22 4. Torture As suggested above, one of the major crimes perpetrated against Zimbabwean citizens was that of physical and mental torture, which came in the form of beatings, assaults, and threats. It is well known that governments use violence as a political tool to suppress political activists and those who have differing views than the government. Court testimony in 14 election petition cases thus far described graphically how torture was used as part of a deliberate strategy by Zanu (PF) supporters and State agents. In the absence of mechanisms for accountability for the perpetrators, the country is left with the ramifications of elections that were not free and fair, the psychological effects on survivors of torture and political violence, and the social effects on a population whose exercise of its democratic rights were repressed through violence and corrupt electoral processes. Definition of Torture The international community including the United Nations and other civil society organizations prohibit and condemn the use of organized violence and torture. It is crucial for torture to be defined so that international governments and donors understand what effects torture has on individual victims and nations as a whole. Organized violence is defined by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum as the following: The inter-human infliction of significant avoidable pain and suffering by an organized group according to a declared or implied strategy and/or system of ideas and attitudes. It comprises any violent action, which is unacceptable by general human standards, and relates to the victims’ mental and physical well-being. This definition is derived from earlier definitions, including the Southern African definition developed in 1990 in Hararexiv. Torture is comprised of the same elements of organized violence, but there is an additional crucial element: the acquiescence of the state in the perpetration of the violence. Organized Violence Severe mental pain and suffering Done intentionally Done with a purpose Torture Severe mental pain and suffering Done intentionally Done with a purpose By state agent, or with acquiescence of the state The United Nations, in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment adopted the definition of torture, described above, in 1984: “…The term “torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purpose as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by, or at the instigation of, or with the consent or acquiescence of, a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to lawful sanctions.” This definition was found to hold for a majority of the cases seen by the AMANI Trust and the Human Rights Forum, and was equally found to hold for the cases seen before the High Court. Social Effects and Implications of Torture and Violence “A climate of terror is the political effect that the authorities want to establish in the general population. As a consequence, the political action of the opposition is frozen.” xv AMANI Trust: Organised Violence and Torture in the June 2000 General Election in Zimbabwe