7 Most of the findings on the chronic consequences of organised violence and torture were summarised in a comprehensive monograph, published in 1998, and this work remains the only substantial Zimbabwean work done on the long-term consequences12. This work established that, if untreated, survivors of organised violence and torture were likely to develop chronic psychological disorders. Clearly, and axiomatically, early intervention should prevent chronicity. However, there is a paucity of good information and research on the treatment of torture survivors. There are many clinical studies, but virtually no controlled-outcome studies, and it is from these latter studies that conclusions can only be drawn scientifically about the efficacy of treatment. AMANI has carried out one clinical study of the effects of a brief psychotherapeutic Intervention with chronic survivors of torture, and the results were highly encouraging: all patients improved significantly, and remained improved at 12 months13. Having seen the effects of a very brief intervention with chronic, and hence more difficult to treat conditions, we were interested to see the effects of testimony on an acute group. Testimony has been used as a therapeutic intervention in other settings, but has not been evaluated, as far as we know, for its effects within the court setting itself. Methods A detailed follow-up questionnaire was designed and pre-tested on a small sample. A copy of the questionnaire is provided in the Appendices. The questionnaire was designed to examine the following areas: • • • • • The preparations for the court; Communications between the victims and the support organisation [Amani Trust]; The process in the court; Events after the court sessions; Feelings and attitudes to the verdict. It was intended that all cases in which victims testified would be followed-up, but in the end only 4 cases and 33 victims could be followed up. There were a variety of reasons for this, mainly related to the victims’ safety in being followed up in the community, and also the safety of the staff members undertaking the activity. The staff members doing the follow-up were 2 experienced psychiatric nurses, who had also received training in trauma counselling and were in the process of receiving training as forensic nurse examiners. The data were recorded in purpose-built data base, and the raw data converted 12 See AMANI TRUST (1998), Survivors of Torture and Organised Violence from the Liberation War of the 1970s, HARARE: AMANI TRUST. 13 See REELER,A.P., & MBAPE,P. (1998), A pilot study of a brief form of psychotherapy for survivors of torture: The Single Therapeutic Interview, TORTURE, 8, 120-126. Heroism in the Dock: Does testifying help victims of organised violence and torture? A pilot study from Zimbabwe.