FIGURE 1 AVERAGE NUMBER OF TRAUMA EVENTS REPORTED BETWEEN 2000 & 2007: Comparison between Mashonaland & Matabeleland. Source: WOZA.2008 6.00 5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 0.00 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Matabeleland Mashonaland The actual violations reported in by WOZA (as opposed to trauma events) are equally remarkable. As can be seen from Table 15 [over], there are marked regional variations in the frequencies of the violations reported, but overall the frequencies are very high indeed. Torture, both physical and psychological, are very high in both Bulawayo [26% & 25% respectively] and Harare [47% & 59% respectively], with most torture being reported as having occurred at the hands of the ZRP and in police stations. TABLE 15 Violations according to location58 Source: WOZA.200859 BULAWAYO HARARE INSIZA Violations n=657 n=703 n=564 Assault 283[43%] 433[62%] 77[14%] Death threats 194[30%] 392[56%] 325[58%] Forced to attend political meetings 240[37%] 615[87%] 442[78%] Humiliating or degrading treatment 404[61%] 474[67%] 336[60%] Insults by police officers 441[67%] 568[81%] 199[35%] Political threats 371[56%] 631[90%] 493[87%] Psychological torture 167[25%] 415[59%] 110[20%] Physical torture 174[26%] 327[47%] 109[19%] Unlawful detention [longer than 48 hrs] 260[40%] 400[57%] 43[8%] Forced removal of underwear in custody 46[7%] 214[30%] 7[1%] As regards the perpetrators, the WOZA reports, mainly because of their direct, public actions, indicate the ZRP in its various branches as the major perpetrators [52%]. The majority of the violations either took place in custody or was assaults during demonstrations and civic actions. Of the various branches of the ZRP, the Uniformed Branch was most frequently mentioned 58 59 The percentages have been added and not provided in the original WOZA report. See WOZA (2008), The effects of fighting repression with love. A report by Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA). March 2008. ZIMBABWE: WOMEN OF ZIMBABWE ARISE. Page 19