Zimbabwe: No justice for the victims of forced evictions 9 the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, which state, “all resettlement measures, such as construction of homes, provision of water, electricity, sanitation, schools, access roads and allocation of land and sites must be consistent with internationally recognised human rights principles and completed before those who are to be evicted are moved from their original areas of dwelling”(emphasis added). 27 Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle, which was only announced five weeks after the mass evictions began, failed to address the immediate shelter needs of the victims of Operation Murambatsvina. In her July 2005 report the UN Special Envoy, who was present at the official launch of Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle, stated: “The Government of Zimbabwe was not able to produce any written documentation showing that the Operation was planned. This means that evictions took place before alternatives could be provided, thereby violating human rights and several provisions of national and international law.”28 Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle – failures and lies While Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle cannot be used as a justification for Operation Murambatsvina, Amnesty International investigated this operation to discover if it was in reality providing any solution to the homelessness and displacement caused by the mass forced evictions. Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle is not based on any published plan or government programme. It does not appear in the 2004 – 2008 national housing delivery programme. When it was announced it was greeted with scepticism by NGOs and the UN Special Envoy, both for its hasty launch and because a large-scale construction programme seemed highly implausible given Zimbabwe’s extremely poor economic situation.29 During April and May 2006 Amnesty International visited nine Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle sites across Zimbabwe (see Table 1, below). Amnesty also interviewed local government officials in Bulawayo, Gwanda, Harare and Masvingo, as well as victims of Operation Murambatsvina. 27 See Basic principles and guidelines on development-based evictions and displacement, in E/CN.4/2006/41, Appendix 1. Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina by the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, 22 July 2005, p 74. 29 According to the IMF Zimbabwe’s economy has contracted by more than 30 per cent since 1997. See: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2005/cr05360.pdf (accessed 1 September 2006). In June 2006 the UN Committee for Development Policy recommended that Zimbabwe, along with Papua New Guinea, was eligible for inclusion in the list of 50 Least Developed Countries. The committee said Zimbabwe had not only remained a low-income country for a protracted period, but had also become more economically vulnerable. See: IRIN, “Zimbabwe: A downgrade in country's status causes friction”, 20 June 2006. 28 Amnesty International 8 September 2006 AI Index: AFR 46/005/2006