In Harare, we are beginning to see a slower and legislated version of Operation Murambatsvina, the notorious Operation Drive Out Trash, which drove street traders and shack dwellers out of the city.
The brutal attack on the leadership of the opposition, civic leaders and individual residents gathered for a prayer meeting organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign on Sunday 11 March 2007 by State security agents.
700.000 people have been evicted in full winter conditions, but the total figure could reach 1.5 million out of a population of around 12 million inhabitants, 300,000 children forced to abandon school. In the first days there were riots which led to the arrest of about 46.000 people and the murder of several, children included.
These images show the town of Harare, Zimbabwe and the effects of President Robert Mugabe’s “clean-up campaign” that involved the razing of shantytowns to root out crime. Imagery collected April 16 and June 4, 2005 at Kubatana: the NGO Network Alliance Project – an online community for Zimbabwean activists.
As the human rights situation in Zimbabwe steadily deteriorates, with more than 300,000 now evicted from their homes by the government and a UN Special Envoy appointed to investigate the destruction and evictions, a coalition of more than 200 African and international NGOs today issued an unprecedented Joint Appeal to the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) to help the people of Zimbabwe.