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Political Violence Report 1-31 July 2003 - Overview
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
August 20, 2003

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Overview
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum is concerned with widespread allegations by opposition party (MDC) candidates in the upcoming Urban Council Elections (scheduled for 30/31 August 2003) that they have been victimised, assaulted and barred from entering the Nomination Courts by ZANU PF supporters. Preventing a candidate from being duly nominated through coercive means is significant as according to the Urban Councils Act, an uncontested nominee wins the poll, regardless of whether an opposing candidate has been prevented from filing nomination papers due to political intimidation and / or physical violence. In the month of July, the Human Rights Forum documented claims MDC candidates were being barred from the Nomination Court, while ZANU PF candidates were reportedly being allowed unlimited access, such that most MDC candidates failed to hand in their forms. In Makoni District (Manicaland Province), Chegutu (Mashonaland West), Bindura (Mashonaland Central), and Hurungwe West (Mashonaland West), several candidates from the towns claim that they were victimised and prevented from presenting their papers to the Nomination Courts sitting in their areas, hence several ZANU PF candidates won the seats as uncontested candidates.

There were also reports of assaults on candidates. Albert Ndlovhu of Chegutu (Mashonaland West) suffered a broken neck after he was reportedly attacked by ZANU PF youths manning the gate at Chegutu's Town House as candidates handed in their nomination papers. As a result, he failed to submit his own. There were reports that Martin Dinha (ZANU PF) of Bindura (Mashonaland Central) was declared Mayor after Fred Chinembiri of the MDC failed to get to the Nomination Court to present his papers as all roads leading to the court had been sealed off by suspected ZANU PF supporters. In Hurungwe West (Mashonaland West), 2 MDC candidates were reportedly rushed to hospital after they were severely assaulted by suspected ZANU PF supporters at the Nomination Court. Kidwell Gomana and David Mukunda, MDC candidates for Ward 6 and 2 respectively in Makoni District (Manicaland), assert that they were assaulted and barred from campaigning for the Council Election by ZANU PF supporters in the area.

As the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) noted in a statement dated 30 July 2003, "scenarios where candidates are declared winners in violence ridden wards and constituencies mean that the electorate has been denied a chance to participate freely in elections." The Human Rights Forum urges all candidates and effected persons to report incidents of violence surrounding elections to the police and to the Electoral Supervisory Commission so as to officially bring such claims to the attention of the relevant authorities. We further implore the Zimbabwe Republic Police to investigate such reports promptly, in a non-partisan manner, and to deal with those responsible accordingly, to ensure a peaceful and impartial electoral process. Regrettably, evidence documented to date indicates that the upcoming Urban Council Elections have been and will continue to be shrouded in violence thereby resulting in their being held in an inequitable environment in which it is difficult to achieve a free and fair electoral process.

Farm evictions have been reported with some of the victims claiming that they are being forced to move from the farms upon which they were resettled. In Goromonzi District, (Mashonaland East), Oliver Juru (Goromonzi Rural District Chairman) and one Nkatazo have been implicated in the besieging of Oribi Farm allegedly to facilitate occupation by ZANU PF Provincial Party Officials. However, it is reported that the authorities claim that the exercise is meant to correct an error made when the farm was set aside for resettlement under the A1 scheme, yet it falls under the A2 scheme for agricultural purposes. In Chimanimani District (Manicaland), Minister for Youth Development Gender and Employment Creation Elliot Manyika and other ZANU PF members are alleged to have turned a vocational training school in the area into a centre for national service training displacing 500 students in the process. Minister Manyika is said to have officially opened the Training Centre. In Mashonaland East, one Tendai Gurira, a member of the ZNLWVA, is said to have verbally attacked Roy Bennet (MDC MP - Chimanimani) at his Bigtull Farm and displaced his farm workers. Bennet asserts that he was also threatened with unspecified action if he failed to vacate the farm. Gurira denies the allegations.

Freedom of association remains strictly limited or threatened in Zimbabwe with individuals consistently reporting that they are targeted on the basis of their real or perceived political affiliation. SM of Highfield (Harare) reported that he was walking at the shops wearing an MDC T-shirt when a truck full of ZANU PF youths stopped by his side, ordered him to do the ZANU PF slogan and then severely assaulted him because he was unable to do so. He reportedly sustained some broken ribs. ES of Mbare (Harare) claims that she was beaten up by ZANU PF youths for not attending ZANU PF meetings in the area. JR of Chitungwiza also reported having been tortured by state agents for allegedly being an MDC supporter. OR asserts that he and his wife were assaulted by ZANU PF supporters in Shamva (Mashonaland Central) because he was seen holding a copy of the Daily News, and that they were thus labelled MDC supporters. MDC supporters have reportedly been implicated in the threats against Sekesai Makwavarara (Acting Mayor for Harare). She claims that the perpetrators have accused her of blocking the return of Elias Mudzuri, the suspended MDC Mayor for Harare.

The Human Rights Forum underscores the need for tolerance amongst supporters of different political parties and urges them to desist from violent expression of disparities in opinion. We reiterate the obligation upon state agents to enforce law and order in an objective and impartial manner and in this light find discouraging reports of use of torture by state agents against victims on the basis of their real or perceived political affiliation. An MDC supporter from St. Mary's (Harare Province), now fears for his life after ZRP and ZNA forces allegedly tortured him and forced him to lie under a car while air was forced out of all the tyres at Makoni Police Station. MU of Dzivaresekwa claims that ZNA and ZRP officers beat him, destroyed some of his property, threatened him with death and ordered him to vacate his home because he supports the opposition MDC.

Another freedom that remains heavily restricted is freedom of expression, largely through seemingly gratuitous application of the Public Order and Security Act. In Bulawayo, forty-eight women were arrested and detained, while one of them was assaulted by the police because they had staged a demonstration against POSA. They were holding the demonstration outside the Magistrates Court at Tredgold Building, and their delegation delivered a letter to the Senior Prosecutor for Bulawayo, protesting against POSA. The women allege that access to food was limited during the period of detention. All forty-eight were charged under POSA for participating in an 'illegal gathering', with Jenni Williams, the leader of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), having a second charge laid against her for organising the march. Williams denies the charges as she maintains that the march was not illegal.

Totals 1 July 2003 – 31 July 2003

Sources: The information contained in the monthly violence reports is derived from statements made to the Legal Unit of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum, CFU reports, newspaper reports, and statements taken by the member organisations of the Human Rights Forum.

Note 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 include the ZRP, ZNA, ZPS and the ZNLWVA (as a reserve force of the ZNA) and by any other grouping when directly sanctioned by the state.

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 organisation. political party, ZNLWVA, ZNA, MDC, Zanu PF etc

Disappearance:

Kidnapped persons whose whereabouts remained unknown at the time of reporting. Their whereabouts have still to be ascertained through follow –up reports or further investigation.

Property related

These are incidents in which property rights have been violated. This includes arson, property damage and destruction and theft.

Key Abbreviations

CIO – Central Intelligence Organisation
MDC – Movement for Democratic Change
MP – Member of Parliament
NAGG - National Alliance for Good Governance
NCA – National Constitutional Assembly
OVT – Organised Violence and Torture
POSA – Public Order and Security Act
PTUZ – Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
UMP – Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe
Zanu PF – Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front
ZNA – Zimbabwe National Army
ZNLWVA – Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association
ZRP – Zimbabwe Republic Police
ZIMTA – Zimbabwe Teachers Association
ZUPCO – Zimbabwe United Passenger Company

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