Policy Service codes of conduct in the uniformed forces of Zimbabwe do not sanction the use of torture on civilians. The Zimbabwean constitution prohibits the use of torture with limited derogation; there are no provisions, however, in the subsidiary legislation that criminalize the practice. Realizing the widespread nature of torture practices, which were being used as a means of settling political scores and enforcing political views, parties to the GNU agreed in article 18.5(d) of the GPA that all political parties, other organizations and their leaders shall commit themselves to do everything to stop and prevent all forms of political violence, including by nonState actors and shall consistently appeal to their members to desist from violence Nature of violations Physical and psychological torture was used as a form of punishment by the police, army, intelligence services, prison personnel and civilians. Perpetrators were mainly ZANU(PF) loyalists and uniformed forces on their own accord and in some cases under specific instruction. Case histories • On 27 October, the MDC-T Transport Manager, Pascal Gwezere, was abducted by suspected security agents in Harare and tortured by suspension, beating, and the biting of his face and ear before a mock burial was conducted to extract information about the MDC-T. Further, while in police custody he was denied medical treatment. • On 13 January, a man was tortured for accusing President Mugabe of creating the GPA stalemate. He was locked in a closet at his work-place by war veterans and ZANU(PF) supporters. Between four and eight people tied him to a tree, assaulted him on the back, buttocks and feet. Water was used to revive him when he passed out, and he was threatened with drowning. The perpetrators gagged him with socks to prevent him from screaming. • On 3 April, an estimated 300 ZANU(PF) youths attacked a 77-year-old MDC-T member at his home near Murehwa. They accused him of supporting the MDC-T and assaulted him with iron bars and logs on his private parts and hands. They also assaulted his wife. 4.1.1.4 Enforced and involuntary disappearances The arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the state or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the state, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or where­ abouts of the disappeared person, which places such a person outside the protection of the law. Policy Zimbabwean law provides for legal arrests and not for the abduction of persons, for the declaration of the identities of persons in lawful police custody, family or lawyer access to these persons while in custody, and a limited remand period. 12 Zimbabwe Human Rights Report – 2009