Analysis of Arrests, Charges and Convictions after the Food Riots This section outlines the findings from an investigation of the legal proceedings taken against rioters in the Harare and Chitungwiza Magistrates’ Courts. It was thus necessarily a select group and cannot claim to be wholly representative of the legal proceedings that took place throughout the Food Riots, and did not include any data from other areas of the country; but the data did cover the areas in which the disturbances were arguably the worst. It is worth recapping here on the reports emanating from the press. These reports showed very conflicting numbers of arrests. According to the Herald (22 January 1998), a police spokesman reported that 2,300 persons had been arrested in Harare and Chitungwiza. A court official (Herald, 22 January 1998) reported that over 1,000 persons had been arrested in Harare alone. Subsequent to these newspaper reports, no government official has indicated what the final figures were. The ZRP report indicates that 3,000 persons were arrested, but gives no indication of the number finally charged and sentenced.6 Harare As can be seen from Table 1, the Forum reported on a total of 730 cases. The cases were drawn from Braeside, Glenview, Harare Central, Hatfield, Mabvuku, Machipisa, Marimba, Southerton, Warren Park, Waterfalls, and a large number from unidentified – ‘Unspecified’ – suburbs.7 Table 1: Legal consequences for Food Riots cases in Harare Warrant issued Withdrawn before plea Withdrawn after plea Remand refused Remand Acquitted Suspended sentence Fined Prison 21 102 38 407 18 45 1 14 84 2.88 13.97 5.21 55.75 2.47 6.16 0.14 1.92 11.51 As can be seen, the great majority were discharged either before pleading or at the remand hearing. In fact, 14% were discharged before pleading, 5% were discharged after pleading, and 56% had their remand refused at the remand hearing, making 75% in all being released after periods in excess of three weeks already in remand. In addition, a further 6% were acquitted of the charges. Of the remainder, 13.1% were convicted of the charges, with the great majority receiving custodial sentences. The sentences were generally severe, about 12 months, while the fines imposed were rather moderate, about Z$250 on average. The data did not allow any determination of the charges for which sentence was imposed, which is a pity as it would have been useful to know whether custodial sentences were being imposed for theft or for public violence. As can be seen from Table 2, there were considerable differences between the different areas, but the general trend was the same: many more people were discharged than convicted. In the cases from Hatfield, virtually everyone arrested was released unconditionally or remand was refused, which was also true for Marimba. There were higher conviction rates in cases from Mabvuku and the Unspecified cases. However, the general trend remained similar in the cases from all the suburbs: many more people were arrested than were convicted, with the vast majority having applications for their remand refused at the remand hearing. There were no data on the outcome for those who 6 7 ‘Police Report on the Food Riots: Issued by ZR Police General Headquarters’, The Outpost, June 1998. ‘Unspecified’ here means that the area could not be established from the court record. 4