21 Independent (UK) 12 June 2005 22 The number of refugees created is even greater than when farm workers were thrown off the farms during the land invasions. 23 This is the figure from analysis of only 45 sites, and the final figure may be considerably higher. The IOM reports that, of the 64,677 households identified, verification has been possible for only 15,287, and only 9,753 households have been assisted with blankets and food. There is clearly a considerable lag between identification and assistance, probably affected by the fuel crisis, and, therefore, there are many families that will continue to suffer hardship for some time still. 24 Zimonline 24 June 2005 25 Here see report on forced evictions in Mashonaland Central Province, where this observation is confirmed. 26 Zimonline 18 June 2005 27 According to one medical expert, there will also be serious long-term consequences as a result of the interrupted antiretroviral treatment. Large numbers of HIV-infected individuals, including orphan adolescents, will have developed NVPresistant virus and are now ‘at large’ in a community whose structures, physical and communal, have been systematically broken down. In such circumstances, as has been documented following the tsunami in south-east Asia, an epidemic of sexually transmitted infections including HIV (and unwanted pregnancies) is entirely predictable. 28 See Operation Murambatsvina (Sweep up the Rubbish), Harare, 10 June 2005, Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights. Also see Appendix 2 for the full statement. 29 Daily Mirror 27 May 2005 30 Daily Mirror 1 June 2005. 31 Here see update on forced evictions, where it is alleged that the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace were forced to close their office in Mutare. 32 Zimonline 13 June 2005 33 Here see report in Appendix 1 on forced evictions in Bulawayo for brief details about assistance being rendered by churches in Bulawayo. 34 Times (UK) 17 June 2005. 35 News24, “Zim clean-up moves to business” 20 June 2005 36 For instance Harare Metropolitan governor David Karimanzira denied that the clean up exercise was retribution against urbanites perceived as MDC supporters. He said the exercise had not only affected MDC sympathisers, but also members of Zanu PF and other political parties. “As I speak to you right now there are scores of people at the Harare Zanu PF provincial offices affected by the clean-up exercise. There is no retribution. We are simply trying to clean up the city,” Karimanzira said. Daily Mirror 27 May 2005 37 Sunday Times (UK) June 05, 2005 38 There are a large number of human rights reports supporting the thesis that the security forces act with impunity. One of the more notorious cases is well described in a report by the Redress Trust. Here see, The case of Henry Dowa. The United Nations and Zimbabwe Under the Spotlight, (Redress, London, 2004). This policeman, alleged to have committed torture in Zimbabwe before being sent to Kosovo, has been implicated in further allegations of torture in Zimbabwe after the UN sent him back. The latest incident was reported in the Zimbabwe Daily Mirror on 11 April 2005, linking him to allegations of torturing MDC MP Nelson Chamisa in police custody shortly after the March 2005 elections.