rule. The same police officers and security officials implicated in torture and killings of innocent civilians and opposition party supporters during Mugabe's rule remain in jobs without punishment or being held accountable by the courts of law or any other justice mechanism. From its formation in 1998, the Forum began work on documenting and reporting on cases of human rights violations by the state and other private individuals acting with the acquiescence of the state especially in politically motivated cases. Since then, the Forum has stood side by side with over 20 000 victims of organized violence and torture and processed over 7 000 civil cases in local and international courts. Most of the cases litigated by the Forum concerned state security agents from the ZRP, the CIO, and the ZNA, but with varying levels of involvement and participation in the abuses. The Forum produced several reports detailing such violations in the past and they are available on the Forum website. What has remained a thorn in the flesh of the Zimbabwean justice landscape is the impunity for human rights violations by state security agents. The Forum authoritatively notes that hundreds of cases remain unresolved because investigations by the police remain pending. In addition, the more prevalent form of impunity exhibited in Zimbabwe is the utter disregard for investigations by the police. Reports abound that numerous cases have been deliberately bungled, or accused officers transferred leading to loss of crucial evidence or documents. As a result, many cases are then abandoned. The Zimbabwe judiciary has been criticized for the slow turnover in cases brought forward for adjudication. Victims represented by the Forum often complain that judgments delivered against perpetrators are not deterrent enough. When a judge or a magistrate rules against the government in cases deemed 'political,' the police frequently ignore the court orders. Prosecutors who have sought to prosecute offenders have reportedly been undermined by the police, who as a matter of policy in 'political' cases appear to only arrest opposition activists. ZANU-PF activists and their allies who commit crimes in the context of political matters have, by and large, gone scot-free. Another key challenge in several cases is the government of Zimbabwe's blatant refusal to pay damages as awarded against it by the courts.⁵ The Zimbabwe government's common defence is lack of capacity to pay due to the poor economic conditions prevailing in the country. To make matters worse, Zimbabwean law, through the State Liabilities Act and other related legislation, prevents the attachment of government property leaving victims of human rights violations by state agents without an effective remedy. The GoZ has over the years failed to take heed of calls to institute justice mechanisms, programs or other such activities in its legislation or policies. Processes that have been tried have largely been tokenistic, ended abruptly, were poorly conceived, underfunded and not well received by the general populace. For example, the Government of National Unity (GNU) established the Organ on National Healing Reconciliation and Integration (ONHRI) from 2009 - 2013 whose work was very much politicized but did not achieve much in terms of its core objectives to heal, reconcile and integrate Zimbabweans. ⁵ See Barry L.T Gondo, Kerina Gweshe, Nyaradzai Katsande, Peter Chirinda, Phanuel Mapingure, Ruth Manika, Sophia Matasva, Trust Shumba and Mercy Magunje, SADC Tribunal, Case No. SADCT: 05/2008; Judgment available at, http://www.worldcourts.com/sadct/eng/decisions/2010.12.09_Gondo_v_Zimbabwe.htm, (accessed September 2010.) 8 Anti-Impunity Report