The Verdicts from the Courts In its first detailed follow-up of the Food Riots cases in 2000, the Human Rights Forum reported on 32 of the 42 cases that had come to them. Awards had been made in 13 (40%) of the cases described in Table 12, which seemed strong vindication for the views of the Forum that the principle of minimum force had been exceeded.20 Table 12: Results of cases reported to the Human Rights Forum Awaiting trial or pre-trial conference Awaiting judgment Dismissed Award Agency renounced Left country Died 7 1 2 13 4 2 3 There had been a number of judgements in those completed cases, and these were briefly outlined in the Forum’s 2000 report. These findings and the verdicts from a number of the court cases are briefly summarised. Shootings cases Despite the prima facie evidence that people were shot by the police or army, in the main, there had initially been some concern as to whether these cases would stand up in court. However, the courts generally took a very sympathetic view of the cases, and there were several in which important precedents were set in respect of the principle of minimum force, or about the nature of exemplary damages for cases of gross human rights violations. Simbarashe Ruka He was outside his house when a bullet hit him on the forehead. The bullet did not enter his forehead and there was no injury to the bone. The doctor indicated that the injuries were not serious and the amount of force used to inflict the injuries was moderate. The ballistics report by Superintendent Charles Hailey indicated that the bullet was fired from a 9 mm pistol and had rifling characteristics common to CZ/PI/Browning pistols. The report concluded that from the description of the plaintiff’s injuries and the appearance of the bullet it was most likely that the bullet was almost completely spent before striking and it was probably fired from over a kilometre away. The matter was set down for trial for the week beginning 9 October 2000. The parties were called to the judge’s chambers where the matter was settled. Judgment was entered for the plaintiff in the sum of Z$12,000. Fabian Muradzikwa The plaintiff was coming from work when the police shot him in the right shoulder on 19 January 1998. He had left his workplace in the company of two workmates. The commuter omnibus dropped them off before entering Mabvuku as rioters blocked the road. They walked towards Tafara where the plaintiff lived. They passed through a park in an effort to avoid the shopping centre. There was gunfire coming from the direction of the shopping centre. When he was struck by the bullet, the plaintiff lost consciousness and fell to the ground. He was taken to the clinic where he was bandaged and placed on a drip. He was later taken to Parirenyatwa Hospital together with Janet Jonasi who had also been shot. He was hospitalised for one and half days but the bullet was not removed because he had bled excessively. The evidence led by the plaintiff showed that he was in extreme pain for many days. He could sleep only on one side and he could not go to work for three weeks. 20 Further details of the remaining cases are provided in Appendix A. 14