The month of April saw no relent in police brutality against MDC supporters and any dissent whatsoever to the ZANU PF government. From the narratives in this report, it would seem that there is a concerted effort by Zimbabwe’s security forces especially the ZRP and CIO to weed out MDC supporters.
The trends of human rights violations have remained predominantly the same, as violence on commercial farms as well as the clampdown on students continues. Moreover, the abovementioned incidents involving political parties suggest that there is continued political polarisation.
In total, there have been recorded 204 human rights violations in April 2009, compared to 155 in March. Particularly, the number of infringements of freedom of expression, association and movement have increased. Moreover, a sharp rise in the number of recorded assaults was noted.