17
not covered by the Clemency Order of October 2000. No charges were brought in respect of this
second set of violations against Dr Hunzvi.
At least three other names re-emerged subsequent to the election. Assistant Inspector Majora
and Constable Cuthbert Mapfumo were both named as being involved in the unlawful arrest and
assault of lawyer Tawanda Hondora (see page 30), whilst CIO operative Masocha was named as
being involved in the torture of TD (see page 27). In Makoni, Nathaniel “Punish” Mhiripiri,
previously mentioned in the 2000 General Election, was again mentioned in two more incidents of
torture42.
In the Bindura bye-election, the candidate, Elliot Manyika, was mentioned as being directly
implicated in two violent assaults, and charges have been preferred in both of these cases. The
notorious Joseph Chinotimba, self-styled war veteran and now the leader of the Zimbabwe
Federation of Trades Unions (ZFTU), was also mentioned in two incidents in which torture took
place.
There were incidents in which the MDC was implicated in violence, but not in torture. Members of
the MDC were the most common victims seen, but, as can be seen from the Table below, Zanu
(PF) supporters were also victims. In a high percentage of cases, the victims were merely
ordinary citizens and not members of a political party. Most of these were the victims of Zanu
(PF), presumably because they were perceived as MDC supporters.
Affiliations of victims from cases recorded.
MDC
Zanu (PF)
Ordinary citizens
66%
12%
22%
Overall, it is safe to conclude that organised violence and torture characterized the bye-elections
that took place in 2001. The pattern strongly replicated that seen during the June 2000
Parliamentary Elections. It thus possible to make similar statements about these bye-elections,
and to conclude that the conditions did not approach the kinds of standards that should operate in
democratic elections. In particular, the levels of organised violence and torture recorded are
inimical to free and fair elections, irrespective of the climate that pertained on the actual polling
days.
42
See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2001), Who was responsible? A consolidated analysis of pre-election
violence in Zimbabwe, HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM.
AMANI TRUST: Organised Violence and Torture in the Bye-Elections held in Zimbabwe during 2000 and 2001.
Select target paragraph3
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