In terms of human rights violations, the period under review recorded the least number of violations in
the last three months with 496 violations. Manicaland with 115 violations had the highest violations
followed by Masvingo (78) Mashonaland West (64). Matebeleland North had the lowest figures
recording just 10 violations. Indeed, the country projected a semblance of ‘peace and tranquillity’,
may be, the people understood the peace messages from the political leadership. However, gurus in
peace studies such as Galtung rightly observed that “peace is not the absence of physical violence”
Thus when assessing the pre-election environment that existed, the need to look at other variables
rather than just one aspect of physical violence becomes paramount. Thus other forms of violence
such as structural violence where employed against the people. For example, the presence and
partisan actions of structures such as war veterans, military personnel, the police, terror bases,
traditional leaders and denial of food have to be considered in order to clearly judge the environment
as just, free and fair. Read more: ZPP Monthly Monitor July 2013
