14 changed the proposed meeting into a “prayer meeting” to be addressed by various pastoral figures34. Nonetheless, the ZRP believed the meeting to be in defiance of the ban and were determined to prevent it from taking place. Early on the morning of 11th March, 2007 the ZRP invaded the proposed venue of the meeting with heavily armed riot police and surrounded the venue. The suburb was sealed off though a network of roadblocks. Although aware of the roadblocks, MDC supporters and civil society activists nonetheless successfully slipped through the cordon to reach the venue. The police reacted by charging at the activists with “batons, rifle butts, everything”35, tear gassed the crowd and then fired live ammunition, killing one protestor36 after youths had responded by throwing stones at the police. The police arrested over 50 opposition leaders and civil society activists who had tried to make their way to the meeting. About 30 were taken to Machipisa police station. Others such as MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai were arrested when they went to the Machipisa police station to locate their colleagues. Eyewitness accounts of what followed at Machipisa were given by several victims, some of which are reproduced below. The activists were held in a fenced court yard outside the police cells. A group of 15 men and some women then entered the court yard and ordered the arrestees to lie on the ground. They then commenced beating the activists with batons, iron bars, buckled belts and whips and kicking and jumping on them. The assaults continued for three hours, with the assailants working in teams of four. Prominent leaders, among them Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Lovemore Madhuku, Grace Kwinjeh, Nelson Chamisa, and Sekai Holland (aged 65), were singled out for special treatment. Nelson Chamisa was whipped for almost twenty minutes and Morgan Tsvangirai passed out three times during the course of the assault, losing a large amount of blood from a head wound. An amputee was callously beaten on the stump of his leg and a man who had been disabled from polio had his disabled leg smashed at the ankle with an iron bar. Over 48 hours would pass before any medical attention was allowed to the injured. Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) later noted the following concerning people treated by their members: “Some of the injuries documented were consistent with beatings with blunt objects heavy enough to cause the following: 34 • Fractures to hands, arms and legs in 5 individuals including Lovemore Madhuku with a fractured ulna. 3 of these, Elton Mangoma, Sekai Holland and Morgan Tsvangirai sustained multiple fractures. • Severe, extensive and multiple soft tissue injuries to the backs, shoulders, arms, buttocks and thighs of 14 individuals. • Head injuries to 3 individuals, Nelson Chamisa, Morgan Tsvangirai and Lovemore Madhuku with the latter two sustaining deep lacerations to the scalp. The MDC also mounted a legal challenge to the ban, which was not attended to for urgent determination by the High Court. 35 See HRW report fn 29 p14 36 See above on the ZRP’s use of firearms p11.