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Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has slammed Harare in its 2006 annual report, charging that the Zimbabwean government has tried to eliminate the political opposition and silence dissent through the use of arbitrary detention, assault and torture by state security agents, ruling party militants and youth militia.

Amnesty International also condemned legislation proposed by Harare that would curtail activities of local human rights groups and civil society organizations.

"The government engaged in widespread and systematic violations of the rights to shelter, food, freedom of movement and residence, and the protection of the law," stated Amnesty in the report, citing the May-July 2005 forced resettlement and demolition drive called Operation Murambatsvina ("Drive Out Rubbish").

"The police continued to operate in a politically biased manner and police officers were implicated in numerous human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest and detention, assault, ill-treatment of detainees and excessive use of force. Freedom of expression, association and assembly continued to be severely curtailed. Hundreds of people were arrested for holding meetings or participating in peaceful protests."

Amnesty also took the African Union to task on the subject of Zimbabwe, saying that the AU "showed no stomach to tackle the appalling human rights situation" there.

But William Nhara, a public affairs official in the office of President Robert Mugabe, told reporter Chinedu Offor of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the Amnesty report was "false" and that Harare challenges its "mischievous" allegations.

National Constitutional Assembly Chairman Lovemore Madhuku said in an interview that Amnesty's report is a true reflection of government's human rights record.

In response to more recent allegations of human rights violations, members of the European Union diplomatic corps in Harare were to meet on Wednesday, May 24, with the leaders of nongovernmental organizations to discuss the recent arrests of those marking the first anniversary of Operation Murambatsvina, and the round-up since April of thousands of homeless people, street vendors and other urban groups.

Spokesman Fambai Ngirande of the National Association of Nongovernmental Organisations said Nango member groups on Tuesday set the agenda for the meeting with the EU representatives. He said the NGO community is concerned about what it terms the "impunity" of the government, which critics say has ignored findings by the United Nations and the African Commission on Human and People's Rights and routinely violates the country's own laws on human rights and civil liberties.

Another agenda item concerns the state's ongoing internal displacements of people, most recently in the detention of thousands of homeless people, street vendors and orphans by police and security forces in roundups conducted since mid-April.

Land reform, land tenure and general property rights are also on the agenda.

Finally, said Ngirande, the NGOs want to discuss the precarious situation of civic groups in light of the recent police crackdown on those attempting to mark the one-year anniversary of Operation Murambatsvina. Ngirande said the groups will ask the European Union diplomats to help them find ways to resolve such issues.

In a related development, a spokesperson for the Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe said the group's Kuwadzana, Harare, offices came under police surveillance on Tuesday. Crisis Coalition spokeswoman Elizabeth Marunda said the police were believed to be seeking group chairman Wellington Chibhebhe and other officials for questioning.

Marunda said some of the organization's staff stayed away from the office due to the heavy police presence at the building. The police visited the Crisis Coalition offices last week on the eve of the Murambatsvina anniversary and demanded that the organization produce its NGO registration documents.

Coalition advocacy officer Itai Zimunya said police this week questioned the Coalition's right to office space under an arrangement with Transparency International Zimbabwe and denied permission to hold a public meeting to mark the Murambatsvina anniversary, calling the Crisis Coalition a "bogus" organization.

More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...