constantly harassed by unidentified men on the whereabouts of Emmanuel
Mugoro who is an MDC alliance agent who also disserted his house.
f) Raids of Offices and Homes, Suspicious Visits – MDC Alliance offices and
members’ homes were raided across the country. Other raids were reported
from people who acted as polling agents for the opposition. A number of civil
society members have also been visited at their homes, and arbitrary
searches have been done. Whilst in most cases those responsible were in
civilian clothes (identifying themselves as police), in some instances, armed
uniformed members of the police and army have also been involved. Two (2)
civil society organisations and their leaders have reported raids at their homes
and had their offices visited by suspected security personnel.
g) Attacks on journalists- Four (4) cases of violation of freedom of the media
have been documented so far and these include:
On 1 August, A soldier assaulted I.M, a freelance journalist while she covered
events unfolding at the corner of Robert Mugabe & Rotten Row. The journalist
reported that the soldier whipped her with electrical cables. She suffered
minor injuries as a result.
On 1 August, D C, a freelance journalist was stoned on the forehead when a
crowd that had gathered outside the Rainbow Towers Hotel turned rowdy and
started hurling missiles. The crowd was trying to force its way onto the Hotel
grounds where the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had set up its
elections command centre. The journalist was standing behind police officers
that were guarding the gate when he was stoned.
On 1 August, a Southern Africa correspondent at the Financial Times was
threatened by a soldier raise with an AK 47 assault rifle and threatened to
shoot him on 1 August during the MDC Alliance demonstration.
On 3 August, Newsday journalist T. S was detained for close to three hours by
soldiers in Harare’s high-density suburb of Kuwadzana despite identifying
himself as a journalist. During his detention, he was instructed not to take
pictures as the army executed its operation.
On 3 August anti-riot police temporarily blocked journalists access to the
MDC Alliance press conference called for by the party leader Nelson Chamisa
at the Bronte Hotel.
h) Arrests- Following the 1st of August protests, police officers cracked down on
opposition leaders and supporters. Approximately fifty one (51) people
including Tendai Biti one of the MDC-Alliance principals have been arrested
11