suggests that the violations conformed to well-used tactics, and certainly indicates patterns that were well-known to the authorities, which should have quickly alerted them of the need to take strong action to prevent any recurrence. No such action was forthcoming, which again suggests that the state was at the least condoning these violations. 6.5 Attacks against a civilian population Finally, but not least, it is strongly evident that all these attacks have taken place in a time of “peace”, and certainly not in a time of war. All the findings show clearly that all attacks have been against a non-combatant population, and mostly the members of the MDC, but not exclusively so. This has been accompanied by hate speech, incitement to violence, and racist rhetoric by the President, members of the government, party officials, “war veterans”, and many others. 52 In all, the can be little doubt that this criterion is easily fulfilled. 7. Conclusions It is clear that the allegations made by the Human Rights Forum, that crimes against humanity have been committed in the period March to June 2008, are strongly supported by the evidence before the Human Rights Forum, as well as being corroborated by all other reports.53 The violations conform to the kinds of acts outlawed in international law [and the Zimbabwe Constitution and criminal law], and were both widespread and systematic. There is little evidence of any credible response by the state authorities to intervene, and hence the violations were either condoned or represent a serious omission by the state; at the worst, these violations represent a planned campaign by the authorities. This requires a more forthright response from the international community than has been the case. The evidence suggests that the African Union should be taking strong action in terms of the Constitutive Act of the AU, which demands action in the case of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, as the Human Rights Forum has stated previously. At the very least, it should be expected that the AU would undertake a fact-finding mission in the wake of such serious allegations. The African Union has accepted that the results of the June re-run were unacceptable, but has taken the weak approach of asking the political parties to form an inclusive government. This may be desirable, but scarcely suggests that a responsible and important body is acting according to its own constitution; rather it is a case of avoiding the problem completely. 52 See especially, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2007), Their Words Condemn Them: The Language of Violence, Intolerance and Despotism in Zimbabwe, May 2007, HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM. 53 Here see also SITO (2008), Defining violation: Political violence or crimes against humanity? Piers Pigou, Director, Southern African Historical Archives. [Paper commissioned by the Research and Advocacy Unit]. IDASA:PRETORIA.