“Clear the Filth” Mass Evictions and Demolitions in Zimbabwe A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper, September 11, 2005 Summary......................................................................................................................................... 1 Recommendations......................................................................................................................... 3 To the Zimbabwe government............................................................................................... 3 To the Southern African Development Community .......................................................... 4 To the African Union............................................................................................................... 4 To the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)......................... 5 To International Humanitarian agencies............................................................................... 5 To the United Nations ............................................................................................................. 5 Background .................................................................................................................................... 6 Political and economic crisis ................................................................................................... 6 Urbanization and the housing crisis....................................................................................... 7 The human rights crisis.......................................................................................................... 10 The Implementation of Operation Murambatsvina (Clear the Filth) ................................. 11 Patterns of evictions and demolitions.................................................................................. 13 Reasons for Operation Murambatsvina .............................................................................. 14 Failure to adhere to legal procedures................................................................................... 15 Movement of people to the rural areas ............................................................................... 17 After the evictions: the rebuilding and reconstruction program ..................................... 19 Human Rights Consequences of Operation Murambatsvina............................................... 20 Women ..................................................................................................................................... 22 Children .................................................................................................................................... 26 People living with HIV/AIDS.............................................................................................. 28 Persons of foreign origin ....................................................................................................... 31 The Humanitarian Response ..................................................................................................... 32 Harassment of NGOs and civil society groups.................................................................. 34 International Response............................................................................................................... 34

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