HOW CAN THERE BE FREE & FAIR ELECTIONS?

A Constitutional Court ruling last week said the poll should be held by 31 July. The 44-page report titled “The Elephant in the Room: Reforming the Security Sector Ahead of Zimbabwe’s Elections,” described how Zimbabwe’s military and other security forces have interfered in the country’s political and electoral affairs, in support of President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu (PF). It said the forces prevented Zimbabweans from exercising their rights to free expression, association and to vote, particularly evident during the June 2008 presidential run-off, when the army committed widespread abuses that included killings, beatings, and torture. Since then, the leadership of the military, police, and internal security agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation, had remained unchanged and openly supportive of Mugabe, said HRW. “With the security forces right up to the top leaders threatening and attacking Mugabe’s perceived opponents, Zimbabweans have little faith in the upcoming elections,” said HRW's Africa Advocacy Director, Tiseke Kasambala. “Zimbabwe’s unity government is going to have to rein in the security forces and keep them out of politics if the elections are going to have any meaning,” said Kasambala. Since the creation of the unity government in September 2009, several senior military officials have publicly expressed support for Mugabe and Zanu (PF) and opposed a possible rule by current Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the mainstream MDC.

As recent as 1 May, police Commissioner General, Augustine Chihuri, publicly said the security forces would never meet with Tsvangirai to discuss security reforms and that anyone who reported on or raised the issue risked arrest. Three days later, Zimbabwe Defense Forces Commander, General Constantine Chiwenga, told the state-run weekly, The Sunday Mail, that he would not meet with Tsvangirai to discuss security reforms, as he had "no time to meet sellouts". "Clearly Tsvangirai is a psychiatric patient who needs a competent psychiatrist,” said Chiwenga. HRW said the partisan statements by the security forces leadership were being reflected in actions security forces were taking on the ground. On May 7, police arrested Dumisani Muleya, the Editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, and Owen Gagare, its Chief Reporter, after the newspaper published an article saying that Tsvangirai had met with the heads of the security forces.

The police interrogated the two men and detained them for eight hours, then charged them under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act with “publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State.”

HRW said its investigations had found that the Zimbabwe National Army had deployed soldiers across the country, intimidating, beating, and otherwise abusing perceived supporters of the MDC or those critical of the government. "At times these soldiers have used food distribution, community school projects, and even an 'army history research project' to obtain entry into various communities. Human Rights Watch has documented and received reports of abuses in Buhera, Nyanga, Chipinge, and Mutare in Manicaland province; Gokwe, Zhombe, Mberengwa, and Silobela in Midlands province; and Chivhu, Marondera, and Uzumba in Mashonaland East province. “Zimbabwe’s laws and constitution require neutrality and impartiality from the security forces but the security forces have shown no sign of meeting their obligations,” added Kasambala. “The government needs to send a clear message by disciplining and prosecuting security force personnel and soldiers who violate the law for political reasons." She challenged government to take urgent steps that ensured the political neutrality of Zimbabwe’s security forces. "The government needs to investigate and prosecute alleged abuses by security force personnel. It also needs to publicly direct the security forces leadership to carry out their responsibilities professionally and impartially and to appropriately punish leaders who don’t. “SADC should make improving the behavior of the security forces a key pillar of the Zimbabwe roadmap to credible, free, and fair elections.