A special paper by the

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum

April 2014
 Structural Violence
& Organised Violence
and Torture
In Zimbabwe

A special paper by the

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
April 2014
Table of Contents

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................................................ii

INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................................................1

OBJECTIVES...............................................................................................................................................................4

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM......................................................................................................................5

METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................................................................6
Research questions...............................................................................................................................................................6

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ..........................................................................................................................7

Factors that facilitate organised violence and torture .......................................................................................10
Factors that promote the use of Organised Violence and Torture (OVT) ...................................................10
Structural violence factors that contribute to organised violence and torture........................................12

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................16

REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................................................................17

A special paper by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum i

ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the interplay between structural violence and organised violence
and torture in Zimbabwe. For a long time, the work of human rights research and
advocacy has focused on tangible and more overt forms of violence, such as organised
violence and torture. This emphasis and concentration on the more overt forms of
violence has marginalized the contribution of the salient and subtle forms of violence -
also called structural violence. There is increasing realisation that the impact of the more
covert forms of violence on the general public cannot be underestimated. Reviewing the
Zimbabwean situation, we notice that some social, economic and political arrangements
and policies have resulted in systematic violation of human rights. The net effects of these
violations are manifest in some of the overt violence experienced normally through
clashes between the state and its citizens. By “applying structural violence lenses to the
human rights discourse, there emerges a clear emphasis on the need for special
protection of social and economic rights that have for too long been marginalized in favor
of civil and political rights”. 1 The paper proposes and demonstrates the direct relationship
between structural violence and organised violence and torture in Zimbabwe.

1
Kathleen H O, Structural Violence as a Human Rights Violation, Essex Human Rights Review Vol. 4 No. 2 September 2007

ii STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND ORGANISED VIOLENCE AND TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE

INTRODUCTION
This paper discusses the relationship between structural and direct violence in Zimbabwe.
The concept of structural violence is rarely used to discuss the Zimbabwean political
process and therefore direct violence has been overly viewed as the primary form of
violence. Structural violence may be conceived as “the killing, infliction of psychological
harm and physical harm or deprivation through violent socio-economic or political
structures.2 Additionally, structural violence is seen as “the physical and psychological harm
that results from exploitative and unjust social, political and economic systems”.3 In other
words, “structural violence is a by-product of the historical process of social, economic and
political change”.4 While direct violence involves the use of visible force, structural violence
in these cases does not require one to see the harm in operation or to say that someone
intended its use.5 Shared among the definitions given is the embedding of structural
violence in the socio-economic and political systems. Therefore, the need to have a closer
look at social, economic and political systems help to show how the processes have
influenced the occurrence of structural violence. The manifold deprivations and exclusion
evident in the socio-economic and political arrangements take away human dignity and
are a hindrance to the attainment of healthy human states. Direct violence is consequently
triggered when there is clash of preferences and interests between the excluded and the
powers that be. Usually, the process of changing the status quo is met with resistance and
skepticism that results in violent oppression.

2
Galtung J (1969), “Violence, Peace, and Peace Research,” Journal of Peace Research 6:3 pp. 167– 191
3
Gilman R (1983), Structural Violence: Can we find genuine peace in a world with inequitable distribution of wealth among nations?
4
Rowson M (2012), Violence and development, in Structural violence and the underlying causes of violent conflict (Salvage J, Rowson M, Melf K and
Sandoy I eds, 2012) Medical Peace Work course 4
5
Rowson M (2012), Violence and development, in Structural violence and the underlying causes of violent conflict (Salvage J, Rowson M, Melf K and
Sandoy I eds, 2012) Medical Peace Work course 4

A special paper by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum 1

Structural violence manifests in various forms including ethnicity6 poverty and inequalities,7
colonial legacy,8 as well as structural adjustment programmes (SAPs)9 in particular.10 Critical to
note in structural violence is that poverty or ill health or lack of access to services (the violent
processes) is generally blamed on the victim, when in actual fact it is the state responsible.

Structural violence has some terrible effects. It erases the history and consciousness of the
social origins of poverty, sickness, hunger, and premature death.11 The embeddedness of
structural violence also results in the above challenges being taken for granted or
naturalised so that no one is held accountable.

Many human rights reports in Zimbabwe have focused on direct violence because it is easy
to identify the perpetrator, victim and form of violence used; and even quantifying the
extent of damage. Direct violence is “the most obvious and overt form of violence
perpetuated by one or more disputants directly upon those with whom they are in
conflict”.12 Direct violence, which includes organised violence and torture, denote the use of
physical force and is typified by intimidation, murder, torture, rape, and assault among
others.

Since independence Zimbabwean society faced the threat of organised violence and
torture. The problem has not diminished despite efforts made by different stakeholders,

6
Young M.C (1986) Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Class in Africa: A Retrospective.
Cahiers d'études africaines, Volume 26, Issue 103 pp. 421-495
7
Fearon J.D and Laitin D.D. “Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War”. American Political Science Review 97, 1 (Feb 2003): pp.75-90
8
Reno W (1998) Warlord Politics and African States. Lynne Rienerr Publishing, London.
9
Ethnicity is a collection of individuals whose members recognises each other by a similar tradition, that normally consist of a similar tradition,
language, belief and an ideology that emphasizes similar endogamy and lineage. In this case, ethnicity becomes the exclusion criteria.

Poverty is a multidimensional concept involving lack or deprivation of resources and capabilities as well as choices, security, power and rights (e.g.
civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights). One can be poor through a lack or deprivation of one or more of the above aspects. The leading
cause of poverty is “inequality”, a measure of the relative distribution of the various aspects of poverty in and across populations, societies and
nations that favors certain categories while depriving others.

Colonial legacy in Zimbabwe refers to a set of unequal relationships between the former colonial masters and the independent Zimbabwe.

Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) – was a United Nations imposed set of economic steps, which Zimbabwe agreed to follow in
1991. SAPs typically prescribed trade liberalisation, devaluation, privatisation, and huge cuts in government spending and social services like
education and health and the deregulation of working conditions. The measures consequently negatively affected the general population.
10
Adepoji A (ed 1993), The Impact of Structural Adjustment on the Population of Africa. James Currey, London.
11
Hughes N.S and Bourgois P (2004), Introduction: Making Sense of Violence
12
Christie, D. J, Wagner, R. V., & Winter, D. A. (Eds.). (2001), Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century. Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

2 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND ORGANISED VIOLENCE AND TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE

such as human rights organisations, human rights systems and the existence of regional
and international human rights Conventions. This deficit may be attributable to non-
inclusion of structural violence in the equation. Therefore an investigation on the nature of
structural violence can make a valuable contribution to the understanding of the
underlying causes of organised violence and torture.

From 2000 to 2008 the Zimbabwean social, economic and political crisis worsened,
characterized by gross human rights violations, disrespect of the rule of the law, shortages
of basic commodities, and hyperinflation among other ills that are already documented.
The economic crisis resulted in unprecedented unemployment levels estimated to have
risen sharply from 50% in 1999 to 95% in 2009.13 The industrial and agricultural sectors
imploded. The increase in unemployed youths on the streets created an opportunity for
the conflict entrepreneurs to hire them for acts of violence against their known and
perceived enemies in exchange for jobs, cash and/or beer.

Non-state actors mounted pressure on the state to address direct violence against citizens.
In the background other forms of invisible human rights abuses took place. The violations
were characterised by a lack of clear identification of actors, making it less visible (but not
less harmful). This resulted in less advocacy work around it.

An analysis of structural violence (its causes and effects) will help show the interplay
between structural and direct violence. This will assist in coming up with long term
solutions that will put an end to endemic human rights problems that the general
populace face. By acknowledging the subtlety of structural violence, it is possible to assign
culpability and the social, legal and economic systems that have to be challenged.

13
CIA World fact book 2011 obtained from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2129.html

A special paper by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum 3

OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the study is to determine the interplay between structural violence
and organised violence and torture. Specifically, the paper seeks:

l
To identify structural violence factors that create conditions for organised violence
and torture.
l
To determine causal linkages between structural violence and direct violence.

4 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND ORGANISED VIOLENCE AND TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Forms of structural violence have persisted over time. There has been little
acknowledgement of the negative and the provocative effect that structural violence has
in Zimbabwe. Consequently very little has been invested towards addressing structural
violence issues that underlie direct violence. Direct violence has persisted despite
campaigns by citizens to create conditions for and an environment of non-violence.
Sustained violence over the years suggests that conditions for violence and vulnerability
are found in structural conditions. It is through the understanding and a deliberate effort to
deal with the problem of structural violence, that meaningful intervention work to combat
direct violence may be possible.

A special paper by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum 5

METHODOLOGY
This paper makes use of qualitative research methods through a review of relevant
literature on structural violence and organised violence and torture. Reports, publications
and data documented by various researchers and human rights organisations were
extensively analysed in order to come with an understanding of structural violence in
Zimbabwe and the nature and form of linkages between structural violence and direct
violence. A desk research was chosen over other methods of data collection because of
the wide availability of literature on structural violence and direct violence.

Research Questions

The paper was guided by the following questions:

1. What are the factors that facilitate organised violence and torture?
2. What is the nature of the linkages between structural violence and organised
violence and torture?
3. What are the structural violence issues that contribute to organised violence and
torture?
4. What methods can be put in place to lobby against violence?

6 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND ORGANISED VIOLENCE AND TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The term structural violence has an old and increasingly wide usage, and it would be well to
situate the concept proposed here in reference to that literature. Below is a survey of the
concept of structural violence from academics and institutions that have used it.
Understanding of structural violence requires a wholesome comprehension of the wide
framework of concepts and language used in conflict work. The phrase “structural violence”
was coined by Johan Galtung in his path-breaking 1969 article, “Violence, Peace, and Peace
Research”. Galtung conceived this form of violence as a pervasive form of violence that is
“built into” structures, institutions, ideologies, and histories.14 Many authors that followed
Gultung all agree that structural violence is a form of violence, which “shapes and reshapes
our experiences that cannot be accounted for by liability-based models of agency and
force”.15 It is because Galtung's work is still relevant that we are able to “understand our
present moment and our collective past”.16

Over forty years of work, Gultung sought to broaden our understanding of violence, not to
dilute our ability to hold individuals responsible for their actions, but rather to enhance our
ability to identify more clearly the ways in which stability and tranquility (often if not always
mistaken for peace) mask a deeper and more pervasive violence. His expansive definition,
that “Violence is present when human beings are being influenced so that their actual
somatic and mental realizations are below their potential realizations is critical to our
understanding of violence.” Winter enables an account of violence that extends beyond
the personal to include structural and cultural sources of such violence.17

This view presupposes that unequal access to resources, to political power, to education, to
health care, or to legal standing, are forms of structural violence.18 Equally, when society's
social institutions are characterized by exploitation, political exclusion, and unequal access
to resources, the structural forces often create a system of winners and losers in which the
losers only hope for the redress of the prevailing situation. Structural violence often
manifests, in the form of power inequity, poverty, and the denial of basic human rights in

14
Winter et al (2012), “Violence and Visibility,” New Political Science 34:2 (2012), pp. 168.
15
Galtung J (1969), “Violence, Peace, and Peace Research,” Journal of Peace Research 6:3 pp. 167– 191
16
Winter et al (2012), “Violence and Visibility,” New Political Science 34:2 (2012), pp. 192
17
Winter et al (2012), “Violence and Visibility,” New Political Science 34:2 (2012),
18
Christie, D. J, Wagner, R. V., & Winter, D. A. (Eds.). (2001), Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century. Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

A special paper by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum 7

which individuals and groups suffer from inadequate access to resources, exclusion from
institutional patterns of decision-making, discrimination, lack of education, and inadequate
employment opportunities. Unfortunately, even those who are victims of structural
violence often do not see the systematic ways in which their plight is choreographed by
unequal and unfair distribution of society's resources. Such is the insidiousness of structural
violence.19

Structural violence is embedded in the socio-economic and political arrangements of the

day. Unequal access to resources, political power, education and health care, are other
forms of structural violence. When citizens go hungry, a kind of violence is taking place.
Similarly, when people starve to death, suffer from diseases that are preventable, denied a
decent education, housing, an opportunity to work, raise a family, express themselves
freely, organize peacefully, or to participate in their own governance, a kind of violence is
occurring even if bullets or clubs are not used.20

However, there are strong critiques to Galtung's original conceptualization of structural

violence. He is critiqued for over relying on invisibility. Winter argues that Gultung “relies
heavily on the language of invisibility, and it assumes that the persistence of structural
violence over time and across generations is a function of that invisibility”.21 According to
Galtung's primary argument, if we can see violence, then we can stop it. Conversely, Winter
argues, it is the ceaseless repetition in the open, not its invisibility, that it is hidden. He
further argues that it is the normalcy of everyday violence that enables it to be “inherited”
across generations ultimately rendering it invisible.22

For Zimbabwe, the structure of society and the interaction between its parts plays a critical
role in determining the resultant relations that may be healthy or unhealthy. The
emergence of relations has revolved around access and distribution of perceived shared
resources. An individual, entity, organisation or agency therefore becomes a party in the
resultant relationships in which the main aim of each party is to get a hand on the resources.
Systematic deprivation results in conflicting preferences and interests, between the

19
Christie, D. J, Wagner, R. V., & Winter, D. A. (Eds.). (2001), Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century. Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
20
Christie, D. J., Wagner, R. V., & Winter, D. A. (Eds.). (2001). Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century. Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
21
Winter et al (2012), “Violence and Visibility,” New Political Science 34:2 (2012),
22
Winter et al (2012), “Violence and Visibility,” New Political Science 34:2 (2012),

8 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND ORGANISED VIOLENCE AND TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE

winners and losers competing for the same resources. The losers more often than not resort
to direct violence to get a fairer share.

Kent23 sees a preference as an indication of the choices a party would make among the
possible outcomes of a situation. Parties involved in any decision making struggle to make
sure they get the best outcome in any of the adopted resolutions. An analysis of mining-
induced displacement and resettlement in Zimbabwe will help show how the socio-
economic and political structures result in structural violence. The Marange diamonds case
gives a gloomy picture. Despite being touted as the world's biggest diamond find in more
than a century,24 the find has not directly transformed the lives of the local people. In
January 2009, the government announced its plans to resettle 4,700 Chiadzwa villagers to
the 12,000-hectare Arda Transau Farm, Odzi. Resettlement plans provoked protests
amongst Chiadzwa villagers.25 The protests are evidence that there was no proper
engagement with the community. While part of the families have been relocated to Arda,
the companies responsible for the exploration, promised to build schools and clinics and to
provide residents with basic social services. On the ground, provision of the social services
and the amenities has been elusive, representing a major form of structural violence and an
abuse of basic human rights.

The case of people displaced at Chiadzwa resemble a great deal of conflicting preferences
where the government is pushing out villagers against their wish so as to pave way for full
scale mining of diamonds.26 The identified destination for the people displaced at
Chiadzwa lacks basic services, making it a threat to the attainment of healthy citizenry.

Thus structural violence like direct violence produces suffering and even death though the
damage is slower, subtle and difficult to repair. Structural violence is problematic in and of
itself, but it is also dangerous because it frequently leads to direct violence. It has the effect
of denying people important rights such as economic opportunities, social and political
equality, a sense of fulfillment and self-worth, among others.

23
Kent (2000) The Human Rights Approach to Reducing Malnutrition,” in M. K. Tolba, Our Fragile World: Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable
Development (Oxford, U.K.: Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), 2001). Preview version in Peace & Policy, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Summer
2000), pp. 18-23
24
The Zimbabwean, Marange: world’s largest diamond producer, February 20, 2014
25
Bogumil Terminski, Mining-Induced Displacement and Resettement: Social Problem and Human Rights Issue (A global perspective) obtained from
http://indr.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/B.-Terminski-Mining-Induced-Displacement-and-Resettlement.pdf
26
Madebwe, et al (2011) Involuntary displacement and resettlement to make way for diamond mining: the case of Chiadzwa villagers in Marange,
Zimbabwe

A special paper by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum 9

Factors that facilitate organised violence and torture

It is important to look into the factors that facilitate organised violence and torture in a
quest to come up with intervention strategies. Structural violence by its nature is an
oppressive framework that operates through powerful associations, organizations and
institutions that guarantees privilege amongst its leaders. The existence of structural
violence produces conflict as the oppressed and or the disadvantaged can resort to direct
confrontation to address their needs. Likewise the privileged armed with the machinery of
violence can resort to the use of organized violence and torture to quell the unrest caused
by structural violence. This section looks at some factors that promote the use of organised
violence and torture in Zimbabwe.

Factors that promote the use of Organised Violence & Torture (OVT)

1. Culture of Violence: This is a “system of government based on violence, submission and

brutal force” (Batsanov, 2006). The history of political violence in independent
Zimbabwe can be traced back to the Matabeleland disturbances in the 1980s in which
the government deployed similar “violence, submission and brutal force” following
reports of alleged banditry activities. An estimated 20000 lives were lost.27 Since the
Gukurahundi era, Zimbabwe has been characterized by violence allegedly perpetrated
mainly by state agents and their ancillaries. Major political events have been
characterized by sanctioned campaigns of violence, which have been conducted with
impunity. Perpetrators of human rights violations have not been held accountable for
their actions. Violent ways of settling differences have become a culture.

A culture of violence may leave an impression that violence is mysterious and can't be
pinned down.28 This has led to what Colaguori (2010) termed “naturalisation of
violence” in which the continued existence of violence is justified as inevitable and
unavoidable.

27
See the Breaking the Silence Report, 1998.
28
Claudio Colaguori, Symbolic Violence and the Violation of Human Rights: Continuing the Sociological Critique of Domination; International journal of
Criminology and Sociological Theory, Vol .3, No. 2, June 2010,

10 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND ORGANISED VIOLENCE AND TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE

2. Enactment of repressive legislation: Since 2000, the government enacted repressive
legislation as part of its clampdown on dissenting voices. The following draconian
pieces of legislation were introduced: The Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act [Chapter 10:27] (AIPPA), the Public Order and Security Act [Chapter 11:17]
(POSA), the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23], the Broadcasting
Services Act [Number 3:2001](BSA), the Interception of Communication Act (ICA) [Chapter
11:20] and the Official Secrets Act [11:09]. These pieces of legislation restricted the rights
of the majority of Zimbabweans to freely assemble, associate and express themselves
thereby allowing the government to stifle civil liberties.

3. Limited access to redress mechanisms for victims of organised violence and torture: This
has encouraged a culture of impunity for perpetrators.29 For example, in May 2008, the
Forum filed an application against the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) before the
SADC Tribunal on behalf of twelve of its clients who were all victims of organized
violence and torture. The GoZ was found in breach of its obligations to act in
accordance with the principle of “human rights, democracy, and the rule of law” by
failing to comply with court orders. In all the cases, the GoZ either failed and or
neglected to pay the judgment debts altogether, or, in the cases where it was paid,
the payment was done after lengthy delays thus rendering the compensation
amount useless due to inflation. This was compounded by the prohibitive legislative
terms such as the Section 5 of the State Liabilities Act Chapter [8.14], which does not
permit the attachment of state property in execution of a court judgment.30 This
statute, and government's attitude towards court orders effectively renders domestic
remedies ineffective and perpetuates a culture of impunity.

4. Selective application of the law: Selective application of the law involves irregular
interpretation and enforcement of the law by the law enforcement agencies.31 The
partisan nature of the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary is believed to have
affected their impartiality in the discharge of their duties, thereby affecting their
upholding of the rule of law. Unfortunately law enforcement agencies have let away

29
The SADC Tribunal: The rule of power versus the rule of law - The Tribunal Tragedy from http://hsf.org.za/resource-centre/hsf-briefs/the-sadc-
tribunal-the-rule-of-power-versus-the-rule-of-law-the-tribunal-tragedy accessed on January 23, 2014
30
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum v The Government of Zimbabwe SADC Tribunal Case No. 5/2008 April 21, 2009: Press releases obtained
from http://www.hrforumzim.org/press-releases/zimbabwe-human-rights-ngo-forum-v-the-government-of-zimbabwe-sadc-tribunal-case-no-52008/ on
10 March 2014
31
Zimbabwe Human Rights Report 2009, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2010)

A special paper by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum 11

 known suspects involved in politically motivated criminal acts. It is alleged that non-
ZANU PF members of parliament and perceived government critics (including
journalists, human rights defenders and students) were targeted for arrest on flimsy
charges and prosecuted.32 The leniency and disregard for justice delivery with which
perpetrators are treated will only work as motivator or incentive for the perpetrator to
further commit direct violence. Coupled with limited redress mechanisms for victims,
victims themselves may choose to retaliate. In the process, a vicious cycle of violence
is created in which perpetrators are motivated to infringe on the rights and freedoms
of others. The ZANU PF government has continually used selective application of the
law to deal with perceived enemies.

Structural violence factors that contribute to organised violence

and torture

This section will discuss social structures that harm or disadvantage individuals that include
amongst others, unsustainable policies, housing shortages, unemployment, social
inequalities, poverty and poor service delivery characterized by water shortages and power
cuts.

1. Unsustainable and populist national policies including the 1997 payment of gratuities
to veterans of the liberation struggle, involvement in the 1998 Democratic Republic of
Congo war as well as the 2000 fast track land reform programme are examples of
populist policies that worsened the Zimbabwean crisis. At a glance, November 14,
1997 will forever be remembered as 'Black Friday', when the Zimbabwe dollar lost 71.5
percent of its value against the US Dollar. The stock market subsequently crashed,
wiping away 46 percent from the value of shares as investors scrambled out of the
Zimbabwe Dollar. Black Friday is attributed to the failure of a number of government
policies such as the IMF's structural adjustment programmes (SAPs), unbudgeted
expenditure on war veterans and involvement in an unbudgeted regional warfare in
the DRC.33

32
Zimbabwe Human Rights Report 2009, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2010)
33
Mambondiani L, FY07 and investment lessons from 'Black Friday' last updated: 11/12/2009 14:59:24obtained from
http://newzimbabwe.com/pages/markets17.17115.html on March 10, 2014

12 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND ORGANISED VIOLENCE AND TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE

 Thereafter Zimbabwe faced an extraordinary and multidimensional crisis, which
peaked around 2008. This resulted in many problems. Médecins Sans Frontiers (MSF)
summed them: “an estimated three million Zimbabweans crossed the Limpopo River into
South Africa as a matter of survival. More than three-quarters of the remaining population
of nine million faced serious food shortages; maternal mortality tripled since the mid-
1990s; a cholera epidemic infected over 90,000 people, killing over 4,000; one in five adults
having been HIV positive, and one person died every four minutes from AIDS”. 34

Poor national policies coupled with government brutality resulted in further

problems for the nation. The difficult socio-economic environment that resulted
coincided with the 2008 election, which resulted in the defeat of ZANU-PF. It was
during the presidential run-off elections, as a result of no definite winner, that
thousands were beaten, displaced tortured and intimidated by partisan government
security and paramilitary forces.35 The political violence led to instability and socio-
economic crisis, including hyperinflation. The economic collapse brought industrial
and agricultural production to a virtual standstill; there were severe shortages of
essential goods, and basic infrastructure and public services had all but collapsed”.36
Overall, the major challenge became the continuous deterioration of the
humanitarian situation in the country.37

2. Housing shortages in Zimbabwean towns and cities has been one of the major
challenges of the post independence era. After independence in 1980 Zimbabwe's
cities experienced a proliferation in unplanned settlements. This was a result of rural -
urban migration and the subsequent failure of the urban economy to offer adequate
housing and jobs. This left peri-urban space as the only sanctuary for the urban poor
to live in and eke out a living informally.38 The failure by local authorities to provide
urban housing and social amenities led to the growth of many illegal structures
reflecting structural violence.

34
Christophe Fournier and Jonathan Whittall, MSF When the affected state causes the crisis: the case of Zimbabwe Issue 43 June 2009 Humanitarian
Exchange magazine
35
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, The military factor in Zimbabwe's political and electoral affairs obtained from
http://www.crisiszimbabwe.org/attachments/article/307/The%20Military%20Factor%20in%20Zimbabwe%20-%20Part%203.pdf
36
Christophe Fournier and Jonathan Whittall, MSF When the affected state causes the crisis: the case of Zimbabwe Issue 43 June 2009 Humanitarian
Exchange magazine
37
Ibid
38
Busani Mpofu, Perpetual 'Outcasts'? Squatters in peri-urban Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Africa focus — Volume 25, Nr. 2, 2012 accessed from
http://www.afrikafocus.eu/file/7 on Jan 29.

A special paper by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum 13

 While there was a failure to redress the housing challenges, government embarked
on a massive illegal structure demolition popularly known as “Operation
Murambatsvina” in May 2005. An estimated 700,000 urban Zimbabweans were
rendered homeless or unemployed by the operation.39 The police and the military
that carried out the operation reportedly arrested 40, 000 for alleged illegal activities
(ibid). Through this operation, serious human rights violations were committed
including assaults; malicious damage to property; forced relocations and denial of
access to healthcare and sanitation.

3 Unemployment and poverty. The twin problems of unemployment and poverty

engulfed the Zimbabwean society for more than a decade. By 2009 unemployment
levels had risen to 95%. The problem of unemployment can be traced back to the era
of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes (ESAP). Retrenchments, an
outcome of the ESAP, accounted for 80% of job loses during the first two years of
ESAP. 40

The society responded to ESAP through demonstrations on the streets, which was
met with police brutality. According to Bond, “Structural adjustment and the ethics of
materialism had created a culture of violence in society. What began as the need to express
socio-economic rights by the citizens was met with police brutality”. 41

4 Political patronage. The function of structural violence needs to be understood in

relation to an overall social system organized on the basis of violent political control.
The level of political control desired involves the moral imposition of irrational beliefs
on others that work against their own capacity for freedom of thought, as in the cases
of forcing people to belong to certain political parties. Forced rally attendances in
Zimbabwe represent an activity that affects civil liberties. In the Political Violence
Report of June 2003, the Forum documented several structural violence issues that
permeate into direct violence,42 with the major violations being a response to citizens'
expression of their fundamental freedoms. This has been the general trend in

39
Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina by the UN Special Envoy on Human
Settlements Issues in Zimbabwe by Mrs. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka accessed from http://ww2.unhabitat.org/documents/ZimbabweReport.pdf on 23
January 2014
40
Bond P, 1998 Uneven Zimbabwe: A Study of Finance, Development, and Underdevelopment, Africa World Press
41
Bond P, 1998 Uneven Zimbabwe: A Study of Finance, Development, and Underdevelopment, Africa World Press
42
such as unlawful arrests, detention and torture.

14 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND ORGANISED VIOLENCE AND TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE

 Zimbabwe where in times preceding major political events, the general public's
rights are subdued. Such behavior disrupts the integrity of democratic processes and
selectively victimises certain members of the population that do not conform to the
irrational beliefs.

5 Cultural systems: Inherited ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge constitute the shared
basis of social action that has a great bearing on the occurrence of structural and
direct violence. The gendered face of violence in Zimbabwe cannot be
underestimated with a number of cultural belief systems that especially endanger
women. The greater risk that women and girls are subjected to emanate from issues
such as food, health care and education systems skewed towards men. Poor
education for the girl child (acts as a background variable) worsening women's
poverty, health and decision-making.

Attaining the Millennium Development Goals targets in Zimbabwe remains a

pipeline dream, with maternal mortality remaining at a high of 960 deaths per
100,000 live births. 43 The government has been accused of failure to address the 4As
of women's reproductive health that are acceptability, availability, accessibility and
affordability, which are all embedded in the cultural setup. An uneducated woman is
disempowered, her decision-making ability and relation to the 4As is largely
dependent on external factors that are outside the woman's control, in the process
increasing the vulnerability of women.

Increased vulnerability and the risk of direct violence can be seen in the aftermath of
the violent “Operation Murambatsvina” of 2005. Women and children were the worst
affected. On several occasions, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) members were
arrested, assaulted and detained by police for peacefully demonstrating for their
rights.44

43
(2010/2011) Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey
44
For example on 19 and 20 September 2013, WOZA organised demonstrations in Harare and Bulawayo to mark the UN International Day of Peace.
Police beat many WOZA members and a number were arrested including leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu.

A special paper by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum 15

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Although direct violence tends to be more visible and easily perceived than structural
violence, the two forms of violence are interdependent. Structural violence is both a source
and a result of direct violence. More often than not the process is circular; structural violence
may lead an oppressed group to direct violence, which in turn leads to further oppression
to curb the direct violence. For example, if a government feels threatened by the people
protesting substandard living conditions, the government may respond with further
oppression to curb the direct violence.

Thus people living in deteriorating socio-economic conditions and see themselves as

unable to satisfy their needs in the face of a political system that they cannot otherwise
influence, may resort to direct violence to address their needs. Likewise those in power
often feel they must use direct violence to curb the unrest produced by structural violence.
It is without doubt that structural violence leads to actions of direct violence. The existence
of structural violence, such as unequal distribution of resources or a corrupt political system
inevitably produces conflict, and often-direct violence.

Violence has to be understood within the context in which it unfolds. For Zimbabwe, the
wider context of the socio-political economy has been the key to determining the nature of
structural and personal expressions of violence in which vulnerability and powerlessness of
the general public has been evident. The failures to redress the socio-economic issues that
are bewildering society have multidimensional consequences to the direct violence that is
experienced in society. There has been a growing nexus in which structural violence and
direct violence have been a means and an end to depressing the achievement and
enjoyment of human rights. Thus, the embededness of violence in social structures cannot
be underestimated and, while greater attention has been put on prevention of primarily
direct violence more focus must be put on the detection and mitigation of structural
violence as both forms of violence are threats to human security.45

45
Human security is defined as the security of - people- their physical safety, their economic well- being, respect for their dignity and worth as human
beings and the protection of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. (International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, The
responsibility to protect, International Development Research Centre; Ottawa)

16 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND ORGANISED VIOLENCE AND TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE

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20 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND ORGANISED VIOLENCE AND TORTURE IN ZIMBABWE

 About The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) is a coalition of 20 human rights organisations. The Forum has
been in existence since January 1998 when Non-Governmental Organisations working in the field of human rights
joined together to provide legal and psychosocial assistance to the victims of the food riots of January 1998. The
Forum has now expanded its objectives to assist victims of organized violence and torture (OVT)

The Forum has three operational units: the Public Interest Unit, the Research and Documentation Unit and the
Transitional Justice Unit.

The Forum works in close collaboration with its member organisations to provide legal and psychosocial services to
victims of OVT and to document all human rights violations, particularly politically motivated violence.

Member organisations of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum

• Amnesty International Zimbabwe

• Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe
• Counseling Services Unit
• Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe
• Justice for Children
• Legal Resources Foundation
• Media Institute of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe
• Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
• Non-violent Action and Strategies for Social Change
• Research and Advocacy Unit
• Students Solidarity Trust
• Transparency International Zimbabwe
• Women of Zimbabwe Arise
• Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender
• Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights
• Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust
• Zimbabwe Human Rights Association
• Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
• Zimbabwe Peace Project
• Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum can be contacted through:

The Executive Director, 8th Floor Blue Bridge, P.O Box 9077, Eastgate, Harare, Zimbabwe
Telephone +263 4 250511; Fax +263 4 250494; Email:admin@hrforum.co.zw
International Liaison Office
55 Commercial Street, London E16LT
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7619 3641; Email: <IntLO@ hrforum.co.zw ; Website: www.hrforumzim.com