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Report on politically motivated human rights and food-related violations - July 2009
Zimbabwe Peace Project
September 25, 2009

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Overview

While the month of July saw the constitution-making process gathering momentum and the declaration of three days for national healing (24-26 July), the human rights context remained at risk; the political environment plagued by hatred, mistrust, fear, impunity and intolerance to political diversity.

The first All-Stakeholders' Conference on the constitution-making process was disrupted on the first day after supporters of the two main political parties traded insults through songs, waving of placards and chanting of slogans. It resumed on the second day after the three principals had promptly held a joint press conference denouncing the disruptions. Since then, constitution-making processes have been marred with suspicion and conflicts over the Kariba Draft, with ZANU PF calling for its use as the basis in the drafting of the new constitution while the MDC and civil society organizations call for a fresh start to the drafting of the new constitution.

Compliance with the Global Political Agreement (GPA) remained low. MDC factions accused ZANU PF of dragging its feet on rectifying issues relating to the appointments of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the Attorney General, and provincial governors. ZANU PF accused the MDC factions of failing to persuade "their western allies" to lift "illegal" sanctions.

The MDC T continue to complain of cases in which their legislators and party activists are arrested, detained, and convicted in circumstances that they say smack of use of state organs to mete out persecution of political opponents.

A year after their election into office in March 2008, MDC councillors are yet to execute their local mandates while people who participated in the March and June elections as election agents for the MDC or as observers continue to be victimised.

Although with the formation of the Inclusive Government in February, the National Security Council [NSC] was supposed to meet once every month to receive and consider national security reports and give direction on how the country's security forces work, it only managed to convene its first meeting on the 31st July.

In the education sector, fear is common among teachers amid reports that some youth militias who were involved in the perpetration of violence have been recruited to teach in several rural schools.

Although the July violations toll of 1335 reflects a drop from the June level of 1558, incidence of harassments [765] and assaults [310], remain disturbingly prevalent in all the ten provinces. Also disturbing are resurfacing inclinations towards extreme forms of violence.

Since January 2009, a cumulative violations toll of 10 328 cases has been recorded, of which 5308 were harassments, 2323 assaults, 500 displacements and 225 MDPs, among others.

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