10 violence and intimidation”, no attempt to comply with the Harare Declaration or the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme, and no attempt to “observe human rights, the rule of law, transparency and democratic principles”. In these reports, the Human Rights Forum reported continued violence against farmers and farm workers. Although the Commonwealth was concerned about the land problem, it was equally concerned about elections, having issued an adverse report on the 2000 Parliamentary Elections. The Commonwealth Ministers Action Group [CMAG] took the somewhat unprecedented step of warning the Zimbabwe Government that it risked punitive action if the 2002 elections did not meet the standards expected of a signatory to the Harare Declaration. 13 As it transpired, the Commonwealth gave the 2002 Presidential Election a failing grade, and Zimbabwe was suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth. In its final report on the Abuja Agreement, issued ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2003, the Human Rights Forum concluded that there existed no basis for removing the suspension of Zimbabwe. 14 President Mugabe, rather than face further humiliation, unilaterally removed Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth. As the Human Rights Forum stated in its final report on Abuja: The majority of evidence seems to indicate that the Zimbabwe Government has failed to abide by Commonwealth Principles enshrined in the Harare Declaration, the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme on the Harare Declaration, the Abuja Agreement itself and subsequent communiqués in the form of the Marlborough House Statement on Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Mid-Term Review Statement. So, despite the efforts of the Commonwealth, and the considerable efforts of three Commonwealth leaders, the Abuja initiative failed, and the commercial farmers and the commercial farm workers were left to the mercy of the Zimbabwe government. 2.2 Land and violence Notwithstanding all the legal and economic problems involved in the current land reform process, it has been evident that there have been very significant levels of violence accompanying the 13 14 Eighteenth Meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG), Marlborough House, 30 January 2002. See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2003), Zimbabwe, the Abuja Agreement and Commonwealth Principles: Compliance or Disregard? 8 September 2003, HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM. A Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations on Commercial Farms, 2000 to 2005.