Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) has deliberately undermined its efforts to organize in commercial farming areas.167 Many nongovernmental organizations that conduct development-related activities amongst poor rural people have had their activities disrupted. NGOs say that the climate of fear created by war veterans is not conducive to development and educational activities in these rural communities. As a result virtually all groups have suspended activities. War veteran militias investigate activities around fast track resettlement areas which for NGOs sometimes constitutes an implied threat. On May 31 [2001] we had organized a district team-building meeting in Wedza and then the war veterans came and said, ‘Who are you and what are you doing?’ …We explained that we are in partnership with government and they sat and listened until the end of the program. They requested us to come to them and make a presentation to the bases. They gather people there forcibly. We went and said we are not political. This was at the school. They wanted us to work in party structures which we diplomatically refused. Of course, the line ministries are quite aware of the predicament we the NGOs are in.168 NGOs working on development issues or working with farm workers who have attempted to become involved in support for those who have been resettled or in the process of land allocation have been ejected or threatened. 169 NGOs have been forbidden from carrying out voter education in rural areas. Zimrights, a national human rights organization, has been ordered to cease human rights education activities in Masvingo and other rural districts.170 The rights of election observers to operate freely have been greatly restricted for the March 2002 presidential elections.171 In November 2001, the government announced that humanitarian organizations would be banned from distributing food in rural areas, where there is an acute need for assistance, claiming that aid distribution would be used as an excuse to campaign for the MDC. Churches have openly defied this edict. Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube charged that “the hunger is caused by the government’s hypocrisy. It wants to distribute food assistance itself, so as to buy votes. It does not care how many people die as long as it can stay in power.”172 V. INTERNATIONAL LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL OBLIGATIONS Zimbabwe is a party to a range of international instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, among other treaties. Under these treaties, the government has a duty to guarantee equal protection of the law to all persons without discrimination, and to prosecute serious violations of the rights enumerated, including where the perpetrator is a private citizen. Independence of the judiciary is also a cornerstone of these international provisions. Crimes should be investigated and prosecuted in a fair, effective, and competent manner by the relevant judicial, administrative, or legislative authorities. 167 Human Rights Watch interview, Gapwuz Organisers, July 12, 2001. Human Rights Watch interview, NGO Coordinator, Harare, Mashonaland Central, July 18, 2001. 169 Human Rights Watch interviews, Harare, July 2001. 170 Loughty Dube, “War Veterans Ban Rights Groups from Districts,” Zimbabwe Independent, January 4, 2002; Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Zimrights, February 12, 2002. 171 See Human Rights Watch submission to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, January 2002. 172 Alex Duval Smith, “Zimbabwe churches defy Mugabe by delivering food to starving people,” Independent (London), November 29, 2001. 168 Human Rights Watch 36 March 2002, Vol. 14, No. 1 (A)