Food Riots in January 1998 — which was forwarded to the President and Parliament in support of the request for an the setting up independent commission of inquiry to investigate these events. 40 There was no response from either the President or parliamentarians, and thus the Human Rights Forum took the step of lobbying the UN Human Rights Committee at its meeting to consider the implementation by Zimbabwe of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. When the Committee produced its final report in September 1998, it made a strong statement endorsing the call by the Forum for an independent commission of inquiry. The UN Committee made two specific recommendations in respect of the Food Riots: 16. The Committee expresses its concern over recent reports of excessive use of force by the police and the army during food riots in 1998. The Committee urges that all cases of alleged excessive use of force committed by members of the police or the army be investigated by an independent and impartial body, that action be taken against those officers found to have committed abuses and that compensation be paid to the victims; the State party should report to the Committee thereon. Intensive training and education programmes in the field of human rights for members of the army and law enforcement officials are recommended. The Committee urges that the list of situations in which the use of lethal force is allowed under domestic law be reduced. 30. The Committee requests the State party to ensure the wide dissemination in Zimbabwe of the Covenant, the State party report and the Committee's concluding observations. When there was no response from the Zimbabwe Government, the Forum issued a second and more comprehensive report, calling on the Government to adhere to the recommendations on the UN Human Rights Committee. Again there was no substantive response from the Government, and the Forum was forced to undertake civil litigation on behalf of the victims. The courts upheld the claims of the plaintiffs in most cases, but, as far as the Forum has been able to establish, no disciplinary action has been taken against any of the perpetrators and no offender has been prosecuted. Thus, the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee were wholly ignored. The Zimbabwe Government has also wholly ignored the recommendations of the United Nations in respect of Chief Inspector Henry Dowa. Chief Inspector Dowa was alleged to have been involved in torture in the course of his duties in the Law and Order Section of the Zimbabwe Republic Police . He was seconded to UNMIK in 2003, and, when this was discovered, the Redress Trust made application to UNMIK for this arrest and prosecution . UNMIK declined to do this, and repatriated Dowa to Zimbabwe, with a request that the Zimbabwe Government undertake an investigation into Dowa and prosecute him if the allegations were substantiated. This has not happened, and there have been subsequent reports of Dowa‘s involvement in further torture. Once again the Zimbabwe Government has shown contempt for the United Nations and has failed to honour its obligations under the international instruments to which it voluntarily became a party. 41 42