government to hold members of the security forces and those linked to ZANU-PF—“youth militia,” war veterans and ZANU-PF officials and supporters—to account has been a constant. Violence around elections has intensified since the MDC emerged as a strong political contender to ZANU-PF in 1999. Few of the perpetrators of this violence have been held to account. In the run-up to the parliamentary elections of June 2000, human rights organizations documented extrajudicial executions, torture, beatings and abductions— mainly committed by ZANU-PF supporters and state security agents, including the police and CIO officers.8 Zimbabwe’s 2002 presidential elections were similarly marked by widespread abuses by ZANU-PF supporters and state security agents.9 Local and international human rights organizations reported that those who had committed abuses in 2000 were also implicated in human rights violations during the 2002 elections.10 Few if any of those responsible for these crimes were ever prosecuted. During the general elections and presidential run-off in 2008, Human Rights Watch documented widespread atrocities by the military, state security agents, war veterans,11 and ZANU-PF supporters, including the killing of at least 200 people and the beating and torture of 5,000 others.12 As this report will show, there have been few prosecutions for the serious human rights abuses that took place during those elections. The perpetrators remain at large, in some cases continuing to live in the same communities as their victims. 8 Amnesty International, “Zimbabwe: Terror tactics in the run-up to parliamentary elections,” AI Index: AFR 46/014/2000, June 2000, http://amnesty.name/en/library/info/AFR46/014/2000/en (accessed January 4, 2011). 9 See various reports on the elections, including Commonwealth Observer Report, “Preliminary Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group to the Zimbabwe Presidential Election, 9–10 March 2002,” March 14, 2002, http://www.afrol.com/Countries/Zimbabwe/documents/commonw_elections_group.htm (accessed October 14, 2010); “Preliminary Statement on Presidential Elections by the Norwegian Observer Team,” Oslo, March 13, 2002, http://www.afrol.com/Countries/Zimbabwe/documents/commonw_elections_group.htm (accessed October 14, 2010); and “Statement on the Zimbabwe Elections,” SADC Parliamentary Forum Observer Mission, Harare, March 13, 2002, http://www.africaaction.org/docs02/zim0203.htm (accessed October 14, 2010). 10 Amnesty International, “Zimbabwe: The toll of impunity,” AI Index: AFR 46/034/2002, June 25, 2002, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR46/034/2002 (accessed October 11, 2010). 11 The terms war veteran refers to those who fought during Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle in the 1970s. However, many of the “war veterans” implicated in recent abuses are believed to be individuals hired by the government to commit abuses under the guise of being “war veterans”. Many are too young to be genuine war veterans or have fought during the liberation struggle. 12 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. Perpetual Fear 20