TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE, PAST AND PRESENT legislation into line with it. Torture must be made a specific statutory crime in Zimbabwe with appropriately severe punishment for convicted perpetrators, and the numerous other legislative and administrative reforms required under the Convention must be implemented. This is but one of a number of fundamental international human rights treaties, and their Optional Protocols, which the present Government has completely and deliberately ignored since Independence in 1980. Even where treaties have been entered into their monitoring and reporting requirements which the Government is obligated to comply with have more often than not been neglected, distorted or dealt with years too late. It is also apparent how limited the ‘traditional’ remedy of civil damages is to the problems arising from gross and systematic violations. This is not to say of course that individual civil proceedings are irrelevant – their potential must be included in any reparation programme – but even at the best of times it is a slow and expensive route. When one is dealing with large numbers of victims and many perpetrators, all the ‘ordinary’ hazards of litigation are multiplied a hundredfold, including the problems caused by statutes of limitations or prescription. Judiciallybased compensation is important, but inherently problematic. In periods of economic chaos and hyper-inflation such as presently being suffered in Zimbabwe the claiming and payment of civil damages can become an almost meaningless exercise. Another issue which has been mentioned already and which relates to the weakness of litigation damages is the difficulty in suing perpetrators when the state has taken deliberate steps to disguise its identity. Zimbabwe human rights defenders face a dangerous and difficult task in challenging and criticising the Zimbabwe Government over its human rights record. Many have been, and continue to be, intimidated and persecuted, including imprisonment, assault and torture. It says much for their courage and resilience that they continue to document, defend and heal to the best of their abilities, and remain steadfast in their pursuit of justice and peace. 46