TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE, PAST AND PRESENT most as a result of the actions of the Government forces and some at the hands of dissidents.26 (iii) 1 9 8 8 -1 9 9 8 This was the longest period of relative peace 27 since independence, following an end to the civil war brought about by the Unity Accord signed by Mugabe and Nkomo in December 1987, which saw PF-Zapu submerged into Zanu-PF. This, along with the beginning of the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1990 and the end of the cold war, lead to the lifting of the 25 year old state of emergency in July 1990. Torture and ill-treatment continued to be widespread but was probably at its lowest level since before UDI, and was sometimes used by the police in their investigations of ‘ordinary’ crime, mainly to extract confessions and information, rather than for political purposes. There were also serious outbreaks of Zanu-PF organised political violence surrounding the 1990 and 1995 elections. However, despite political repression, the period saw university student protests, the emergence of a human rights oriented civil society, and the growing militancy of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), as it severed its links to Zanu-PF. These strands joined together to campaign for constitutional reform to curb the powers of the Government, especially the sweeping powers of the executive presidency installed in 1987.28 (This campaign for radical change to the de facto one-party State system was later to culminate in the launch of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).29) The new democratic challenge to Zanu-PF was also reflected in the emergence of a vigorous free press, which began to play a crucial role in the whole process, giving as it did a platform for criticism, ideas and policies which previously had to be filtered through the State-controlled media. (iv) 1 9 9 8 -2 0 0 5 The current period of widespread and systematic human rights abuses, including torture on a scale not seen since the bitter days of the liberation struggle in the 1970s, commenced with the Government’s response to spontaneous food riots in January 1998. The police were unable to contain the situation which went on for four days and the army was used to restore order. Several civilians were shot dead and hundreds were severely assaulted in their homes or held in custody and tortured.30 In 1999 tension between the Government and the growing constitutional 26 This whole period has been carefully documented in Breaking the Silence, A Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980 to 1988, CCJP and Legal Resources Foundation (LRF), Harare, 1997. See also Zimbabwe: Wages of War - Report on Human Rights, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, New York, 1986; Choosing the Path to Peace and Development: Coming to Terms with Human Rights Violations of the 1982-1987 Conflict in Matabeleland and Midlands Provinces, Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation, Harare, 1999; Zimbabwe – A Break With the Past? Human Rights and Political Unity: An African Watch Report, Richard Carver, October 1989; Zimbabwe: Drawing a Line through the Past, Amnesty International, Richard Carver, June 1992. 27 There was still very little tolerance for public protests. Student demonstrations and trade-unionist strikes, although nominally legal, were regularly and viciously attacked by riot police. There was a particularly violent police attack on lawful protesters in Harare in December 1997. 28 The Lancaster House Constitution has been amended sixteen times since independence. As part of the Unity Accord, Amendment No 7 (Act 23 of 1987) established the executive Presidency, and Prime Minister Mugabe became the first executive President. The former Presidential position was largely ceremonial. Mugabe has therefore been in power for an uninterrupted period of 25 years. 29 The MDC was launched in September 1999. 30 The events were documented by local human rights groups: see A Consolidated Report on the Food Riots, 19 – 23 January1998, Report compiled by The Amani Trust on behalf of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum; see also the earlier report, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (10 March 1998), Human Rights in Troubled Times: An Initial Report on Human Rights Abuses During and After Food Riots in January 1998. 6