| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Africa Subsaharan | |
| Zimbabwe unionists severely tortured in jail-lawyers | |
| 2006-09-16 | |
| HARARE - Zimbabwe police severely tortured a dozen trade unionists held for trying to stage a protest over poor wages, leaving some with fractured limbs and a top official in hospital, lawyers told a court on Friday. Riot police arrested scores of members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Wednesday, disrupting a planned march in the latest clampdown by President Robert Mugabe’s government. At their first court appearance Friday, defense lawyers said the unionists were assaulted ‘excessively and brutally’ during arrest while demanding better pay and access to anti-retroviral HIV/AIDS drugs. Magistrate Olivia Mariga ordered an investigation into the torture charges, which state prosecutors did not dispute. She also granted bail to all those detained in the capital pending trial on October 3. Defense lawyer Sarudzayi Njerere said police beat the group, including ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo and Secretary-General Wellington Chibebe at a Harare police station. ‘The accused persons were tortured brutally and severely. Wellington Chibebe has been unable to be here because he has been hospitalized,’ said Njerere. Many of the accused limped into the courtroom while several wore arm slings and bandages. The defense said the ZCTU members were initially denied medical attention and forced to wade barefooted through raw sewage in cells condemned as inhumane by the Supreme Court. Rights group Amnesty International said it was ‘gravely concerned’ over the torture and over the holding of rights activists and mothers with babies, who were arrested earlier this week and denied access to adequate food and medical care.
| |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Amnesia International then added, "These guys still arent as bad as Bush", and then said, "Just ask Sean Penn". |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-09-16 09:30 |