veterans” in the weeks leading up to the June 27 presidential runoff. These abuses include killings, beatings, abductions and torture. This report also describes abuses by ZANU-PF that continue to take place despite ongoing negotiations between the two parties. Hundreds of MDC activists who fled the violence in the weeks before the June 27 runoff remain in hiding while “war veterans” and youth militia continue to terrorize villagers in the rural areas. According to local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), ZANU-PF and its allies have been implicated in the killing of at least 163 people and the beating and torture of more than 5,000 people over the past three months. Thirty-two of these people were killed after the June 27 runoff, and two since the two parties signed the Memorandum of Understanding. The government has made little effort to dismantle the torture camps and bases that it established in the immediate aftermath of the March 29 elections. The continued existence of these camps and armed ZANU-PF supporters, youth militia and “war veterans” raises the possibility of further violence and highlights the precarious nature of the human rights situation in the country. Abuses continue to take place with almost total impunity. Serious crimes are committed without investigation, prosecution or legal redress or compensation for the victims. Police have taken little or no substantial action to investigate the abuses documented in this report. To Human Rights Watch’s knowledge no alleged perpetrators have been questioned or arrested despite victims and witnesses naming them as the abusers. Instead, the police have embarked on a witch-hunt of elected MDC MPs with at least 12 facing what Human Rights Watch believes to be politically motivated criminal charges. The government of Zimbabwe has also failed to investigate, let alone prosecute, ZANU-PF officials and army officers who allegedly planned, coordinated, and implemented or were otherwise implicated in the serious crimes that have taken place since March 29. The lack of justice and accountability for serious crimes is of grave concern and should be a priority for all those involved in the ongoing talks. Zimbabwe’s longstanding history of impunity for such crimes should not be ignored in the name “They Beat Me Like a Dog” 2