them going to seek medical attention. On July 17, a group of ZANU-PF militia severely beat more than 15 MDC activists in the area.9 In Chimanimani West, local NGO contacts informed Human Rights Watch that ZANUPF supporters had set up a new base in a place called Gonzoni and were beating MDC activists at the base on a daily basis.10 The ZANU-PF supporters would take people to the base and question them about their links to the MDC and then mete out punishments ranging from performing “community service,” to payments of “fines” such as a cow or a goat, to beatings. Government Ban on Humanitarian Assistance On May 29, 2008, minister of social welfare Nicolas Goche issued a directive prohibiting the major international aid agency CARE International from distributing food in Masvingo province.11 Goche alleged that international aid agencies were using food distribution programs, set up to reach Zimbabwe’s population in need, to support the campaign of the MDC. On the same day, the minister of local government, Dr. Ignatius Chombo, issued a separate directive stating that all rural areas would fall under the jurisdiction of his ministry and that all food aid distribution would be carried out through local government structures. On June 4, the government suspended the operations of all local and international aid agencies.12 Despite appeals by the United Nations (UN) and international aid agencies about the critical and worsening food security situation in the rural areas, the government is yet to lift the suspension. In a statement on August 3, the United States government aid agency USAID expressed concern about the continued suspension and stated that UN agencies have been blocked when trying to access areas of greatest need.13 The agency went on to say that humanitarian workers were routinely harassed and intimidated. Representatives from two local and international humanitarian agencies 9 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with local NGOs, Harare, July 29, 2008. 10 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with local NGO, Chimanimani, July 29, 2008. 11 “Zimbabwe: Reverse Ban on Food Aid to Rural Areas,” Human Rights Watch news release, June 4, 2008, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/06/04/zimbab19022.htm. 12 See Human Rights Watch, Zimbabwe – “Bullets for Each of You”: State-Sponsored Violence since the March 29 Elections, June 2008, http://hrw.org/reports/2008/zimbabwe0608. 13 “USAID Calls on Zimbabwe to Allow Humanitarian Access to Needy People,” USAID, press statement, July 31, 2008, http://www.usaid.gov/press/releases/2008/ps080731.html, (accessed July 31, 2008). 7 Human Rights Watch August 2008