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Political violence report - May 2008
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
September 16, 2008

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Overview

Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 21 July 2008 and subsequent signing of the power sharing agreement between the two MDC formations and ZANU (PF) on 15 September 2008, attention has largely been diverted from the gross human rights violations that occurred post the 27 June 2008 Presidential run-off. However, it is of paramount importance that the Human Rights Forum and other organisations documenting human rights violations continue to highlight these atrocities and to ensure that these violations are not shelved or forgotten about. This May MPVR serves these purposes among others.

The month of May saw a continuation and further escalation of the of post-election violence that erupted in April following the announcement of the results of the House of Assembly elections in the 29 March harmonised elections. For the first time since independence in 1980, the opposition won the majority of seats in the House of Assembly. The violations continued to further expose the Government of Zimbabwe's failure to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of its citizens which were being violated by private actors and state agents such as the police, army and intelligence officers. The violations encroached on such internationally protected human rights as the right to participate in one's own government, the right to associate, assemble and express freely; freedom from torture, assault and cruel inhuman and degrading treatment.

The politically motivated violence continued in May following the announcement of the Presidential election results, more than a month after the harmonised elections. The leader of one of the MDC formations, Morgan Tsvangirai obtained 47.8 percent of the vote, while the ZANU PF candidate Robert Mugabe obtained 43.2 percent of the vote. Simba Makoni, an independent candidate, obtained 8.3 percent of the votes. In accordance with the Zimbabwean electoral laws a run-off election was to be held as none of the candidates had obtained an out-right majority of the votes. The imminent run-off election saw a rise in political tensions resulting in some of the worst violence and human rights abuses ever witnessed in an election year.

As with the violence that took place in the month of April, the incidences reported to the Human Rights Forum in May occurred predominantly in the rural areas. The majority of incidences reported occurred in Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East. Most of the reported violence from both provinces was preponderantly retributive attacks on known and perceived MDC supporters by alleged ZANU PF youths and war veterans. These attacks were rife in areas that were purported ZANU PF strongholds in which the opposition either won or obtained a significant number of votes as compared to other elections. Such areas include Mazowe, Muzarabani and Mudzi.

A notable characteristic of the violations that took place in the month of May is the highly organised and systematic nature in which they occurred. The majority of violations reported to the Human Rights Forum were allegedly perpetrated by organised groups of ZANU PF youth militias and some members of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNWVA) on MDC supporters and officials. These groups are reported to have set up bases in schools and townships in the rural areas, which were used to inflict harm on known and purported members of the opposition. ZANU PF rallies which villagers were forced to attend were also allegedly held at these bases. The evidence available to the Human Rights Forum reveals that politically motivated violence in the month of May was mainly but not exclusively committed by these organised groups.

Notwithstanding the Human Rights Forum notes that even though non-state actors predominantly perpetrated most of the violations in this report, the Government of Zimbabwe must take liability for most of the acts committed during this period. Human Rights law imposes positive obligations on states to protect their citizens or individuals in their jurisdiction from the harmful acts of others. Thus an act by a private individual can generate responsibility of the State, not because of the act itself, but because of lack of diligence to prevent the violation.

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