Disappearances
Throughout the disturbances, there were cases of people who disappeared. These became more common from mid-1983 onwards, and were at their worst during 1985. This was an election year, and in early 1985, possibly hundreds of people were detained under mysterious circumstances in the middle of the night. Some of these were later released, but others have never been seen again to this day. These people are believed to have been taken mainly by CIO and PISI. Some cases are very well documented, including the case of nine men who disappeared in Silobela in 1985.

The impact of disappearances on communities is profound. It is culturally very important for families to give their deceased a dignified burial and pay due respects. Failure to do so causes great emotional pain. The spirits of the dead who have not been given proper rites are considered to be restless and angry, and have been blamed in Matabeleland for the droughts and hardship in the region.

Not just the disappeared, but the spirits of those buried in mass graves or in mine shafts cause serious upset in Matabeleland and Midlands communities to this day.

ZANU-PF Youth brigades
From late 1984, there was an increase in violence in urban centres as well as in rural areas. This was related to the upcoming election, and was once more aimed at ZAPU supporters rather than at dissidents. The ZANU-PF Youth Brigades were responsible for much of this violence. They intimidated Ndebele-speakers with mob beatings, property burning and murders. ZANU-PF Youth were modelled on the Chinese Red Guard, and were groups of young men who forced people to attend ZANU-PF rallies, buy ZANU-PF cards, and who beat anyone who stood in their way.

Between June 1984 and August 1985, they caused extensive damage in Gweru, Beitbridge, Plumtree, Silobela and Harare. This left around 4000 homeless, hundreds injured and scores of people dead. The Government seemed to sanction their behaviour: few were ever charged or brought to trial for the destruction. After the 1985 elections, Prime Minister Mugabe gave a speech in Shona in which he told his supporters to "go and uproot the weeds from your garden". This led to three days of rioting against Ndebele-speakers in Harare, the hacking to death of a ZAPU candidate and the killings of several other civilians.

The CIO
The CIO was also responsible for serious human rights abuses during these years. Its members played a role in the disappearances. They also detained possibly thousands of others who were later released. They used many methods of torture on those they detained and interrogated. These were well documented in a CCJP report on Torture in Zimbabwe, and many others have documented abuses too. Methods included electric shocks, falanga (beating on the feet), submarine (putting a person's head in a bucket of water). There are also reports of people having their legs tied to a tree branch and their arms to the bumper of a car, which was then reversed until the person was "on the wrack". People were also suspended by their wrists, or interrogated naked.

People in detention were kept in terrible conditions. They were overcrowded, under fed, could not clean themselves, and had poor bedding. In addition they were kept within ear shot of others being tortured, so they could hear their screams. Tortured people would be returned covered in blood to communal cells.

Once more, such torture seemed to have Government approval. A CIO official who was found guilty of cold bloodedly shooting dead a detainee in Esigodini, was immediately given a Presidential pardon.

Police Internal Security Intelligence Unit (PISI)
PISI was a secretive and elite division within the Ministry of Home Affairs. They were similar to the CIO. They wore plain clothes and had powers of arrest. Cde Enos Nkala was made Minister of Home Affairs in late 1985, and he used PISI as his personal unit. Cde Nkala had a long standing hatred for ZAPU, and he used his Ministerial powers to try to crush ZAPU altogether. Soon after entering office, Nkala said: "We want to wipe out the ZAPU leadership ... The murderous organisation and its murderous leadership must be hit so hard they it doesn't feel obliged to do the things it has been doing."

PISI was involved in detaining and disappearing people as well. Often it was hard to tell when it was CIO and when it was PISI involved.

More arrests
In 1985, Minister Nkala had five ZAPU Members of Parliament and eight high ranking ex-ZIPRA members in the army detained. They were held for several months while the Government decided whether to formalise treason charges against them or not. Cde Sydney Malunga, the ZAPU chief whip, was eventually charged with aiding and abetting dissidents, but the evidence against him was not convincing, and he was acquitted. However, he and the others were kept in detention without trial until September 1986.

By the end of 1986, there were very few ZAPU officials from the top leadership down to minor office bearers, who had not been detained, harassed, beaten, killed, or forced into exile.

Dissident activities between 1984 and 1987
There was an upsurge in dissident violence in the wake of the general election of 1985. One of the worst cases was the murder at Mwenezi of seventeen Shona speaking villagers, including small children. They were murdered by dissidents by being herded into a hut which was set on fire. As people tried to run out, they were shot, including two 2-year olds. This attack was immediately widely condemned by many, including CCJP, who expressed shock at the "abhorrent and cowardly violence" and called on "all those with real or imagined political grievances to forsake violence and to address their grievances to Government in a peaceful and responsible manner."

In 1986, there was very little press coverage given to dissident activities. During 1987, there was a noticeable increase in dissident crimes, including 66 murders, 44 property losses and 17 assaults. There was a major attack on a farmers' club near Gweru, and two tourists murdered on the way to Victoria Falls. Six clinic staff were also murdered in Nkayi: although this incident was attributed to dissidents, some aspects of the case suggest this could have been carried out by Government agencies.

At the end of November 1987, weeks before the signing of the Unity Accord, dissidents hacked 16 missionaries to death in Matobo, among them five children.

Moves towards Unity
Although ZAPU won 15 seats in the 1985 election, it was unable to operate well as a party. Too many of its leaders had been detained or had fled the country. ZAPU councils in rural areas were dissolved under emergency powers and ZAPU supporters were still suffering from the effects of 5 Brigade.

Form late 1985, ZANU-PF began negotiating with ZAPU leaders to dissolve ZAPU into ZANU-PF. Several ZAPU leaders were released from jail to accommodate this, including Cdes Dumiso Dabengwa and Lookout Masuku, who had been detained for many years. Masuku died a few days later. There was slow progress towards Unity reported in the press. However, in June 1986, Minister Nkala announced the banning of all ZAPU rallies. This was followed with the closing of ZAPU offices and then on 22 September, Nkala effectively banned ZAPU altogether. He ordered that "all ZAPU structures be set aside...From now on ZAPU would be viewed in the same manner as the MNR bandits in Mozambique".

However, by 30 October, talks seemed to be resuming, and on 1 December ZAPU offices were reopened.

The Unity Accord
On 22 of December 1987, Prime Minister Mugabe and the leader of ZAPU, Cde Joshua Nkomo, signed the Unity Accord. This effectively dissolved ZAPU into ZANU-PF.

The Amnesty
On 18 April 1988, Prime Minister Mugabe announced an amnesty for all dissidents, and Minister Nkomo called on them to lay down their arms. A general ordinance was issued saying all those who surrendered before 31 May would get a full pardon. This was extended not just to dissidents but to criminals of various types serving jail terms. Over the next few weeks, 122 dissidents surrendered.

In June, the amnesty was extended to include all members of the security forces who had committed human rights violations.