Posted on 06/27/2002 5:37:56 AM PDT by Clive
The use of torture by the government in Zimbabwe has now assumed epidemic proportions, according to Zimbabwean human rights activists. The evidence, from epidemiological studies, show a systematic use of torture for political purposes, which goes well beyond mere physical assaults generated by heated political sentiments.
Speaking yesterday at a London meeting hosted by the Law Society of England and Wales, an array of speakers presented the evidence to back up their claim. The event, held to commemorate the UN International Day for the Victims of Torture, focused specifically on Zimbabwean victims of torture.
In a moving testimony, amid the grand tranquillity of the Law Society's gilt, marble and wood-panelled reading room, Tapson Muzuwa spelled out his personal experience of the systematic persecution of the government's political opponents. Muzuwa, an activist for the National Constitutional Assembly and subsequently for the MDC, described in graphic detail the harassment, threats and torture which finally lead him to be granted political asylum in the UK.
His account was put in a broader context by Tony Reeler, who set out the evidence from studies by the Amani Trust - of which he is Clinical Director.
Contradicting frequent government claims that violence is a feature of Zimbabwean politics resulting from heated party-political passions, Reeler said that the evidence showed that the physical assaults, beatings and killings were orchestrated and systematic. Physical injuries were often of the same type wherever they occurred, with beatings on the soles of the feet and buttocks, and perforated eardrums indicating a policy disseminated through the Zanu PF network of "war veterans", militia, police, army and CIO.
Reeler, who this week received the prestigious Eclipse Award from the US-based Centre for Victims of Torture, also warned that the decrease in political violence perpetrated by the government and its supporters in recent weeks has begun to be reversed.
Albert Muzarurwa of the Legal Resources Foundation, described in detail the raft of repressive laws designed to stifle dissent in Zimbabwe.
Lucy Winskell, chair of the Law Society's International Human Rights Committee, spoke in support of the recently arrested members of the Law Society of Zimbabwe.
Michael Ellman, board member of the Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme, and Steven Powles, ICC section head of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, also set out the possibilities for international legal redress for victims of torture.
Just a coincidence, I'm sure.
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