June 2007 In a a
Page 41 and 42: SOUTHERN REGION 19 June 2007 CM, of
Page 43 and 44: SOUTHERN REGION community members w
Page 45 and 46: BACKGROUND & FORMATION ____________
Page 47: deployed in each of the 120 elector

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