in pervasive human rights abuses. All available evidence indicates that the government has engaged in a widespread, systematic, and planned campaign of organized violence and torture to suppress normal democratic activities, and to unlawfully influence the electoral process. The government has also created, and the law enforcement agencies have vigorously applied, highly repressive legislation. These measures were directed at ensuring that the government retained power rather than overcoming resistance to achieving equitable land redistribution and correcting historical iniquities. So seriously did Zimbabweans civic groups view the human rights violations that they made a call for a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission to be established. The evidence thus does not indicate any improvement in the human rights climate, and rather suggests that there is continued and widespread violation of the principles of the Harare Declaration relating to human rights observance. Statistics maintained by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum indicate that 2007 may be the worst year yet for incidences of human rights violations. Of even greater concern is that there is strong evidence of State complicity in the human rights violations, and that this complicity falls within the legally defined parameters of “crimes against humanity”. The massive displacement of an estimated 700 000 urban Zimbabweans through the destruction of their homes, in the so-called Operation Restore Order [Operation Murambatsvina - more correctly translated from chiShona as “drive out the filth”] has renewed demands that charges of crimes against humanity be brought. It is clear that the Zimbabwean Government has paid no heed to the recommendations of a UN Special Envoy following the displacements, and has both persisted in its view that this was a legitimate “urban renewal” operation and has continued to evict people. 5.3 The Rule of Law There were continual references in the various statements of the Commonwealth organs – the Commonwealth Observer Group, CMAG, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and CHOGM itself – to concerns about observance of the rule of law. These were justified concerns and the period since 2003 shows cause for increased concern. A simple way to assess the Zimbabwe Government’s performance against the indicators given by the Commonwealth is to see the extent of the harm done to institutions fundamental for the protection of democracy. 5.3.1 The police force The police force and other law enforcement agencies have been transformed into blatantly politically partisan forces and have been used as instruments of political repression. To a large extent the police no longer protect the rights of government opponents and have instead become a major abuser of the rights of these persons. 11