In the end, the power-sharing agreement only made a passing reference to this central issue, noting the duty of all political parties and individuals to “respect and uphold the Constitution and other laws of the land, and adhere to the principles of the rule of law.”68 In accordance with GPA provisions to promote issues of concern to the general population, the new government set up the Organ for National Healing, Reconciliation, and Integration, comprising three ministers of state, one from each of the three main political parties.69 However, local human rights organizations have criticized the absence of justice and accountability in the organ’s mandate.70 The cases in this report make clear that ”national healing” has not been interpreted by the government to mean justice and reparations for victims of serious abuses. Progress in implementing many aspects of the GPA has been slow. The main obstacles are ongoing disputes of key provisions of the GPA, and a lack of trust between the MDC and ZANU-PF. This lack of progress has had a direct impact on the human rights situation and the climate of impunity. Two years into Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government, the former opposition party, the MDC lacks real power to end human rights abuses and end impunity. President Mugabe and ZANU-PF, through the use of politicized and partisan senior government officials and state security forces, continue to maintain power and dominate government institutions such as the police, army and the judiciary. The MDC’s lack of effective power and its apparent prioritizing of the survival of the powersharing government over all else is severely inhibiting the party’s ability to push for accountability and justice. 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. At a press conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, on September 16, 2010, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai ruled out any criminal prosecution of Robert Mugabe and allies of ZANU-PF after they left office. He told journalists that the power-sharing deal and the possibility of a new constitution were processes of finding reconciliation and that a retributive agenda would be counterproductive to such a process. Tsvangirai stated that, 68 Agreement between the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the two Movement for Democratic Change formations, on resolving the challenges facing Zimbabwe, article XI (a), September 15, 2008, http://www.kubatana.net/docs/demgg/mdc_zpf_agreement_080915.pdf (accessed January 30, 2011) 69 Human Rights Watch, False Dawn 70 Human Rights Watch interview with local NGO representatives, Harare, September 9 and 13, 2010. Perpetual Fear 36