illegal arrests and detention. What were to eventually become the Legal Unit and the Research Unit were set up in the Amani Trust offices, and many young lawyers and activists cut their teeth working in these Units. focus on documenting human rights, it d e v e l o p e d a n a l y t i c a l c a p a c i t y, stretched into the field of transitional justice, and the reports just flowed. By 2009, the end of the first decade of the Forum, more than 40 detailed reports had emerged out of the Forum and more than 70% of the reports on human rights violations in Zimbabwe emanate from the Forum and its members. The next challenge for the Forum came with the 2000 elections and all the subsequent by-elections and national e l e c t i o n s . T h e c h a l l e n g e s w e re immense, difficult and dangerous, but the Forum and its members rose to the challenge in such a determined way that Zimbabwe is now the best-documented human rights crisis ever. And the membership grew too. From the initial eight organisations, more and more organisations joined, and now stand at 22 organisations. These members too have expanded the human rights work in many different and creative ways. A small initiative by the Amani Trust, to document the 39 legal petitions arising from the 2000 elections, and undertaken by three very brave young American interns, led to the publication of the Monthly Political Violence Reports (MPVR). By the time that the Forum stopped publishing these in 2008, 108 monthly reports had been published. They became the standard re f e re n c e a c ro s s t h e w o r l d f o r determining the political and human rights climate of Zimbabwe. If the first decade was marked by documentation, legal and psychosocial support, and extensive international advocacy and lobbying, the second decade has been marked by the steady growth of the demand for transition justice, and the Forum has been a prime mover. Beginning with the groundbreaking international symposium in 2003, there has been steady progress in developing a strategy and understanding the needs and desires of the survivors. The Legal Unit flourished and grew, and, complemented by the work of the ZLHR developed a unique approach to dealing with human rights violations and civil suits. If the state would take no criminal action, then the Forum would use the courts in another way. This highly innovative approach has led many eminent human rights lawyers and activists to hold the innovation in high regard. This has probably had an influence on the constitution-making process and the establishment of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC). It has most certainly resulted in the setting up of the National Transitional Justice Working Group (NTJWG), now supported by 95 organisations around the country. Research became another important weapon in the struggle for human rights, and the embryonic Research Unit grew and expanded. From an initial 4 ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM ANNUAL REPORT 2017