Punishing Dissent, Silencing Citizens: The Zimbabwe Elections 2008

Report Cover Photo: In a brave act of defiance, posters of Morgan Tsvangirai hang on the wall of a hut burnt by ZANU PF supporters in Shamva, April 2008

The 2008 Harmonised Election in Zimbabwe was arguably the most historic of the post-independence elections, as for the first time in the last 28 years the ruling party lost its parliamentary majority and the President lost the first round of the Presidential election. This result represented the culmination of a decade of political and civic […]

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Wed, May 21 2008 » Election violence, Human rights, Reports » No Comments

Destructive Engagement: Violence, mediation and politics in Zimbabwe

Report Cover photo: Nelson Chamisa

The violence of 11 March and the months following in Zimbabwe indicated increased levels of state repression against dissenting voices in the country. Against the background of an enormous erosion of the political legitimacy of the ruling party, and an economy in freefall, the state has responded with characteristic brutality and contempt for its citizenry. […]

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Tue, July 10 2007 » Global Political Agreement, History, Human rights, Reports » No Comments

A Criminal State: A Statement and a Brief Chronicle of Events in Zimbabwe, 18 February – 22 March

Criminal State

The Solidarity Peace Trust condemns the brutal assault on opposition forces and the arrests of more than 50 activists that took place on 11 March 2007, in the context of Zimbabwean police preventing a peaceful prayer meeting from being convened. The Trust condemns the killing of activist Gift Tandare by the police on 11 March. […]

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Sat, March 24 2007 » Church commentators, Human rights, Reports » No Comments

“Meltdown”- Murambatsvina one year on

Report Cover Photo: Operation Murambatsvina

Between 1991 and 2003, urban poverty trebled in Zimbabwe. It was against this background of escalating economic collapse and social disintegration that “Operation Murambatsvina” (OM), or “Discarding the Filth”, took place in mid 2005. In the space of a few weeks, 700,000 people lost their homes and/or livelihoods in a process that the UN has […]

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Wed, August 30 2006 » Access to resources, Human rights, Operation Murambatsvina, Reports » No Comments

“Crime of poverty”: Murambatsvina Part II

Report Cover Photo: Informal mining settlement in Matabeleland

The July UN report on the demolitions in Zimbabwe has become the definitive report on events between May and the end of June 2005. Other reports have covered in detail urban and peri-urban aspects of OM. Political analysis, assessment of the judiciary, and quantification of those affected are variously covered by other human rights reports […]

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Wed, October 19 2005 » Human rights, Operation Murambatsvina, Reports » 1 Comment