I. Summary Reforming Zimbabwe’s security sector is key to ensuring that the upcoming 2013 presidential and parliamentary elections are credible, free and fair. The elections could usher in a government that would introduce and implement far-reaching reforms in the security sector and in other sectors. The current “unity government” has, for various reasons, failed to advance such important reforms, many of which have a huge bearing on the human rights situation in the country, especially around elections. The new constitution, signed into law by President Robert Mugabe on May 22, 2013 following a March 16 referendum and the approval by the Zimbabwe parliament, replaces the 1979 Lancaster House Constitution. The new constitution may prove beneficial to the electoral process as it prohibits any changes to the electoral law once elections have been called. Also, it restores citizenship and voting rights to those born in Zimbabwe to a parent or parents with citizenship of another Southern African Development Community (SADC) country but resident in Zimbabwe. While very important, the new constitution is only one of the reforms required for an environment conducive for credible elections. More crucial for the elections – and the government that comes to power – will be the role played by Zimbabwe’s state security forces, particularly the Defense Forces, the police, and the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO). The security forces have a long history of partisanship on behalf of President Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), one of the parties in the current unity government, and the former ruling party. Since independence in 1980, the army, police and CIO have operated within a system that has allowed elements within their ranks to arrest, torture and kill perceived opponents with impunity. As such, reforming the security sector is essential in ensuring that presidential and parliamentary elections due by October 29, 2013, are credible, free and fair. There are expectations that the elections would usher in a democratically elected government with interest in addressing the country’s longstanding and serious human rights issues. But as things stand, the chances of having free, fair and credible elections are slim, particularly given the shortcomings of security sector reforms and reforms in other sectors. 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH │ MAY 2013