The primary objective of the Human Rights Research Unit (HRRU) is to record, research on, verify and publish gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. This is accomplished through the compilation of a database covering violations of the various rights and protections indicated in the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These databases are used to provide the statistical/background information for publications and in addition to service enquiries on human rights abuses by donors, organizations and individuals.
The literature produced by the HRRU is targeted at a wide cross section of society due to the varying types of publications produced. The publications are further discussed in Chapter 2.