I. Background A History of Impunity Zimbabwe’s history has been marked by impunity for grave human rights abuses. In the 1970s, Rhodesian African nationalist guerrillas waged a civil war for independence against the Rhodesian government. In the course of this armed conflict, both the Rhodesian army and nationalist guerrillas committed widespread abuses against civilians.2 The perpetrators from both sides were never prosecuted or otherwise held to account after Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980.3 Instead, senior Rhodesian officials from the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) and other high-ranking military and police commanders who participated in serious human rights violations were allowed to keep their positions in the newly independent Zimbabwe.4 In the early 1980s, President Robert Mugabe ordered the Zimbabwe National Army to conduct counter-insurgency operations against “dissident” ex-guerrilla fighters in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.5 In the course of this fighting, the army’s Fifth Brigade was involved in the deaths of at least 10,000 civilians and the enforced disappearances of many others.6 In addition, the Zimbabwe National Army arbitrarily detained, beat and tortured thousands of civilians. The report of the Commission of Inquiry set up by the government to investigate the events in Matabeleland and Midlands was never published.7 Impunity in the Context of Elections The scale and nature of the involvement of Zimbabwe’s security forces in human rights abuses has varied over time since the 1980s. However, the unwillingness of the Mugabe 2 See, for example, Brian Raftopolous and Aloys Mlambo, eds., Becoming Zimbabwe: A History from the Pre-Colonial Period to 2008, ([Harare]: Weaver Press, 2008); “War in Rhodesia, 1965-1980,” Joseph Mtisi, Munyaradzi Nyakudya, and Teresa Barnes. pp. 141-66. 3 Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe and Legal Resources Foundation in Harare, Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe: A Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands, 1980-1988 ([Johannesburg]: Jacana Media, 2007), p. 43. 4 Ibid. pp 43 5 Brian Raftopolous and Aloys Mlambo, eds., Becoming Zimbabwe: A History from the Pre-Colonial Period to 2008, ([Harare]: Weaver Press, 2008); “War in Rhodesia, 1965-1980,” Joseph Mtisi, Munyaradzi Nyakudya, and Teresa Barnes. pp. 141-66 6 Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe and Legal Resources Foundation in Harare, Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe: A Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands, 1980-1988 ([Johannesburg]: Jacana Media, 2007), p. 43 7 Shari Eppel, “Gukurahundi: The need for truth and reparation,” in Brian Raftopolous and Tyrone Savage, eds., Zimbabwe: Justice and Political Reconcilliation, ([Cape Town]: Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, 2004).pp 43 - 46 19 Human Rights Watch | March 2011