every household should come and register at the base if they receive a visitor. If you don’t tell them they will come around to your house. If they see a vehicle around your place they need to know where you are coming from.74 Human Rights Watch interviewed a number of local activists in Mashonaland, Manicaland, Chitungwiza and Harare who stated that people who lived in the areas were also subjected to questioning whenever they visited other parts of the country especially the cities. According to one human rights activist from Mt Darwin South: Even ourselves, to come to this workshop (in Harare) and leave the area, you must go and explain to ZANU leaders that you are going, where you are going and for how long. Then you must report back. If a person comes who is new, you must go to the headman and report on where he is coming from and the number of days he’ll spend in that area. You must explain that relationship between you and the people you have visiting.75 ZANU PF supporters treated NGO employees in the areas Human Rights Watch visited with equal suspicion. One employee who claimed to be non-partisan spoke of his arrival in Chitungwiza and observed, “When I first came here, in the first place, I was approached by people and they wanted to know if I was ZANU PF and I gave them my party card (ZANU). I came here on 20th May 2004. The people who came were my neighbors, war veterans and ruling party supporters.”76 Visits and questions from ZANU PF supporters, war veterans and ZANU PF youth serve to intimidate both ordinary citizens and political activists. Moreover, the effects of such intense questioning should be seen in the context of Zimbabweans’ past experiences, especially during the 2000 and 2002 elections. Incidents such as the one described below remind Zimbabweans of the potential consequences of supporting the opposition or being perceived to be an opposition member or supporter. In February, Human Rights Watch documented the case of a nongovernmental organization whose offices were closed by war veterans in Mt. Darwin, Mashonaland Central, after it was discovered that one of the organization’s employees was an MDC 74 Human Rights Watch interview, Chinhoyi, February 17, 2005. 75 Human Rights Watch interview, Harare, February 11, 2005. 76 Human Rights Watch interview, Chitungwiza, February 15, 2005. 17