that, outside of the global north, both individuals and communities appear to favour spiritual,
religious and ritual interventions for healing.
Organised violence and torture in Zimbabwe: a brief overview
Organised violence and torture has been documented in all the last three decades of Zimbabwe‘s
history, as was indicated earlier.vii One study showed that 1 adult in 10 over the age of 30 years
reported torture and was suffering from a clinically significant psychological disorder as a
consequence,viii and high rates of torture and consequent psychological disorder were found in a
study of former guerrilla soldiers from the Liberation War of the 1970s. ix
Even higher rates of torture and its sequelae were found in studies of the Gukurahundi period of the
1980s in Matabeleland.x Here it was found that more than 80% of the sample reported torture, and
the prevalence rate for consequent psychological disorder was 50% of all adults over 18 years.
Subsequently, there was a long period – from 1987 to 1998 – where there were little or no gross
human rights violations reported. However, organized violence, torture, and intimidation were seen
during the periods leading up to important political events such as elections. There is a strong
correlation between reports on the patterns of violence in Zimbabwe and the lead up to elections. In
June 2000, parliamentary elections were held and the period leading to the elections was marred by
physical violence, political intimidation by the government sponsored war veterans against anyone
who was perceived to be the opposition; despite these drawbacks the MDC won nearly half the seats
in parliament.xi Since the 2002 Presidential election, there has been no appreciable improvement in
the human rights climate, and therefore no possibilities for either research or healing in regard to
psychological trauma generated by Zimbabwe‘s recurrent bouts of severe and widespread violence
and torture. During the period from July 2001 to April 2008, the Human Rights Forum reported 4,662
allegations of torture. The Human Rights Forum, during this period, recorded 35,574 violations. There
has been a steady increase in violations during 2006 and 2007, with it being apparent that 2008 may
well be the worst year for human rights violations, and possibly torture too, since 2000 [see Table 1
below].
Table 1
Consolidated statistics [numbers of violations reported] per year: July 2001 to June 2009
[Source: Monthly Political Violence Reports of the Human Rights Forum ]
Abduction
Arrest
Assault
Attempted murder
Death threats
Disappearance
Displacement
Freedom of expression, etc
Murder
Political intimidation
Property violation
Rape
Torture
School closure
Total:
2001
116
670
0
0
0
0
0
12
34
194
356
0
903
0
2285
2002
223
274
86
2
12
28
11
39
61
388
807
7
1172
45
3155
2003
52
627
388
10
80
4
208
809
10
450
153
6
497
1
3295
2004
62
389
401
8
35
0
189
760
3
514
132
3
160
0
2656
2005
18
1286
530
1
9
0
609
1036
4
476
61
4
136
0
4170
2006
11
2611
486
3
7
0
55
1866
2
288
55
1
366
0
5751
2007
19
2766
865
0
7
0
6
3500
3
980
16
0
603
0
8765
2008
137
922
1914
8
51
19
629
2532
107
2787
396
6
723
26
10257
2009
16
480
60
5
2
0
2
203
1
282
35
0
6
2
1094
Total:
654
10025
4730
37
203
51
1709
10757
225
6359
2011
27
4566
74
41428
These figures are an under-estimate by an unknown order of magnitude, and an accurate assessment
of the likely need can only come from a community-based study (which is not possible under current
political and legal conditions), but some inferences can be drawn, and what seems evident is that