The continuing spate of arrests and detentions without charge in Zimbabwe has been reflected in harsh conditions at prisons and detention camps throughout the country. Virtually every town and local centre now has its own detention section and according to Christian Care, a relief organisation based in Salisbury and Bulawayo, many of these impose severe restrictions on visiting. At Wha Wha, the regime's largest detention camp outside Gwelo, accommodating at least 600 political detainees, relatives and friends are no longer allowed face to face contact with prisoners but must speak to the men through diamond mesh wire.
Under the Smith regime's security laws, it is forbidden to publish the name of any detainee in Zimbabwe. In December 1977, the Rhodesia Herald reported that an unnamed "senior member of the People's Movement" (the organisation of ZANU-Patriotic Front inside the country) had been detained under the emergency powers. Following the regime's total ban on all mention of the Patriotic Front even this type of announcement has been rendered illegal.
LETTER FROM A DETAINEE'S WIFE January 1978 "May I inform you of the predicament in which I find myself. I am married with six children and seven dependants to care for.
My husband has suffered spells of detentions and restrictions ever since 1964...In July 1975 he was taken to Gwelo Prison after they had failed to trump any charges against him.
As I write you my husband is detained without any trial for they have nothing to try him for. As you can see the period my husband has been roughed up to the authorities has been long.
At each stage we poured in all the little that we had on legal representation to no avail. Now I am left completely destitute with no chances whatsoever of finding any means of livelihood.
The place where I am...there are curfews, we can't herd cattle nor can we plough safely, furthermore the place has suffered from drought for some past. Our cattle are either dying or straying. We have nowhere to go. Children have been kicked off school for non-payment of school fees as I have no money to pay with. When we think of simple food it is as if we are thinking of luxury; starvation is daily crouching on us."
