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Who should be sanctioned?
A P Reeler
Former Director, Amani Trust
Executive Committee Member, The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
January 31, 2003

The "Top Fifty": The worst of the worst
As will be seen from Table 6 (also Appendix 2), the 50 most frequently mentioned perpetrators, from amongst the total of 608, show a very interesting spread of affiliations, and this spread to some extent modifies some of the trends above.

Category of Perpetrator	% of total	% of the worst
Member of Parliament	4.2	12
Central Intelligence Organisation	0.65	2
Zimbabwe Republic Police	6.31	4
Zimbabwe National Army	0.65	0
Zimbabwe Prison Service	0	0
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association	10.8	28
ZanuPF (Supporter)	74.9	54
ZanuPF (Youth)	0.93	0
ZanuPF (Official)	0.5	0
Government & local government officials	1.08	0

"War veterans" and ZanuPF supporters previously accounted for about 85% of the total, and this trend is again seen in the top 50, but the weightings for the two groups change. Amongst the worst, "war veterans" now account for 28% and ZanuPF supporters only 54%. This again suggests organization behind the violence, with the role of "war veteran" leaders such as Dr Hunzvi and Border Gezi being complimented by their subordinates such as Norman Josaya or Biggie Chitoro.

MPs again form a much higher percentage of the worst perpetrators, with the overall percentage shifting from 4% of the total to 12% of the worst. This again reinforces the view that the violence and torture was organized, and that, at the core of the organization, were important ZanuPF supporters and government officials.

As will be seen from the list of names in Appendix 2, the worst perpetrators are also persons mentioned many times in the reports of the Human Rights Forum, as well in the data derived from the Zimbabwean press reports. Very few – Biggie Chitoro and Joseph Mwale only – are implicated in extra-judicial killings or summary executions, and the majority are involved in torture. Torture is the most frequent gross human right violation, and torture – either as assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm or common assault – was one of the categories of crime covered by the Presidential Amnesty of October 2000. This amnesty is yet another piece of evidence supporting the assertion, made through this paper, that the violence and torture were organized and condoned by the ZanuPF government.

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