10 feet to alternate between hot and cold. There are frequently chronic changes resulting in impaired walking, with both walking speed and walking distance being reduced, and typically the victim will only be able to walk a short distance before the increasing pain will stop this activity. Clearly, this has profound effects on a victim’s subsequent life. Thus, as can be seen, the effects of falanga range from the extreme pain caused during the beating of the feet, through the short-term pain and suffering of the acute phase (which may last for weeks), and finally to the possibility of long-term disability and life-long pain. It is quite obviously not a trivial form of ill-treatment, and the belief frequently held by the perpetrators, that it is an effective form of abuse that does not cause long-term damage, is definitely not supported by the evidence. Falanga has received the attention of the Zimbabwean courts, and has been accepted as a form of torture. In a Zimbabwe High Court case in 2003,27 Justices Chinhengo and Makarau had to consider on appeal a case of physical abuse by two police officers. The facts of the case were these: On 28 March 2001, the complainant went to the local veterinary offices to obtain a permit to allow him to move certain livestock from one place to another. At the veterinary offices he was accosted by one of the police officers and taken to the police post at Masasa, near Chivhu. The two police officers were investigating a stock theft case and suspected the complainant to be the thief. At the police post, the two police officers jointly assaulted the complainant by beating him under the feet with a sjambok. This was in a bid to make him admit to the stock theft charges. Despite the torture the complainant did not confess and he was subsequently released. The assault was described by the victim as follows: “Yes, accused two approached me and handcuffed me. I was taken to the Police Post and I was handed over to accused one. Accused one said I was the stock thief and he wanted me. I was ordered to remove my pair of shoes and (it was) said I had stolen Mupepereki’s bovines. My hands were handcuffed so accused one removed my shoes. I was taken into the yard. He started assaulting me with a sjambok under my feet whilst he was stepping on my legs and accused two was holding my head. He only stopped when I started bleeding profusely. Accused two also assaulted me. I was assaulted on the soles of my feet and the skin turned black. I also bled profusely. I was assaulted whilst outside people were watching. I later went to hospital and was examined by a Doctor.” 27 S v Reza, HH-02-04, Crim. Appeal 159/03. Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. Only bruises on the soles of their feet. The use of Falanga by the Zimbabwe Republic Police.