Back to Index

This article participates on the following special index pages:

Monthly political violence report - August 2008
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
November 07, 2008

Download this document
- Acrobat PDF version (237KB)
If you do not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe website by clicking here.

Overview

Cases of politically motivated violence continue to drop drastically. A total of 81 human rights violations were recorded for the month of August as compared to 1082 and 227 violations for June and July respectively. This drop can be attributed to a reduction in political tension in Zimbabwe following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between ZANU PF and the two MDC formations. The MOU signed on 21 July, was a framework for negotiations for the political parties involved to form an inclusive government. This drop in violence also affirms previous assertions made by the Human Rights Forum that political violence is concentrated on public political events such as elections and demonstrations. The Human Rights Forum applauds this drop in politically motivated violence and strongly urges the authorities to institute investigations into the previous election violence with a view of punishing the perpetrators. Few pockets of violence were however recorded for the month of August.

Some instances of retributive violence were again recorded in the month. This goes to show that even as negotiations for an inclusive government are underway, that spirit of negotiation has not filtered down to certain areas as political tension is still there. Further, MDC supporters who had gone to the Parliament building to cheer on the MDC MPs who were being sworn in were assaulted by ZANU PF youths, police officers and CIO suspected agents. This highlights the fact that there still exists a high level of political intolerance in the country The Human Rights Forum would to like to urge those involved in the negotiations to expedite the talks for the benefit of all Zimbabweans.

Two MDC MPs Hon Shuwa Mudiwa and Hon Elia Jembere were arrested outside Parliament as they were entering the Parliament building for the swearing in ceremony. The following day, MDC MPs Hon Broadwin Nyaude, the MP for Bindura South, Hon Mathias Mlambo, MP Chipinge East, Hon Pearson Mungofa, Highfield East MP were arrested at Parliament again on charges of instigating violence during the elections. The MDC dismissed the charges as a sinister attempt by the ZANU PF government to tilt the balance of numbers in their favor during the voting of the Speaker of Parliament. They also view it as a ploy to systematically remove certain MDC legislators in Parliament. The Human Rights Forum would like to condemn such abuse of power for political gains.

A case of intra- party violence was also recorded in the month. A ZANU PF supporter alleges that he was assaulted with logs by fellow ZANU PF youths for reporting a theft case. The victim narrates that he was called to attend a ZANU PF meeting and was questioned privately on why he had reported a theft case to the police. Again, the Forum condemns any form of violence and encourages political parties to settle their grievances amicably.

Download full document

Visit the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP