II. Update Human Rights Watch has been closely monitoring the human rights situation in Zimbabwe since the February 11, 2009 formation of a transitional, power-sharing government in Zimbabwe. The two parties made commitments to carry out reforms in a Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed on September 15, 2008.1 ZANU-PF in particular has shown at best negligible commitment and willingness to implement the far-reaching reforms envisioned in the GPA. At worst, ZANU-PF’s conduct has deliberately undermined efforts to restore the rule of law and accountable government in Zimbabwe. The MDC’s lack of effective power and its desire to ensure the survival of the power-sharing government is severely inhibiting its ability to push for human rights reforms. For instance, the MDC has not forcefully insisted on justice and accountability for human rights abuses, nor has it attempted to bring the perpetrators of those abuses to book. To its credit, the power-sharing government has managed, with assistance from international donors and aid agencies, to bring Zimbabwe’s serious humanitarian crisis under control and somewhat stabilize the country’s economic situation through a range of new policies, as set out in the Short-Term Emergency Recovery Programme (STERP). These measures have helped ease the harsh socio-economic situation of Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable communities, especially as regards access to food and containing the cholera outbreak, which at its peak infected more than 100,000 people and claimed more than 4,200 lives.2 These gains, however, are built on foundations of sand. Zimbabwe’s economic and humanitarian crises have been essentially caused by institutionalized political repression and disregard for the rule of law.3 Unless the government makes significant improvements in its policies in these areas, including major human rights reforms, the advancements in the 1 For more of Human Rights Watch’s work on Zimbabwe published well before the power-sharing agreement, please see Human Rights Watch, “Bullets for Each of You”: State-Sponsored Violence Since Zimbabwe’s March 29 Elections, ISBN: 156432-324-2, June 2008, http://www.hrw.org/node/40484; Human Rights Watch, “They Beat Me Like a Dog”: Political Persecution of Opposition Activists and Supporters in Zimbabwe, ISBN: 1-56432-370-6, August 2008, http://www.hrw.org/node/62081; and Human Rights Watch, “Our Hands Are Tied”: Erosion of the Rule of Law in Zimbabwe, ISBN: 1-56432-404-4 November 2008, http://www.hrw.org/node/76102. 2 “Unicef: New Cholera outbreak ‘almost inevitable’ in Zimbabwe,” Mail and Guardian Online (SA), August 19, 2009, http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-08-19-unicef-new-cholera-outbreak-almost-inevitable-in-zim (accessed August 24, 2009). See also Human Rights Watch, Crisis without Limits: Human Rights and Humanitarian Consequences of Political Repression in Zimbabwe, ISBN: 1-56432-429-X January 2009, http://www.hrw.org/node/79824. 3 Human Rights Watch, Crisis without Limits. 3 Human Rights Watch | August 2009