Picking up the pieces in the aftermath of the
ABOUT ZPP
elections
Introduction
The total number of violations in the period 1 August
to 31 August was 231 from a reported 124 cases down
from the 266 recorded from 151 cases in July in the
run up to the elections. Harare recorded the highest
number of violations at 54. This could be attributed to
a number of factors among them Harare is an urban
area and for a long time has been the stronghold of the
opposition MDC Alliance and it also happens to be
the hub of where everything was happening in the
elections from being the central point of all observers
The organisation was founded in 2000 by church-based and
human rights organisations. The current members of ZPP are
Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), Zimbabwe Council
of Churches (ZCC), Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace
in Zimbabwe (CCJPZ), Counselling Services Unit (CSU),
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights), Civic
Education Network Trust (CIVNET), Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights (ZLHR) and Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe
(WCoZ).
ZPP was established with the objective of monitoring,
documenting and building peace and promoting the peaceful
resolution of disputes and conflicts. The Zimbabwe Peace
Project seeks to foster dialogue and political tolerance through
non-partisan peace monitoring activities, mainly through
monitors who document the violations of rights in the provinces.
The monitors, who at full complement stand at 420, constitute
the core pool of volunteers, supported by four Regional
Coordinators. The Regional Coordinators relate with the
national office headed by the National Director and programme
officers in various units.
as well as being home to all the institutions related to
the elections. Supporters of the MDC Alliance took to the streets on August 1 protesting the
perceived delay in the announcement of Presidential elections. After marching to the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) offices then to the Rainbow Towers where ZEC had
set a National Results Centre, the protestors caught the ire of the police who were deployed to
control the crowd and thus prevented them from accessing the Rainbow Towers where most
international observers were housed and some were presenting their preliminary reports on
the just ended July 30 harmonised elections. The police used water cannons and tear gas to
push back the protesters from the area of the Rainbow Towers. To the surprise of many
military vehicles were seen circling the city of Harare and in no time reports of unarmed
civilians having been killed in cold blood started filtering. Seven citizens lost their lives and
scores others were injured in the melee of running away from live ammunition. In the days
that followed citizens in high density areas of Harare and other provinces faced violence.
Mashonaland Central had the second highest number of violations at 38. Most of the cases
reported were of intimidation and harassment as reprisals intensified with most people being
victimised for their choices during elections. There were 134 violations related to harassment
and intimidation.
There were 7 murder cases mainly due to the disproportionate force
applied by the military to quell protests. ZPP recorded cases of gross human rights violations
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