When we are talking about political violence, the actors are really the political parties. So I think over the years, we have recognized that the main political parties have been at each other’s throat, even prior to the year 2000. And I think from the year 2000 to date, we note that there are a lot of – there is a lot of conflict between ZANU-PF supporters and also supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai. But I think in all the work that we have done as an organization, we note that obviously, when you have a conflict, there are always two players who are involved.
But I think we have also recognized that in a lot of the situations, we recognize that ZANU-PF is the major perpetrator, although we note of the perpetration of violence caused by supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change. But in that situation, obviously, they are the minor perpetrators. And we also discover that in terms of being victims, the Movement for Democratic Change supporters are the majority victims in this instance, and those of ZANU-PF would be the minor victims of political violence. And I think over the years, we have recognized that there are cases of murder that have taken place, cases of rape that have taken place, malicious damage to property, and we have thousands and thousands of cases of harassment and intimidation.
And we have also had a significant number of cases of citizens who have been abducted, tortured, and in some instances, those people die because of what they have had to endure. And so those are some of the cases that we have noted. And I think I have already spoken about how some people are denied food, and I think that’s another act that we have recognized that happens as a result of political violence that takes place between the main actors in Zimbabwe, being ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
But I think there’s also a significant number of cases where we find state agents being involved in violence on the side of ZANU-PF, because we have also recognized that there is a thin line between that party and also the activities of the state. And what we have also recognized is the selective application of the law. If probably the victims of the violence weren’t too sick to get redress, probably through the police, usually the response from the police has really been – I would say probably lukewarm, and in most cases, nothing at all happens. And I think we have also had situations where the victims of political violence have actually been turned into perpetrators of the violence when they go and report these cases to the police so that the perpetrators would be brought to book.
Jestina M. Mukoko is the National Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, a nonprofit organization that monitors and documents political violence in Zimbabwe. As Zimbabwe’s premier monitoring body, the organization maintains a strong network throughout the country that is able to bring widespread attention to occurrences of political violence.
A long-time leader in the human rights and activist communities in Zimbabwe, Ms. Mukoko was abducted from her home on December 3, 2008, by state security agents for her work monitoring the brutality of the Robert Mugabe government. During her 21-day abduction, she was tortured, beaten, and forced to confess to a crime she did not commit. She remained detained until a court granted her bail on March 2, 2009.
For her steadfastness on issues related to human rights, Jestina Mukoko was named the 2009 Laureate of the City of Weimar (Germany) Human Rights Prize and a 2010 recipient of the U.S. Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award. In 2009, Ms. Mukoko was awarded the NANGO (National Association of Nongovernmental Organizations) Peace Award. For her commitment and perseverance, she received the French National Order of the Legion of Honor award in 2011.
She serves on several boards, including those of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, and the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe. A former news anchor for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, she is also mentoring with the Female Students Network, a youth organization.
A peace and human rights campaigner, Jestina Mukoko is also a mother. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Politics and Administration from the University of Zimbabwe. Ms. Mukoko was the 2010 Fellow at the Oak Institute for International Human Rights at Colby College in Maine. In 2012, she joined other mid-career professionals as a Draper Hills Summer Fellow on Democracy and Development Program at Stanford University.
Mugabe’s social and economic policies have been disastrous. An estimated one-fifth of the population is infected with HIV. Life expectancy has declined dramatically since 1990. Land redistribution in the 1990s cut food production and led to hunger and disease. The government’s mismanagement of the economy led to hyperinflation in the 2000s, reaching an estimated peak of 13 billion percent in November 2008.
Mugabe has stifled democracy and human rights since coming to power. The government cracks down on opposition political parties and civil society groups. Basic rights such as freedom of expression and assembly are not respected. Violence surrounding the 2008 elections led to a power-sharing agreement between ZANU and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Freedom House rates Zimbabwe as not free in political rights and civil liberties, noting Mugabe’s frequent abuses of power, corruption, regime-sponsored political violence, the lack of independent media, and flawed electoral processes.