days after March 11.10 A high court judge presiding over the case condemned the torture of the activists,11 and after more than 72 days in police custody the activists were acquitted of all charges due to lack of evidence.12 Failure of SADC Mediation Talks In response to the brutal police beating of the opposition members and civil society activists on March 11, 2007, SADC leaders convened an extraordinary summit on March 28, 2007, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to address the political crisis. The SADC mandated South African President Thabo Mbeki to mediate talks between the MDC and the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), and report back to the SADC on progress.13 The intervention of the SADC highlighted the extent of the political crisis in Zimbabwe. It also emphasized the determination of the regional body and its leaders to resolve the crisis in a manner that would reestablish institutions that would make it possible for democratic elections to take place in the country. President Mbeki made it clear that one of the mediation’s main objectives was to create conditions for free and fair elections in 2008 and that the talks should result in “elections whose outcome would not be contested.”14 However, the mediation talks stalled in early January 2008 when President Mugabe announced that the elections would take place in March 2008 against the opposition’s call for the elections to be postponed to a much later date. On January 17 President Mbeki visited Harare in an attempt to reactivate the talks, but came back with little in the way of concrete results.15 The South African government’s subsequent claims that the talks had ended positively despite the setbacks were repudiated by the MDC. In 10 Human Rights Watch, Bashing Dissent. 11 “MDC activists appear in Harare court,” SABC news, April 3, 2007, http:www.sabcnews.com/Africa/southern_africa/0,2172,146512,00.html (accessed February 28, 2008). 12 Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, “Political Violence Report, August 2007.” 13 Communique from the 2007 Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania 28th to 29th March 2007. See also Human Rights Watch, Bashing Dissent. 14 International Crisis Group, “Zimbabwe: A Regional Solution?” Africa Report No.132, September 18, 2007. 15 “President Thabo Mbeki to hold Discussions with Zimbabwean Political Leaders,” Department of Foreign Affairs media release, January 16, 2008, http://www.dfa.gov.za/docs/2008/zimb0117.htm (accessed February 26, 2008). 11 Human Rights Watch March 2008