15 When we went to vote, we were placed between war veterans. There were 10 of us behind a war veteran, and then another war veteran, and then another 10 workers. This way they could see how we would vote.” 26 As is now a matter of history, Zanu(PF) and Robert Mugabe “won” both elections, and it might have been expected that the violence would cease, as well as a more conciliatory attitude to land reform might emerge. However, with the repudiation of the elections, the suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, the imposition of targeted sanctions, and the continued meltdown of the Zimbabwe economy, the “land problem” had continued value for the embattled Zanu(PF) government. The land problem was continually put forward in every dispute, and at every venue, as the reason for the hostility to the Zimbabwe government: farmers and farm workers perversely remained a key component in Zanu(PF)’s strategy for political survival. Designation of farms and evictions continued, and even accelerated from 2002 onwards, and, in all this process, there was persistent violence and illegal actions. The commercial farmers tried through the law and the courts to defend themselves, their workers, and their rights, and mounted an extravagant number of court challenges through the Administrative Court, the High Court, and even the Supreme Court. During all this time, the human rights climate in Zimbabwe continued to deteriorate, and not only on the commercial farms. As indicated in a recent report of the Human Rights Forum, the number of violations increased from 2001 to 2003, dropped slightly in 2004, and rose again dramatically in 2005. 27 The nature of the violations has changed over this time, but the overall number of violations reported did not decline, even though it was clear that the “land problem” was over as far as the Zimbabwe government was concerned. However, one interesting finding in the Human Rights Forum report, cited above, was the association between the violations and major national events such as elections or expressions of civil dissent such as strikes, stay aways, and demonstrations. According to the Human Rights Forum, two patterns emerge on analysis of the reports. The first is associated with elections and other such events, where torture, political discrimination, murders, death threats, assaults, and abductions were significantly more frequent during election periods, whilst the second pattern indicated that unlawful arrests and detentions, interference with freedoms, displacements, and disappearances were significantly more common 26 27 Interview with former commercial farm worker from Marondera. 10 August 2006. See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2006), An Analysis of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Legal Cases, 1998–2006. Published by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. June 2006, HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM. A Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations on Commercial Farms, 2000 to 2005.