Mr Deve is a youth district chairman for MDC in Kambuzuma, Harare. He survived torture and assault at the hands of men he alleges are CIO operatives. He is now in fear of his life and unable to return to his home. On 28 April 2000, following an MDC meeting and a drink in a local bar, Mr Deve was walking home when he was seized by a gang of six men. They were armed with a gun and were driving a Mazda 626. They said: "You think you are clever, you MDC people are now behaving like you are already ruling the country." Mr Deve says he recognised one of the men who lives in his local area and "is from the President’s office."

Mr Deve was abducted and beaten in the car, then taken to waste ground, where he was forced to lie down. He was held down by four of the men, while the fifth inserted a wire into his penis and anus. He remembers little after this, since, he explained: "I fainted and they left me for dead."

Mr Deve came round eventually and managed to reach the roadside, where a passerby took him to the police, who then called an ambulance. He says that members of the CIO came looking for him at the hospital. Mr Deve was medically examined and has injuries consistent with the torture described. He is due to have an operation, but there is a chance that he may never be able to have children. At present he is in much pain and deeply anxious following threats and a break in at the place he had sought refuge. He spoke of the continuing threats to his life:

Rural Militia
The situation in rural areas is acute, with the MDC organisers in the frontline of a campaign to destroy the party in many areas. Attacks upon MDC activists are now very common.

The story told by Mr Ndlovu from Murehwa was typical of what is happening in the rural areas. The 75-year-old chairman of Musani South was fortunate to escape in time when he saw a gang of some 100 Zanu PF supporters approaching his house on 9 May, around 4:45 pm. They came in a lorry and two pick up trucks to his house, but Mr Ndlovu, who had already been beaten by war veterans only a month earlier, saw them and immediately fled. His wife however was determined to find their grandson whom she thought was still at their house. The little boy had run home, but Mrs Ndlovu was still there when the attackers arrived. Pointing a gun at her head, the Zanu (PF) supporters demanded she hand over her husband’s T-shirts and books related to MDC. They confiscated MDC manifestos and T-shirts and then, demanding to know where Mr Ndlovu was, they marched his wife to a bus stop at Musami mission, forced her to lie down and then beat her with sjamboks and chains.

The neighbouring house which belonged to Mr Ndlovu’s brother was burnt down and the family lost everything. Although both Mr Ndlovu and his brother made reports to the police, when they asked what protection they could be given, the police simply said: "If you surrender to these people its much better."

Mr Ndlovu left Musani for Harare the day after the incident, but his wife was reportedly still receiving threats and property had been stolen from the house. Mr Ndlovu also described a previous incident in which his grandson was beaten. He says schools in the area have been closed and that the Brother at the mission has been forced to give up his car to the Zanu (PF) supporters. Ndlovu believes the men behind all of these attacks are "camped at the Shanuwe restaurant in Musani growth point ... under the command of an Ndebele ex-combatant called Ncube." He also accuses the local Zanu (PF) leadership of involvement in this violence.

The chairman of Macheke district MDC also narrowly escaped a crowd of Zanu (PF) supporters who said they had come to "get me and chop off my head." He believes that they were led by ex-combatants from Marondera, Mutoko and Murehwa, under the command of a man called Garwe and that their intention was to take him to their base at Fault Farm, Marimatombo. He is currently in Harare, awaiting news of the security situation in Macheke. He described the attempted assault on 14 May:

Urban Militia
In Budiriro, Harare, there has been a spate of abductions and torture at the surgery in Budiriro 4 belonging to war-veteran’s leader, Chenjerai Hunzvi, as well as reports of retaliation by MDC members. One MDC supporter, Takundwa Chipunza, is known to have been killed by Zanu (PF) supporters inside or near the surgery. The NGO Forum has interviewed several people from Budiriro who say they were captured and taken to the surgery. They have given consistent accounts of the activities and identities of the militia which has its base there. They have been medically examined and bear physical scars of their torture and have the accompanying emotional problems. One of the first to be captured was Mr Matongo, aged 38, who lives near the surgery and runs a small hardware business there. He is an MDC member and following severe beatings, he revealed some information about the structures of MDC in the area. He was kept inside from 11 am until 7 pm. He described the perpetrators.

Other victims of the torturers at the surgery said that there were many Ndebele and Venda speakers among them and confirmed that they had come from all over the country. One identified himself as a soldier from Mutare, while another group were from Gutu.

27-year-old Mr Saidi from Budiriro admits taking part in a fight against the Zanu (PF) supporters at Hunzvi’s surgery on 16 May, the same date that Chipunza of the MDC was killed there. He argues that the fight was begun by Zanu (PF) supporters who stoned an MDC meeting near the surgery and that the MDC members then chased Zanu (PF), fighting with them near the surgery. He says a number of the group at the surgery were armed and that the battle ended when one of them shot at him. His leg was injured. He then heard the attackers turn on Chipunza. His account goes on as follows: