current historical period, and has been a feature in several other periods in 11 Zimbabwe’s history. The Convention Against Torture definition provides that torture is “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions.” This definition is widely used by health professionals in the diagnosis of torture, and is the basis for the examination of torture victims outlined in the Istanbul Protocol, which is now the standard protocol for examination of torture victims accepted by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights. The methods described in the Protocol have already been in use for several decades, 12 and have been basis of much work in the Zimbabwe context. This definition has been employed by Zimbabwean human rights groups over the period under survey, and the applicability of this definition has been independently verified by a number of international observer missions to Zimbabwe over the same 13 period. 11 See, REDRESS. Reparation for Torture: A Survey of Law and Practice in 30 Selected Countries (Zimbabwe Country Report), May 2003. 12 See Reeler, A.P., & MUPINDA,M.(1996), Investigation into the sequelae of Torture and Organised Violence amongst Zimbabwean War Veterans, LEGAL FORUM, 8, 12-27; see also AMANI (1998), Survivors of Torture and Organised Violence from the 1970 War of Liberation, HARARE: AMANI. 13 Here see Amnesty International (2000), Zimbabwe: Terror tactics in the run-up to the parliamentary elections, June 2000, LONDON: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL; Amnesty International (2002), Zimbabwe: The Toll of Impunity, LONDON: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL; Human Rights Watch (2003), Under a Shadow: Civil and Political Rights in Zimbabwe, A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper, NEW YORK: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH; IRCT (2000) Organised Violence and Torture in Zimbabwe, 6th June 2000, Copenhagen and Harare, COPENHAGEN & HARARE: IRCT & AMANI TRUST; IRCT/RCT (2001), Organised election violence in Zimbabwe 2001, COPENHAGEN: IRCT & RCT; IRCT (2001) Organised Violence and Torture in Zimbabwe, 24th May 2001, Copenhagen and Harare, COPENHAGEN & HARARE: IRCT & AMANI TRUST; Physicians for Human Rights (2002), Zimbabwe 2002. The Presidential Election: 44 days to go. Physicians for Human Rights, Denmark, 24 22