Free and fair Zimbabwe election ‘highly unlikely’

FIVE years of violence, intimidation, voting irregularities and restrictive legislation have slanted Zimbabwe’s electoral playing field in favour of President Robert Mugabe, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued yesterday.

The New York-based group is the latest of numerous local and international rights organisations to sound the alarm about the March 31 general election, seen as a test of Mugabe’s legitimacy after nearly 25 years at the helm of the troubled southern African country.

Researcher Tiseke Kasambala urged governments of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) - among the few allowed to observe Zimbabwe’s elections - not to judge whether the poll is free and fair based on what they have seen over the past week alone.

“If SADC members fail to take into account abuses in the long run-up to the polls, SADC’s ability to foster democratic change in the region will be compromised,” Kasambala said in Johannesburg.

South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki drew widespread criticism when he said recently that he saw no reason why Zimbabwe’s election would not be fair.

Levels of violence have declined markedly since the last election in 2000, which was closely followed by the often bloody seizure of thousands of white-owned farms for redistribution to black Zimbabweans.

But Human Rights Watch’s 35 page report documents numerous cases of political intimidation - including threats, arbitrary arrests and beatings - against opposition parties, their supporters and other citizens by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and its allies.

Traditional chiefs have been asked to compile lists of potential opposition supporters, and voters in desperately hungry rural areas have been told they might not get food aid if they don’t vote for the ruling party, Kasambala said.

As a result, the report concludes that the elections are “highly unlikely” to reflect the free expression of voters.

Human Rights Watch urged regional governments to press Zimbabwe to ensure that all candidates are able to campaign freely and have access to the media.

The report was based on 135 interviews conducted in five provinces and two major cities of Zimbabwe in December 2004 and February 2005.