Remembering the Food Riots
In the aftermath of the extended violence of the past five years, the Food Riots in 1998 may hardly
seem significant at all, but, in 1998, the whole nation was shocked by them – not just by the rioting
of ordinary citizens but also by the violence of the State’s response. Eight deaths, uncounted injuries,
thousands of people arrested and detained– all made an enduring impression on the nation. The
Food Riots caused the first mass violations of human rights after the end of the Matabeleland
emergency in 1987, and Zimbabwe since that time had earned a reputation for being a country
with good observance of human rights. Whilst demonstrations and protests had taken place during
the 1990s, these had been largely peaceful, and the Zimbabwe Republic Police were earning strong
respect from the citizens of Zimbabwe for their increasingly professional approach.1 This is not a
view held by many Zimbabweans today, although an Afrobarometer survey in 2004 showed that
52% of Zimbabweans still did trust the Zimbabwe Republic Police.2
As the riots were in progress, the human rights community of Zimbabwe made strong appeals
to government to control the situation and to obey the principle of ‘minimum force’ that needs to
be observed when dealing with civilians. Amnesty International, too, made a strong appeal to the
Minister of Home Affairs to repudiate his view that the situation required the use of arms of war
and the shooting of unarmed civilians.3
Human rights groups and NGOs in Harare swung into action following the many reports of
human rights violations, and the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum [Human Rights Forum]
was formed. This group, a loose alliance of NGOs, provided assistance to detainees, persons
complaining of human rights violations and ill-treatment, and produced a report on the riots
which was forwarded to the President and Parliament in support of the request for an independent
commission of inquiry.4 As was stated in the report:
The human rights organisations call upon Government to set up, as soon as possible, an
independent Commission of Inquiry headed by a High Court Judge to investigate these allegations
of human rights violations. In the interests of transparency and accountability the findings
of this Commission must be made public. Pending the setting up of such a Commission, the
organisations request Parliament to establish its own Committee to look into these allegations
and report its findings to Parliament. In conducting these investigations the Parliamentary
Committee should enlist the assistance of the Ombudsman’s office which now has jurisdiction
to investigate allegations of human rights abuses on the part of members of the police, army
and prison service. Although the Ombudsman may only investigate when complaints have
been made to that office, the proposed Parliamentary Committee would be able to refer some
of the complainants to the Ombudsman’s office so that their complaints can be investigated by
personnel in this office.
Following these inquiries arrangements must be made for compensation to be awarded to all
persons found to have suffered human rights abuses without those persons having to bring
1
See Helen Suzman Foundation, Political Opinion in Zimbabwe 2000: March 2000 (Johannesburg: Helen Suzman
Foundation, 2000).
2
See A. Chikwana, T. Sithole and M. Bratton, The Power of Propaganda: Public Opinion in Zimbabwe, 2004 (Afrobarometer
Working Paper No. 42, 2004).
3
These calls have contemporary relevance in the wake of the reported remarks of various members of the government
that the State would use violence against people protesting on the streets. Here it is highly relevant to point out that no
group within Zimbabwe has advocated the use of violence, and that all have publicly indicated that any protest would
be non-violent.
4
See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Human Rights in Troubled Times: An Initial Report on Human Rights Abuses
During and After Food Riots in January 1998 (Harare: Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, 1998).
1