2
The kinds of torture inflicted were severe, and the average number of different forms of
physical torture experienced was high: on average about 5 different forms were reported
(see Table 2 over). These bald statistics can only give flavour of the violence, and do not
do justice to the impact upon the community.
Table 2.
Impact torture reported by survivors.
Beating
Severe beating
Exposure
Suspension, hanging
Sustained posture
Submarino(wet & dry)
Burnings
Electrical shock
Rape
Other
76%
81%
20%
36%
15%
20%
10%
24%
7%
10%
However, physical torture was not the only form of torture experienced, as Table 3 below
indicates, and psychological torture too was common. It is unwise to underestimate the
consequences of psychological torture, for there is considerable clinical and experimental
data to demonstrate its adverse effects. Furthermore, Table 1 above indicates the scale of
the witnessing of violence, and supports the notion that the community was a target.
Table 3.
Psychological torture reported
by survivors.
Verbal abuse
Threats against person
False accusations
Sexual abuse
Threats against family
Simulated execution
Abuse with excrement
Other
74%
62%
63%
12%
33%
29%
7%
4%
These data have dealt with the individual or conventional forms of torture, those aimed at
individuals, usually political activists, but they do not accurately describe the more social
purpose of torture, that of destroying communal action and political will. In Zimbabwe,
this purpose can be described clearly, particularly in respect of the post-Independence
violence. During the 1970’s, a policy of forced villagisation was instituted: termed
"keeps" or "protected villages", the population was forced to reside in these villages by
night with a strict dawn-to-dusk curfew imposed. Between 1973 and 1978 almost 750
000 rural people were forced into keeps throughout Zimbabwe. The life within these