ZIMBABWE 2017 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ZIMBAMBWE is constitutionally a republic. In November a military intervention, public demonstrations calling for President Robert Mugabe’s removal, the ruling party’s vote of no confidence, and impeachment proceedings led to Mugabe’s resignation after ruling the country since independence in 1980.
The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) nominated former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa to replace Mugabe as both president of ZANU-PF and the government. On November 24, Mnangagwa was sworn in as president with the constitutional authority to complete the remainder of former president Mugabe’s five-year term, scheduled to end in 2018.
Presidential and parliamentary elections held in 2013 were free of the widespread violence of the 2008 elections, but the process was neither fair nor credible.
Numerous factors contributed to a deeply flawed election process: a hastily convened and politically compromised Constitutional Court that unilaterally declared the election date before key electoral reforms were in place; heavily biased state media; a voter registration process that did not comply with the law and that skewed registration towards supporters of the ruling party; partisan statements and actions by security forces, including active-duty personnel running for office in contravention of the law; limitations on international observers; failure to provide a publicly useful voters register; and a chaotic, separate voting process for the security sector.
Numerous factors contributed to a deeply flawed election process: a hastily convened and politically compromised Constitutional Court that unilaterally declared the election date before key electoral reforms were in place; heavily biased state media; a voter registration process that did not comply with the law and that skewed registration towards supporters of the ruling party; partisan statements and actions by security forces, including active-duty personnel running for office in contravention of the law; limitations on international observers; failure to provide a publicly useful voters register; and a chaotic, separate voting process for the security sector.
The elections resulted in the formation of a unitary ZANU-PF government led by President Mugabe and ZANU-PF supermajorities in both houses of parliament. ZANU-PF again used intimidation and targeted violence to retain some parliamentary seats during by-elections. See attachment for more…or visit these sites:
https//simbarashemfenton.co.zw/2017human rights report/
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