As can be seen from Table 22, the main defendant in respect of shootings was the Minister of Home
Affairs. As noted above, most cases of shooting were connected with the Food Riots in 1998, and
these cases have been closed, with some generally critical comments by the Zimbabwe courts about
the use of firearms by the police.
Table 22
Defendants cited in shootings
Shootings
No shooting
95%*
95%*
10%
67.8%
65.9%
43.3%*
Ministry of Home Affairs
Commissioner of Police
Ministry of Defence
*χ2: ZRP (5.37; P = 0.025); Defence (9.21; P = 0.005); Home Affairs (4.37; P = 0.01)
As can be seen from Table 23, the major culprits involved in shootings were the Riot Squad and the
uniformed branch of the ZRP.
Table 23
Alleged perpetrators of shootings
Shootings
35%
0
5%
40%*
15%
5%
0
5%
ZRP (Uniformed branch)
ZRP (CID)
ZRP (PISI)
ZRP (Riot Squad)
ZRP (Support Unit)
Zimbabwe National Army
CIO
ZANU(PF)
No shooting
38.5%
10%
0.4%
17.1%
5.6%
41.9%*
0.4%
1.1%
*χ2: ZRP Riot Squad (5.72; P = 0.025); Army (11.25; P = 0.005)
There is a clear bifurcation between the cases involving shootings and the other cases as regards
other violations. Persons that were shot were very unlikely to complain of any other violation (Table
24).
Table 24
Other violations involving shootings
Assault
Assault GBH
Wrongful death
Property violations
Theft
Torture
Unlawful arrest
Unlawful detention
Shootings
0
20%
10%*
5%
0
0
0
0
No shooting
27.1%*
68.9%*
0.4%
5.6%
0.7%
26.7%*
12.6%
21.1%*
*χ2: Assault (7.58; P = 0.01); Assault GBH (21.36; P = 0.005); Murder (16.0; P = 0.005); Torture (7.44; P = 0.01); Unlawful detention (10.63; P = 0.005)
As was noted in the recent report on the Food Riots, victims of shootings were more likely to have
been paid damages than the others, and this trend is seen again in the larger sample (Table 25).30
30
χ2: Paid damages (39.92; P = 0.005).
18
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