Fourthly, there were credible reports that there was interference with the justice process by members of the government. It was reliably reported that a meeting was held between senior members of the ZRP, the Attorney-General’s Office, senior magistrates and possibly some Ministers, at which it was agreed that bail hearings would be delayed and remand hearings postponed. This was given additional significance by the decision of the Attorney-General not to proceed against the MayorElect of Chitungwiza, Mr Macheka, a decision that was roundly condemned by civic society groups and legal groups. The inference here is that there could have been some kind of cover-up for human rights violations. In conclusion, this analysis of very scanty data gave considerable cause for concern. The allegations of drag-net arrests seemed borne out by the very high rate of discharges by the justice machinery, more than 70% having the cases against them dismissed. There was also the concern that the lengthy periods of incarceration, apart from being an infringement of civil liberties, may have led to experiences of torture and ill-treatment and much more serious infringements of human rights. There was finally the concern that there may have been political interference in the justice machinery. All of these concerns needed to be dispelled by an open investigation into the events around the Food Riots, as had been requested by the Human Rights Forum and the UN Human Rights Committee.10 10 See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Human Rights in Troubled Times; UN High Commission for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Committee: Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 40 of the Covenant. Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Zimbabwe (New York: UN Commission for Human Rights, 1998). 7