ZANU PF has strongly denied the existence of torture camps near the controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields, after video evidence of the ongoing abuses by the military there was released. The UK’s BBC Panorama investigative series has revealed that the camps have been operational in the Marange region for the last three years, and the explosive report shows how civilians are subject to severe beatings and sexual attacks. But Mines Minister Obert Mpofu has denied the camps exist, calling it 'cheap propaganda from the BBC'.

Immigration detention in South Africa and internationally is extremely expensive, can harm the health and wellbeing of those detained and has been found to not be effective at deterring irregular migrants, including Zimbabweans, says this press release. Global research spanning two years conducted by La Trobe University and the International Detention Coalition (IDC) found cheaper alternatives that work effectively in the interests of government and the individual.

The four armed robbers who gang raped her may be serving time for their crimes, but six years later justice has turned out to be a myth for Mildred Mapingure. 'I was silently praying I was not pregnant,' Mapingure told IPS from her rural home in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe. It is illegal to terminate a pregnancy in Zimbabwe unless the ‘pregnancy endangers the life of the mother and/or is a result of unlawful penetration (rape)’, according to the Termination of Pregnancy Act. And abortion is only allowed in the first trimester. When Mapingure realised the inevitable had happened two months after being raped, prosecutors rushed the application for a termination of pregnancy order through the Chinhoyi regional magistrate’s court in Mashonaland West. But long court delays resulted in the order being granted when she was eight months pregnant. Mapingure had no option but to give birth.

The state security sector is still actively being used by Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF to torture and oppress women in order to keep them out of the political process, a new report has revealed. The report also brings out the direct role of the ZANU PF militia in the violence. The ‘Women and Political Violence: An Update’ report was compiled by the Women’s Programme of the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU). It is a study on the degree of violence against women and its impact, after Robert Mugabe last year began demanding an election in 2011.

Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) says that it is outraged by the way that the country's media has targeted homosexuality in its reporting on the case of a police officer accused of sodomising his brother’s ten-year-old son. 'There has been a trend in the media to equate sodomy with rape,' said the organisation. 'This is alarming because it promotes the dangerous myth that homosexual men are automatically rapists and abusers of children.'

Many people believed that land reform would address the problem of land shortages, reports Farm Radio Weekly. Gifford Moyo is a social commentator and member of an advocacy group in Bulawayo which fights for the rights of the Ndebele people. He warned that if the land issue was not handled properly, it might erupt into a serious conflict. He says, 'The primary objective of going to war was to get back our land which was taken by the colonial regime. Now, if this government is failing to properly address the issue of land, the question is "Why did we go to war?"'

The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has expressed concern over the volatile political atmosphere in the country as incidents of politically motivated human rights violations shot up to 1,014 in June from 994 recorded in May. In its summary on political and food-related violations, ZPP said Midlands province recorded the highest number of incidents, pegged at 214, up from 201 in May. The province witnessed an increase in assault, harassment and intimidation cases while Mashonaland East recorded a drop from 188 to 172 reported cases.

'Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo', 'I Want A Wedding Dress' and 'Ungochani' were three of the films recently screened at the Women’s Law Centre in Harare as part of a new film based gender rights series initiative between Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe (WFOZ) and The Women’s Law Centre. The collaboration started in February this year and will continue in the next semester.

Thousands of Zimbabweans in South Africa are in the dark about their residency status as the moratorium on the deportation of illegal immigrants expired. Though NGOs claimed that the Department of Home Affairs had indicated that the moratorium might be extended until the end of this month, no announcement has been made. Though the department has registered 275762 applications, NGOs estimate that there are as many as a million undocumented Zimbabweans in this country. This means thousands could be deported back to Zimbabwe.

Journalists Aaron Ufumeli and Lev Mukarati were on 23 July 2011 reportedly assaulted and harassed by suspected Zanu PF supporters who were part of a public hearing on the Human Rights Bill that was being conducted at the Parliament of Zimbabwe in Harare. Ufumeli, chief photographer with Alpha Media Holdings publishers of The Standard, Zimbabwe Independent and Newsday, was manhandled by the mob that tried to grab his camera while the others demanded that he delete the pictures he had taken.

Journalists in Zimbabwe are concerned over a fresh warning that they face being jailed, if they report on issues discussed in cabinet. It is understood that the government plans to use the Official Secrets Act to silence the media, as it forges ahead with its culture of keeping ordinary Zimbabweans in the dark.
Government ministers are said to be getting increasingly uncomfortable with media reports of their deliberations in parliament, especially over issues they disagree on.

Thirteen activists from Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe (ROHR) were arrested by the police outside the High Court on Wednesday (27 July), for protesting against ongoing human rights abuses in the country. ROHR said their activists were protesting against the continued incarceration of eight MDC-T activists who have remained behind bars since they were arrested on 29 May.

Zimbabwe’s Justice and Legal Affairs ministry has dismissed reports that the country has failed to recruit a hangman since 2005, after several people rushed to hand in their applications for the supposedly vacant post. The ministry has said there is no opening for the job and instead blamed the cabinet for 'sitting' on requests to carry out executions since last year. There are 55 convicts on death row, some who have been there for up to 13 years.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has said it is worried by the rate at which state security agencies are arresting citizens on charges of insulting President Robert Mugabe, whose cases the organisation is receiving every day. 'One of the most fascinating things at ZLHR is that everyday we are getting a case of a person being charged with the law of insulting President. If you say anything critical especially mentioning governance and in particular current President you are likely to spend a night in jail, and that to me is a symptomatic of a country which is not ready to accept democracy. Democracy in its own allows citizens to freely express themselves without fearing for what will happen after.'

Supporters of President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party on Sunday 24 July assaulted an MP and four journalists as they disrupted a parliamentary committee receiving submissions on a proposed human rights law. Journalists who were caught in the mayhem said a crowd of more than 200 Zanu PF supporters stormed the parliament building singing revolutionary songs. A legislator was dragged out of the building and was repeatedly assaulted. Journalists from privately owned newspapers were also locked inside the building and heavily assaulted.

A South African refugee rights group has called on the South African authorities to extend the deadline for Zimbabweans to get permits, warning that thousands of people are yet to receive their paperwork. The end of the Zimbabwe Documentation Project is less than two weeks away and South Africa is set to resume deporting undocumented Zim nationals when the process is finalised. But according to the Cape Town based PASSOP group, thousands of people have not got their documents yet, and fear is rising that they face possible deportation in the coming weeks.

Zimbabwe’s immigration officials say they have instructed their officers at border posts not to accept illegal immigrants and refugees seeking to enter into the country. The ban is targeted at refugees mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia whom Zimbabwe accuses of using the country as a transit point to South Africa. The government-owned Herald newspaper reported that five border posts usually used by the Ethiopian and Somali immigrants had been instructed not to allow refugees into the country.

The trial of six Zimbabwean activists charged with treason for attending a lecture in February about the Egyptian uprising opened in Harare on 18 July. The activists had their charges altered to a lesser charge as the magistrate who was supposed to hear the matter recused himself. The activists are now being charged with conspiracy to commit public violence.

Zimbabwe is unable to fill 15,000 teaching posts in government schools because school leavers are reluctant to join the profession. The vacant posts are said to be increasing despite reports that thousands of Zimbabwean teachers, who had left the country at the height of the economic problems, were returning home. An official in the Ministry of Education told the state owned Herald newspaper that out of the 111,000 teaching posts in the country, 96,000 were filled by qualified teachers.

'The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) notes with concern the continued disregard of the voice of the people of Zimbabwe as witnessed by the lack of commitment to consult the people in the whole negotiation process. ZESN is of the view that the timelines that have been set are unrealistic and fail to address a number of pertinent concerns that are essential before the country can hold a new election.'