15 The declaration by the President on 6 October of a formal amnesty for the gross human rights violations clearly has profound implications for these victims. Although the general amnesty will require prosecutions for murder, rape, statutory rape, indecent assault, robbery, and theft, it will excuse torture (assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and common assault), psychological torture (intimidation, threats, forced attendance at meetings), kidnapping, arson, and property destruction. 31% of the sample knew their perpetrators, whilst nearly 90% had witnesses to their ordeals. This means that criminal prosecutions could have been pursued in a significant number of cases, and this was clearly the wish of the people in this sample, where over 70% wished to take legal action against their perpetrators. The general amnesty will be a devastating blow for these victims. It is even more shocking to observe the practical effect of the amnesty. In Mberengwa East a total of 617 allegations of crimes was made by the people in the sample group. The amnesty would render 570 cases [92%] ineligible for investigation and prosecution. In addition, it should be borne in mind that, prior to the declaration more than 200 arrests had been made by the Zimbabwe Republic Police. These arrests had considerably restored the increasingly poor reputation of the ZRP amongst the general public. The release of these arrested people will lead to a complete lack of faith by the victims in the criminal justice system. Clearly, the effect of the amnesty, in Mberengwa East, completely subverts all justice, leaving all these victims with only the option of civil suits for damages. This will be an extremely lengthy, and expensive way for very poor people to obtain justice. In many cases, the perpetrators will not have the financial capacity to pay appropriate compensation to the victims. Post-election violence There was widespread violence in the pre-election period. Most of this violence was directed at candidates and supporters of political parties in opposition to Zanu (PF), and against commercial farmers and workers on commercial farms. Regrettably violence against these persons has continued after the parliamentary elections on 24-25 June. In the cities and towns the army has been harassing and assaulting people in high density areas. There continue to be violent attacks and death threats against members and supporters of the MDC. People are still fleeing some rural areas to escape the violence. Commercial farmers and their workers continue to be attacked and threatened. More ominously, there has now been an increasing reliance on the army in many situations. The last time the army was deployed in support of the police was during the food riots that occurred in January 1998. In the quelling of these riots and in the aftermath of the riots there were numerous incidents in which the army used excessive and sometimes fatal force. The army was used once again in the most recent food riots and also against the students of the University of Zimbabwe. The statement last week by the Minister of