News / National
Zimbabwe sees increase in political violence ahead of 2018 elections
05 Nov 2017 at 08:14hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Peace Project has recorded an increase in the total number of political violence cases from 178 in September to 189 in October.
ZPP said cases involving intimidation and harassment contributed to the tally as there was a rise from 119 to 126.
"These were spurred on by the ongoing Biometric Voters' Registration (BVR) exercise where political activists, traditional leaders and other political players have been intimidating people through misinformation that BVR is a surveillance tool that will be used to smoke out people who do not vote 'wisely' in the 2018 elections. Cases of harassment have been mainly around the demanding of voter registration slips to record serial numbers or forcing of people to register to vote or attend political meetings," said ZPP.
"The approaching farming season has also contributed to an increase in cases of intimidation and harassment as well as discrimination as cases of discrimination have increased from 21 to 31. Most cases involve Zanu PF activists or traditional leadership omitting opposition supporters on lists for farming inputs food assistance.. There has been a complete politicization of government aid programmes. Those implicated include party district chairpersons, village heads and youth officers."
ZPP said in October Harare had the highest number of violations at 37 cases followed by Manicaland at 25.
"The unusual rise of violations in cases of violence in Harare is a reminder that political violence in not just a preserve for the rural areas and is indicative of the tensions lying ahead in the campaign period. This escalation however is most likely as a result of the running battles between police and vendors and also the Chitungwiza political violence case where people were assaulted and had their properties destroyed," said ZPP.
"There was a drop of intra-party violence from 7 to 3 and all cases were reported in Zanu PF. Nearly sixty nine percent (68.9%) of the perpetrators were said to be affiliated to the ruling Zanu PF party which is a slight decrease from last month's almost seventy percent (69.5%) while approximately ten percent (9.6 %) of perpetrators had unknown affiliations."
ZPP said at least twenty one percent (20.6 %) of perpetrators were Zimbabwe Republic Police officers an increase from about fourteen percent (14.1%) in September.
"This is because police were very active in October in 'Operation' restore order which targeted vendors for removal from the streets of most urban areas. The heavy handed tactics used by police resulted in an increase in human rights violations. Police were also active in denying citizens their right to freedom of assembly and association as a number of meetings were disrupted notably aspiring Mount Pleasant independent candidate Fadzai Mahere's Shanduko soccer tournament in Harare," said ZPP.
ZPP said cases involving intimidation and harassment contributed to the tally as there was a rise from 119 to 126.
"These were spurred on by the ongoing Biometric Voters' Registration (BVR) exercise where political activists, traditional leaders and other political players have been intimidating people through misinformation that BVR is a surveillance tool that will be used to smoke out people who do not vote 'wisely' in the 2018 elections. Cases of harassment have been mainly around the demanding of voter registration slips to record serial numbers or forcing of people to register to vote or attend political meetings," said ZPP.
"The approaching farming season has also contributed to an increase in cases of intimidation and harassment as well as discrimination as cases of discrimination have increased from 21 to 31. Most cases involve Zanu PF activists or traditional leadership omitting opposition supporters on lists for farming inputs food assistance.. There has been a complete politicization of government aid programmes. Those implicated include party district chairpersons, village heads and youth officers."
"The unusual rise of violations in cases of violence in Harare is a reminder that political violence in not just a preserve for the rural areas and is indicative of the tensions lying ahead in the campaign period. This escalation however is most likely as a result of the running battles between police and vendors and also the Chitungwiza political violence case where people were assaulted and had their properties destroyed," said ZPP.
"There was a drop of intra-party violence from 7 to 3 and all cases were reported in Zanu PF. Nearly sixty nine percent (68.9%) of the perpetrators were said to be affiliated to the ruling Zanu PF party which is a slight decrease from last month's almost seventy percent (69.5%) while approximately ten percent (9.6 %) of perpetrators had unknown affiliations."
ZPP said at least twenty one percent (20.6 %) of perpetrators were Zimbabwe Republic Police officers an increase from about fourteen percent (14.1%) in September.
"This is because police were very active in October in 'Operation' restore order which targeted vendors for removal from the streets of most urban areas. The heavy handed tactics used by police resulted in an increase in human rights violations. Police were also active in denying citizens their right to freedom of assembly and association as a number of meetings were disrupted notably aspiring Mount Pleasant independent candidate Fadzai Mahere's Shanduko soccer tournament in Harare," said ZPP.
Source - Byo24News
