Methodology This report is based on Human Rights Watch research conducted in Zimbabwe in September and November 2010 and provides an update of cases previously investigated between May and July 2008. Human Rights Watch researchers visited the capital, Harare, and Manicaland province, and interviewed 35 victims and witnesses of human rights violations, human rights defenders, MDC officials, human rights lawyers, and representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Human Rights Watch researchers also interviewed five MDC activists in Johannesburg, South Africa, and conducted five telephone interviews with NGO representatives in Harare and Johannesburg in October 2010. Human Rights Watch researchers sought but were unable to get appointments to interview officials of the Government of National Unity and ZANU-PF officials. Human Rights Watch gathered updated information on further cases that highlighted impunity which were filed by local human rights organizations in Mashonaland, Midlands, and Masvingo provinces. Human Rights Watch researchers examined court records and documents, police affidavits, relevant domestic laws, medical reports, media accounts and reports by local and international human rights organizations. In addition, materials from previous Human Rights Watch research missions in 2008 contributed to this report. This report follows earlier field research and advocacy on accountability for human rights abuses published in “Bullets for Each of You”: StateSponsored Violence since Zimbabwe’s March 29 Elections (June 2008), “They Beat Me Like a Dog”: Political Persecution of Opposition Activists and Supporters in Zimbabwe (August 2008), and “Our Hands Are Tied”: Erosion of the Rule of Law in Zimbabwe (November 2008). The interviews for this research were conducted in English and Shona. For security reasons, names of some victims have been changed and full details of locations withheld when such information could place a person at risk. Perpetual Fear 18

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