3.1 Enabling factors for political violence Some of the enabling factors identified for politically related human rights abuses from 1998 to 2009 were as follows: • Lack of transparency and public accountability on the part of the government. • ‘Suspension’ of the rule of law and a culture of impunity for perpetrators of violence. • Political apathy among citizens and a polarization of political ideas. • The establishment of ‘terror’ camps.* • Militarization of the political process through the deployment of military personnel. • Ineffective and inadequate human rights monitoring. • Perversion of the ‘separation of powers’ doctrine. • Economic stagnation and a drastic shortage of basic commodities, which were exploited for political patronage and the repression of political adversaries. • Solidarity alliances with other states with a history of human rights violations, or based on shared governance ideologies. 3.2 Policy and regulatory environment Human rights in Zimbabwe are regulated by a host of policies and regulations, which include the national constitution and specific legal statutes, as well as regional and international conventions. While there is significant effective legislation to facilitate human rights observance by the state, policy non-compliance through selective application of the law or disregard of the law has made some of these laws and conventions appear obsolete. There are also some laws that directly and indirectly infringe upon rights and freedoms and, consequently, facilitate human rights violations. Such laws include, but are not restricted to, the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). Zimbabwe has also signed and/or ratified a number of regional and international conventions, declarations and protocols that aim to promote and protect human rights. These include the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR); the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR); the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the SADC Treaty, among others. * Bases where youth militia and war veterans would conduct forced political education and political violence against opponents. 8 Zimbabwe Human Rights Report – 2009