Update: Zimbabwean Presidential Candidate Morgan Tsvangirai exited the race on Sunday [1], less than one week before a scheduled runoff election between him and current president Robert Mugabe. The election has been marred by violence between forces loyal to Mugabe and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Party. Following his withdrawl from the race, Tsvangirai took refuge in the country's Dutch Embassy after being tipped that soldiers were on their way to his residence [2].

Last week widespread violence was still being reported, including a mass kidnapping of thousands of political violence victims [3]. Bodies of a number of MDC supporters have been found throughout the week, many having been burnt alive in their homes [4]. MDC claims that 86 supporters have been killed and another 200,000 forced from their homes [5] as a result of election-related violence.

The UN had condemned the violence [6] following this hotly contested election, with many human rights groups issuing concern both for the security of civilians in Zimbabwe and for the the possiblity of fair elections to occur in such an environment. Former British Envoy Paddy Ashdown warned that Zimbabwe could descend into genocidal violence [7] in a manner similar to the 1994 Rwanda genocide. South Africa's governing ANC party has condemned Mugabe's government [8] for "running roughshod" over democracy, hinting that even with a win, Mugabe may have damaged political relations with other countries in the region [9].

The Genocide Intervention Network (GI-NET) will continue to monitor reports of human rights atrocities emerging from Zimbabwe--to receive our updates on this and other conflicts around the world, subscribe to the Genocide Monitor [10].