OVERVIEW

In the month of October there were Parliamentary by - elections in Chikomba and Rushinga. Rural District Council (RDC) elections were also held countrywide. The two by - elections were characterised by low voter turnout and calm. However, a few incidences of political intimidation and retributive violence were reported in cases related to the RDC elections. In a clear case of post- election retribution, the house of the suspended MDC Executive Mayor of Chitungwiza, Misheck Shoko’s was stoned and 12 windowpanes were destroyed by suspected ZANU PF supporters. Shoko had held pre - RDC - election campaign meetings in Dema, Chitungwiza.

However, overall there was a decrease in violence and torture in October when compared with September: the month when the brutal torture of ZCTU activists occured.

Rebecca Jumbe, one of the ZANU PF candidates in the RDC elections in Chitungwiza reportedly engaged in an orgy of violence whilst celebrating her victory. It is alleged that on 29 October she and her fellow ZANU PF supporters went around Chitungwiza chanting ZANU PF slogans and waving placards denouncing the opposition MDC. It is further alleged that in one of the cases where she was identified as one of the perpetrators, her supporters demanded beer from a shop owner who was said to have been an MDC polling agent in Chitungwiza. When they were told that the beer had been sold out, the ZANU PF supporters, led by Rebecca Jumbe, insisted that they would inspect the shop to see if this was true. Rebecca Jumbe is reported to have shouted orders that the victim be assaulted as that is what she had paid her supporters to do. It is reported that the assault lasted for approximately 15 minutes before the victim escaped leaving his shop unattended.

In a case which tests the seriousness of the Zimbabwe Government on adhering to the recommendations by the UN Special Envoy, Anna Tibaijuka, on Operation Murambatsvina, five women of WOZA, including a 75 year old grandmother, were arrested and taken to Mpopoma Police Station on 25 October 2006. The women who were part of more than 60 residents of Mabutweni and Iminyela high density suburbs in Bulawayo, were protesting against the eviction of 36 householders from their houses without due notice. The women alleged that the houses were meant to be given to people who know the Chairperson of the Residents Association and the Superitendent of the Mpopoma Housing Office.

A victim was assaulted in Harare city center by ZANU PF supporters for wearing an MDC T –shirt. When he went to report the assault at Harare Central Police Station, he was told he could not do so as the Officer – in – Charge was not there.

A student at the University of Zimbabwe was apprehended and assaulted by the University security guards on 5 October 2006. These guards, who do not have police powers, detained him for approximately two hours before the CIO came and took him to a large room where he was further interrogated about Zimbabwe National Students Union’s activities. After the interrogation and assault by the CIO, the student was taken to Avondale Police Station, where he was briefly assaulted in front of his lawyer. He was made to pay an admission of guilt fine of $250 before being released.

While not forming a part of this report, the Human Rights Forum expresses its concern on violence and torture being meted out by the police in investigating non- political criminal matters. These incidents are also being reported to the Forum in increasing numbers.

Totals: 1 October 2006 – 31 October 2006

Cumulative Totals: 1 January 2006 – 31 October 2006

The graph should be read along with the table depicting the monthly totals of violations from 1 January 2006 to 31 October 2006. The total quantifiable number of victims reported in October 2006 is 19.

Key Abbreviations

AIPPA – Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act PTUZ – Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe

BSA - Broadcasting Services Act UMP – Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe

CIO – Central Intelligence Organisation ZANU PF – Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front

MDC – Movement for Democratic Change ZCTU – Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions

MP – Member of Parliament ZNA – Zimbabwe National Army

ZPS – Zimbabwe Prison Service ZRP – Zimbabwe Republic Police

NAGG - National Alliance for Good Governance ZNLWVA – Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans

NCA – National Constitutional Assembly Association

OVT – Organised Violence and Torture ZIMTA – Zimbabwe Teachers Association

POSA – Public Order and Security Act ZUPCO – Zimbabwe United Passenger Company

Sources: The information contained in this report is derived from statements made to the Public Interest Unit of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum, statements taken by a network of human rights activists and newspaper reports,

Notes to the tables:

Torture:

All cases of torture fall under the definition of torture according to the general definition given in the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment.

The four elements of torture are:

1. Severe pain and suffering, whether physical or mental

2. Intentionally inflicted

3. With a purpose

4. By a state official or another individual acting with the acquiescence of the state.

Those individuals referred to in point # 4 include the ZRP, ZNA, ZPS and the ZNLWVA (as a reserve force of the ZNA) and by any other grouping when directly sanctioned by the state.

Unlawful arrest and detention:

Arrest by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) with no reasonable suspicion that an offence has been committed. Detention thereafter for a period exceeding 48 hours without access to redress through the courts or subsequent release without charge.

Abduction/kidnapping:

A kidnapping by a member(s) of an organised group that is not the ZRP, political party, ZNLWVA, ZNA, MDC, Zanu PF etc

Disappearance:

Kidnapped persons whose whereabouts remained unknown at the time of reporting. Their whereabouts have still to be ascertained through follow up reports or further investigation.

Property related

These are incidents in which property rights have been violated. This includes arson, property damage and destruction and theft.

Cases of Political Violence

Note: The identities of victims whose names have not been published in the press and are not public officials are protected. This is done in order to protect the victim from further violence, intimidation and possible recriminatory attacks.

The purpose of this report is to record the nature of the politically motivated violence and intimidation that continues to prevail in the country. The Monthly Political Violence Reports are primarily based on victims’ accounts, accompanied by medical evidence where possible, obtained from member organisations of the Human Rights Forum and other partner organisations. Use is also made of press reports on politically motivated violence. The Monthly Political Violence Report cannot therefore be considered as the exhaustive record of all incidents of politically - motivated violence in Zimbabwe in the period under review. Nevertheless, every incident reported to the Human Rights Forum directly or through its members is meticulously documented and included in the reports. Care is also taken to record the incidents in the language in which they were reported to the Forum.

The situation prevailing in the country is such that it has not been possible to verify all of these accounts. The Human Rights Forum has done what it can to verify the reports, and is satisfied that the vast majority of them are substantially true. It is also not possible to rule out whether a victim’s account is exaggerated or contains inaccuracies.

All reports derived from the press are denoted with the symbol ∑.

Bulawayo

25 October 2005

Five Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), including a 75 – year old grandmother, were arrested and taken to Mpopoma Traffic Police Station. The women were part of more than 60 residents of Mabutweni and Iminyela suburbs who had staged a demonstration at Mpopoma Housing Offices in Bulawayo. It is reported that the women were protesting against the chairperson of The Residents Association, who is alleged to have teamed up with the Superintendent of Mpopoma Housing Office, in illegally evicting residents from their houses and allocating them to their cronies at a month’s notice. It is reported that that about 36 residents who included members of WOZA were affected by the scheduled evictions.

HARARE

Chitungwiza

01 October 2006

The victim, who lives near the village headman in Seke, reports that his wife was reportedly seen going to an MDC rally and the village headman told him that she should desist, as he would lose his headman status. While the victim was working in his garden, a distance form his house, three men came and asked him to accompany them as they wanted to discuss something with him. The victim refused and the perpetrators assaulted him all the way to his house. When they got to his home they found the headman there and the victim managed to escape and went to the police. The victim alleged that the perpetrators assaulted his wife while he was running to the police. He made a report to the police and they opened a docket.

21 October 2006

∑.It is reported that unknown assailants attacked the house of suspended Chitungwiza Mayor Misheck Shoko. It is alleged that the assailants came to Shoko’s house at about 4am and destroyed the security wall before moving towards the bedroom. The assailants reportedly threw stones at the window s destroying at least 12 windowpanes in an attack that lasted about 15 minutes. The attackers allegedly escaped in a white pick-up truck after they had been scared away by neighbours who were awakened by the noise. Shoko, who had been holding a series of campaign meetings in Dema for the Rural Council Elections, suspects the attackers were members of ZANU PF. Shoko reported the matter to the police.

21 October 2006

The victim, a bus driver and an MDC supporter, reports that on the date in question he was on his way to collect the bus keys from his employer. A truck pulled up besides him and about 10 suspected Zanu PF supporters jumped from the truck and literally lifted him into their truck throwing him onto the truck floor. He was instructed not to lift up his head while he was being assaulted on the back with a rubber whip. This happened so quickly that he was taken by surprise. The truck kept moving while he was been beaten up for about 10 minutes. The assailants moved into a small junction road and dropped him from the truck and they then left. He could not take the registration number of the truck because the incident happened so quickly. He did not know who they were though he thought he could recognize them.

29 October 2006

Two MDC supporters were allegedly assaulted in post-election violence. The victims claim that they were sitting outside the shop which is rented by one of them. Mrs Rebecca Jumbe had won the Rural Council Elections for this year and her supporters were celebrating this occasion, displaying placards for Zanu PF. As they were passing by the shop, they demanded some beer. One of the victims is said to have told them that it was sold out. They then demanded to inspect the shop while some of them went to the counter to check. During this confusion someone shouted that he was the polling agent for MDC. Other people started pushing him. One came to him with the Zanu PF poster and put it across his face. He pushed it away from him and it got torn in the process. They accused him of tearing up their posters because he was an MDC activist. Mrs Jumbe is said to have shouted that he should be assaulted because that was what she had paid the mob to do. The mob, mostly Zanu PF, youths started to assault him with fists, booted feet and a woman hit him with a stick on the back of his head. By this time he was on the ground. They continued assaulting him for about 10-15 minutes and when they saw him bleeding, the neighbourhood police officer stopped them. His hearing was affected in the process.

Dzivarasekwa

24 October 2006

The victim alleged that on the date of the incident, there was a meeting that was being addressed by a woman Zanu PF official and also a municipal employee on the re-allocation of vending stands in the area. It was thought that the intention was to remove all suspected MDC supporters from the vending stands and replace them with Zanu PF supporters. The crowd got engaged and started assaulting the lady. The victim claims that he was nearby and when he heard the noise, he went to check what was happening. Seven days later he was cautioned that youths from the National Youth Service were looking for him and that he was being blamed for assaulting the lady. He went to the lawyers who later accompanied him to Dzivarasekwa police station to report. The police officer who was dealing with the case was not there so he left. When they went the following day to check, he was arrested with his colleague. They were kept in cells for three days and released on 26 October 2006.

30 October 2006

The victim claims that on the day in question, he was singing the Four Brothers song called ‘Tsunami’ when three men approached him. At first they conversed cordially with him before they began assaulting him. He alleges that he was struck on the feet and legs with a metal rod after being ordered to remove his shoes and belt. He then managed to escape and he got a lift into town.

Harare Central

13 October 2006

The victim claims that he was wearing an MDC T-shirt while at the Road Port bus terminus. Two youths approached him at the First Floor and requested that he accompany them to talk. He did not suspect anything so they went together. Eventually they took the direction to the Zanu PF offices but he could not run away as they were all around him. At the offices it is alleged that they challenged him as to why he was putting on the MDC T-shirt. One of them called, ‘Chef’. It is allegedly started assaulting him with an electrical cord on his back, lower back and left shoulder and buttocks. He was slapped on the face and was hit beneath both feet for about 30 minutes. Some women who were present advised the perpetrators not to allow him to shout so he was gagged with a T-shirt. He was released and told to run home and not turn back. He went to make a report at George Silundika Police Post and later went to Police Central but was told the responsible Officer-in-Charge was not there so no report was taken from him.

Harare North

05 October 2006

The victim claims that on the date in question he arrived at the University of Zimbabwe entrance gates with a colleague in a taxi. The security guards refused them entry and they were assaulted and then they were taken to Avondale Police Station. His colleague was told to go home and he had to stay as the UZ security officer said he was the troublemaker. About 2 hours after his colleague left, CIO officers came and took him to the interrogation room. They were asking him about ZINASU, when the next demonstration was to be held and if their demonstration on 4 October was successful. He refused to answer these questions and he was assaulted. He was taken from the police Station in a Mazda 323 vehicle to a different location in town and was put in a large room. He was told to take off his clothes and they were asking him questions, which he refused to answer. They took turns to assault him and he was made to hit his head against the wall. After this he was taken back to Avondale Police Station where he was assaulted in front of his lawyer. He was made to pay an admission of guilt fine of $250 and was released.

Tafara – Mabvuku

21 October 2006

∑.The house of the MDC National Youth Secretary,Tonderai Ndira was reportedly attacked by unknown assailants in Mabvuku. Ndira alleges that he received a death threat on his mobile phone earlier in the week from an anonymous caller. It is reported that the assailants were heard talking outside Ndira’s house for about 5 minutes before they started calling him out so they could attend a political meeting. The assailants allegedly started throwing stones at the house, destroying all the front windows. They later escaped in a white pick-up truck. Ndira suspects that the attack was carried out by people within the MDC party due to the divisions amongst the membership. In a related incident another MDC member, Kufa Chapo was kidnapped and assaulted by a gang at around midnight, before being dumped. Both Ndira and Chapo’s cases were reported to the police.

Manicaland

Chipinge North

15 October 2006

∑.It is reported that Bruce Richter and his family were forced off their farm in Chipinge by a weilder of an AK47 rifle and hand-gun. The family was forced to abandon all their property including their farming equipment and crops. It is reported that the Richter Family had been on the farm since 1980. The family has since left for New Zealand.

Mashonaland Central

Rushinga

07 October 2006

The victim reports that while she was coming from Mozambique, three women approached her while she was waiting for a lift in Rushinga. The rural elections were been held in Rushinga and the women asked her why she was there when she does not vote in Rushinga and she told them that she was just passing through. The victim alleged that the perpetrators asked her where her husband was and she told them that he was in Harare. The women then left and a few minutes later, a group of men and women arrived and told her that to avoid been assaulted she should tell them where her husband was as well as the MDC regalia. She was taken to a room where she was assaulted and threatened.

Bindura

26 October 2006

The victim reports that on the date in question at around 21:00, he was sitting at home while his wife was preparing a meal. A truckload of about 15 suspected Zanu PF youths with one elderly supporter arrived at his homestead. The elderly ZANU PF supporter enquired whether he was home, to which he answered in the affirmative. He went to meet the arrivals who proceeded to surrounded him. Somebody pushed him to the ground and they started assaulting him with sticks and one person hit him on the left cheek with an iron rod. They pushed him over and then they left. He reported the case to the police.

Mashonaland west

Kadoma West

12 October 2006

The victim reported that on the date in question she was at Tsungai Business Centre attending to her shop which she used to own and run. She is an MDC supporter. Six men arrived at the shop wearing MDC T/shirts. She immediately assumed that they were fellow MDC supporters when actually they were Zanu PF youths in disguise. She was asked to take them to another shop. She agreed but on the way, she noticed that these men had Zanu PF T/shirts underneath their MDC ones. She refused to go further with them. They then started assaulting her with wires and fists. They stamped on her abdomen after she had fallen. She fainted and when she regained consciousness up she released that she had been raped and ladies from a nearby school confirmed this. They also told her that three men had raped her. She made a report at the police station. She identified some of the men and left the police station. When she was on her way to the hospital, she heard from other people that the men who assaulted her had been released.

The table below and the graphs on page 3 above depict the number of violations committed on the persons whose circumstances are described in the report. One individual may have been subjected to many violations and thus appear under several categories of violations.

Monthly totals of human rights violations from 1 January 2006 to 31 October 2006

Administrative Map of ZIMBABWE

Zambia

Mozambique

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (also known as the “Human Rights Forum”) is a coalition comprising 16 member organisations. It has been in existence since January 1998 when non-Governmental organisations working in the field of human rights joined together to provide legal and psychosocial assistance to the victims of the Food Riots of January 1998.

The Human Rights Forum has now expanded its objectives to assist victims of organised violence, using the following definition:

“Organised violence” means the inter-human infliction of significant avoidable pain and suffering by an organised group according to a declared or implied strategy and/or system of ideas and attitudes. It comprises any violent action, which is unacceptable by general human standards, and relates to the victims’ mental and physical well-being.”

The Human Rights Forum operates a Research and Documentation Unit and offers legal services through the Public Interest Unit of the (formerly the Legal Unit of the ZHRF.)

Core member organisations of the Human Rights Forum are:

• Amani Trust (AT)

• Amnesty International (Zimbabwe) (AI (Z))

• Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP)

• Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ)

• Human Rights Trust of Southern Africa (SAHRIT)

• Legal Resources Foundation (LRF)

• Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ)

• Nonviolent Action and Strategies for Social Change (NOVASC)

• Transparency International (Zimbabwe) (TI (Z))

• Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and the Rehabilitation of the Offender (ZACRO)

• Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR)

• Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET)

• Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights)

• Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)

• Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP)

• Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA)

The Human Rights Forum can be contacted through:

The Administrator, P O Box 9077, Harare – email: admin@hrforum.co.zw

The Public Interest Unit, P O Box 9077, Harare – email: legal@hrforum.co.zw

The Research Unit, P O Box 9077, Harare – email: research@hrforum.co.zw

Address: 8^th Floor Bluebridge North, Eastgate, Harare; Telephone: 250511 - Fax: 250494

The International Liaison Office, 56- 64 Leonard Street London EC 2A 4 LE– email: IntLO@hrforumzim.com

Telephone+44-20-7065-0945

Website: www.hrforumzim.com

Previous reports of the Human Rights Forum can be found on our website.

To report political violence incidents occurring to yourself or someone you know, please contact us on the above addresses.