Thirdly, the numbers of those who suffered gross human rights violations were not trivial, and the consequences were equally not trivial, as shown by the effects on the very small number who approached the Human Rights Forum for assistance. It is evident that the numbers of those tortured and assaulted exceeded those shot by an order of magnitude. The data do not allow any estimate of how many persons were tortured or assaulted, but it seems safe to assume that the majority of those arrested and detained were so treated, and here it does seem that this group – those arrested – was only a small proportion of those ill-treated in the community. An ancillary piece of research may be helpful here. A recent study by ActionAid International on the consequences of Operation Murambatsvina demonstrated that there had been a significant increase in gross human rights violations since 1998.24 While this study was focused primarily on the consequences of produced by Operation Murambatsvina, it also examined the contribution of trauma over past decades. The data indicated an increase in trauma during periods when organised violence and torture were highly prevalent. For example, there was significant increase in trauma reported from the sample from Bulawayo during the 1980s, and, furthermore, a dramatic increase in reported trauma from 1998 onwards (Table 20). Table 20: Trauma over the years: Percentage of persons reporting trauma experience per year Before 1980 1980–1987 1990–1997 1998–2000 2001–2004 2005 Harare 27.4 30.0 57.4 80.5 88.9 97.4 Bulawayo 45.1 58.3 62.4 65.3 81.6 93.3 Mutare 46.4 47.3 70.3 89.5 97.9 100.0 As the ActionAid study demonstrated (Table 21), there is a massive increase in imprisonment, severe beatings and torture from 1998. While this research clearly demonstrates the decline in human rights observance since 1998, it does not enable any estimation for each of the years between 1998 and 2000. However, there was no epidemic of violence during 1999,25 and hence the changed climate is clearly due to both 1998 – the Food Riots – and 2000. Thus, the ActionAid research can be interpreted as partial support for the assertions of the Human Rights Forum that violations took place on a large scale in 1998. Table 21: Frequency of imprisonment, severe beatings and torture, 1980 to 2005 Before 1980 199 1980–1987 232 1990–1997 149 1998–2000 676 2001–2004 878 2005 685 Fourthly, there has been no attempt by the State to hold any investigation into the events around the Food Riots. There has been neither any commission of inquiry, nor has the State widely disseminated the report of the UN Human Rights Committee, as was requested by that Committee.26 To the knowledge of the Human Rights Forum, the government published only one very small article in the Zimbabwe Herald newspaper, and this did not deal with the Food Riots but with issues of racial 24 See ActionAid, An In-depth Study on the Impact of Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order in Zimbabwe (Harare: ActionAid International in collaboration with the Counselling Services Unit (CSU), Combined Harare Residents’ Association (CHRA) and the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), November 2005). 25 See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Organised Violence and Torture in Zimbabwe in 1999 (Harare: Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, 1999). 26 See again, UN High Commission for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Committee: Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 40 of the Covenant. 21