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Political violence report: April 2006 - Overview
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
June 02, 2006

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Overview
The month of April saw torture being sustained. On 14 April, Nixon Nyikadzino a.k.a Mao, an NCA activist was tortured by Military Intelligence agents. A woman who was with the agents sexually assaulted him and his cousin. The Human Rights Forum deplores the torture of Mao and urges the Government to bring to book perpetrators of this shameful and unlawful act. The Forum further urges the Government to comply with international norms on torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment as stipulated in the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). To show its seriousness in upholding international norms, the Human Rights Forum urges the Government of Zimbabwe to ratify and domesticate CAT. The Human Rights Forum also expresses shock and disgust at the manner in which Mao and his cousin were tortured by state agents.

Eleven NCA demonstrators were allegedly tortured for demonstrating peacefully in support of a new constitution for the country. The Human Rights Forum urges the Government to respect the rights of people to freedom of assembly, expression and association as enshrined in the Constitution and international instruments to which Zimbabwe is a party. The Forum further implores the government to amend or repeal POSA in accordance with the 2002 recommendations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) Fact-finding Mission to Zimbabwe.

Residents of Nenyere Flats were forcibly evicted to make way for ZANU-PF youths. This eviction was targeting defenceless widows in particular. The Forum urges the Government to protect the rights of its citizens to property and shelter and stop the evictions, which are known even to police officers who are reportedly too afraid to intervene. The Forum implores the ZANU-PF youths to uphold the law and realise that there is no one who is above the law.

There were also reports of intra-party political violence between the 2 MDC factions, the Arthur Mutambara led and the Morgan Tsvangirai led factions. The Forum urges the 2 factions to respect the rights of every Zimbabwean to participate in the politics of their country. This violence, coupled with repression from the Government, has led to a situation where Zimbabweans believe it is a crime to participate in the politics of the country, a right which is protected by the Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other international instruments.

Totals: 1 April 2006 - 30 April 2006

Cumulative Totals: 1 January 2006 - 30 April 2006

The graph should be read along with the table depicting the monthly totals of violations from 1 January 2006 to 30 April 2006. The total quantifiable number of victims reported in April 2006 is 119.

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