Assaults Against White Farm Owners War veterans and Zanu-PF militia occupying commercial farms have intimidated, assaulted, and in some cases killed white farm owners. These assaults have been widely reported, both in Zimbabwe and internationally. According to human rights groups and the Commercial Farmers Union, at least seven farmers have been killed in political violence since the beginning of 2000. 79 Many of the farmers targeted have been prominent supporters of the MDC: the farm of MDC MP for Chimanimani Roy Bennett, for example, has been occupied by police and army troops. Farm owners have been assaulted and threatened and their farms occupied whether or not their farms have actually been listed for acquisition by the government. President Mugabe has repeatedly singled out white Zimbabweans as enemies of the state. The first two farmers were killed in April 2000. David Stevens was shot dead at point blank range by settlers who had occupied his farm at Macheke, south of Harare. A few days later, the farm of Martin Olds, in Nyamandlovu, near Bulawayo, Matabeleland, was invaded by more than one hundred Zanu-PF militia led by war veterans. According to a spokesperson for Zanu-PF, Olds opened fire, hitting five of the invaders with shotgun pellets, who then fired back. Neighboring farmers, who came to the scene after Olds radioed for help indicating he had been shot, but could not gain access, insist that Olds was defending his house as the intruders attempted to break into it. Police arrived at the house while the gunfight was ongoing but did not intervene. When the house was set alight, Olds was forced outside, and was shot twice in the head at close range. The intruders then left the farm, not seeking to occupy it. In July 2000, Olds’ widow fled Zimbabwe and applied for asylum in the U.K. In March 2001, Olds’ mother, Gloria Olds, was shot dead on the same farm, which she had refused to leave.80 The most recent farm owner killed was Robert Fenwick, from Kwekwe, in the Midlands, in August 2001. No arrests have been made in connection with any of these murders. In some cases, white farmers have assaulted those occupying their land. In one prominent case in July 2001, farmer Philip Bezuidenhout, of Odzi, near Mutare, allegedly deliberately ran over and killed Fabian Mapenzauswa, a settler on his farm. 81 Bezuidenhout was arrested and charged with murder. The case has not yet come to court. In other cases, farm workers have themselves organized to drive away the settlers, and injuries have occurred in the context of these clashes. Overt attacks on white farmers—which have attracted greater international and national publicity than those on black Zimbabweans—have reduced in recent months. However, extortion of money from commercial farmers has increased, with the implied threat of violence behind the demands for money. 82 Throughout the process of land occupation, however, most victims of the violence have been poor, rural, black Zimbabweans. Assaults Against Farm Workers In June 2000, the National Employment Council for the agricultural industry (a tripartite body of government, employers, and unions) published a report noting that, as a result of the farm occupations, at least 3,000 farm workers had been displaced from their homes, twenty-six killed, 1,600 assaulted, and eleven raped. The majority (47.2 percent) were supporters of the MDC; nearly as many (43.6 percent) had no political affiliation; a few (4.7 percent) were Zanu-PF supporters.83 Farm workers have continued to be the victims of violence during farm occupations: the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum documented the deaths of four farm 79 Human Rights and Zimbabwe’s June 2000 Election (Harare: Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, January 2001); Political Violence Report December 2001 (Harare: Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, January 2002); Human Rights Watch telephone interview with CFU, February 12, 2002. Another two white farmers have been killed in uncertain circumstances. 80 “Death at dawn: the agony of Zimbabwe,” Guardian (London), April 19, 2000; “Hounded out of Africa,” Times (London), December 18, 2000; Andrew Meldrum, “Mother killed on same Zimbabwe farm as her son,” Guardian, March 5, 2001. 81 “Blacks take over white farm after murder in Zimbabwe,” AFP, July 17, 2001. 82 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with CFU, February 12, 2002. 83 Cited in Cheater, Human Rights and Zimbabwe’s June 2000 Election, p.34. Human Rights Watch 19 March 2002, Vol. 14, No. 1 (A)