IV. Background Zimbabwe has an extremely poor record of respect for civil and political rights. In the past eight years, Zimbabwe’s political development has been marked by government efforts to close political space and to shield itself from public scrutiny and competition from credible rivals among the domestic political opposition. This trend was defined by major developments during parliamentary elections in 2000 and 2005, and a presidential election in 2002.3 Many international observers found that elections in 2000 and 2002 fell far short of established international standards.4 In each of these elections it was clear that violations began in the early stages of the election campaign process and continued through to election day. During the parliamentary elections in 2000 and presidential election in 2002, international observers and international organizations documented widespread and extreme violence and serious electoral irregularities including flawed registration procedures, coercion of voters, and interference in the distribution of food aid for political gain.5 Human Rights Watch documented similar violations in parliamentary elections in 2005.6 Those elections, while significantly more peaceful than those in 2002, were however just as flawed and marked by widespread intimidation in the rural parts of the country. Violations of the electoral code in Zimbabwe have rarely been prosecuted, and the same can be said of abuses perpetrated by the police and other security agents. The 3 Human Rights Watch, Not a Level Playing Field: Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Elections in 2005, March 2005, http://hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/zimbabwe060603.htm; see also Lisa Laasko, “Votes, Money and Violence: Political Parties and Elections in Sub-Saharan Africa,” in Matthias Basedau, Gero Erdmann, Andreas Mehler, eds, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Upsala, Sweden, 2007, pp. 241–246. 4 See Preliminary Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group to the Zimbabwe Presidential Election, 9–10 March 2002, Harare, March 14, 2002, http://www.afrol.com/Countries/Zimbabwe/documents/commonw_elections_group.htm (accessed February 28, 2008); Preliminary Statement on Presidential Elections by the Norwegian Observer Team, Oslo, March 13, 2002, http://www.afrol.com/Countries/Zimbabwe/documents/commonw_elections_group.htm (accessed February 28 2008); and SADC Parliamentary Forum Observer Mission, Statement on the Zimbabwe Elections, Harare, March 13, 2002, http://www.africaaction.org/docs02/zim0203.htm (accessed February 28, 2008). 5 Amnesty International, “Terror tactics in the run-up to elections,” June 2000, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFAR460142000?OPEN&of=ENG-ZWE (accessed February 28, 2008); Amnesty International, “The Toll of Impunity,” June 25, 2002, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFAR460342002?OPEN&OF=ENG-ZWE (accessed February 28, 2008). 6 Human Rights Watch, Not a Level Playing Field. 9 Human Rights Watch March 2008