Charges separate true believers from opportunists, paid from pathological. Those who push for charges and those who deliver leniency are in two different places: one gives a hard push out the door and another cushions the fall. You want those who are participating in atrocities to be well aware that these are crimes under Zimbabwean law.

Who are the bad guys? Obviously the top tier is more rotten than a sack of apples in Long John Silver’s footlocker. At the lower ranks, people like the ZFP Councilor in Kazangarare known as Jawet, responsible for terrible beatings, will be easy to track down and arrest. Jawet has a terrible record, her crimes have now been reported worldwide, with shocked readers writing to express their horror at Jawet’s crimes — who would want to hang around and take orders from her if it could lead to jail time?

Naturally one must be careful on who publicizes and when; and to avoid the Zimbabwe reflex of doing nothing then threatening people with death. There are legal remedies between these two extremes.

There are those who will say, perpetrators have nowhere to go and will hang on forever, but this is not the reality of name and shame. Once the thoughtless person realizes that violence will be accounted for, only the dark souls remain to do the work.

Those who say that crimes met with charges are counterproductive have been shown to be incorrect. Activists once phoned Abraham Dapi, a cruel Law and Order officer in Bulawayo to let him know the world knows who he is and he should watch his behavior. He grew strangely silent and according to L&O counsel, is still hoping to avoid charges. there were posters once for accused murderer Joseph Mwale. This will haunt him until apprehended.

CIO hanging around Kotwa Hospital in order to deny treatment to injured people, then following the ambulances is the kind of cruel crime that can be documented in the hopes of prevention. Ambulance chasers: you are known to you, your friends, and hundreds of people. You won’t be able to deny these crimes when you reach court. Better to stop now.