Zimbabwe Human Rights

Human Rights Concerns

On May 25, 2008, mourners in Harare attended the burial of 33-year-old local opposition activist Tonderai Ndira who was found dead days after being abducted from his home in the aftermath of the March general elections. ©Getty Images

Amnesty International has documented unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings, as well as harassment and intimidation of mainly Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters and human rights defenders in Zimbabwe following the presidential and parliamentary elections on March 29, 2008.

By the end of May dozens of people had been killed and over 1600 people had been treated for injuries sustained from politically-related violence. A week prior to the run-off election for the presidency on June 27, Amnesty International revealed that 12 bodies have been found in various areas of Zimbabwe. Most of the victims appear to have been tortured to death by their abductors. Human rights groups in Zimbabwe have been unable to document all the cases of violence as their movements have been severely restricted and some of them have fallen victim to the on-going violence. In addition, since October 2008, at least eleven members of the MDC and several human rights defenders, including Jestina Mukoko, the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, have either disappeared or have been abducted and unlawfully detained.

© International Crisis Group (www.crisisgroup.org)

The bulk of the human rights violations have been perpetrated by supporters of the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party and members of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWA) (generally known as "war veterans"). State security organizations, in particular the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), have been unwilling to act against these perpetrators – allowing them to kill, torture, assault and burn homes and businesses of suspected MDC supporters with impunity. In fact, in some cases authorities have instigated or even directed attacks by these groups.

Zimbabwe also faces a cholera epidemic that is not close to being under control. Several thousand have already died and tens of thousands have been infected due to the lack of functioning hospitals, abject poverty due to the collapse of the nation's economy and infrastructure, and the coming of the rainy season that has caused raw sewage to seep into wells used for drinking water.

The government of Zimbabwe's months-long campaign of terror and violence against civilians led opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to pull out of the June 27 run-off presidential election against President Robert Mugabe. Despite calls to postpone the election until the security situation in Zimbabwe improved, Mugabe held the scheduled run-off. The vote, marked by state violence and intimidation, fell heavily in favor of the unopposed Mugabe. But continued chaos and political deadlock in Zimbabwe has inspired regional and international involvement, and led to a July 21 agreement between Tsvangirai and Mugabe on a framework for talks aimed at ending Zimbabwe's political crisis. This initial agreement reportedly commits both sides to an easing of political tension and sets a two-week deadline to begin formal negotiations. Talks between Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and a second faction of the MDC ultimately led to the formation of a government of national unity in early February.

Amnesty International immediately published a five point program for the protection of human rights that calls upon Prime Minister Tsvangirai and President Mugabe to do the following:

• Release all prisoners of conscience and ensure fair and prompt trials for political detainees;

• Improve the operational environment for NGOs and human rights groups, political parties, and independent media;

• Deal with past human rights violations;

• End partisan policing and combat impunity for human rights violations by the security forces;

• Prioritize the full realization of economic, social, and cultural rights.

Learn More

• Read our Zimbabwe Activist Brief (PDF)
• Read Amnesty International's joint letter to President Mugabe (PDF) calling for the harassment of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe to end.
• Zimbabwe: A trail of violence after the ballot
• Annual Report 2008: The State of Human Rights in Zimbabwe

Betty Makoni, founder of the Girl Child Network, is the 2008 recipient of the Amnesty International USA Ginetta Sagan Award for Women's and Children's Rights. Learn more about her pioneering work to stop sexual exploitation of girls in Zimbabwe.

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