Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
Teaching them a lesson: A report on the attack on Zimbabwean teachers
violence against teachers is not only directly beneficial to the victims, but also for the
schoolchildren who are also victims indirectly.
This report documents 238 individual cases of human rights abuses against teachers for the 18
month period between January 2001 and June 2002. The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO
Forum believes the documented evidence that it has collected is merely the tip of a much
bigger iceberg, and would wish to draw attention to the many previous cases reported in earlier
reports of the Forum. We would also wish to draw attention to these many previous reports,
and to note that a communication from the Forum is currently under consideration by the
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. As the Presidents of South Africa and
Nigeria and the Prime Minister of Australia meet in Abuja on Monday, 23 September, to
consider the Commonwealth’s response to the Zimbabwe crisis, we hope that they will take into
account this new report, as well as all the previous reports, including those specifically
submitted to the Abuja initiatives.
Totals 1 January 2001 to 31 June 2002
Right to Work
24
Displacement
10
Firearms Offence
1
unlawful detention
1
unlawful arrest
1
torture
34
assault
75
abduction/kidnapping
6
death theats
13
46
political intim. / victimisation / discrmi nation
school closure
30
property related
13
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Sources: Human Rights Forum legal statements, newspaper reports, Partner Organisation Statements.
Note to the tables
Torture:
All cases of torture fall under the definition of torture according to the general definition given in the United
Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and
Punishment.
The four elements of torture are:
1.
Severe pain and suffering, whether physical or mental
2.
Intentionally inflicted
3.
With a purpose
4.
By a state official or another individual acting with the acquiescence of the State.
Those individuals referred to in point # 4 include the ZRP, ZNA, ZPS and the ZNLWVA (as a reserve force of the
ZNA) and by any other grouping when directly sanctioned by the state.
3