The operation began with the police destruction of flea markets and informal trading shops in Harare. Thousands of informal market traders were arrested in the process.43 It quickly moved onto high density suburbs and informal settlements in Harare and other cities around the country.44 As the demolitions and evictions progressed, the government established a transit camp on Caledonia Farm, on the outskirts of Harare to hold evictees, whilst vetting was reportedly carried out to determine relocation to their final place of origin.45 Two other camps were established in Mutare and Bulawayo. Patterns of evictions and demolitions The criteria used to carry out the evictions were not only extremely broad but poorly defined. The government not only destroyed legal and illegal dwellings but failed to take into account the individual status of the dwellings. The evictions took place in all ten provinces of Zimbabwe, including the cities of Harare and Bulawayo.46 Over twenty districts and fifty towns and neighborhoods were affected by the evictions and demolitions.47 The mass forced evictions and demolition of houses and properties included: houses built without a council permit such as unplanned houses built behind legal dwellings; houses built as part of informal settlements after residents were initially moved and resettled there by the government, for example on Porta Farm and at Hatcliffe Extension in Harare; houses built as part of housing cooperatives sometimes on farms appropriated by the government;48 and legal houses and buildings where the owners had valid leases and planning permission. Flea market stalls and business structures in the informal sector were also destroyed,49 and hundreds of licensed informal traders operating in the cities’ markets had their stalls destroyed by the government.50 43 Interview with Otto Saki, human rights lawyer, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, June 21, 2005; See IRIN report, “Informal traders hit back at government crackdown,” May 23, 2005. 44 Ibid. 45 Human Rights Watch interview with city council housing officer and UN officials, Harare June 25 and 30, 2005. 46 UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, Report of the Fact-finding missions to assess the scope and impact of Operation Murambatsvina, July 22, 2005. 47 Interim-United Nations Multi Sectoral Response Plan to the Recent Evictions in Zimbabwe, July 5, 2005. 48 In its initial state party report to the ICESCR, the Zimbabwean government stated,” The Government is encouraging the formation of cooperatives which will put their resources together and build houses for their members. To facilitate this, the Government has urged local authorities to provide cooperatives with serviced or unserviced land for housing development. The Government for its part provides technical assistance to cooperatives in such areas as preparation of topographical survey maps, preparation of lay-out plans, and coming up with civil engineering designs, etc.” 49 Human Rights interviews with victims, Harare, June 25, 2005. 50 Human Rights Watch interview with Otto Saki, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, June 21, 2005. 13