Panorama has discovered that the military commander behind the worst atrocities of Robert Mugabe's rule in Zimbabwe was invited to study at the British Ministry of Defence's most prestigious college.

The invitation came barely a year after Perence Shiri led the force that committed the most serious crimes against humanity in Zimbabwe.

Shiri commanded the 5th Brigade which carried out a reign of terror in Matabeleland during 1983 and 1984. The slaughter claimed thousands of civilian lives and thousands more were tortured.

Despite this, in 1986, Shiri took up a place at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London, an institution that describes itself as "the senior Defence academic institution in the United Kingdom. The most prestigious institution of its kind in the world".

Senior human rights activist Mike Auret, who is now an MP with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, compiled a report into the Matabeleland massacres. He tells Panorama: "Perence Shiri above all knew precisely what was happening. He gave the orders and he, if nobody else, deserves a world court. The crimes committed by the 5th Brigade under his command were gross crimes against humanity"

General Sir Edward Jones, who commanded the British Military Advisory and Training team from 1983 to 1985, tells Panorama: "Undoubtedly he was the man who was going to be important in Zimbabwe and I think it was important that we should influence him positively in so far as we could."