3.0 Background Subsequent to the attainment of independence from settler ruler in 1980, one political party, the Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front), ZANU(PF), has dominated Zimbabwe’s politics. Under the leadership of President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, ZANU(PF) has enjoyed a virtual political monopoly. Opposition political parties have emerged over the past three decades but have either been decimated or conscripted into ZANU(PF). Although the ZANU(PF) regime can be – and in some cases has been – credited with improving the economy and the standard of living for the black majority during the 1980s, its rule since then has become despotic, characterized by gross economic mismanagement, disregard for the rule of law, perversion of the doctrine of separations of powers, and gross human rights abuses. The emergence of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the latter part of the 1990s revived hope that a legitimate opposition political force could end ZANU(PF)’s domination. At the time that the MDC was formed, Zimbabwe was reeling from the effects of an array of misconceived economic-reform policies that had adversely affected the economy. Coupled with other policy or political decisions – like awarding unbudgeted compensation to war veterans, military intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and a chaotic land reform programme – these policies orchestrated the economic downfall of the country. With the turn of the millennium, violence and human rights abuses had become endemic in Zimbabwe. Most rights violations have not been accounted for, with most perpetrators of such violations enjoying immunity from prosecution and, in some cases, where convictions have been obtained, perpetrators have benefited from Presidential pardons. The Central Intelligence Organization (CIO), Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Zim­ babwe Prison Service (ZPS), Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association and the Zimbabwe National Youth Service were the primary perpetrators of human rights violations. CIO army police militia Fig. 1: The Human Rights Perpetrators (1998–2006)* * This chart is extracted from case statistics from the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum litigation project (An Analysis of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Legal Cases, 1998–2006, <http://www.hrforumzim.com/ frames/inside_frame_special.htm>. Although not fully representative of all the violations due to the biased nature of the popu­lation that the information is drawn from, it illustrates the involvement of various state institutions in the perpetration of the violations. It is clear that the militia are heavily involved in the violations, followed by the army, police and intelligence agents, in that order. Zimbabwe Human Rights Report – 2009 7