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supporters, round them up, and take them back to be beaten or threatened further. Witnesses
testified to the existence of these bases, and others described their victimization in their
testimony.
Kundishora Nyamupingida, aged 69, recounted an incident in Makoni West on 9 May in which he
was assaulted. At about midnight, his homestead was surrounded by a group of Zanu (PF)
supporters. They broke the windows of his house, and smashed in the door of his hut in which he
and a visiting friend were sleeping. They demanded his MDC t-shirt and card, and as he went to
and from the main house to retrieve the items, they beat him with bicycle chains, sticks and fan
belts. His friend tried to run away into the bush but was caught and beaten.
Nyamupingida was forced to go with the assailants to two other homesteads of MDC supporters
that were each assaulted in turn. Next, four Zanu (PF) supporters surrounded him and told him to
“run as if he were running to an MDC meeting”. Whichever direction he ran in, each assailant
would stop him and beat him in turn. He was then told to board a lorry and was beaten on his side
as while struggling in pain to get onto the lorry. After managing to get onto the lorry, he and the
other MDC members were taken to a school and instructed to lie on their stomachs. They asked
him why he joined MDC and they beat him on his bottom. At this time it was 5 a.m. and he was
put in line with the others and told to march. Nyamupinginda told his attackers that he was too
much in pain due to his legs and couldn’t march. He and the others were then told to frog jump.
They were instructed to touch the ground with one finger while putting the other finger in their ear.
He tried to jump but kept falling down due to the pain, so he then asked them if he could go
home. They allowed him to leave but would not let anyone assist him home. He did not go to the
police when he reached his homestead because he was in too much pain, and did not receive
medical treatment because he could not afford it. He gave a statement a week later to the police
when they came to his home.
Precious Manezhu testified in the Murehwa North case that she was abducted and assaulted by
Zanu (PF) supporters who then detained her at Zexcom, a business that was being used by war
veterans and Zanu (PF) supporters as a base in the constituency. She was forced twice to stay
at Zexcom against her will.
Manezhu testified that after she was assaulted, the Zanu (PF) supporters drove her to Zexcom,
which the Zanu (PF) supporters were using as a base. They referred to her as a rebel because
they said as a member of the MDC she wanted to surrender the country back to the whites.
After she arrived at Zexcom, for 1-2 hours the Zanu (PF) supporters danced around her, and
would then charge forward and step on her forcefully. She was given a Zanu (PF) t-shirt to wear,
put in an innermost room in the building, and forced to spend the night. The following morning,
she and other women were released.
However, Zanu (PF) youths came to her house around 6 p.m. and told her that they came to
collect her again. She agreed to return to Zexcom because she was afraid that they would beat
her. However, she was beaten again because they accused her of supporting the MDC.
During her captivity, Manezhu’s relatives were prevented from seeing her, she was given bad
food, was forced to cook food for the Zanu (PF) supporters, and at times forced to march.
She was released from detention on 26 April. After she was released, she and other MDC
members were ordered to put their names in a register by Zanu (PF) supporters.
Manezhu testified that she was held hostage at Zexcom a second time. On the night of 12 June,
Manezhu was asleep at home when she heard a knock on her door. She peeped through a
window and saw four Zanu (PF) supporters outside. She recognized one of them because she
had seen him every day when she was in captivity. They proceeded to the house next door and
called out her name again. She was afraid to answer her door so she snuck out of her house
through another entrance and went to her neighbor’s house. She could see from her neighbor’s
AMANI Trust: Organised Violence and Torture in the June 2000 General Election in Zimbabwe
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