Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum: Report on Organised Violence and Torture in 1999 from the house and there was blood all over. In Sakubva, three people were seriously injured when police dogs were let loose in their homes. The police were hunting for suspected criminals. In another case fifteen people residents of Nyanga were wounded after police, who were searching for suspected thieves, unleashed dogs in their homes. The residents received various degrees of injuries from dog bites. They were treated at Nyanga District Hospital. Police promised to investigate the matter. Three Americans, Gary Blanchard, Joe Pettijohn, and John Dixon were arrested for illegal possession of firearms. There was proof that torture and general use of force had occurred during interrogations. The medical report submitted to the court showed that the men had been subjected to electric shocks to the genitals, repeated assaults with leather straps on bare feet, made to sit up against a wall as if on a chair for lengthy periods with arms outstretched and sometimes holding shoes or a chair, near suffocation using a typewriter cover and plastic bag, threats of sodomy and death, having the head held under water, as well as being denied access to a lawyer or the American embassy. Subsequent to their torture, the three Americans were kept in inhuman conditions under maximum security: kept in isolation, manacled and stripped naked at night, constant lighting, and minimal exercise. The State was forced to alter their conditions following a successful court action on behalf of the three. The final outcome was that the three Americans were charged with relatively minor offences, convicted and given very small sentences. There was clear anomalies between the allegations by the State and the inhuman treatment to which the Americans were subjected during interrogation and incarceration, and the minor crimes with which they were finally charged and convicted. The most celebrated example of State-sponsored torture relates to the kidnapping and torture of two journalists for the Zimbabwe Standard newspaper. Following a story that there had been a minor coup in the Zimbabwean National Army, the two journalists, Mark Chavunduka and Ray Choto, were held by intelligence officers for nine days. During interrogations they were taken to a torture chamber. Methods of torture used include death threats, assaults all over the body including genitals and electrical shock. They were also made to face a beam of extremely bright light shone in their faces. This case attracted a lot of outcry both at home and abroad. European Union member states summoned Zimbabwean diplomats and told them how deeply concerned they were with the harassment of the press and the attempted defence of the grave human rights violations committed against the journalists. There were also allegations of torture by students from the Harare Polytechnic who were arrested following disturbances in October, and also allegations that three University of Zimbabwe students were tortured by security guards of the University. It is noteworthy in both of these reports that there are allegations of the use of “falanga”, or beating on the soles of the feet, by both the Police and the security guards. 5. Cases from 1998 These cases were previously reported in the Consolidated Report on the Food Riots. 5.1 Settled The six cases which fall under this heading were settled on the basis that the responsible State agency was admitting liability. In all the cases judgments were formally entered and court orders made. All of the cases mentioned below were settled at Pre-Trial Conferences before judges in chambers. Getting judgment against a Government department is one thing and getting payment if damages is another. At the end of last year it was indicated to us by the Civil Division of the Attorney-General’s Office that the Ministries of Defence and Home Affairs had exhausted their votes and did not have alternative means of raising money to pay the damages. Up the date of this report nothing has been paid. Unlike in ordinary civil cases, the law does not allow a judgment creditor to execute the judgment against State property. The HRLU will continue its efforts to have these damages paid. -8-