IV. Background Brief History of ZANU-PF’s Repression since 1980 ZANU-PF and its political allies have a long history of resorting to manipulation and repression to maintain themselves in power. Since the country gained independence in 1980, ZANU-PF has used its supporters, as well as the army and the police, to commit acts of violence against opponents and has also used state institutions for political ends. For instance, in an attempt to destroy Joshua Nkomo’s opposition party, the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), the Fifth Brigade of the Zimbabwean army carried out systematic and widespread atrocities such as torture and extrajudicial executions of more than 3,000 persons in Matebeleland and Midlands provinces between 1980 and 1987.2 Successive election periods, particularly in the years 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2008, were characterized by widespread political violence mainly perpetrated by ZANU-PF and its allies.3 In 2000, with support from the government, ZANU-PF and its allies carried out violent invasions of white-owned farms in which several farmers and farm workers were killed.4 In 2005 the government carried out an unprecedented campaign of forced evictions in urban areas, causing a massive internal displacement crisis in which an estimated 700,000 people lost their shelter, livelihood or both.5 In 2007 incidents of police violence and intimidation increased significantly, culminating in the arrest and beating of more than 50 opposition activists in police custody.6 2 The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and The Legal Resources Foundation, Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace: A Report on the Disturbances in Matebeleland and the Midlands, 1980 to 1988 (Harare: The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and The Legal Resources Foundation, 1997). 3 See Human Rights Watch, All Over Again: Human Rights Abuses and Flawed Electoral Conditions in Zimbabwe’s Coming General Elections, vol.20, no.2(A), March 2008, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/zimbabwe0308/; and Amnesty International, “Terror tactics in the run-up to elections,” June 2000, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR46/014/2000/en (accessed November 3, 2008). 4 David Harold-Barry, ed., Zimbabwe: The Past is the Future, (Harare: Weaver Press Ltd., 2004), p. 193; and International Crisis Group, “Blood and Soil: Land, Politics and Conflict Prevention in Zimbabwe and South Africa,” (Brussels: 2004). 5 Human Rights Watch, Evicted and Forsaken: Internally displaced persons in the aftermath of Operation Murambatsvina, December 2005, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/zim1205/; and UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, “Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to Assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina,” July 22, 2005. 6 Human Rights Watch, All Over Again. 9 Human Rights Watch November 2008