6 Time for accountability 3 Violations in the 2008 elections "On 29 March [2008] people voted and expected to get the results within a reasonable time. Little did they know that they had unleashed a monster." A Chief from Mashonaland East, August 2008 The run-up to the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections on 29 March 2008 was more open than previous election periods, despite governmentimposed restrictions on the opposition’s capacity to organize openly and reports of abuses in rural areas. Similarly, the environment for voting in the 29 March elections themselves was less tense than in previous elections. However, the months between the 29 March elections and the 27 June presidential run-off were marked by a sharp rise in political violence. 29 March election run-up Amnesty International delegates who visited Zimbabwe in March in the run-up to the elections observed that the government was putting in place unlawful restrictions11 on the rights to freedom of expression and association and the right of peaceful assembly. Police were applying the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) in a partisan manner – restricting the activities of opposition parties, while allowing supporters of ZANU-PF to hold meetings without interference. Although opposition parties appeared to be enjoying a greater degree of access to previously “no go zones” in rural areas than they did during previous elections, reports of intimidation, harassment and violence against supporters of opposition parties persisted. People in rural areas told Amnesty International delegates that they were fearful of retribution after the elections.12 In March 2008, several civil society organizations reported that they were under constant surveillance by state intelligence services – including the police and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). Amnesty International delegates witnessed one such incident of harassment by police in Zimbabwe’s second city of Bulawayo, when a leading member of an NGO was visited by police after they found out that he was meeting with Amnesty International. The police kept making threatening calls even after they had indicated that he had done nothing wrong. 27 June presidential run-off Between the 29 March elections and the 27 June 2008 presidential election run-off the human rights situation in Zimbabwe deteriorated sharply. Amnesty International documented unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment of political activists affiliated to the MDC and human rights defenders. Sources in Zimbabwe documented over 180 violence related deaths and more than 9,000 people tortured and beaten. The bulk of these victims reported being attacked because they were accused by Amnesty International AI Index: AFR 46/028/2008