In the year 2001 Zimbabwe fell to unprecedented levels of political and economic instability. State-sponsored violence flourished, and President Robert Mugabe's government stepped up attacks on the independent media and cracked down on the institutions of democracy, including the judiciary.
If Zimbabweans had hoped that the year 2001 would slow the rapid descent of their country into political and economic chaos, those hopes were soon dashed. In January, by-elections were disrupted by violence, farm invasions escalated, and President Robert Mugabe's efforts to oust members of the judiciary widely viewed as independent were intensified.
During the course of the year, Mr. Mugabe forced four senior judges to retire or resign. Foremost among them was Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay. Despite criticism from international law associations, Justice Gubbay was quickly replaced by Godfrey Chidyausiki, said by Zimbabwean observers to be a government supporter. Within months Justice Chidyausiki overturned an earlier high court ruling that the government's land resettlement program was unconstitutional.
By the year's end the government had identified about 95 percent of the commercial farmland for its controversial resettlement program. The government says the resettlement program is designed to benefit landless Zimbabweans. But the government program has not halted widespread and often violent farm occupations orchestrated by war veterans and supporters of Mr. Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party.
In an annual review of political developments in Zimbabwe, Amnesty International said Mr. Mugabe's land policies are not about land reform, but rather about "rampant torture by the state and its proxies designed to bludgeon dissent." The organization said Mr. Mugabe's government is determined to remain in power by any means, including harassment, arbitrary arrests, assaults, and killings of anyone who stands in its way.
This view is shared by analysts such as Moeletsi Mbeki, board member of the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg, who says those who oppose or are perceived to oppose Mr. Mugabe are frequently the subject of attack. "There is a campaign really of violence against the opposition party and especially against the electorate that is likely to vote for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change," he said.
Dozens of opposition Movement for Democratic Change supporters have disappeared or been killed, and dozens more, including party leader Morgan Tsvangerai, have been arrested. While some remain behind bars, the courts have dismissed all the charges against Mr. Tsvangerai and several others.
Analysts say the attacks on the opposition are part of a campaign being waged by the ruling ZANU-PF and Mr. Mugabe with the sole aim of maintaining political power.
Tendai Dumbuthsena, a Zimbabwe columnist and former journalist, says the current goal is to return Mr. Mugabe to power in the presidential election scheduled for March. "Everything that he is doing," he said, "from manipulating the election register, denying perceived supporters of the opposition the vote, making it very difficult for young people in urban areas to register to vote because they are unlikely to vote for him, to amendments to the electoral act preventing the presence of observers not sanctioned by the government, etc., etc., to the violence, to the intimidation. All this is designed to guarantee that there can only be one winner when the election is held."
The Zimbabwe government vehemently denies its policies are aimed at anything other than overcoming the inequalities caused by colonial and minority rule and ensuring that ordinary Zimbabweans have access to arable land. Mr. Mugabe and senior government officials reject the charge their supporters engage in violence and accuse their critics of being racist.
The international community, including the European Union and the Commonwealth, has condemned events in Zimbabwe. In December, the United States passed the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act. It will allow the United States to impose so-called "smart" economic and travel sanctions against individuals responsible for the deliberate breakdown of the rule of law and politically motivated violence. Zimbabwe Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said the law was aimed at increasing the suffering of Zimbabweans.
But analysts such as Mr. Mbeki and Mr. Dumbutshena disagree. They support the so-called smart sanctions, but they also say it is the countries of the Southern Africa Development Community, particularly South Africa, that have the real leverage to influence the Zimbabwe government.