Human Rights Forum Report: Who was responsible? Case 50: J.T. (Male) — 12 May 2000 Assaulted for supporting the MDC. Group was lead by Mark Madiro. They were armed with baton sticks and sticks. They assaulted him all over his body. “I was handcuffed and they wanted to take me to their base but I managed to escape with the handcuffs on one hand.” Sustained back injuries. Escaped to Harare. Masvingo Chiredzi North Bornface Mutemachani, Elastos Njiri and Kennias Chijange Bornface Mutemachani together with unnamed war veterans used MP Elliot Chauke‟s pistol and 33 rounds of ammunition to terrorise villagers and „quash‟ MDC opposition. During this period Mutemachani kidnapped S.N. on 4 April 2000 at gunpoint and delivered him in handcuffs to ZRP Chiredzi, accusing him as an MDC supporter „causing problems‟ in area. It was reported that during this period MDC supporters complained to the ZRP about the reign of terror after 20 of them had been abducted at gunpoint and tortured the previous week. After this, Bornface Mutemachani was arrested and remanded on free bail to October 26 on charges of illegally possessing a firearm belonging to and loaned to him by Elliot Chauke. He was convicted of the charge and fined $5 200 or 36 months in prison with 18 months suspended. He paid the $5 200 fine. Case 51: R.N. (Male) — 6 May 2000 Mutemachani, leader of war vets in the area, moved into the bottle store and attacked me with a club on the mouth and I fell. Four of them dragged me out, chanting anti- MDC slogans. They continued attaching me with clubs, empty bottles and stones. I managed to extricate myself and run. About 10m away I fell. I bled profusely from the head. Case 52: P.M. (Male) — 8 May 2000 I was assaulted by Bornface Mutemachani, an ex-combatant, for allegedly failing to supply him with MDC t-shirts. He asked for matches but I did not have any. He sent my young brother to collect some fire, which he used as light to search the whole house but to no avail. I was later whipped with a sjambok at the back and sustained some injuries. Later he used the fire to burn the house before he left together with several of his colleagues. The house was burnt to ashes together with the property. Case 53: Agnes Mujaji — 8 May 2000 Ms. Agnes Mujaji, the wife of witness Andrew Mujaji, testified that in the evening of 8 May 2000, war veterans arrived in a Mazda pick-up truck, which they parked near her homestead. She noticed that three of the war veterans left for a neighbouring homestead, reappearing later with a large number of people. While Mrs Mujaji hid with her husband behind a hedge near her garden, she watched as the war veterans and their supporters entered the main gate and surrounded the homestead, chanting MDC slogans. Elastos Njiri, one of the men who had surrounded her home, told them that they did not want any MDC element in the area. As she heard the war veterans start attacking her children with sticks, she and her husband started crawling away from the house. After having crawled a little while, she looked back to discover her hut engulfed in flames. Mrs Mujaji stated that, overcome with fear, she and her husband remained in that place overnight and elected not to return to her homestead until 24 July 2000, after the elections. She and her husband sought refuge in Mutare. She reported the incident to the police personally, but the perpetrators were only arrested after she and her husband were assaulted again on 28 August 2000. She was able to identify Bornface Mutemachani, Elastos Njiri, and Kennias Chijange as some of her assailants. (Court Testimony) 27