There were few guarantees that the coming elections in Zimbabwe would be free and fair, because of widespread police abuses, a report by the International Bar Association said yesterday.

The association’s human rights institute said it found evidence of police torture, intimidation and illegal arrests, which threatened parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for March.

“Police officers are responsible for some of the most serious human rights and rule of law violations,” the report said. “The police have consistently shown disrespect and contempt for the law, lawyers and judicial authorities to an extent that has seriously imperilled the administration of justice and the rule of law.”

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, in power since 1980, has denied carrying out political violence and human rights abuses against his opponents.

His government has come under increasing international pressure to adopt democratic reforms as the country faces a crippling economic and political crisis.

The ruling ZANU PF has been in negotiations to resolve the crisis with the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which has accused Mugabe’s party of stealing a series of elections since 2002 through intimidation.

The institute said after interviews with several government officials, legal professionals and nongovernmental organisations that it had come across several cases of police torture, arbitrary arrests, disobeying of court orders and intimidation.

“If this is what is occurring at the level of the administration of justice, then everything bodes poorly for the elections,” said advocate Andrea Gabriel, a member of a team that visited Zimbabwe in August.

The report called on Harare to establish an independent system of monitoring the police and urged leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to address police abuse as part of efforts to resolve the crisis.

Prof Danny Titus, deputy dean of the law college at the University of South Africa and a member of the fact-finding team, said the findings raised concern that the police would be used to subvert the electoral process. “Without accountable, impartial policing that protects human rights, it will be difficult and perhaps impossible for the citizens of Zimbabwe to participate freely in any democratic process, including elections,” he said.

Separately, the MDC said two MDC-supporting youths, Taurai Chigede and Clement Takaendesa, had been shot in Kwekwe, central Zimbabwe, allegedly by a Brig Mavenge, whose first name was not immediately known. Takaendesa died on the spot and Chigede was taken to hospital, said the MDC. Mavenge had been arrested.

(Source)