17 active steps to control the militia or disband the militia would be necessary to rebut the view that they are encouraging them. There has also recently been a massive outbreak of torture perpetrated against the MDC in the wake of the national stay away. This was widely reported in the media and documented in detail by the human rights groups in Zimbabwe. This outbreak of violence was probably the worst single occurrence of torture since the violence of the 1980s in Matabelelandxxxii. The situation remains critically serious to date. 10. Conclusions In summary, the following conclusions appear to be common cause: • • • • • • • • • • All reports show that the violence has been disproportionately one-sided, and against the MDC and other groups not supporting ZanuPF; All reports show that the violence attributed to ZanuPF is different to the violence attributed the other groups, both in the scale and in the nature; The violence attributed to ZanuPF shows evidence of systematic torture, abductions, disappearance, summary executions and extra-judicial killings, and this is very rarely the case with violence attributed to other groups such as the MDC; The systematic torture shows a strong associations with officials of the State – members of parliament, the police, the CIO, and other officials – as well as an association with groups closely affiliated to the ZanuPF political party – “war veterans”, youth militia, ZanuPF youth, ZanuPF supporters, ZanuPF party officials, etc ; The evidence shows that plausible allegations can made for the involvement of senior party and government leaders, and there are many statements from victims implicating such persons; The evidence suggests that a strong case can be made for a planned strategy using militia. Firstly, the “war veterans” were deployed to manage the farm invasions and the Parliamentary Elections, and, secondly, a youth militia cadre was developed and deployed initially for the Presidential Election, but have subsequently been deployed all around the country. The evidence available shows a very strong association between the youth militia and torture, and it is not contested that there are training camps for the youth militia or that government funds have been allocated to such training; There is no or very little evidence, of any attempt by the executive or organs of the State to proactively deal with the violence; The evidence suggests, to the contrary, that there an enormous number of examples of hate speech, and encouragement to violence and lawlessness by virtually all members of the executive, the parliament, the party, and the supporters of the ZanuPF party; There is strong evidence for severe interference by the State, state officials, and ZanuPF supporters, with the judiciary, magistrates and law officers, including the ignoring of High Court and Supreme Court judgements and orders ; There is finally the promulgation of two Presidential amnesties - in 2000 and again in 2002 – which must raise strong suspicion that the State wishes to avoid guilt for its actions since these amnesties provided impunity for all the crimes of torture. Finally, it must be pointed out that virtually all of these allegations occur not in respect of land reform, but in respect of elections. There are two highly disputed major elections and a number The Perpetrators of Gross Human Rights Violations in the current violence in Zimbabwe.