Case 1: Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
6 June 2007
On 6 June 2007, seven members of WOZA were arbitrarily arrested and detained after engaging in a peaceful protest in Bulawayo. The women were reportedly beaten by riot police who were trying to disperse the peaceful protestors. Two of those detained were also reportedly beaten while in police custody. Five of the women were charged under Section 46 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) as read with Section 2(v) of the schedule to the Criminal Code(1) and released on 8 June. The remaining two, WOZA leaders, Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, were charged under Sections 37 (1a)(2) and 46 (2v) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and released on 9 June. One of the women alleged that whilst she was in custody, several policy officers beat her with baton sticks, including across her breasts. Additionally, according to the detained women, police officers had thrown bucket loads of water into the cells each day, forcing them to spend time on wet concrete, despite it being late autumn. The seven women were only given two blankets between them. Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu had no blankets on their last night in custody. None of the activists were able to access medical treatment until they had been released.
29 November 2006
On 29 November 2006, WOZA members were arbitrarily arrested in Bulawayo while engaged in a peaceful march to commemorate International Women Human Rights Defenders Day. Several women sustained severe injuries from police action. A woman in her sixties and a baby both sustained injuries to the legs after being assaulted by riot police. More than 30 demonstrators were arrested and detained. Most of the detained people had sustained injuries and were denied access to medical care while in police custody.
Case 2: Save Zimbabwe Campaign
11 March 2007
On 21 February 2007 police announced a three-month ban on rallies and demonstrations in Harare South District and the Harare suburb of Mbare. Following the police bans, the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, a coalition of church and civil society organizations, called for a prayer meeting in Highfield, Harare, on 11 March 2007 to protest the police ban. Police clamped down on the gathering before it had even started, arresting about 50 activists and shooting dead Gift Tandare, an activist from the National Constitutional Assembly,. The protestors, including leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and other civil society organisations, were severely beaten during arrest and later tortured while in police custody at Machipisa police station. Several suffered multiple fractures and soft tissue injuries and most were denied access to medical care whilst they were in custody. Following their release many of them had to be hospitalized. The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR), one of the organisations working with victims of violence in Zimbabwe, stated that in the case of one of the leaders beaten, Morgan Tsvangirai, who they examined medically, the delay in providing medical treatment led to the aggravation of his medical condition.(3)
Grace Kwinjeh and Sekai Holland, who were reportedly tortured by police following the events of 11 March 2007, were prevented from seeking further medical attention in South Africa. On Saturday 17 March police prevented the injured women from boarding an air ambulance. They were taken from Harare International Airport to Harare Central police station and their travel documents were confiscated before the ambulance was instructed to take Kwinjeh and Holland back to hospital where they were placed under armed police guard.
Case 3: Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
13 September 2006
On 13 September 2006, 15 members of the ZCTU, including President Lovemore Matombo, First Vice-President Lucia Matibenga and Secretary General Wellington Chibebe, were arrested in Harare after attempting to engage in a peaceful demonstration. They were severely assaulted during arrest. The Solidarity Peace Trust, a non-governmental organisation based in South Africa, captured the arrest of the ZCTU members on film. The footage clearly shows the police using excessive force as they load the demonstrators, who are not resisting arrest, into a police van.
They were detained at Matapi police station and were systematically tortured. Doctors confirmed that the ZCTU activists were beaten on the soles of the feet – a torture method called falanga which leaves many victims with life-long problems with walking. Whilst in detention, the ZCTU members were not allowed to receive medical treatment for the injuries that were inflicted by state agents.
On the same day, in the farming town of Chegutu, 11 members of a ZCTU affiliate union, the General Agricultural and Plantations Workers’ Union (GAPWUZ), were arrested after handing over a petition at a government office. They were taken to Chegutu Police Station and reportedly tortured while in police custody over a three-day period. They were made to lie on the stomach and were beaten on the soles of the feet while held in leg irons and handcuffs. The 11 trade unionists were later charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and granted bail. They only obtained medical treatment after their release from custody.
Violation of international human rights standards
Zimbabwe has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter). The two human rights standards outlaw torture.
In addition:
Please write to the following:
In the letters you write, please include the following points:
5. Please also write to the chair of your medical association: Request that they write to the addresses suggested expressing grave concern at the denial of medical treatment to detainees and urging the targets to ensure that the Zimbabwean Republic Police uphold nationally and internationally recognised human rights standards toward detainees including the provision of medical care. Ask them to write (or send a copy of their letter) to the Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZIMA). You could suggest that they ask ZIMA to express concerns to the government about violations of human rights and especially denial of medical care. Addresses for appeals: Please note that sending faxes to Zimbabwe can be very difficult and takes a lot of perseverance. It is easier to send letters. Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri Zimbabwe Republic Police Police Headquarters PO Box 8807 Causeway Harare, Zimbabwe Fax: +263 4 253 212 Salutation: Dear Commissioner
Officer-in-Charge of the Law and Order Section of the Criminal Investigations Department CID Headquarters Box CY34 Causeway Harare Zimbabwe Fax: +263 4 253 212 Salutation: Dear Officer-in-Charge, Officer Commanding Police – Harare Province P O Box CY 154, Harare Zimbabwe Fax:+263 4 754176/ 753 501 Salutation: Dear Provincial Commanding Officer, Officer Commanding Police – Bulawayo Province P O Box 701, Bulawayo Zimbabwe Fax: +263 9 65763 Salutation: Dear Provincial Commanding Officer, Zimbabwe Medical Association Zimbabwe Medical Association P.O. Box 3671 Harare Zimbabwe Tel. (+263-4) 791553 Fax. (+263-4) 791561 e-mail: zima@zol.co.zw Dr Billy Rigava, President (1) This prohibits any person employing "any means whatsoever which are likely materially to interfere with the ordinary comfort, convenience, peace or quiet of the public or any section of the public, or does any act which is likely to create a nuisance or obstruction." (2) This prohibits any person "who acts together with one or more other persons present with him or her in any place or at any meeting with the intention or realizing that there is a real risk or possibility of forcibly disturbing the peace, security or order of the public or any section of the public." (3) ZADHR, ‘Nature of injuries of tortured civil society activists and opposition party leaders’, March 14, 2007 ******** Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 0DW, London, United Kingdom
حالة حقوق الانسان في العالم
أقرأ التقرير الكامل على الانترنت
