Report Summary Key findings and recommendations Although cases of politically motivated murders, abductions, disappearances, torture and intimidation had been lower this year than in previous years, the overall situation was still far from perfect. There were ongoing serious human rights abuses, including the selective application of the law, massive corruption and tight control of electronic media. The military loomed large and constantly threatened that they would not accept any transfer of power away from Mr Mugabe’s party, ZANU-PF. Despite a fairly successful constitutional referendum, the elections were seriously flawed. Both the constitutional referendum and the subsequent elections were preceded by and held in an environment which witnessed an unprecedented clampdown on civil society organizations and human rights defenders including lawyers in private practice. All this implicated the rights related to respect for the integrity of the person, and civil liberties which include the rights to freedom of speech & access to information and assembly and association, which are all fundamental cornerstones of the development of democracy. When this is viewed as part of the wider reform discourse - for example the government’s lack of political will to implement agreed reforms and ZANU-PF’s control and manipulation of the political process - this effectively negated the right of citizens to change their government. At the close of the year, the number of reported cases of politically motivated violence and torture continued to be on a downward trajectory. However, violations assumed new forms, with the primary abuses taking the form of post-election reprisals including the demolition of houses, threats of eviction, partisan distribution of food aid and agricultural inputs, and hate speech. The last quarter of 2013 also witnessed other positive developments relating to the acquittal of leading human rights defenders and the resolution of other long outstanding criminal cases such as that of the Glen View 29. The reforms of the Attorney General’s office were also viewed positively but did not go far as the incumbent retained office. The Human Rights Commission made its first steps towards human rights awareness when it commemorated the international human rights day jointly with civil society organizations. Food and water insecurity and other social vulnerabilities such as poor healthcare continued. These were worsened by the government, which continued to pursue economic policies based on exclusion and in some cases overt racism. This all led to closure of businesses and flight of capital. When viewed as a whole, 2013 continued with the institutionalization of a culture of lawlessness termed ‘jambanja’ that began in 2000. This had a profound effect on the lives of ordinary citizens. Finally, whilst human-perpetrated violence declined, another major threat to human rights emerged in 2013 as the state used technology to undermine both human rights and democracy. Examples included the inaccessibility of the electronic electoral roll and the massive surveillance of political opponents which not violated their individual rights to privacy but also undermined their election strategies and plans. Overall, like the previous years, 2013 was disappointing as it was characterized by institutional failures and the undermining of rights in ways that ranged from subtle to devious and cunning. What makes it even more disappointing is that such underhand tactics are now ZANU PF’s preferred political strategy. Such strategy mainly characterized by state institutions complicity in denying people their rights has rendered most of these state institutions inaccessible and unable to deliver on public goods. In addition, such institutions lack the capacity, both in terms of core competencies and attitudes, to effectively arbitrate political and economic contests. Arthur Gwagwa, Editor