You do not deal with a political or politically sensitive case without first getting clearance from your superior on duty, and usually these superiors are members or active supporters of ZANU-PF who decide the matter and give directions based on their political affiliation. In fact, it is classified as misconduct for a junior police officer to deal with a political matter without consulting a superior. For instance, you cannot just extract information from a witness in matters involving MDC without clearance and directives from your superior.81 A police constable serving in Mashonaland East province told Human Rights Watch how senior police officers addressed several police camps in Mashonaland East on April 7, 2008, and in each case issued clear instructions on how to handle political violence cases: Senior police officers came to address us. We knew by the rank displayed on their clothes that they were senior, but they were not introduced to us. They probably came from police headquarters in Harare. One of them said, “You are under instruction not to arrest ZANU-PF supporters who may be implicated in political violence or whom you may come across committing acts of political violence. Do not use force when dealing with them. At most, you may, when you find them in the act of committing political violence, gently disperse them, but make no arrests, I repeat, do not arrest ZANU-PF supporters.”82 Not only did senior officers announce this directive, they also said that ZANU-PF supporters were fully aware of this position and acted in the full knowledge that law enforcement agents were not going to act against them. A member of the ZANU-PF militia, operating a base in Epworth in Harare, openly boasted to Human Rights Watch that no ZANU-PF member spends a night in police custody no matter what crime they committed.83 He told Human Rights Watch: 81 Human Rights Watch interview with a Police Detective Inspector, Harare, August 28, 2008. 82 Human Rights Watch interview with a police constable, Marondera, August 21, 2008. 83 Human Rights Watch interview with a member of ZANU-PF youth militia, Epworth, August 27, 2008. “Our Hands Are Tied” 26