Zimbabwe, a small land-locked nation in southern Africa, will be the focal point of many human rights organizations around the world on Thursday. The country will hold its first parliamentary election since President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party retained a much-disputed majority leadership in 2000.

For a country that had long struggled to attain a seemingly just, democratic system, Mugabe's government has been widely accused of descending into oppression and tyranny.

Yet as the March 31 election fast approaches, all is surprisingly quiet in this country wrought with political oppression, famine, insufficient healthcare, and a society in general unrest. The spectre of violence, however, looms. It is usually after an election that suspected opposition voters are targeted as "traitors."

Some human rights groups and backers of Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the official opposition – The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) – believe that the silence shown by opposition supporters is primarily due to fear of the current regime.

Background

Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, was annexed by the United Kingdom from the South Africa Company in 1923. The local government drafted a constitution in 1961 and attempted a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) four years later. The UK refused to recognize that declaration, as the constitution heavily favoured the country's white minority. The UK demanded that there be more complete representation for the country's largely African population.

The United Nations agreed and placed a number of sanctions on the small nation.

A violent guerrilla uprising forced the white government to submit to free elections in 1979 and the country gained independence as Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980.

In the almost 25 years since achieving independence the country has been ruled exclusively by Mugabe and political analysts say these elections are almost certain to return him to power, again amid much controversy.

Once hailed as a role model by the international community for putting Zimbabwe on a stable course, Mugabe, 81, has come under intense world-wide scrutiny over the last five years amid charges that he rigged the last major parliamentary vote in 2000, and his own re-election as president in 2002.

Accusations of Corruption

Human rights groups and international observers have said that Mugabe's supporters used brutality and threats of arrest and abduction as strong-arm tactics against the opposition during the 2000 election. His party's involvement in the executions of nearly 30 MDC supporters during the campaign has been widely speculated.

His controversial land reform program, in which he supported the forcible takeover of many of Zimbabwe's nearly 4,000 white-owned farms, has further damaged the fragile economy.

An estimated 44 per cent of the land is sitting idle today, resulting in a widespread shortage of basic commodities, and increased sanctions from the West. As well, his economic policies are seen by many as being suited to short-term political expediency instead of long-term economic growth, all in an effort to bolster his grasp on political control.

After the MDC's strong showing in 2000, Mugabe's government began redistributing the seized farms to black Zimbabweans in a transparent bid to win back support. His tactics in this election appear to be no less underhanded as Amnesty International researchers uncovered evidence of continued intimidation and arrest of opposition supporters during a tour of Zimbabwe this past February.

The Amnesty group reported that in addition to bullying voters, the Mugabe government is manipulating the distribution of food to the starving public as only membership-card carrying ZANU-PF supporters are eligible to receive sanctioned rations.

The ZANU-PF government also took steps in 2001 to restrict the public's freedoms of assembly, press, and expression.

The Zimbabwe government has eradicated four newspapers and a radio station as well as outlawing private broadcasting, according to a recent story in The Globe and Mail, leaving only the state-owned and supporting media.

Only recently have the remaining media outlets begun airing commercials supporting the opposition party, but they remain largely biased toward the ZANU-PF party.

Among other accusations, the opposition claims the list of voters, which the government contends is 5.6 million names in number, includes false identities, and names of the deceased.

Amidst all these accusations Mugabe contends that the vote will be fair and peaceful. The relative calm leading up to Thursday's vote would support that, yet some human rights groups believe this so-called serenity is systematic of a fearful population.

Human Rights Watch, a group that investigates and exposes human rights violations worldwide, said in a report issued Monday that years of violence, intimidation, and repression have already biased Thursday's parliamentary vote in favour of the Mugabe regime.

Tsvangirai believes this election has been relatively peaceful as the desire of the current government, given the country's economic situation, is to gain some semblance of legitimacy with the rest of the world.

The MDC is competing in this Thursday's election under protest, as they feel the fears of the population, as well as the possibility of government rigging, has swayed the vote in favour of Mugabe's party.