III. Introduction The deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe is the continuation of a consistent pattern of human rights abuses over the past six years. Since 2000, the authorities in Zimbabwe have routinely resorted to violent tactics to silence criticism of their poor human rights record and to prevent human rights activists from exposing abuses in the country;1 repression of political activity and dissent has been particularly noticeable prior to election periods.2 The severity of human rights abuses has increased, together with the direct involvement of state institutions in such abuses. Whereas in the beginning of Zimbabwe’s political crisis it was war veterans, youth militia, and ruling party supporters who chiefly dealt out violence and intimidation to opposition supporters and civil society activists,3 in the past three years such abuses have increasingly been carried out by army, police and state security personnel.4 The government has turned to more violent and repressive tactics as economic and political conditions continue to deteriorate and people increasingly express their discontent. In the past year (which has been outside of an election period) there has been an emerging pattern of human rights violations perpetrated by state authorities against those who engage in peaceful demonstrations. Activists are often arrested during demonstrations and then brutally beaten by police with batons. Police use laws such as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Miscellaneous Offences Act (MOA) to justify the arrest of civil society activists. After arrest, most of the activists detained by the police are taken into police custody. Some are released within hours, but some are held for more than the legally allowed limit, often without charge. Others are brought before the judicial authorities to 1 Human Rights Watch, Under a Shadow: Civil and Political Rights in Zimbabwe, June 6, 2003, http://hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/zimbabwe060603.htm. 2 Human Rights Watch, Not a Level Playing field: Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Elections in 2005, March 2005, http://hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/zimbabwe0305.pdf. 3 Ibid. 4 See “Zimbabwe: Crackdown on the Press Intensifies,” Human Rights Watch news release, February 8, 2006, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/08/zimbab12632.htm. 5 Human rights watch November 2006