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ZPP Monthly Monitor - July
Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP)
August 17, 2012

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Methodology

This report is based on reports from ZPP long-term community based human rights monitors who observe, monitor and record cases of human rights violations in the constituencies they reside. ZPP deploys a total of 420 community-based primary peace monitors (two per each of the 210 electoral constituencies of Zimbabwe). These community-based monitors reside in the constituencies they monitor. They compile reports that are handed over to ZPP provincial coordinators who man the different ZPP offices in the ten administrative provinces of Zimbabwe. Upon receipt and verifications of the reports from the monitors, the provincial coordinators compile provincial monthly monitoring reports, which are then consolidated at national office into the ZPP monthly monitoring reports published in retrospect.

Executive Summary

The month under review saw the long-drawn COPAC constitution making process finally producing the first draft constitution. Since then, developments around the COPAC draft constitution raised political temperatures across the country fuelling heated debate and unfortunately politically motivated conflict and the attended human rights violations. Despite the rise in political temperatures, the month of July witnessed a decrease in the number of politically motivated human rights violations of 375 cases down from the 421 witnessed in June. An analysis of the violations trends over the past five years shows that the month has had a high number of violations since 2008 where 1125 cases were recorded in the aftermath of the June 27 Presidential run-off.

The violations continued on an upwards trend in 2009 where 1335 cases were recorded only to ease in the year 2010 to 884 reported cases while 910 incidents were witnessed in July 2011. Masvingo province recording a politically-motivated murder of Simbarashe Nemaura a divorced father of two employed as a Supervisor at Hippo Valley estates who was brutally murdered by John 'Hussein' Chari - his subordinate at work but long-time political rival. The month also witnessed a worrying development in the re-emergence of terror bases across the country manned exclusively by Zanu-PF militias. This trend has been observed in Mashonaland West, Central and East provinces followed by Masvingo province.

The recruitment and training of Census enumerators nearly turned into a farce as soldiers, police and other security agents invaded the training centres seeking to impose themselves on the process. The properly appointed enumerators- who consist mainly of teachers and other 'blue-collar' civil servants were harassed and intimidated by the uniformed police officers and serving members of the army.

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