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Run up to 27 June 2008 Presidential Runoff Election: Human rights violations & food distribution
Zimbabwe Peace Project
July 25, 2008

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Overview

Introduction

This Report analyzes politically motivated and food-related human rights violations in the run up to the 27 June run-off of 2008. Since the release of the ZPP Post Election Violence Report No. 2 of May 2008 which had, among other things, postulated an escalation in election violence, questions have arisen about the extent to which these postulations have remained consistent with unfolding scenarios in the run up to the June election. Also of interest is how this presidential run-off [the first of its kind in Zimbabwe's post independence electoral history] will influence trends and patterns of violence.

In the wake of the 4th of June 2008 Government Order suspending the operations of a number of nonprofit food aid agencies [CARE, Save the Children] until after the 27 June 2008, interest has also arisen about the possibility of food politics in the election campaign. This interest is well-founded given that people in rural areas have three main ways of accessing maize, namely through government food for work program, buying it directly from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), and through donor schemes for school pupils and the under fives- sources that are vulnerable to political manipulation.

Trends and Patterns

Since January there has been an exponential increase in human rights violations. A shocking total of 16 400 cases were recorded with 593 in January, 685 in February, 806 in March, 4375 in April, 6288 in May, 3653 in June. While June records suggests a drop in incidents of violence, much should not be read from this drop as the nature of violence has sharply swung towards fatal forms of violence with 77 murder cases having been reported across the country by end of June, an almost double increase from the May record of 47.

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