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1.
Introduction
This monograph focuses on the gross human rights abuses during the period preceding the June
2000 Parliamentary elections. This election marked the first time a strong opposition party, the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had challenged the ruling Zimbabwe African National
Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu (PF)) in the political arena. In the General Election the MDC won 57
out of 120 contested seats but the price paid for these democratic gains was high. This was
perhaps the most violent election in Zimbabwe’s history, with killings, wide scale torture, threats
and intimidation and property damage around the country. The organised violence and torture
continued through the various bye-elections held in 2000 and 2001.
Following the General Election, the MDC brought legal challenges to the High Court of Zimbabwe
in 38 constituencies in an effort to contest the election results in those areas. They alleged that
the violence perpetrated by Zanu (PF) agents, with the knowledge or active participation of the
Zanu (PF) candidate at the time, unfairly affected the outcome of the vote in these constituencies,
and thereby violated the Electoral Act of Zimbabwe. The MDC asked in their petitions that the
results be overturned, and that elections be held again in these 38 constituencies. The MDC
additionally requested that, if any member of parliament was found guilty of election misconduct,
that member be rendered ineligible to run for public office for five years.
The trial of 39 cases (Zanu (PF) submitted one case as the petitioner) began in February 2001,
and, by December 2001, 15 petitions had been heard by a High Court Judge, and eight cases
cancelled or withdrawn. First hand testimony was documented from all the election petition cases
that were heard in the High Court of Zimbabwe from February to October 2001. A majority of
data included in this chapter is based on the testimony from the 15 completed election petitions.
Certain testimonies might additionally include excerpts from medical assessments that were
performed by medical staff that had expertise with trauma victims.
The testimony of witnesses throughout these constituencies illustrates a clearly emerging pattern.
Witnesses most commonly experienced torture, threats and intimidation. The similarity of
experiences from across the country cannot be construed as accidental. The violence that
characterized these constituencies for months cannot be classified as a random expression of
rage, either. These violent acts were strategic, occurred over a long period of time, and were
perpetrated, supported and sanctioned by the government and its agents.
The fact that the election petitions were heard in the High Court is historic. Testimony about gross
human rights violations is uncommon in the Zimbabwean courts, and even less common are
testimonies about gross human rights violations in respect of election irregularities. For this
reason, the AMANI Trust, together with the Legal Resources Foundation, felt obliged to use this
opportunity to support the victims in their attempts to make public their experiences, as well as to
use the opportunity to validate the many allegations of torture in the legal arena. This position
was also supported by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum.
For the MDC, the election petitions had three main goals. Firstly, to ensure that the stories of the
victims were heard by the nation; the intention here was to ensure that the historical record was
made complete. Secondly, the court hearings would combat the prevailing climate of impunity in
Zimbabwe. That the Government was discomforted by the possible implications of the election
petitions and the supporting testimonies was evident from both the passing of a Presidential
Pardon in October 2000, as well as the attempt to vitiate the petitions by an amendment to the
Electoral Act by the President using Presidential Powers in December 2000. This latter effort was
thrown out by the Supreme Court, but the amnesty stayed and prevented the prosecution of
many perpetrators under the criminal law. Such prosecutions would have had a very important
consequence for the election petitions. Thirdly, there was the hope that the results might be
overturned by the Courts, and, since such verdicts would justify the claims of an unfair election, to
allow the voters the opportunity to elect the member of Parliament of their choice free from fear or
irregularity.
AMANI Trust: Organised Violence and Torture in the June 2000 General Election in Zimbabwe