60 Amani Trust case number 875 Report number Sex male 36 Name L.C Age 33 ID number Province Mashonaland West District Mhondoro Employment Unemployed Date of report 19/03/02 Nature of incident Abduction, assault Date of incident 06/03/02 Perpetrators Zanu PF supporters Case history L.C. was at home with his wife in Masawi Village on 06/03/02 at 15.00h when a group of approximately twenty-eight people arrived singing at his homestead. He was ordered to come out of the house, but refused to do so. Four men entered the house, trying to drag L.C. outside. He was beaten with hoe and axe handles all over his body. L.C’s wife tried to intervene but she was stopped and slapped on the face. He was asked to surrender all MDC material in his possession and then the Zanu PF supporters killed four chickens. Two of them entered the house and ransacked it, stealing an axe, clothing and cash. The words ‘’Vote Zanu PF” were painted on the outside walls of the house. After this, L.C. was taken to the Zanu PF base at Dzumbunu. On the way, they stopped at the house of L.C’s cousin and ransacked that as well. Once at the base, L.C. was questioned for over four hours and then was released. The following day L.C. tried to take a bus to Harare but was intercepted by the same group and taken back to the base. He was kept overnight, but managed to escape the following morning on 08/03/02. He fled to Harare, but returned for a few hours on 10/03/02 in order to cast his vote. Medical assessment SRQ-8 Score: 5 On clinical examination 13 days after the assault the patient was anxious and exhibiting signs of psychological disturbance with his high SRQ-8. He had a ruptured left tympanic membrane and complained of headache and dizziness. There were no other neurological abnormalities detectable. He was tender in the right loin area, but there was no detectable haematoma, and he had no history of haematuria. He settled with analgesia, anxiolytics and counseling. AMANI TRUST: Beating your opposition. Torture during the 2002 Presidential campaign in Zimbabwe.