Zimbabwe: No justice for the victims of forced evictions 13 Failure to prioritise the victims of mass forced evictions In many areas the new – albeit unfinished – houses have been allocated to beneficiaries, although as noted above, most remain uninhabited. Stands have also been allocated at the sites referred to above. Despite its statements to the ACHPR that Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle is for the victims of Operation Murambatsvina, government officials have made publicly clear that at least 20 per cent of the Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle housing will go to civil servants, police officers and soldiers. 39 During its investigations Amnesty International attempted to discover how many victims of Operation Murambatsvina had actually been allocated houses or stands under Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle. Only in one of the Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle sites visited were Operation Murambatsvina victims the main beneficiaries of new housing; in all other sites both houses and stands were allocated to people who had not been forcibly evicted during Operation Murambatsvina.40 For example, in Masvingo, where City Council officials confirmed that very few houses were destroyed during Operation Murambatsvina, approximately 100 Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle houses have been built. City officials claimed at least 70 of these houses went to civil servants while the remaining 30 were allocated to people on the Council’s housing waiting list, who were not victims of Operation Murambatsvina. In most locations investigated by Amnesty International the allocation of Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle houses was managed by inter-ministerial committees (IMCs), led by army officers. In some cases the Ministry of Local Government has directly allocated housing and stands. 41 The criteria used by the IMCs and the Ministry of Local Government are unknown, but Amnesty International found no evidence that they made any effort to identify or prioritise victims of Operation Murambatsvina or ensure a proper and transparent procedure for allocation of the new housing and stands. In most parts of the country no assessment has ever been carried out to identify the victims of Operation Murambatsvina or establish where they are now. In Bulawayo, City Council officials explained how the local IMC within the Governor’s office allocated the 700 Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle houses - many unfinished - that had been built at Cowdray Park. Bulawayo is one of the only areas where local government officials did any survey of the victims of Operation Murambatsvina. A City Council survey found 10,595 housing structures had been demolished. Bulawayo police claim the real figure is only half this number.42 39 The Standard (Zimbabwe) “20% 'Garikai' houses for civil servants”, 19 March 2006. Also reported in the Second report of the Portfolio Committee on Local Government on progress made on the Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle Programme, June 2006, S.C. 21, 2006. 40 The site was Hatcliffe in Harare where people were evicted in May 2005 and then returned to the site of the former homes in July/August 2005 by the government. Between 70 and 110 houses were constructed at Hatcliffe. 41 Interviews with local government officials in Bulawayo and Harare in April and May 2006. 42 Police in Bulawayo told a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee investigating Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle that 5,100 households had been affected by Operation Murambatsvina. Amnesty International 8 September 2006 AI Index: AFR 46/005/2006