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Political Violence Report - September 2008
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
December 01, 2008

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Overview

September 15 2008 saw the landmark signing of the power-sharing Agreement between ZANU PF and the two MDC formations. Under the Agreement, Robert Mugabe would remain the President of Zimbabwe and chair the Cabinet, Morgan Tsvangirai would become Prime Minister and chair the Council of Ministers as well as being the Deputy Chairperson of Cabinet whilst Arthur Mutambara would become one of the Deputy Prime Ministers. Under Article 11(2) of the Agreement, the parties agreed to "work together to create a genuine, viable, permanent, sustainable and nationally acceptable solution to the Zimbabwe situation and in particular to implement the (following) agreement with the aims of resolving once and for all the current political and economic situations and charting a new political direction for the country". Further Article X (10) indicated that the parties had agreed there should be "free political activity throughout Zimbabwe within the ambit of the law". Article XVIII (18.5(a)) commited the parties "to promote values and practices of tolerance, respect, non-violence and dialogue as means of resolving political differences" and the Government to "apply the laws of the country fully and impartially in bringing all perpetrators of politically motivated violence to book"(18.5(c)). This report marks the first test to some of the terms of the Agreement.

Contrary to the spirit and letter of the Agreement, politically - motivated human rights violations continue to be recorded with some violations being perpetrated by members of the ZRP under the guise of preserving public order. The September MPVR marks an increase in the total number of human rights violations and incidents from 81 in August to 385 in September. Furthermore most of the violations in the report occurred after the signing of the power - sharing Agreement. In situations that confirm the high levels of political intolerance attendant on the political scene in the country, violence broke out amongst rival supporters of ZANU PF and the MDC who were waiting outside the Rainbow Towers in Harare to witness the signing ceremony. In other matters relating to the power-sharing deal, the police allegedly arrested MDC supporters in Buhera and Masvingo for celebrating the signing of the Agreement. The report documents 44 cases of unlawful arrests and unlawful detention for the month of September whilst incidents of political discrimination rose from 19 in August to 96 in September.

The report further documents 93 cases of assault. In Mbare, MDC supporters were allegedly assaulted by ZANU PF youths at Mbare Police Station as they attempted to reclaim their homes, which had been confiscated by ZANU PF supporters at the height of the June 2008 electoral violence.

Apparently, the houses are owned by the Harare City Council and thus do not belong to individuals who are now facing victimisation for being MDC supporters. Other people fell prey to attacks by ZANU PF supporters after they were seen wearing MDC t-shirts. A remarkable incident is alleged to have occurred in Harare Central where an MDC supporter, clad in party regalia, was assaulted and told that the violence would continue until President Mugabe acknowledged Tsvangirai's role as Prime Minister.

The Human Rights Forum contends that whilst the numbers of violations recorded in this report seem very marginal as compared to the violence from March - June 2008, it is still deplorable that Zimbabweans are being victimized for their political affiliations. The state cannot purport to be protecting peace and stability in the country by trampling on citizens' rights to express their views on governance issues such as the provision of education, health and food. In the same vein, the Human Rights Forum condemns the arrest and harsh treatment of Bindura University students who were arrested for demonstrating against the hikes in tuition fees.

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