of goods. Quite a number of vendors were particularly unfairly affected by the campaign as they held valid vending licences. Allegations were made that some of this property was misappropriated by police officers . Zimbabwe Lawyers for 13 Human Rights maintained that, “Most of the traders forcibly evicted by the police were licensed to operate at their various premises by the City Council, which also billed them for such services as water supply and refuse collection”. (According to figures supplied by the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Harare had 20 000 registered informal traders and there were 50 000 others who were operating illegally. As regards tuck shops, the Ministry said that there were a total of 6 862 tuck shops in Greater Harare but only 15 of these were “conforming to the City of Harare’s tuck-shop prototype plan.” ) 14 This operation was conducted in a brutal and ruthless fashion. The police beat people who offered resistance to what they were doing, or did not comply quickly enough with orders to remove property from inside their structures or assist in dismantling these structures. In some instances, it was reported that people were not given enough time to remove their possessions from inside these structures, and the structures were simply destroyed with their possessions still inside. Property worth millions of dollars was destroyed, in many cases this constituting an investment of the life savings of families. The destruction of illegal settlements has not only taken place in the towns and cities, but has been extended to settlements on farms in peri-urban areas, and finally to farms in rural areas. During this operation, over 30 000 people have been arrested on a variety of charges, ranging from hoarding of basic commodities, illegal dealing in foreign currency, and various other alleged crimes. Throughout Zimbabwe there has been a trail of devastation. The campaign has affected such urban centres as Bulawayo, Chinhoyi, Gweru, Harare, Kadoma, Kwe Kwe, Marondera, Mutare and Victoria Falls. The main targets of destruction in the towns have so far been shanty townships in the high-density suburbs, informal settlements in peri-urban areas and informal vending and manufacturing operations throughout the towns. But the campaign is now being widened. Didymus Mutasa the State Security Minister who is also in charge of land reform in Zimbabwe, said the Government was compiling lists of former white farms from where “illegal settlers” would be evicted. Mutasa said the police had already evicted 50 families from Lowdale farm in Mazowe district and added that more black families, regardless of political affiliation would be thrown out of farms in the coming days if they did not have documentation to prove they were lawfully settled there by the government. 15 The latest target is offices and businesses that have been unlawfully set up in low-density suburbs in areas zoned as residential areas. According to the newspaper reports, in Harare, Mutare and Gweru cities, armed police raided business offices quizzing occupants about the nature of their operations and whether they were licensed to operate from the various premises. The police have already ordered the closure of a number of such businesses. A police spokesman justified this action, saying, “We cannot stand aside and look while people run out of accommodation when houses are being turned into offices.” 16