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Tortuous patterns destined to repeat themselves in upcoming election campaign
The Redress Trust
July 2004

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Background
The Redress Trust (REDRESS) is an international human rights organisation with a mandate to assist torture survivors seek justice and reparation. Its’ national and international programmes are aimed at ensuring that the rights of torture survivors, whoever they are, and wherever they are located, are realised in practice. REDRESS continues to actively follow the situation in Zimbabwe. Over the past few years, it has published a number of reports on the prevalence of torture in Zimbabwe and the prospects for Zimbabwean victims to obtain justice and reparation nationally and internationally. This current Report follows on from previous ones, and looks particularly at the patterns of torture and other forms of organised violence over the past three years, and the strong correlation they have with elections.

A consistent picture of torture and other serious violations of human rights in Zimbabwe during the last four years is beginning to emerge from the many reports recently published. The crisis in Zimbabwe reflected in these reports has resulted in a number of responses from the international community. These have ranged from the exclusion of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth Ministerial Councils, suspension of foreign assistance (apart from humanitarian assistance), and targeted personal sanctions against highranking members of the Zimbabwe Government. However, opprobrium about the crisis in Zimbabwe has not been universal and a number of countries continue to hold cordial relations with the Zimbabwe Government while maintaining that the human rights violations are exaggerated and a consequence of the unpopular (with the West) land reforms of the Zimbabwe Government. This divided position has undoubtedly led to human rights violations not being accorded the serious attention they deserve.

Zimbabweans themselves have considered the human rights violations in some depth, and, at a symposium held in Johannesburg in 2003 representatives of Zimbabwean organisations arrived at unequivocal conclusions:

• All available evidence indicates that the Government has engaged in a widespread, systematic, and planned campaign of organised violence and torture to suppress normal democratic activities, and unlawfully to influence the electoral process;
• The Government has also created, and the law enforcement agencies have vigorously applied, highly repressive legislation;
• These measures were directed at ensuring that the Government retained power rather than overcoming resistance to equitable land redistribution and correcting historical iniquities.

The clear meaning of the expression above, "a widespread, systematic, and planned campaign of organised violence and torture" indicates that the organisations involved are making a prima facie claim that crimes against humanity have been committed by the Zimbabwe Government. These views have not been accorded the serious consideration that they deserve.

Currently, Zimbabwe is heading for an election, probably in March 2005. The analysis in this Report demonstrates a strong correlation between reports of torture and other forms of organised violence and the lead up to elections. There is little sign that the Zimbabwe Government now intends to create a climate in which free and fair elections can take place and consequently there is serious concern that patterns will be repeated in the months leading to the upcoming elections. Serious attempts must now be made to address the situation.

In 2001 the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights decided to undertake a Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe following widespread reports of human rights violations. The Mission subsequently visited the country from 24 to 28 June 2002, i.e. some three months after the disputed presidential election. Two years later the executive summary of the report of the Fact-Finding Mission has reached the public domain and is incorporated in this REDRESS Report as an appendix.

The report was tabled at a meeting of foreign ministers at the Third African Union summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia early in July 2004, but was stopped from being presented to the heads of state after the Zimbabwe’s Foreign Minister Mudenge claimed that it had never been properly furnished in advance to the Zimbabwe Government. In fact it had been sent months before.

The executive summary is highly critical of the Zimbabwe Government. It states:

"The Mission is prepared and able to rule, that the Government cannot wash its hands from responsibility for all these happenings… By its statements and political rhetoric, and by its failure at critical moments to uphold the rule of law, the government failed to chart a path that signaled a commitment to the rule of law."

The significance of the Commission’s report cannot be over-emphasised. The Zimbabwe Government has responded to the report with unrestrained fury, branding the African Commission as a tool of the west and blaming local civil society organisations for the submissions they made to it. Ironically, the very things which the African Commission has recommended, such as opening space to create an environment conducive to democracy and human rights, has galvanized the Government into doing precisely the opposite. Thus the Commission called for the review of "legislation that inhibits public participation by NGOs in public education, human rights counseling." Within days the Government made clear it was going to rush through parliament law that will effectively outlaw local NGOs from carrying out human rights activities, with any foreign funding of local NGOs to be made a criminal offence. As at the date of this Advanced Pre-Publication Report (July 2004) parliament is in recess, but it is due to re-convene shortly and there is serious concern that the new laws will indeed be fast-tracked, as the intention is to influence the climate prior to the forthcoming elections.

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