Regional leaders mediating in Zimbabwe said they want to see democratic and constitutional reforms before fresh elections can be held next year. The Southern African Development Community called on Zimbabwe's coalition government to work on a new constitution and put it to a referendum to adhere to the terms of the power sharing deal brokered by the group in 2009, according to a statement released by the group Saturday.

At least six ZANU PF activists have reportedly been arrested in connection with the murder of an MDC-T ward official in Mudzi North last Saturday, but already there are concerns that the arrests were simply a ZANU PF ploy to save face, ahead of the SADC summit. Cephas Magura, the MDC-T chairperson for ward 1, Mudzi North, died from injuries sustained during an assault by ZANU PF thugs at Chimukoko Business Centre. The MDC-T had organised a rally there with permission from the police.

The MDC-T has embarked on a new diplomatic offensive to galvanise support from the region, for the far-reaching legislative reforms needed in Zimbabwe before elections can be held. The country will again be the focus of attention at next week’s SADC summit in Luanda, Angola, at which regional leaders will discuss the ongoing political crisis blocking implementation of the GPA and election roadmap.

The visiting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on Zimbabwe’s political leaders to quickly find a solution to their differences and implement key reforms, in order to avoid the violence that marred the 2008 elections. Speaking to journalists at the end of her five-day visit to assess human rights, Navi Pillay said unless the parties quickly agree on key reforms, the next election could turn into 'a repeat of the 2008 election which resulted in rampant politically motivated human rights abuses, including killings, torture, rapes, beatings, arbitrary detention, displacements and other violations'.

The facilitation team of South African President Jacob Zuma is expected in Zimbabwe to check on progress made by the unity government in fine-tuning the election roadmap the Southern African Development Community says is necessary before the country's next polls. President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party have consistently called for elections this year, even in the absence of a new constitution. But the two MDC formations in the coalition government insist critical democratic reforms are implemented before any fresh polls are called, in particular the writing of a new constitution.

It is unfair for a small group of individuals to disenfranchise Zimbabweans through a premature campaign to abandon the constitutional review process without affording the people an opportunity to engage directly with the draft.

More than 70 000 illegal abortions are carried out in Zimbabwe every year, with Zimbabwean women running a 200 times greater risk of dying of abortion complications than their counterparts in South Africa, where the procedure is legal.

A Zimbabwean human rights group has threatened South Africa's chief crime fighting unit with international legal action, over on ongoing probe into the illegal renditions of Zimbabwean citizens from South Africa. Several senior officials in the Hawks criminal unit and the South African police were last year accused of conducting the renditions, in partnership with Zimbabwean police. This has reportedly led to a number of Zimbabwean 'suspects' being arrested in South Africa and then sent across the border illegally, and killed. The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) has also threatened to refer the Hawks members involved to the International Criminal Court (ICC) if they are not brought to justice, explaining that a thorough, credible investigation needs to done.

A Zimbabwean minister has ordered traditional leaders to seize land belonging to homosexuals and expel them from their communities. Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo, who belongs to President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party, said homosexuality was a 'foreign value'.

With an average of 100 children under five dying each day, it may be hard to believe that Zimbabawe was once the country of choice for medical treatment in Africa. In this video report, Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, in Harare, explains why the healthcare system there has not been able to regain its title.

Although Zimbabwe is a mineral-rich country, mine laborers and owners say that profits aren’t enough to cover costs, leading to low or little pay and unsatisfactory working conditions. The government has implemented laws aiming to reform both issues, but fee hikes to boost federal revenue have been problematic, says this article from the Global Press Institute.

High Court orders South African authorities to investigate crimes against humanity committed by state officials in Zimbabwe.

A lot of money and time have been invested in writing a new constitution. There are several drafts lying around. Why not immediately hire reputable drafters to finish off the job and put the resulting document to a referendum?

Zimbabwe’s new school term opened this week with teachers threatening another round of industrial action, if the government fails to meet their demands by June. The start of the last school term was marred by a nationwide strike, which only ended when the government agreed to pay teachers an extra US$58 and urgently address their needs.

An international human rights group has written to Zimbabwe’s three main political party leaders urging them to scrap the death penalty from the new constitution. Amnesty International says in a letter to Zanu PF leader Robert Mugabe and the two leaders of the MDC Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube that the death penalty’s deterrent effect is negligible. Zimbabwe’s new constitution which is being steered by the three parties is currently at drafting stage. A draft released last week shows the death penalty will be retained, but only for aggravated murder.

South Africa should investigate whether officials in neighboring Zimbabwe are responsible for human rights abuses there, a judge said Tuesday 8 May in an order that has grave political and practical implications. The ruling handed down in a Pretoria court Tuesday by Judge Hans Fabricius was the first under South African statutes spelling out its international law obligations. Human rights lawyer Nicole Fritz, whose South African Litigation Centre joined the Zimbabwean Exiles forum to bring the suit, said human rights groups have documented cases of torture and other crimes in Zimbabwe. Under Tuesday's order, she said, investigators from a country with a strong legal framework now will be able to hold Zimbabwean officials responsible for crimes allegedly committed during that country's political meltdown.

ZANU PF’s information minister Webster Shamu has threatened a crackdown on the independent media in the country warning that 'the gloves may soon be off'. Shamu was speaking at a Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) function in Harare that was meant to celebrate World Press Freedom Day.

The Zimbabwe Unemployed People’s Association (ZUPA) has issued a statement calling for investigations into allegations that girls, some barely teenagers, at a primary school in Zimbabwe were stripped in front of their male counterparts while adults examined their private parts. 'If true, this would be one of the worst cases of abuse of the rights of the girl child which is why the Ministry of Social Services must immediately commission an investigation into the allegations.'

Zimbabwe police on Monday arrested 15 members of the MDC formation headed by Industry Minister Welshman Ncube, including three councilors, in Tsholotsho district accusing them of holding political meetings without clearance. They will be charged under the widely-condemned Public Order and Security Act, the party said. Police were not immediately available for comment.

The bitter split between two warring ZANU PF factions has widened following the hotly disputed District Coordinating Committee (DCC) elections in most of the country’s provinces. The elections, that have seen many candidates linked to Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa romp to victory, have however been marred by reports of violence, intimidation and vote-rigging. Signs of growing structural fissures in the ¬former ruling party have emerged with key members belonging to Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s camp openly disputing election results from the restructuring exercise.