Speaking in Sunrise, Fla., Clinton said: "You heard Diana talk about coming from a country where votes don't count. People go through the motions of an election only to have it discarded and disregarded. We're seeing that right now in Zimbabwe -- tragically an election was held, the president lost, they refused to abide by the will of the people. So we can never take for granted our precious right to vote."http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/05/clinton-mention.html"Human rights defenders, especially lawyers, are often subjected to intimidation, death threats, arrest and beatings by the police and intelligence officers. For example on May 4, 2007, human rights lawyers Alec Muchadehama and Andrew Makoni were arrested and held for three days after submitting papers to the High Court on behalf of an opposition activist."
"On several occasions police have used tear gas to disperse demonstrations, beaten protestors with batons and rifle butts and even fired on peaceful protestors. In 2007 MDC member Gift Tandare was killed when police opened fire on unarmed demonstrators during clashes with the police in the immediate aftermath of the March 11 prayer meeting. The following day, police opened fire on mourners at Tandare’s funeral and two MDC supporters were seriously injured. On April 7, 2007, armed police reportedly stormed the home of opposition member Philip Katsande and shot him three times in the arms and chest."
"On February 21, 2007, in response to opposition attempts to hold rallies launching their election campaigns, the government imposed a three-month ban on political rallies and demonstrations in Harare. Police argued that the rallies would lead to a breakdown in law and order and political violence. Then, on March 11, 2007, police violently prevented a prayer meeting in Highfields township organized by the MDC and the Save Zimbabwe Campaign—a broad coalition of church and civil society organizations. More than 50 opposition members and civil society activists were arrested on their way to the meeting, including the leaders of the two MDC factions, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara. Many were beaten in police custody, sustaining severe injuries including fractured skulls, broken bones and severe bruising that required hospitalization. The government has done little to address torture in Zimbabwe’s prisons and police cells, and such incidents are rarely investigated."
http://hrw.org/englishwr2k8/docs/2008/01/31/zimbab17799.htm