President Robert Mugabe's supporters have used violence to intimidate opponents in the run-up to next week's Zimbabwe election, undermining chances of a fair poll, Human Rights Watch said this afternoon.
Mugabe faces the strongest challenge to his 28-year rule in presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections on March 29th because of defections by senior ruling ZANU-PF party officials and a deepening economic crisis.
"As in previous elections, local government authorities, ZANU-PF supporters, and security forces including the police and central intelligence, are the main perpetrators of the violations ...," the US-based rights group said in a report released in Johannesburg.
Opposition groups have accused Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, of rigging previous elections, allegations he denies.
"Despite some improvements on paper to the election regulations, Zimbabweans aren't free to vote for the candidates of their choice," said Georgette Gagnon, Human Rights Watch's Africa director.
"While there are four candidates running for president and many political parties involved, the election process itself is skewed."
Mugabe hopes to fend off challenges from long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the biggest faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and former finance minister Simba Makoni, who was expelled from ZANU-PF.
Statements by two senior security officials that they would not accept an opposition victory have generated controversy in a largely peaceful campaign ahead of the election.
Zimbabweans are suffering from the world's highest inflation rate - officially put at over 100,000 per cent - and chronic shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency.
The government has used state-subsidised food and farming equipment as a tool to gain political advantage, Human Rights Watch said, adding that the report was researched over seven weeks on visits to Zimbabwe's 10 provinces.
Prices of some basic goods, including the staple maize meal, bread, cooking oil and soap, have risen by up to 300 per cent since the start of this month.