around with a gun threatening villagers that if they do not vote for ZANU-PF in the impending elections, there would be war in the country.41 On March 17, a day after a referendum on the new constitution, five armed soldiers in uniform approached an MDC supporter at Mataga Growth point, Mberengwa, in Midlands province, and demanded to know if he had voted “yes” in the referendum. The MDC supporter told Human Rights Watch: When I said I had voted in favor of the draft constitution they then asked me why I was wearing an MDC t-shirt and before I could respond they began to punch and kick me all over my body. They said I must vote for ZANU-PF in the coming elections without fail or they would come back for me.42 In each of Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces, soldiers are highly visible, including those performing training exercises in public. For instance, hundreds of soldiers based at Third Brigade in Mutare perform their drills and jog through residential areas in the city, singing liberation war songs or songs with a political message aimed at undermining the MDC and Tsvangirai. Mutare residents said they have seen soldiers jogging through the community several times in February and March. One of them told Human Rights Watch: Hundreds of uniformed soldiers regularly jog through the city early in the morning, around 6 a.m., singing songs denigrating the MDC and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai. One such song that I have heard them sing on a number of occasions has the words: “Handizvikanganwe, Zvinondibhowa, Zvinondifizura; Kuseri kwa Morgan kune mabhunu,” which in English is, “I will never forget it, it annoys me, it incenses me; behind Morgan [Tsvangirai] are “mabhunu” [a derogatory term for white people].”43 MDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Mbizo, Kwekwe in Midlands province, Settlement Chikwinya, told Human Rights Watch that seemingly “innocent” projects like the army’s Community Assistance Programme, which included construction of classroom blocks at 41 Heal Zimbabwe Trust Weekly Updates Newsletter, April 7, 2013. 42 Human Rights Watch interview with victim, Harare, March 28, 2013. 43 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Mutare resident, April 6, 2013. 21 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH │ MAY 2013