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This article participates on the following special index pages:
2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Political
violence report- March 2008
Zimbabwe Human
Rights NGO Forum
April 24, 2008
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Overview
Being the month in which the 2008 harmonised elections took place,
March saw a rise in political tensions and an increase in inter-party
violence. Although the pre-election environment recorded lower levels
of incidences of politically motivated violence as compared to the
election periods of 2000 and 2002, pre-election violence remains
a worrying trend in Zimbabwean politics. Pre-election violence has
been used in the past Zimbabwean elections as an instrument of influencing
election outcomes and this, among other administrative irregularities,
has marred the electoral process in Zimbabwe.
Organised violence and intimidation of the opposition was rife in
the run up to 29 March. Groups of thugs, mainly but not exclusively
belonging to the ZANU (PF) party, terrorised and harassed residents,
supporters and purported supporters of their opponents. There was
a lot of tension, intimidation and violence in perceived opposition
strongholds such as Mbare and Epworth where members of the ZANU
(PF) party used coercion to try and win the support of the electorate.
Of grave concern is the degrading manner in which some of these
attacks were carried out. Of note are the incidences in Epworth
in which two women were stripped of their MDC party regalia leaving
them half naked.
As documented
in this report, also of grave concern was the partisanship and selective
application of the law by the police in favour of the ZANU (PF)
party. It is reported that armed police officers in Mbare watched
as ZANU (PF) supporters pelted MDC members in clear disregard of
their duty to serve and protect all Zimbabwean citizens. Members
of the police force have also been reported to have effected arrests
of MDC supporters at the instigation of ZANU (PF) youths without
prior investigation, and have refused to effect arrests on ZANU
(PF) members. Such partiality by the ZRP has contributed to the
unlevel political playing field and has in he past influenced outcomes
not only of electoral but also judicial processes in which members
of the opposition have sought restitution.
Trends from previous pre-election periods reveal that ZANU (PF)
youth militia, the police, the army and intelligence service have,
been the main perpetrators of politically motivated violence. In
their attacks these groups have used weapons ranging from gun butts,
logs, iron rods and even broken bottles. In the 2008 elections the
ripping off of MDC t-shirts has also been common on victims that
have been attacked whilst putting on MDC party regalia. The month
of March saw a total of 24 cases of torture being recorded by the
Forum. Most of these incidences have been perpetrated by ZANU (PF)
supporters against members of the opposition as retribution for
not supporting the ruling party. Also of significance are the high
figures of 287 recorded incidences of political intimidation, victimisation
and discrimination as well as 270 incidences of assault. ZANU (PF)
supporters also mainly but not exclusively carried out these violations.
The pre-election period also saw incidences of clashes between the
two MDC factions. This report documents the attack on a member of
the MDC (Mutambara ) by members of the MDC (Tsvangirai) faction.
Also of note is the mobilisation of thugs by prominent government
officials, to beat up and intimidate opponents. Hubert Nyanhongo,
the Deputy Minister of Transport and Energy, who has been implicated
in other incidences of inciting violence, reportedly declared Harare
South a no go area for the opposition and led a group of ZANU (PF)
youth in an attack against MDC supporters who were on their way
to a rally. The Human Rights Forum deplores such actions of intimidation
by any political party or individual and calls upon all political
players to exercise political tolerance.
The tense and anticipative environment that prevailed during the
pre-election period set the tone for an even more volatile post-election
environment. A day after the elections reports of attacks on those
celebrating, or purported to be celebrating the victory of the candidates
of their choice, were made. It is alarming that the violence and
intimidation has continued even after the voting process. The SADC
Principles and Guidelines for Democratic Elections specifically
provide for the free participation of political parties, the public
media and voters in the electoral processes of their country. This
participation is to be without coercion or intimidation and the
ruling party must not be permitted to use state resources to gain
unfair advantage in the election. These conditions have been breached
by the Zimbabwean government as some of the cases documented in
this report show. The ruling party has neglected the core democratic
principle that Zimbabweans have the right to freely choose whom
to elect into government. This has thereby tainted the credibility
of these elections.
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