5. The Zanu-PF primary elections and political violence The internal Zanu-PF elections were held in January 2005, and from published reports in various newspapers there were a number of allegations of intra-party violence in the runup to these primaries. The police brought charges of public violence against a number of candidates and their supporters. There were also allegations that candidates had been implicated in vote-buying and rigging.12 CASE STUDY FIVE January 2003 saw the brutal torture of an MDC MP Job Sikhala and his lawyer Gabriel Shumba. This received wide international condemnation as it was seen as a direct attack both on the parliamentary opposition as well as on civil society, Shumba being a human rights defender working for the leading human rights coalition in the country, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. Both men and three others were arrested while Shumba was advising his client, the MP having faced constant police harassment over many months since the June 2000 parliamentary elections. A combination of State forces were apparently involved in the arrest and subsequent torture, including CIO and military personnel as well as uniformed and plain-clothed police, who were said to have stormed the room in which they were consulting, armed with assault rifles, tear-gas grenades and dogs. Over a three day period both Sikhala and Shumba were separately moved from place to place, deprived of all food and severely tortured. Shumba was apparently tortured by a group of about fifteen men: he was periodically kicked with booted feet and slapped about his head from the time of arrest, and tightly hooded so that breathing was extremely difficult; threatened with dogs; taken hooded to what was believed to be the CIO underground torture chambers at Goromonzi where he could hear the horrible sounds of screaming in another room, and thrown against the wall before being stripped naked and hands and feet shackled together in the foetal position; assaulted all over his naked body with fists, booted feet and thick planks; hung upside down and beaten on the bare soles of his feet with wooden, rubber and metal truncheons; given severe electric shocks to the feet, ears, tongue and genitals; threatened with acid, crucifixion and needles thrust into the urethra; covered in some unknown chemical substance; having lost control of his bodily functions forced to drink his own urine and lick up his blood and vomit; urinated on by his torturers, who also took photographs of him being tortured; threatened with death. 12 See ZimOnline, 18 January 2005, where the following was reported: “Elsewhere across the country, there were allegations of vote rigging and in a few cases police had to be called in to quell violence between rival factions.”“In Mashonaland West province, supporters of Francis Matongorere angrily protested after their candidate's name was omitted from the list of aspiring candidates against sitting Member of Parliament, Zacharia Ziyambi.” “In Harare's Mufakose constituency, there were scuffles with one faction accusing members of the other of cheating and voting twice. Police had to intervene to restore order.” “Anti-riot police had to be summoned twice to break up violent clashes between rival supporters at Dzivarasekwa community hall in Harare, where voting was taking place.” 13