There were no cases against the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and none against the President’s Office, under which the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) falls. There was one case in which the CIO was alleged to have been involved in organized violence and torture, but the plaintiffs were not able to positively identify the perpetrator as such. The ‘other’ category in Table 9 represents individuals being sued, and these are shown mainly as ZANU(PF) supporters, either the youth and/or war veterans. There are also cases where individual police and army officers have been sued in their personal capacities; this is usually where the two parties, i.e. the perpetrator and the plaintiff, know each other. 2.3 Perpetrators In addition to the defendants, it is essential to have a list of the perpetrators, not necessarily giving their individual names (although where possible their names were provided by the plaintiffs)24 but showing which government department or branch they belonged to, e.g. CID, Riot Squad or Support Unit. Thus, if it was the Minister of Defence who was sued, the perpetrator would be listed as a member of the Zimbabwe National Army. In some of the cases involving the Zimbabwe Republic Police, it was difficult to ascertain what branch of the police force the perpetrator belonged to, as the victims would not have known whether the persons were CID or Police Internal Security Investigations (PISI). In those cases these were classified as part of the uniformed branch, especially if the alleged offence took place at a police station. From the data it is evident that the army is called in to reinforce police efforts when a situation either has become volatile or is likely to become so, as in the case of the Food Riots. However, there has also been a great deal of army involvement in political issues, which is clearly not in their mandate as they are dealing with civilians who are exercising their right to participate in political party activities of their choice. The army’s methods of dealing with the public are often very brutal, and this can be seen from the data, where they are sued more for torture or assault GBH than any other group. With regard to individuals suing each other, it is clear from the data that there is implied approval from both the ZANU(PF) party and the government to use force when dealing with the opposition. The police have categorically stated that they do not deal with political matters between rival parties when reports of assaults, arson or abduction are made to them. They can, however, be directly involved in political activities under the guise of national security and protection of the public by targeting those that are involved in opposition politics. As can be seen above, the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister of Defence are co-defendants in 119 cases. The ZRP are the most commonly alleged perpetrators, and the breakdown of these cases, indicating which branch of the police was involved and how they worked together with the army, is shown in Table 10. Table 10 The police and army as co-defendants Army & Riot CID & Uniformed Squad Uniformed Branch (ZRP) & Army Branch (ZRP) 18 16 5 24 CID & Riot Squad 5 Army & Support Unit 2 Army, CID & Riot Squad 1 Army, CIO & Uniformed Uniformed Branch (ZRP) Branch (ZRP) & Support Unit 1 1 See Appendix 1, a list of the named perpetrators as they appeared in the court records. 12 Uniformed Branch (ZRP) & Riot Squad 1