5 TORTURE IN 2008 As indicated earlier, the run-up to the Harmonised Elections in March 2008 were largely peaceful, although it could not be additionally claimed that the polling conditions resembled the conditions laid out in the SADC Principle and Guidelines75. However, the defeat of Robert Mugabe in the Presidential poll precipitated organized violence and torture far in excess of anything seen since 2000. As was seen earlier in the discussion of the Human Rights Forum’s reports, the trend towards increasing violations has been evident since 2005, and has markedly increased from 2007. However, 2008 eclipsed all previous years, and, in fact, represent 25% of the total number of violations seen by the Human Rights Forum since July 2001. Additionally, of the 10,256 violations reported to the Human Rights Forum in 2008, 62% of these occurred during the run-up to the re-run of the Presidential election. This can be graphically seen in Figure 2. FIGURE 2 Monthly distribution of violations in 2008 Source: Monthly report of the Human Rights Forum 2008 3 500 3 000 2 500 2 000 1 500 1 000 500 0 December November October September August July June May April March February January Total monthly vialations The data reported by the Human Rights Forum was mostly derived from actual reports made to the Forum or its members, and hence will represent potentially skewed sample. It is thus interesting to compare the Forum data with that of the Zimbabwe Peace Project [ZPP] that also reported on the same period. The ZPP data is derived from reports made by its nation-wide network of monitors, who provide monthly reports about the violations in their Districts, and hence provides a much broader view of the 2008 period76. Thus, there are two different methods in obtaining this information, and the contrast can be instructive. The comparison between the two data sets was only comparable for the months January to August 2008. 75 76 Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum (2008), Can the elections in Zimbabwe be Free and Fair? Paper produced by the Research and Advocacy Unit [RAU] for the Human Rights Forum, HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM. It is worth commenting here is widely assumed that it was the existence of this network that led the ZRP to abduct and torture the Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (amongst others) in an effort to prove that the ZPP were involved on behalf of the MDC in recruiting for military training in Botswana. Page 27