16 previous experience. 59% had had another adult family member witness their torture, with 55% having had a child witness the same. In this population, over 80% had clinically significant psychological disorders, which is far and away the highest prevalence rate obtained din any Zimbabwean study. Thus, there may be important differences between victims from the commercial farms and other populations in the current epidemic of organised violence and torture, and there remains a pressing need for detailed study of the problem, with the development of accompanying helping services. 6. Overview As will hopefully be seen from this admittedly sketchy summary, organised violence and torture have been a common feature of the Zimbabwe political landscape of the past three decades. This review does not include the Gukurahundi period, as there are yet to emerge any good clinical studies of this period, although there are a plethora of human rights reports and reports of various types of interventions with the survivors of the Gukurahundi. However, taken together, the overview is one that must cause considerable concern. Some general points can be made here. Firstly, there is continuous evidence of the use of systematic torture over the decades, as well as obvious evidence of organised violence, for what better term can be used to describe civil war than “organised violence”. However, the use of torture is very serious matter, and is now proscribed by a large number of international conventions and covenants. There are no times or situations during which the use of torture can be justified, but this does not seem to be a lesson that has been learned in Zimbabwe. When it is additionally realised that Zimbabwe usually deals with this understanding through the use of impunity, the magnitude of this problem becomes clear. Secondly, the numbers of people affected over the years is growing, and may now reach hundreds of thousands. It seems that the term “epidemic” is warranted, and we have previously commented that the epidemic due to organised violence and torture may rival the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This is a crucial point to understand. The most severe and persistent consequences of torture are psychological, and, as we have demonstrated in our work with the oldest living survivors of our many epidemics – those from the Liberation War – psychological disorders may persist for decades. This is not merely to emphasise the need for treatment, for it is also clear that treatment may allow many survivors to cope better, but there is no strong evidence that we can cure the after-effects of torture. The point here is to stress prevention rather than cure, or prevention in addition to cure. This is our third point. Prevention means changing the ways in which we resolve our political disagreements, for it is abundantly clear that all of these victims are produced by an inability to resolve political dispute or to maintain political through the use of force. As will be seen in the evidence to follow, the current epidemic is wholly related to political problems, to the desire to maintain political power through the use of force. In reality, in Zimbabwe, the more things change, the more they stay the same; at least this seems true for the victims of torture. It cannot be said that we do not know these things any more, and the data accumulated by the AMANI Trust over the past decade provides strong testimony that we have not heard the voices of the victims clearly enough. It is sad, therefore, that we must produce again a new report in order that the victims’ voices be heard. 7. Torture related to the 2002 Presidential Election Amani Trust is a non-partisan organisation that is prepared to assist any victims of organised violence whatever their political affiliation. Although relatively few ruling party supporters have AMANI TRUST: Beating your opposition. Torture during the 2002 Presidential campaign in Zimbabwe.