Human Rights Archive Zimbabwe

3 1. INTRODUCTION Zimbabwe is experiencing a massive humanitarian crisis. The past two years have seen a record of deteriorating human rights, and the consequent social turmoil has led to an increasing number of internally displaced people in the country. Violence against the major opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has been well documented both locally and internationally1. In the pre-election period, there was widespread intimidation, assault, and politically motivated killings, carried out mainly by “war veteran” militia, youth militia, and supporters of the ruling party, Zanu(PF) 2. While some of the “war veterans” are indeed genuine members of the liberation struggle of the 1970’s in Zimbabwe, there are also a larger group of unemployed youths who have become involved in the organised violence and torture (OVT). Although much of the OVT has centred around issues related to the many elections held over the past two years, there have been equally as much OVT during the land disturbances. A large number of allegations have been made about OVT targeted at both the farm owners and the farm workers3. As indicated above, there are a plethora of reports on the OVT, but little of this deals with the direct evidence from the commercial farms. In particular, there are few scientific reports on the experiences of OVT and the effects upon commercial farm workers. The months following the Presidential Elections of 9 – 11 March 2001 have been marked by widespread recriminations against the opposition party members, and intensified action against the farm owners and farm workers. The continuing violence has meant that farm workers and MDC supporters have been forced to flee their homes to escape harassment, assault, and, in the worst cases, death. Farm workers often have no other home except on the farm, having either being born there, or being of foreign descent, mainly Malawian or Zambian. The farms, as well as providing accommodation and employment for these people, also allowed the farm workers access to medical care and schooling for their children. On the farms listed for acquisition and settled by the “war veterans”, the farm workers have been subjected to continual intimidation, theft of personal belongings, vandalism, and destruction of their homes. Before the elections, they were forced to attend all night rallies for ‘voter education’ by Zanu(PF) supporters, and after the elections they were punished with violence for continuing to live and work on the farms, which was seen as supporting the MDC and the white farmers. The farm workers either then leave rather than live side by side with their new neighbours, or are forced to leave by violence, in some instances with only the clothes on their backs. The police and the army, far from trying to protect the rights of the farm workers are often part of the problem, standing to the side when violence erupts on the farm, and continuing to harass the displaced farm workers, once they have left for the urban centres and refuge. There are even instances of senior police officers and army generals acquiring farms themselves and depriving the farm workers of their homes and employment. As mentioned above, there has been a relative dearth of hard information on the effects of the farm invasions on commercial farm workers. The AMANI Trust has seen relatively few 1 See AMANI TRUST (2002), Organised Violence and Torture in the June 2000 General Election in Zimbabwe, HARARE: AMANI TRUST; AMANI TRUST (2002), Neither Free nor Fair: High Court decisions on the petitions on the June 2000 General Election, HARARE: AMANI TRUST; Analysis of Zimbabwe Presidential Election, March 9 th, 10th, and 11th 2002, in Terms of SADC Parliamentary Forum Electoral Recommendations, First Edition: 14 March 2002, AMANI TRUST (MATABELELAND), ZIMBABWE; NETWORK OF INDEPENDENT MONITORS, (KWAZULU NATAL) SOUTH AFRICA; PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (DENMARK); AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL (2000), Zimbabwe: Terror tactics in the run-up to the parliamentary elections, June 2000, LONDON: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL; IRCT (2000), Organised Violence and Torture in Zimbabwe, Harare and Copenhagen, 6 th June 2000, COPENHAGEN: IRCT; IRCT/RCT (2001), Organised election violence in Zimbabwe 2001, COPENHAGEN: IRCT & RCT; IRCT (2001), Organised Violence and Torture in Zimbabwe, Harare and Copenhagen, 24 May 2001, COPENHAGEN: IRCT. 2 See AMANI TRUST (2002), The Presidential Election and the Post-Election Period in Zimbabwe, HARARE: AMANI TRUST. 3 See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2001), Politically motivated violence in Zimbabwe 2000–2001. A report on the campaign of political repression conducted by the Zimbabwean Government under the guise of carrying out land reform, HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM; Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2001), Evaluating the Abuja Agreement, HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM; Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2001), Evaluating the Abuja Agreement: Two Months Report, HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM. AMANI TRUST: Preliminary Report of a Survey on Internally Displaced Persons from Commercial Farms in Zimbabwe.