After the signing of the Abuja Agreement, there was immediate doubt as to whether the Zimbabwe Government was sincere in its commitment to take various measures to build confidence amongst all sectors of Zimbabwean society. When a delegation of SADC Presidents arrived on a follow - up mission, the Government of Zimbabwe prevented several important civil society groupings from meeting with and giving testimony to the SADC Presidents. Even more worrying was the statement reportedly made by Zimbabwe‘s Information Minister on 25 September that there was no condition in the Abuja Agreement requiring the Government to put a stop to violence on farms . 37 A subsequent Forum report – Complying with the Abuja Agreement: Two Months Report - examined the Zimbabwe Government‘s compliance with the Abuja Agreement two months on . 38 As indicated in this second report, there was no credible evidence that the violence had ceased, either on the commercial farms, or in the country generally. The evidence also indicated that there was no significant reduction in the perpetration of gross human rights generally. As regards credible attempts by the Government to adhere to principles of democracy, transparency and human rights, the evidence suggested rather that the Government was taking steps inimical to such principles agreed at Abuja. Thus, the Forum concluded that only conclusion that could be drawn was that the Zimbabwe Government had no serious intention to adhere to the Abuja Agreement in any of its aspects. The actions of the Government suggested that it intended to hold elections against a background of organized violence and torture and, furthermore, to hold elections within a framework that was inimical to common standards for free and fair elections. The final phase of the process around the Commonwealth and the Zimbabwe Government‘s adherence to the Harare Declaration ended with the Zimbabwe Government resigning from the Commonwealth in 2003 . Over this three-year period, the Zimbabwe Government showed no sign ever of adhering to the agreement to which it had voluntarily signed in 2001, and indeed all the evidence demonstrated that it had violated virtually every term of the Abuja Agreement. Its final step was to withdraw from the Commonwealth when it became apparent that it would be suspended. 39 Conformity with UN Standards It is not only in respect of the Commonwealth that it can be seen that the Zimbabwe Government fails to take its international obligations seriously; the Government has also disregarded the UN itself. The first example relates to the Food Riots in 1998, the first serious disturbance in Zimbabwe for more than a decade. Sparked by the wide dissatisfaction at rapid increases in prices, citizens across Zimbabwe erupted in protests, provoking a violent response from the State. The human rights NGOs in Harare swung into action, following the many reports of human rights violations, and the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (The Forum) was formed. This group, a loose alliance of NGOs, provided assistance to detainees, persons complaining of human rights violations and ill-treatment, and produced a report on the riots — Human Rights in Troubled Times: An Initial Report on Human Rights Abuses During and After