fractures were limping and in pain. There were severe soft tissue injuries in all of them. Chibebe has a shattered fracture. It is not a clean fracture, which shows that extreme force caused it. I have never seen anything like this before…. They were denied medical access for more than 24 hours. The beating was so callous and hard.55 On September 15 the authorities charged the activists in court under section 37 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23) for participating in a public gathering with the intent to cause public disorder, breach of peace or bigotry.56 Wellington Chibebe was unable to attend court because of his injuries, so charges were brought against him while he was in his hospital bed.57 Gender-based cruel and degrading treatment The 63 WOZA activists who were arrested and detained for three days in February 2006 (see Section V, above) were held in cells that were overcrowded and filthy. While in detention the women were subjected to humiliating treatment: they were ordered to strip naked, had their underwear taken away, and were denied sanitary pads. Police also allegedly threatened some of the women with rape. Similarly, the student activist Simbarashe Moyo, whose account of ill-treatment in detention in May is given above, said, “We had five female student leaders with us. They were really upset and crying. A couple of them needed sanitary pads but the police said no. Imagine that? These women were there for two days without pads.” Impunity The government has done little to address the issue of torture and mistreatment of detainees in police custody. Human rights lawyers report that incidents of excessive use of force and torture by the police and intelligence officers are rarely investigated. Recent 55 Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Reginald Machaba Hove, Harare, September 26, 2006. 56 Human Rights Watch interviews with Tafadzwa Mugabe, September 22; with Alec Muchadehama, October 4; and with Raymond Majongwe, October 2, 2006. 57 Ibid. 21 Human rights watch November 2006