of September 2002.29 The MDC also complain that many of their members who have been arrested have been subjected to brutal beatings whilst in police custody. In the past the police have regularly carried out raids on MDC party offices and arrested MDC members on flimsy charges. Statements by leading politicians, from the President downwards, have urged the police to suppress public manifestations of discontent with the Government. The intemperate nature of these statements, some of which are set out in Appendix 1, have undoubtedly encouraged the police to use violent and unlawful means to break up demonstrations and deal with demonstrators. Declining confidence in the police The reputation of the Zimbabwe Republic Police [ZRP] has been declining in the eyes of the citizens of Zimbabwe in the past seven years. An Afrobarometer survey in 2004 showed that an appreciable percentage of Zimbabweans (about 52% of respondents) had retained trust in the ZRP, but this had declined by a very significant percentage in October 2005, to only 39% of respondents.30 This diminishing trust in the police is probably attributable, at least in part, to reports and allegations of police brutality. Additionally many Zimbabweans see the ZRP as becoming increasingly ineffective in combating ordinary crime and as being implicated in corruption: Indeed, Operation Murambatsvina seems to have had the effect of increasing graft within the police force. By October 2005, 62 percent of adult Zimbabweans thought that “some” or “all” of the ZRP were “involved in corruption,” a figure that was up sharply from 42 percent in 2004. By bringing police officers into close contact with the populace in an intensive campaign to seize or destroy property, the government created new opportunities for extortion and payoffs. This may have been an unintended effect. Alternatively, it could also be a purposive strategy of a bankrupt government that increasingly finds difficulty in covering the salaries of police and officials.31 29 The MDC election director, Mr Nyathi, alleged that 70 of the MDC candidates for the election had been arrested on trumped up charges by the police. He also said that 20 MDC candidates had been assaulted and forty candidates had withdrawn in two districts out of fear for their safety. Associated Press report 3 September 2002. 30 See Afrobarometer (2005), Popular Reactions to State Repression: Operation Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe, Working Paper No. 59. 31 See Afrobarometer (2005), p.12. Who guards the guards? Violations by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, 2000 to 2006