Inflation is now at a level when figures and notes appear meaningless, and where US$100 buys about 20 kilograms of local currency. The harvest for this year is well below the needs of the country, and the government is rushing to bring in maize imports from other Southern African states, as well as relying on food aid.  

A year ago, in March 2007, the violent suppression of a prayer meeting by Zimbabwean police made headlines around the world. A few weeks later I visited Zimbabwe and was struck by the stories of violence, as well as the stories of courage coming out of the country. In the months that followed, civil society actors critical of government actions sadly continued to be threatened, arrested and attacked.  

In reaction to the March 2007 violence, the Southern African Development Community initiated talks between the opposition (MDC) and ruling ZANU-PF, mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki. While the talks have produced some reforms of existing laws on security, media and elections, these are largely cosmetic and reflect little genuine change. They were drafted behind closed doors without public consultation and then rushed through parliament.  

The talks have also been highly criticised by civil society groups in Zimbabwe, who argued that the political parties did not adequately represent the people of Zimbabwe, and that they over-emphasised the elections, at the expense of the ongoing humanitarian crisis and repression of dissent in the country.  

Despite the negotiations’ focus on free and fair elections, civil society and the media continue to be silenced through restrictive laws, as well as threats and harassment. In this atmosphere, civil society in Zimbabwe - as well as internationally - fears the elections process has already been undermined, preventing public discussion and deliberation.  

In January 2008 there were 336 politically motivated human rights violations reported, with the freedoms of assembly and association being the most violated rights (94 cases), according to a Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum report. The report also depicts marked inter-party violence, a trend that has been present in previous elections.  

The Zimbabwe Peace Project has also reported rising levels of violence against aspiring candidates, their campaign teams and supporters in the lead-up to the election.

During the 7^th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva a number of country delegations, as well as civil society groups, raised concerns, and amongst these were the Netherlands, Ireland and New Zealand and the International Commission of Jurists.  

I was in Geneva for the start of the Human Rights Council session, to speak as one of four civil society representatives at the High Level Segment. While I did not speak specifically on Zimbabwe, I pointed to the importance of civil society in the fight against poverty and inequality – and how crucial it is for civil society to have the space to contribute to this work, as well as to many other areas of important work. Any restrictions on civil society organisations threaten such contributions – which are particularly vital in today’s Zimbabwe, where civil society provides the only outlet for public discussion as well as to supplement health and social services.  

We understand that Zimbabwe has permitted elections observers from SADC, as well as five Asian countries (China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Iran) and four from the Americas (Brazil, Jamaica, Venezuela and Nicaragua) to monitor the upcoming elections. We also encourage the government to ensure that the efforts of local civil society to also monitor the elections are supported. If past elections and the current atmosphere are any indication, these local observers may face significant barriers to their work.  

We also appeal to the election monitoring teams from SADC and other countries to ensure their work encourages that of local civil society, and also presents truthful accounts and reports of any repression of public dialogue, the media and civil society activities during, before and after the elections period. As has occurred in past elections, by claiming unfair elections are fair, such reputable institutions as SADC risk undermining their own election standards and future elections processes around the region.  

Let us hope that these elections mark the dawning of a new era in Zimbabwe’s history.