2. Preparation for Developing a Human Rights Violation Database Existing human rights data sources The research sought to develop a profile of existing human rights data with a view to determining what might be utilised for the development of a human rights violation database, with an emphasis on primary data sources (statements, interviews and other narratives). The following profile, however, includes a range of data sources. (The following section – 3 – deals with related qualitative reports on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.) Although the writer was looking at information from both colonial and post-independence periods, it is evident that there is considerably more information available relating to the post-independence period, and in particular to violations in Matabeleland and the Midlands in the 1980s and in relation to the post 2000 era. This certainly reflects the key periods of repression in the independent Zimbabwe. The project had less success in locating primary data from the colonial era. In this regard, there was some difficulty in determining where and in what condition the archives of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Rhodesia were. There has been a significant increase in data collection in the post 2000 period, with many more organisations involved in monitoring and documenting human rights developments and violations, and covering a range of issues, civil and political, social and economic. This has resulted in both a greater degree of co-operation between different human rights organisations, as evidenced by the establishment of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, but also in a degree of duplication (e.g. a number of organisations are involved in newspaper monitoring, even though the MMPZ provides the most comprehensive service in this regard and could have been employed to provide this information.) Data is largely metropolitan centred (Harare and Bulawayo), reflecting the operational focus of most monitoring organisations, and the difficulties of access to many parts of the country. There are some notable exceptions to this, such as one Harare-based organisation, which has monitors in every constituency of the country. Although information from the provinces is certainly recorded, this often comes from individual victims and survivors who have been able to seek relief in the cities and other urban centres. Consequently, many interviewees felt that a significant number of violations, especially in the rural areas, have not been captured. A number of organisations have been involved in the monitoring and documenting human rights violations. Details of what organisations have collected what information have been gathered in this research process, and the information has been made available to relevant parties. For obvious reasons, this information cannot be made publicly available in the current circumstances, as there are vested interests that would want to sabotage and destroy these sources. Nevertheless, a considerable amount of this information is already public. The sources of this information include: Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum was established in 1998 and has been responsible for the production of monthly incident reports and other specialist reports relating to organised violence and torture. The Forum provides the main platform for most NGOs involved in monitoring and documenting human rights violations to pool their data in a collaborative endeavour designed to provide a regular overview of reported and recorded violations from across the country. 32