Mabvuku and had gone to see his friend in the neighbourhood to discuss homework; he was doing Advanced Level studies. Whilst at his friend’s house they were confronted by three soldiers and two policemen. They accused the plaintiff and his friend of having taken part in looting the shops. The plaintiff denied any knowledge of looting and told them that they were students. The plaintiff was beaten with a whip. He was told that he was being assaulted for obtaining a higher level of education than the soldiers and to appreciate what happens when the economy is bad. The plaintiff sustained weals on his back. He was treated at Parirenyatwa Hospital. As can be seen from these cases, in almost every case the claims of the plaintiffs were accepted by the courts, and, since these were the only independent investigations of the Food Riots, it is noteworthy that they all support the claims of the Human Rights Forum, and verify the conclusions of the Forum. Data from the completed legal cases Since the Forum’s report in 2000, the remaining cases have been completed, and hence the Forum can now provide a full overview of the legal process. The data from the legal files were compiled in an electronic database for ease of analysis, and, in addition, comprehensive notes were made from the files. Of the original 42 cases, 39 were finally filed with the courts. Of these 42 cases, three persons died before their cases were heard, and, in a further 6 cases, the Forum renounced agency owing to the clients either leaving the country or failing to turn up for appointments. Thus, 30 cases went the full route in law, although most did not actually go to court but were settled out of court. In the end, another three cases were dismissed for lack of evidence. As can be seen from Table 13, reference was made to torture in 8 of the cases. However, on more careful analysis of the case notes, and using the definition provided in the UN Convention Against Torture, it is evident that this was actually an underestimate. Using the UN definition, it would seem that 23 of these cases would actually conform to this definition. Thirteen cases were concerned with shootings, while in six cases the violations took place in a detention centre. Table 13: Types of violations reported Violation Assault Assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm Murder Property destruction or violation Unlawful arrest Unlawful detention Torture Number 8 12 1 1 1 1 8 % 20 49 3 3 3 3 20 As can be seen from Table 14, the uniformed branch of the ZRP and the Zimbabwe Republic Army accounted for a majority of all alleged perpetrators. The overall percentage exceeds 100, since there were multiple perpetrators in a number of cases. There is no information about any possible recriminations by the State against any of the alleged perpetrators, and, as was reported above, in one case the courts alleged that the ZRP were being obstructive in their investigations of the alleged perpetrators.21 21 See the case of Kudzai Ndlovu, above. 17