17 4.4.1 Attacks upon witnesses It has been especially distressing to see that the victims testifying in the election petitions before the Zimbabwe High Court have been subjected to further torture. Several of these witnesses were examined directly, as can be seen from the cases above. It was also noted from the available reports that there seems to be a systematic campaign to discourage witnesses from testifying6, and this is condemned very strongly. The most outrageous case involved the Chairperson of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Mr Tawanda Hondora, who was attacked whilst following up witnesses in the election petition on Chikomba, Dr Hunzvi’s constituency. The Chairperson of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) was assaulted along with a witness in the parliamentary election petitions in ZANU (PF) instigated violence in the Chikomba constituency on Saturday, April 7. Two lawyers working for the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum narrowly escaped. In a letter to the Commissioner of Police in Harare, Mr. Tawanda Hondora, of ZLHR, stated that members of ZANU (PF) assaulted him while police watched. Mr. Gabriel Shumba and Mr. Godfrey Mupanga, both of the Forum, managed to escape but were threatened with assault when they arrived at the local Sadza Police Station to make a complaint. However, it was not only lawyers who have been attacked, but many ordinary people have been attacked, tortured and threatened because they have wished to tell their stories in the High Court as the following case illustrates: K.M., aged 32, an assistant welder and MDC organizing secretary, was assaulted on 22 February 2001. He was assaulted with whips by a group of ZANU (PF) youths led by war veteran, Boniface Mutemachani. He received serious injuries and bruises all over his body. His assailants accused him of being “a key witness against their party”. He was further attacked with a pick handle on his left shin. K.M. identified one assailant, Farai Kahlamba, as the instigator of the assault. K.M. was left for dead, and could not walk to find help. He suffered a severe bone fracture, and received treatment at Dr. Mungwazi’s surgery. The matter was reported to the police but no arrests have been made in the matter. The attacks upon witnesses have not been confined to those cases which are actively before the High Court, but have also involved cases that will appear in the future. Attacks upon witnesses have been reported from Chiredzi North, Buhera 6 See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2001), Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newsletter: February 26, 2001, v.1; Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newsletter: March 5, 2001, v.2; Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newsletter: March 12, 2001, v.3; Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newsletter: March 19, 2001, v.4; Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newsletter: March 26, 2001, v.5; Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newsletter: April 2, 2001, v.6; Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newsletter: April 9, 2001, v.7; Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newslette: April 16, 2001, v.8; Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newslette: April 30, 2001, v.9; Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2001), Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newsletter: May 7, 2001, v.10; Zimbabwe Election Challenges Newsletter: May 14, 2001, v.11.