Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Special Report Enforcing the Rule of Law in Zimbabwe fines. It is clear why the public see it as a waste of time reporting ‘political’ violations to the police when four of every five reports yield no redress at all. A similar picture comes from the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA 2001). ZWLA investigated 24 cases of women who had been affected by the political violence prior to the June 2000 election. They included cases of arson (4), assault (10), rape (4), torture (3) and husbands murdered (4), one after receiving death threats. Only 14 women had tried to report to the police, and in five cases their reports were rejected – suggesting that women may experience additional difficulties in having their complaints taken seriously. Only 3 of the 24 cases (one murder and two rapes) were prosecuted, although in mid-2001 another four, including one multiple rape, were still being investigated. In a recent letter to the Daily News, the writer noted ‘some are more equal than others, because any opposition member who seems to be breaking the law is fast-tracked [by the police] through the courts, while the rules are being changed where a ruling party member is involved.’ Many examples could be given. The police have failed to prosecute numerous known offenders, including murderers. His known Zanu-PF kidnappers walk the streets of Bulawayo quite freely over a year after the MDC’s Patrick Nabanyama disappeared. The Attorney-General’s Office reportedly blamed the police for the delays in prosecuting Nabanyama’s nine known abductors. Joseph Mwale, head of the CIO in Chimanimani, and Kainos Tom ‘Kitsiyatota’ Zimunya murdered in front of witnesses MDC organisers Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika. When they were summonsed to give evidence in court by Justice Devittie, they disappeared. The judge then suggested that Attorney-General Andrew Chigovera prosecute them for murder. The police were finally ordered to ‘investigate’ in the first week of July 2001, 15 months after the two murders. No arrests have yet been announced. The police admitted1 that ‘some people took the law into their own hands and forcibly’ kidnapped David Stevens and another white farmer, Alan Dunn, in broad daylight from Macheke police station. Stevens was executed in the presence of Dunn, who recorded a statement. The police know the ‘war veterans’ who abducted both farmers. Martin Olds was gunned down at his Nyamandlovu farmhouse by a large group of armed men, many from Harare. They were allowed through a police road block which stopped other farmers from going to Olds’ help. Some of Olds’ attackers sustained injuries during their assault on Olds. The police visited these injured persons in hospital and know their identities. A number of the reported ZRP dockets on the deaths resulting from the political violence also appeared to be at gross odds with the reported facts. Judges and magistrates, including Bindura’s Munamato Mutevedzi, have criticised police inefficiency, incompetence, and tendency to arrest people before adequate investigation of the charges.2 On the land issue, ZRP Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has argued consistently that a ‘political’ solution is required for the issue of trespass. He has himself refused, and refused to allow his force, to perform a police duty imposed by the law of our land. The police repeatedly refused to assist deputy sheriffs to evict anyone, despite High Court orders from numerous magistrates and judges. Moreover, some of his officers have been named3 as perpetrators of 1 Politically-Motivated Violence, p. 53. The Daily News 28.8.01. 3 By their victims, who have given statements to the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. See Who was responsible? Alleged perpetrators and their crimes during the 2000 Parliamentary Election period. 2 32