reports, there was reference to cases of torture allegedly perpetrated by the Zimbabwe
Republic Police, as well as by the CIO and the army.43
In 2003, the Solidarity Peace Trust reported on a number of cases of torture by thee
police in connection with the peaceful protests taking place in Bulawayo against the
holding of a World Cup Cricket match.44 Again in 2003, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
reported on cases of torture involving both the police and the army, both separately and
together, in the aftermath of the stay-aways in March 2003.45
Involvement of army and other agencies
There are some court cases in which the court has found that army personnel have been
involved in the use of torture. The most notorious of these was the case involving the use of
torture against two journalists in 1999.46 The journalists were removed from police custody and
taken to another location where they were subjected to torture. Court orders for the release from
military custody were initially ignored in this case. Nearly a year after the incident a case was
brought in the Supreme Court to try to force the police to investigate the journalists’ allegations
of torture and to bring to justice those responsible.47 The Supreme Court found that the police
had conspicuously failed to carry out any meaningful investigations into the complaints of torture
and this had violated the complainants’ constitutional rights to protection of the law. The court
ordered the Commissioner of Police “forthwith” to conduct a comprehensive and diligent
investigation of the alleged offences. Up to the present, however, nothing appears to have been
done to comply with this court order.
In January 2003 an MDC MP Job Sikhala and his lawyer Gabriel Shumba were brutally tortured.
This received wide international condemnation as it was seen as a direct attack both on the
parliamentary opposition as well as on civil society, Shumba being a full-time human rights
43
44
45
46
47
See, for example, Amani (2002), Organised Violence and Torture in the June 2000 General Election in
Zimbabwe, HARARE: AMANI TRUST; Amani (2002), Beating your opposition. Torture during the 2002
Presidential campaign in Zimbabwe, HARARE: AMANI TRUST;
See Solidarity Peace Trust (2003), Peaceful protest and police torture in Bulawayo. South African &
Zimbabwe: Solidarity Peace Trust.
See Organised Violence and Torture in Zimbabwe from 20 to 24 March 2003 . Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition. 31 March 2003.
See Wilson v Minister of Defence and Others 1999 (1) ZLR 144 (H); Chavunduka and Another v
Commissioner of Police and Another 2000 (1) ZLR 418 (S); Chavunduka and Another v Minister of Home
Affairs and Another 2000 (1) ZLR 552 (S).
The judgment in the case is reported as Chavunduka & Anor v Commissioner of Police & Anor 2000 (1)
ZLR 418 (S).
Who guards the guards? Violations by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, 2000 to 2006
Select target paragraph3
Add to table of contents