8 Other forms of violence were psychological in nature involving inculcating in people’s minds about the ruling party being able to know which candidates people voted for. Fear, anxiety and despondency became paramount and it could be ascertained that this has a serious effect on the voting patterns of the people as well as deterring other people from going to vote. As they also commented about Bikita West: Given the fact that in the June 2000 Elections, Bikita West was, relatively speaking, one of the most peaceful constituencies, the violence in the election was unexpected, as was the interest aroused in the media. Both political parties were guilty of initiating violence against rival party members and against the defenceless electorate. Many physicalinjuries and damage to property were reported. The constituency became a war zone, unsafe not only for strangers but also for the inhabitants themselves. 4.2.2 IRCT Apart from the reports of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network on the two byelections held in Bikita West and Marondera West, the IRCT also made some observations on the Bikita West by-election. The report issued by the Research and Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims [RCT] and the IRCT again confirmed the existence of wide-spread torture in Zimbabwe. As the RCT commented: Representatives of RCT examined 9 persons who had participated in lawful campaigning during a by-election in Bikita, Zimbabwe in January 2001. All 9 persons reported that they had been beaten, some that they had been ill-treated in other ways by the ZANU-PF, War Veterans and /or the police. In all 9 cases there was agreement between the history of illtreatment, the ensuing symptoms and the result of the clinical examination, i.e., all 9 testimonies were on medical ground found to be valid. Six of the interviewed men reported that they identified MP Dr. Chenjerai Hunzvi among the aggressors. The fact that many persons, who supported a legal election campaign, on that ground were arrested and beaten in the same manner by three groups: the police, ZANU-PF and the War Veterans, must be seen as an indication of a pattern of organised violence, involving the security forces, the political party in power and its supporters. The fact that an MP participated systematically and overtly, further stresses the political responsibility and indicates an unfortunate confusion and abuse of legislative and executive power. The findings fit to the description of the present human rights crisis in Zimbabwe given by other organisations.