5 wanted to maintain control in these constituencies. By first-hand accounts of court witnesses, the violence against members of opposition parties began in March 2000. Many MDC party members gave accounts of success at freely holding rallies, and then these suddenly ceased due to the violence used by Zanu (PF) supporters. Party members were beaten and threatened, usually by large groups of Zanu (PF) supporters, generally accompanied by the militia groups popularly termed “war veterans”. Violence continued through June, until the polling days. For the most part, polling day was quiet. This pattern has been observed in previous Zimbabwean elections. The assessment given to the election by a majority of domestic observers was that the election had not been free or fair. The conclusion of international observers reinforced the conclusions of Zimbabwean civil society observers about the 2000 Parliamentary elections. The report from the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) on the 2000 Parliamentary Elections concluded that the pre-election period was characterized by violence and intimidation, and therefore the environment was not conducive to free and fair elections. ZESN makes reference to the “no-go” areas of the country that were created by the violence and the occupation of the farms by war veteran militias. “Mass fear created by the violence prevented people from exercising free choice at the ballot box. During the election period the right to life, freedoms of opinion, expression, association, assembly and movement were all substantially restricted.” The EU Election Observation Mission made several conclusions in its report on the 2000 Parliamentary Elections. Concerning the rule of law, the Mission stated: “…the scale of violence and intimidation in the run-up to the campaign and during the election period marred the final result. The government failed to uphold the rule of law and compromised law enforcement agencies.” Regarding electoral management and administrations, the EU concluded: “The Office of the Registrar-General did not operate in an open and transparent manner and, as a result, failed to secure the confidence of both the political parties and of the institutions of civil society in the electoral process…High levels of violence, intimidation and coercion marred the election campaign. An assessment of violence and intimidation since February 2000 made by the EU Election Observation Mission, together with reports from EU observers operating throughout the country since early June [2000], indicate that Zanu (PF) was responsible for the bulk of political violence.” The EU made an another important recommendation as to the role of observers in coming Presidential Election: “The European Union should endeavour to ensure that international observers are deployed in good time for the Presidential elections scheduled to take place in 2002.” Similar comments were made by the Commonwealth Observer Group and the National Democratic Institute (NDI). The Period Preceding the 2000 Parliamentary Election The commencement of farm invasions brought with it the perpetration of organised violence and torture against MDC officers, supporters, and candidates. The government did not speak out against this violence; government leaders either condoned the violence or supported it outright. It could be said that the farm violence was an effective cover for the violence perpetrated on the black electoratevii. The international community focused mainly on the plight of white farmers. AMANI Trust: Organised Violence and Torture in the June 2000 General Election in Zimbabwe