Executive Summary
In the month of August, the Zimbabwe Peace Project recorded and documented 213
human rights violations across the country. Key violations included harassment and
intimidation and unlawful detention of citizens, human rights defenders and political
activists. 22 violations were committed in incidents of assault of citizens by state
security agents. Other notable violations included malicious damage to property,
violations of the right to equality and non-discrimination in incidents of failure of the
justice system as well as in partisan distribution of food aid.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police constituted 39,4% of the perpetrators while ZANU PF
affiliated perpetrators amounted to 25.91%. Other key perpetrators included officers of
the Zimbabwe National Army at 11.89%, municipal police at 10.01%, state security
agents 3.75% and traditional leaders at 2.75%. Other violators include 1.63% affiliated
to the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), 1.5% being government officials, 0.75%
being members of the Forever Associate Zimbabwe (FAZ) and war veterans at 0.38%.
2% of the total perpetrators’ population could not be identified with any group. The high
number of state security agents committing human rights offences were largely related
to the widespread crackdown on dissent by the government whose heavy handedness
accounts for unlawful arrests, arbitrary detention, torture and inhuman treatment of
accused or arrested persons.
In the Towards Sustainable Peace in Zimbabwe section, we acknowledge the efforts by
the Zimbabwe Republic Police and members of parliament in raising awareness and
working decisively to investigate incidents of maladministration of government
sponsored food aid
In our section on Ten steps backward, a new feature of this report, we analyse the
effects of partisan distribution and maladministration of food aid on women and girls.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project notes with concern the reckless mockery of human rights
defenders and arrested persons by senior political leaders as well as the consistent use
of violent threatening language by government officials. ZPP strongly condemns the
deliberate targeting of human rights defenders, and the repression of citizens in the
pursuit of political gains and calls for an end to all repression.