[JURIST] A coalition of human rights groups in Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive] said Wednesday that if human rights abuses continue to occur in Zimbabwe at the high pace they have in the first half of the year, 2007 will be the worst year on record since the country entered an economic decline seven years ago. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum [official website] said that there has been a general trend of increasing rights violations since 2005, but if the number of violations committed in the first half of 2007 [JURIST report] continue at the same levels, "2007 will be the worst year yet by a considerable margin."

Human Rights Forum reported earlier this month that there were over 5,300 recorded cases of human rights abuses during the first six months of the year, including 328 instances of torture, 481 assaults, 802 cases of illegal arrests or detention, and 935 cases of politically related abuses by government authorities or militants supporting Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile]. A police spokesperson rejected the group's latest report Wednesday, saying that the results were inaccurate and distorted. AP has more.