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Violence by army and police personnel against civilians
in towns
Immediately following the announcement of the results of the general election, army
personnel were deployed with police details. There had been a few incidents of
post-election violence in the cities and towns, and the reason given for the deployment of
the police and army was to prevent further outbreaks of such violence. However, as time
went on there were numerous reports of people being beaten up who were not engaging in any
acts of violence. This has led to a perception that the heavy-handed tactics being
employed by army personnel are aimed more to do with punishing people in the towns for
having voted for the MDC than they have to do with the maintenance of law and order.
Even The Herald which
would have been expected to have supported this clampdown, has strongly criticised the way
in which these operations are being carried out. Additionally in its editorial comment on
24 July, it correctly points out that soldiers are not trained to use minimum force, and
soldiers therefore make bad policemen. It also points out that it has generally been
peaceful in all residential areas apart from a handful of incidents in the first day or
two after the election results were announced, although it says that the strong patrols by
the police and army helped to achieve this result. It suggests that army personnel should
no longer be used for patrolling, but should simply be held in reserve to be called in by
the police if necessary.
The last time the army was deployed in support of the police was during
the food riots that occurred in January 1998. In the quelling of these riots and in the
aftermath of the riots there were numerous incidents in which the army used excessive and
sometimes fatal force. This is documented in the Human Rights Forum entitled A
Consolidated Report on the Foods Riots 19 – 29 January 1998. The Human Rights
Forum has assisted a number of the victims and their relatives to bring legal actions
against the responsible authorities. Some of the claimants have received compensation as a
result of these actions, and a number of the cases are still pending.
The excesses of army personnel during these operations are documented
in various newspaper reports. The most important articles are reproduced below.
| Police arrest 12 for post-election violence |
|
Daily News |
30 Jul, 2000 |
| Army units will not be withdrawn from
‘flashpoints’ |
|
The Herald |
13 Jun, 2000 |
| Army, police unleash new wave of terror |
|
Daily News |
03 Jul, 2000 |
| Army accused of brutality in townships |
|
IRIN Report |
14 Jul, 2000 |
| Army is still beating us up, say residents |
|
The Herald |
22 Jul, 2000 |
| Few bad apples spoiling the army’s good
name |
|
The Herald Editorial |
24 Jul, 2000 |
| Over 20 assault reports lodged against
soldiers |
|
The Herald |
25 Jul, 2000 |
| Parliament set to investigate deployment of
army in townships |
|
The Independent |
28 Jul, 2000 |
| Comment |
|
Amnesty International |
24 Jul, 2000 |
| Army redeployed in high-density suburbs |
|
The Financial Gazette |
03 Aug, 2000 |
Statements by complainants to the Human Rights Legal
Unit (HRLU)
The following statements have been made by complainants to the HRLU of the Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum:
Statement by Mr X, aged 31
I was coming from town and had decided to go and buy some beer at Tafara shopping
centre . It was at around 8 pm, and there were four of us. 4 army trucks arrived with
about 80 soldiers, as well as a truck full of policemen. We were ordered to lie on our
stomachs and they started to pour our beer on us, declaring that we were being assaulted
for voting for MDC. I was assaulted with a rifle butt and a bullet belt all over the body.
One of them struck me on the nose with a rifle butt, and I bled profusely from the nose
and mouth. I also suffered injuries on my ribs because of the assaults with their booted
feet. The assaults continued for about three hours in Munatsi bar. There were people all
over the shopping centre who were being assaulted for no apparent reason. The soldiers
were armed and wearing maroon berets. I lost three lower teeth because of the beatings.
The soldiers I think came from the same battalion that assaulted people during the food
riots. We were then ordered to get up singing and leave the area. I could not go and
report the matter to the police until today. We were turned down by the police, who said
that we should have reported it the same day we were assaulted.
Statement by Mr Y, aged 26
On 30 June at around 9.00 pm I was coming from Mabvuku to buy sandpaper. I was passing
through Tafara shopping centre and there were several soldiers, one of whom started
shouting "This is the other one!" They started assaulting me with a sjambok and
a rifle butt. During the beating, I fell down on the ground, and I received several
injuries. Some of the soldiers were shouting, "This is the change you voted
for!" I suffered injuries on the right eye and nose. They took off my shirt and in
the process I lost my wallet, which had about $700 and my ID in it. I only noticed this
when I reached home. I did not report it to the police, because I was afraid of another
attack. When we were being assaulted, there was also a truck full of police who were
watching. The soldiers wore maroon berets. The following morning, whilst we were talking
to the Daily News crew, a police truck came past, and they shouted that they would
come back for some more assaults. I went to report the matter on 3 July, but no statements
were recorded, although the Mabvuku Police did promise to investigate.
Statement by Mr Z, aged 25
On 30 June at about 9.00 pm, I was assaulted by members of the National Army whilst I
was going to buy some groceries at Tafara Shopping Centre. They used open hands, baton
sticks and ammunition belts to assault me. I suffered injuries on my knee and ankle (right
leg). When I was assaulted I fell down into a trench and managed to escape that way. There
were about 80 soldiers, and they wore maroon berets. I received no medication, and could
not report the matter for fear of victimization, because the police were also present
during the incident.
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