Table 1
Human rights violations, July 2001 to December 2005 (gross figures)
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Total
116
223
52
62
18
471
Assault
0
86
388
401
530
1,405
Attempted murder
0
2
10
8
1
21
Death threat
0
12
80
35
9
136
Disappearance
0
28
4
0
0
32
Abduction
Displacement
0
11
208
189
609
1,017
Interference with freedoms
12
39
809
760
1,036
2,656
Murder
34
61
10
3
4
112
Property violation
356
807
153
132
11
1,459
Political discrimination
194
388
450
514
488
2,034
Rape
0
7
6
3
4
20
School closure
0
45
1
0
0
46
903
1,172
497
160
136
2,868
Torture
Unlawful arrest & detention
Total
670
274
627
389
1286
3,246
2,285
3,155
3,295
2,656
4,132
15,523
It can be seen that there is variation in the overall number of violations per year, and that 2005
appears to have been the worst of the five years covered. This can be explained by Operation
Murambatsvina and the legislation introduced to interfere further with individual freedoms. It
can also be seen that there is considerable variation in the types of violations reported over the
years. Overall, it can be seen that unlawful arrest and detention, torture, political discrimination,
and interference with freedoms are the most common violations reported, and also that torture in
2002 was the largest single category of violation in any year until 2005, when it was surpassed by
unlawful arrests and detentions.
Table 2 shows the distribution of the violations over the years in percentage terms. This table perhaps
shows more clearly the changing trends in violations: for example, torture shows a continuous
decline from the peak in 2002, while both unlawful arrest and detention and interference with
freedoms show a steady increase over the period.
Table 2
Human rights violations, July 2001 to December 2005 (percentages of the total)
2001
2002
2003
2004
Abduction
0.75
1.44
0.33
0.40
2005
0.12
Assault
0
0.55
2.50
2.58
3.41
Attempted murder
0
0.01
0.06
0.05
0.01
Death threat
0
0.08
0.52
0.23
0.06
Disappearance
0
0.18
0.03
0
0
Displacement
0
0.07
1.34
1.22
3.92
Interference with freedoms
0.08
0.25
5.21
4.90
6.67
Murder
0.22
0.39
0.06
0.02
0.03
Property violation
2.29
5.20
0.99
0.85
0.07
Political discrimination
1.25
2.50
2.90
3.31
3.14
Rape
0
0.05
0.04
0.02
0.03
School closure
0
0.29
0.01
0
0
Torture
5.82
7.57
3.20
1.03
0.88
Unlawful arrest & detention
4.32
1.77
4.04
2.51
8.28
3