Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum: Report on Organised Violence and Torture in 1999
1. Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
The idea of an NGO Forum was initially developed in 1997 by the AMANI Trust. The organizations
which today form the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum came together to deal with problems of the
January 1998 Food Riots. It was agreed then that the priorities of the Forum were to provide legal
assistance to those victims in detention by applying for bail pending trial, to assist victims of police/army
brutality seeking damages for injuries, to compile an accurate report of human rights abuses and to
provide rehabilitation to victims in need of it. A report was compiled which made several
recommendations1 and a further report was submitted to the Human Rights Committee of the United
Nations2. Forty-two victims were assisted to file civil suits against the state for injuries. To date some of
these cases have been settled out of court, some have proceeded to trial and some are still pending.
The Human Rights Legal Unit of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum came into full operation
during 1999 mainly to continue support to the cases from the Food Riots in 1998. The Unit has taken on
additional cases of gross human rights violations during 1999 because there was a clear need to do so.
2. Zimbabwe in 1999
The crisis which began in late 1997 showed little sign of abating during 1999, and all political
commentators remain agreed that the severe crisis continuing in Zimbabwe shows little sign of immediate
resolution. The President continued to act without consulting Parliament or with respect to the
Constitution. The extremely costly war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continued during 1999,
and by the end of the year there were few signs that this war would be easily ended or that any of the
negotiations would produce a political solution. This war is estimated to be costing Zimbabwe in excess of
US$3 million per day, and press reports suggest that the government has spent a Z$6 billion in unbudgeted
military expenditure related to the war.
There were serious attacks by the President and the Government on the press, the Judiciary and civil
society, with the most serious of these involving the kidnapping and torture of two journalists. This led
immediately to a crisis in the rule of law, and, although there has been an uneasy truce between all the
parties, the crisis is yet to be resolved in any meaningful way.
2.1 Economic decline
It is nearly two years ago since a collapse of confidence led to a stampede on the forex market which saw
a catastrophic plunge in the value of the dollar. This event in 1997 was set off by two things. Firstly,
President Mugabe made an undertaking to war veterans that they would be paid over $4 billion in the form
of gratuities and pensions. This was money the country clearly did not have and this pledge of the
President completely sabotaged the undertakings that the Minister of Finance had made to donors.
Secondly, the government announced the seizure of 1 500 productive farms without any consultation with
stakeholders or regard to the damage such an arbitrary move would cause to the country’s image and to
agricultural output. There then followed “Black Friday” on November 14, 1997 which saw a record fall in
1
See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (1998), Human Rights in Troubled Times: An Initial Report on Human Rights Abuses
During and After Food Riots in January 1998.
2
See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (1998), Comments from some Zimbabwean Non-Governmental Human Rights
Organisations on the Report of Zimbabwean Government under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to be
presented to the Human Right Committee in March 1998; See also UN HIGH COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (1998), UN
Human Rights Committee: Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 40 of the Covenant. Co ncluding
Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Zimbabwe.
-3-