Human Rights Forum Report: Who was responsible? of money”. I overheard some of them saying that they had raped women in Uzumba I heard also that there were people beaten at Zexcom in a building with a big yard and walls around it. Many of them were saying that they had beaten people, and that the MDC people would regret being MDC. They might bring the people to the Zexcom offices, or they might just beat them at home. The police at Murehwa were told, and they said that they could not intervene in political issues. Many cases were reported, but no action was taken. I didn‟t know who was the leader. They kept me in a small room that they used for keeping clothing in. There was no bed, and I was given one blanket. It was in a small building with 3 or 4 rooms. Often some of them would sleep in the same room as me. I was given very little food – we had two meals a day, of sadza and vegetables, and sometimes matemba as well. I was always locked in. It‟s like torture… prison would have been better. I had to knock on the window when I needed the toilet. They told me that I could go back to my village after the elections. They moved me to Musami in early May. I had told them that I was on my way to Musami when they bumped into me – that‟s where my mother lives. They asked me if I would like to go to Musami, and I said yes, so they took me, but they did not let me see my mother. There were lots of youths at Musami, being led by the war veterans. There were hundreds of them there during the day, but at night there were only 80 to 100 Zanu (PF) people. I attended 4 rallies. Zhanda and (Joel B.) Matiza led one each, and the Chairman and Zanu (PF) members from Marondera addressed the other two. Once Matiza addressed a rally when I was there. He said, “I have offered all schools in Murehwa North $15 000 for school fees for children of war veterans. I have told the headmasters to nominate 3 children each”. There were many people at the rally, which was held at Mabika School. Musami was almost worse than Murehwa. The same system was used there, but the room was very small. We were locked in all the time, unless we were taken out to go beating people. I was given a Zanu (PF) card and a Zanu (PF) data form. They began to trust me a little bit, and thought that I had come over to their side. I was in there, and taken out to go for beatings 5 or 6 times a week. If we went out in the morning, we would come back in the afternoon. They used to board free transport. I went with them to Munamba School, and also to Manjonjo School (along the Marondera Rd). We also went to the villagers surrounding Mabika School. Two or three of them would wear Zanu (PF) t-shirts, with the rest of them wearing MDC t-shirts. If they came across someone, they would greet him with “Chinja!”. If he responded positively, they would then beat him. I was given a Zanu (PF) t-shirt. The group was mixed boys and girls, some of whom were quite young (23-25 yrs). They would get most of their information from the headmen. They would ask them whether there were any MDC supporters there (most headmen are Zanu (PF) supporters). The headman would just write out the names and give them to the youths, who would go with the list into the village and look for people. If they found him he was beaten and told to surrender all MDC campaign material. If he did so, he was beaten even more. Every day that they went out, they would beat people. Some people used to stay in the townships during the weekends. The youths would find someone who had just gotten off the bus and say that he was a real MDC supporter from Harare. I saw three guys beaten up like that. I think I must have seen about 100 beatings in total. They would beat anyone, men, women, and children. They thought that I had really changed, and I pretended to be a Zanu (PF) supporter. I was forced to beat about 5 people, all strangers. We were very far from my home area. They were given money to go to the township and drink, so that they would be drunk when they went out beating people, and I was even forced to drink. I don‟t know how much money they were given, but they always had enough that they were drunk. I think some of them smoked mbanje. When they beat someone, they would chant “Jambanja”, which is an MDC slogan, which means fighting with a bully. If they captured an MDC supporter, they would say “nakonoro”, which means to beat him until he gets air in him. The operation was called Operation Chatsva (“Destruction”). If you come in a big number, they would force the people to beat each other. If you beat them lightly, then they would beat you. Some of them were intending to kill others, whilst others were just trying to frighten them. If a group had the spirit to kill someone, then I‟m sure many were killed. While I was there I heard of one person who was killed in Musami (Rusike). The group, which went there, came back and said that they had heard that the person they had beaten was now dead. They didn‟t care… they just said that they were going to kill more people. There is a man who was at Musami, brown in complexion, who used to walk with a pistol. He used to often wear a “red card” MDC t-shirt. He is a war veteran called MuChatsva. I could identify him if I saw him. There is also another one called Shorty, who is a leader of the youths. There are many others that I can identify. I was in Musami for longer than I was in the Zexcom offices. I was held captive for about six weeks in all. There were only two of us who had been kidnapped – I left the other one there. He came from Manjonjo School, and he was beaten up and kidnapped after me. He was still under tight security when I left. We were escorted at all times by about 5 or 6 people, even when we went to the toilet. Often they tied us up with a rope while we were in the toilet, so that they could tell we were still there. The rope was tied around our waist or our legs. As they came to trust me, they stopped tying me up when I went to the toilet, and one day I managed to escape from them by running away when I went to the toilet. 23