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Early warning report on human rights and food related violations - January 2009
Zimbabwe Peace Project
January 2009

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Executive summary

This report is presented under very special circumstances when the Zimbabwe Peace Project Director and two of its staffers are eld at Chikurubi Maximum Prison charged with 'recruiting people to undergo training to topple the government.' The report is also presented as a checklist on how far the Global Political Agreement has influenced the level of politically-engineered human rights violations.

Against this background the Zimbabwe Peace Project in chorus with all other peace loving organizations observe with deep concer that five months after the signing of the 15 September 2008 Global Political Agreement, the envisaged Inclusive Government is yet to be formed, a delay that has left the nation rudderless at a time when high profile robust interventions are most needed to deal with the aging socio-economic meltdown. The run up to the 27 June Elections left behind a society boiling with tension and revengeful hate, a nation pleading for peace, social justice and national healing. Continued feet dragging on the enforcement of the Global Peace Agreement is likely to see residual forces of darkness resurfacng in a bid to scupper all efforts that have so far been invested into the promotion of national unity, a development that may see a worsening in politically engineered human rights violations.

While records of overt inter-party human rights violations have been declining since July 2008, this trend has to be viewed with some caution as this may be a mere case of muted violence, violence simply gone under-ground but with a potential to resurface at the slightest touch. Close scrutiny of incident sheets from both rural and urban constituencies point to a society that is still overcast with fear a fear that is likely to worsen if reported cases of abduction, unlawful arrest and detention without trial continue.

Traits of residual violence are still spread [though thinly] across the ten provinces. A total of 1125 cases of politically motivated human rights violations were recorded. Violations records in Manicaland, Masvingo, Harare, Midlands and Mashonaland Central remain disturbingly on the high side.

The spirit of an inclusive government is yet to cascade from macro circles to grassroots structures of both the MDCs and ZANU P. Incidents in which members of the public were reportedly assaulted for either being too enthusiastic or for being too pessimisic about Inclusive Government are still reported with a disturbing frequency. In essence, 2009 is still to recover from the violence hangover of 2008. Incidents in which members of the public are still assaulted or publicly humiliated for committing "offences" such as wearing own party regalia, listening to Studio 7, expressing own views in public on the socioeconomic meltdown or simply passing a comment on the potential capacities of the ledership of the MDCs and ZANU PF recurred in most parts of the ten provinces.

Equally disturbing are reported increases in incidents in which suspected members of the police, army, central intelligence, and war veterans were reportedly involved in acts of lawlessness. Since December 2008 both rural and urban areas have reportedly been silent witnesses to incidents in which the said members o the army converted the national campaign against unlicensed dealing in foreign currency into an own cash cow, allegedly invading and looting goods and foreign currency from shops, flea markets and vendors that were illegally selling goods in foreign currency. In some cases, invasions assumed political dimensions, reportedly targeting shops and businesses of those suspected to be members of the MDC. The Zimbabwe Peace Project deplores this looting frenzy and accordingly exhorts the powers that be to take corrective action fr the good of citizen security.

Also unnerving to Zimbabwe Peace Project is the continued state onslaught on human rights defenders, with developments that all the political and human right activists abducted in December 2008 [including the Zimbabwe Peace Project Director, Jestina Mukoko and staffers Broderick Takawira and Pascal Gonzo] are still held at Chikurubi Maximum Prison accused of involvement in recruiting people to undergo military training to topple he government. Equally unnerving is the impunity with which the basic human rights of the said detainees are being trodden upon, the state reportedly denying these severely tortured victims access to bail and treatment.

Also disturbing are looming signs of upsurges in revengeful violence. Provincial incident reports point to unfolding scenarios in which yester-victims are reportedly taking the law into their own hands to settle what they see as unjustified delays in justice and compenstion for the livestock and property looted, homesteads and houses torched, beatings, injuries and humiliations suffered, evictions from own farms and houses in the run up to the June 2008 Elections. In some communities known yester-perpetrators are reportedly shunned, ostracised, or chased away from village social gatherings [beer drinking places, funerals, church services] while in extreme cases incidents of retaliatory abductions, looting, assaults and evictions have been reported with a frequency that does not augur well for future national stability. The Zimbabwe Peace Project deplores these developments and strongly exhorts relevant authorities to urgently stop these practies while putting in place measures and procedures to ensure that aggrieved parties have recourse to social and economic justice This must be accompanied by a nationwide social healing process in which the leadership of the main political parties, civic organizations and church organizations in deed and practice take proactive steps to inculcate and nurture feelings of fogiveness, love and unity of purpose. Failure to make these timely interventions, in our considered view, may see a serious rapture in community relations and general societal stability.

With respect to food discriminations, the Zimbabwe Peace Project observes with regret that cases of politically engineered food discriminations remain visibly prononced in all the ten provinces, the party card requirement still dominant. Particularly disturbing are allegations of the involvement of high ranking members of the ZANU PF party, police, army, and war veterans in the diversion and looting of agricultural inputs and maize meal either sourced from state or food aid agenies. Most food aid agencies are reportedly under political pressure to give preference to war veterans and senior members of the paty, developments that in most cases have left communities starving when food aid agencies resist the move and relocate to other aras. Cases of retaliatory food discriminations have also been reported especially where yester-victims would have sourced their own maize meal or agricultural inputs.

Against this background, the food situation remains very critical with some sorry incidents in which villagers reportedly ended up consuming maize seed While food availability [supply] in both rural and urban shops had by January 2009 visibly improved, for most ordinary villagers, the goods are almost as good as non-available as their foreign currency pricing places these goods out of their reach.

A cursory review of human rights violations record since January 2008 shows:

• That monthly records have generally been increasing since January 2008.
• That there was a slight drop in the January 2009 record of 1125 from the December 2008 level of 1320.
• An overall cumulative increase in acts of violations from their January 2008 level of 593 to 23 692 by January 2009.

The details are as shown below:

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