'The post-election government of Zimbabwe has an opportunity to take clear and definite steps to end the cycle of impunity. In the past impunity has led to further human rights violations - the people of Zimbabwe should not have to face this again,' the organisation said.

Zimbabwe has a long history of impunity for human rights violations: from the amnesty at independence; through to the unpunished and uninvestigated atrocities in Matabeleland in the 1980s; through to the arbitrary killings, torture and ill-treatment that occurred before the latest elections.

Amnesty International, therefore, urges the new Zimbabwean government to set a positive standard in human rights by taking the following steps without delay:

An independent and impartial international commission of inquiry should be constituted and invited to Zimbabwe to investigate reports of pre-electoral human rights violations.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions and the Special Rapporteur on Torture should be invited to visit the country and conduct investigations into human rights violations.

'The scores of victims of abitrary killings, torture and ill-treatment in the run-up to the election deserve justice,' Amnesty International said.

'The vicious circle of impunity that has been common in Zimbabwe before and after independence will only be broken if the new government (regardless of its composition) acts promptly.'