majority having applications for their remand refused at the remand hearing. There is no data on the outcome for those who had their remand refused, and thus it is not possible to determine how many persons have been subsequently discharged or convicted from this sub-group. Chitungwiza The data from Chitungwiza shows a more complete picture. Data were obtained on a total of 681 cases, and, as can be seen from Table 4 below, the picture is very different from the Harare Magistrate’s Court. Table 4 Legal consequences for Food Riots cases in Chitungwiza [n=681] Withdrawn before plea Withdrawn after plea Wholly suspende d sentence Fine d Imprisoned Community service Cuts Othe r 310 185 19 0 113 4 33 17 45.5% 27.2% 2.8% 0 16.6% 0.6% 4.9% 1.03 % Firstly, there is a complete absence of information on whether remand was refused for those charged. This would tie in with the press reports of large numbers of persons being brought swiftly before Magistrates in Chitungwiza. Secondly, the state withdrew cases or had cases dismissed against the overwhelming majority (73%) of the cases, so that the arrests were not sustainable on the evidence produced by the ZRP. Thirdly, there were a very high number of persons given custodial sentences (17%), and this is of great concern if these sentences were given on the basis of warned and cautioned statements produced under duress. This deserves review at the soonest possible date. It is distressing to see that no-one was given the option of a fine, or at least no-one was able to take advantage of this option if it was offered. Fourthly, the number of persons given cuts were all juveniles. No breakdown was available for the areas of Chitungwiza involved, so the data cannot reflect any distribution for these cases. Conclusions The data from the courts does not support the impression given by ZRP spokesmen to the press at the time, nor does it conform to the report issued by ZRP Police General Headquarters. There clearly are not large numbers of “looters” or people being convicted of violence: over 70% of the persons arrested could not be convicted on the available evidence before the courts. The investigations by the ZRP were unable to support credible charges and resulted in very few convictions. It may also be that many of those arrested were arrested by the army, and unsurprisingly, the soldiers of the ZNA were unable to formulate proper charges or carry out proper police duties. This is not to say that there was no theft, looting or public violence, merely that the police work was inadequate to support many charges. The data also supports the notion of “drag-net” arrests, which were alleged by many, and this is of great concern when there are credible allegations of widespread torture and ill-treatment for those detained (see case below).