TABLE 25 Comparison of violation types [Percentages & ranks]: Zimbabwe Peace Project & Human Rights Forum, 2008 ZPP ZPP [RANK] FORUM FORUM[RANK] Assault 19.10 2 20.34 3 Attempted murder 0.06 11 0.09 10 Discrimination 0.88 9 28.08 1 Displacement 11.93 3 7.40 5 Harassment/intimidation 53.61 1 25.50 2 Kidnapping/abductions 2.36 5 1.38 8 Murder 1.04 8 1.26 9 Property 6.60 4 4.50 6 Rape 0.17 10 0.07 11 Torture 2.10 5 8.25 4 Unlawful detention 2.15 6 2.54 7 Thus, in respect of 2008, there is considerable convergence between different sources of data (as there has been generally since 2000), and it is significant that the trends, the frequencies of violations, and the geographical spread seen in both data sets corroborate each other so strongly. It is therefore indisputable that there were serious numbers of gross human rights violations perpetrated in 2008, and mostly during the period between the Harmonised Elections in March and the Presidential run-off in June. However, it can be argued that, as the Zimbabwe government has done through reports by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, this merely represents political violence that accompanies elections and disputes between political parties. To assert that these were gross human rights violations, and possibly crimes against humanity, it is necessary to show that the violations were perpetrated mostly by government agencies (and government supporters), and that, furthermore, that the violations were systematic and/or widespread. 5.1 The victims There is considerable evidence from the many reports dealing with 2008 that the majority of the victims were either members of the Movement for Democratic Change [MDC], members of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network [ZESN], or other civil society organizations. There were reports from three organizations in particular that allow a good description of the victims; these were the Solidarity Peace Trust [SPT]78, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum [the Human Rights Forum]79, and the Zimbabwe Peace Project [ZPP]80. The best detail concerning the victims and perpetrators comes from SPT, but reports from the other two organizations provide solid support for the assertions of SPT. The reports from Zimbabwean organizations are also corroborated by the reports from international human rights organizations81. From all reports it is evident that members of the MDC, people suspected of being affiliated to the MDC, election observers, and members of other civic groups constituted the overwhelming majority of the victims. It is difficult to get clear figures from the ZPP report due to a very indistinct graph, but a crude count suggests that, between January and August 2008, over 90% of the victims were members of the MDC82. This is supported by the data from the Human Rights Forum in their August report, where they report that, in April 2008, 88% of the victims were members of the MDC83. In both reports, the numbers of ZANU PF supporters were insignificant. These reports would strongly suggest a campaign directed against the MDC rather than political violence between opposing political parties, but additional evidence from SPT makes this point more strongly. In the first SPT report [SPT1]84, which was published in May 2008, there were no cases of ZANU PF being reported as victims, but, for a large percentage [17%], their affiliation was unclear or unknown. It is doubtful that these were ZANU PF supporters, however, and more likely to have been ordinary citizens to whom MDC support was attributed, as has been the case in previous elections. It was also reported that there had been a dramatic shift in the character of the targets of violence. Although the majority were members of the MDC, there was a marked change in the numbers of MDC leadership that experienced a gross human rights violation: this had increased from 7% prior to March to 22% by May 2008. 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 Page 30 See Solidarity Peace Trust (2008), Punishing Dissent, Silencing Citizens: The Zimbabwe Elections 2008. 21 May 2008. JOHANNESBURG: SOLIDARITY PEACE TRUST; Solidarity Peace Trust (2008), Desperately Seeking Sanity: What Prospects for a New Beginning in Zimbabwe? 29 July 2008. DURBAN: SOLIDARITY PEACE TRUST. See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2008), Damned Lies? Post Election Violence in Zimbabwe. Report produced by the Research & Advocacy Unit. August 2008. HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM. See ZPP (2008), POST RUN-OFF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION REPORT NO.4. July 2008. HARARE: ZIMBABWE PEACE PROJECT. See Human Rights Watch (2008), “Bullets for Each of You”: State-Sponsored Violence since the March 29 Elections. June 2008. NEW YORK: HUAMN RIGHTS WATCH. See graph on page 17 of ZPP (2008), POST RUN-OFF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION REPORT NO.4. July 2008. HARARE: ZIMBABWE PEACE PROJECT. See graph on page 6 of Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2008), Damned Lies? Post Election Violence in Zimbabwe. Report produced by the Research & Advocacy Unit. August 2008. HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM. Solidarity Peace Trust (2008), Punishing Dissent, Silencing Citizens: The Zimbabwe Elections 2008. 21 May 2008. JOHANNESBURG: SOLIDARITY PEACE TRUST.