every town and business centre in the country, as well as countless homes, leaving a trail of destruction in Bulawayo, Chinhoyi, Gweru, Harare, Kadoma, Kwe Kwe, Marondera, Mutare, Rusape and Victoria Falls. The destruction and demolition first targeted so-called shanty towns in high-density suburbs and informal vending and manufacturing operations. It was then extended to settlements on farms in peri-urban and rural areas. More than 52 sites were affected and practically no area designated as ‘urban’ was spared. The most devastating and immediate effect of this operation was the fact that hundreds of thousands of people were rendered homeless and left without any viable form of livelihood. People were told to return to their ‘rural origins’, but many simply did not have a rural home to go back to. Civil society and humanitarian agencies tried to reach people who had been affected to protect and assist them. They were denied full access by the police.5 Zimbabwean churches were among the first to publicly voice their concern.6 The National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations issued a statement on 5 June calling on the Government “to stop the Operation immediately until alternative mechanisms are put in place”. As the human suffering continued unabated, international pressure against the Government increased. The Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights on the Right to Adequate Housing, Dr. Miloon Kothari, issued a statement on 3 June urging the Government “to immediately halt the mass forced evictions”. The European Union also issued a statement on 7 June condemning government actions. The timing and magnitude of the operation had led to much speculation, and a need emerged for more information to obtain a clearer picture of the situation in Zimbabwe. It was against this background that in early June the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, and the President of Zimbabwe, Mr. Robert Mugabe, decided that the SecretaryGeneral should send an expert on human settlement issues to Zimbabwe for a first-hand review of the circumstances surrounding the operation. UN-HABITAT’s Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, was appointed on 20 June 2005 as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, to lead a fact-finding mission to the country. 1.3 Scope of the Fact-finding Mission The fact-finding mission comprised of experts in human settlements issues, humanitarian affairs, legal affairs, political affairs and the media. The mission was supported by the Resident Coordinator and by the UN Country Team. The mission visited Zimbabwe from 25 June to 8 July 2005. Against a backdrop of growing concerns by the international community for the violation of human rights and for the human suffering caused by the Operation, the terms of reference for the mission included: (i) assessment of the scope and extent of the recent mass evictions, the humanitarian needs and the impact on the affected population; (ii) assessment of the adequacy of the Government’s arrangements for the displaced and its capacity to address the basic needs of the affected population; (iii) assessment of the capacity of the humanitarian community to 5 The mission was not able to ascertain on whose orders the police were acting. On 30 May, the Zimbabwe National Pastors Conference issued a press statement noting ‘with great concern’ the clean-up operation and called upon the Government to “engage in a war against poverty and not a war against the poor”. On 2 June the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference General Secretariat issued a press statement warning “the perpetrators of this crime that history will hold … individually accountable”. 6 13