Manicaland jails still holding political detainees a Year after their arrests
By Tichaona Sibanda
22 January 2010
Almost a year after the formation of the inclusive government at least 21 political detainees from the MDC are still locked up in the country’s filthy and inhuman prison cells, in Manicaland province.
After the formation of the unity government Robert Mugabe and Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi dismissed claims by the MDC that they were still detaining political prisoners.
But SW Radio Africa can reveal that nine MDC activists are still locked up at Rusape prison farm, 10 months after they were arrested in Buhera. Eleven other MDC activists are still detained since last year, at Chipinge prison farm and one is being held at the Mutare remand prison.
MDC spokesman for Manicaland, Pishai Muchauraya, told us that many of their activists are still languishing in jail on trumped-up charges. Another 93 activists are still on trial in Rusape, while others are just waiting for their court judgements.
‘We still have political detainees in Manicaland. All of them have been falsely charged with engaging in public violence. This is why as a party we accuse the attorney-general of selectively targeting MDC officials for prosecution, leaving accused members of ZANU PF roaming freely,’ Muchauraya said.
Those detained at Rusape prison farm were arrested in Buhera just after the burial of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s wife Susan, in March last year. They’re alleged to have assaulted ZANU PF supporters who were reportedly disrupting the funeral procession. All nine deny the charges.
‘Those detained in Chipinge face similar accusations of violence as well as the one activist in Mutare. We get extremely angry when our activists rot in prison when the actual murderers and torturers roam free in the country,’ said Muchauraya.
The MDC MP for Makoni South was referring to several known ZANU PF figures and CIO operatives, such as Joseph Mwale who was implicated in the murder of MDC activists, who have never been arrested or tried even though their whereabouts are known.
In 2008 over 200 MDC activists were murdered (although it’s believed the figure is much higher than that) and tens of thousands of MDC supporters were brutally tortured by known ZANU PF activists who still roam freely in their areas. From October 2008 to January 2009 there were around 30 abductions and prolonged detentions of both high profile and low level MDC activists and human rights defenders. While most of the high profile detainees have been released there is concern that low level MDC activists have been forgotten.
Despite the MDC being in government for a year now, the human rights situation remains extremely poor, and the government continues to restrict or deny fundamental rights. Serious abuses include the widespread use of torture in detention, very poor prison conditions with starvation rations, arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention without trial.
History of the Event: March 2009
More MDC activists have been arrested in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s home area. Last week violence broke out in parts of Buhera during the funeral of Susan Tsvangirai, with the MDC saying 10 homes belonging to their supporters were burnt down. At that time 17 party activists and the MDC Deputy Mayor of Mutare, Admire Mukorera, were arrested. The Deputy Mayor was released after being detained overnight, but the 17 activists were remanded in custody, to March 30th.
The arrests continued on Tuesday with a further 26 MDC activists being picked up in Buhera North. MDC spokesman for Manicaland, Pishai Muchauraya, said despite being released without charge at the weekend, the Mutare Deputy Mayor was also re-arrested and had his house raided at 4am on Tuesday. He was taken to Murambinda police station and is expected to appear in court on Wednesday with the latest group.
Muchauraya said that makes a total of 44 MDC members now in detention and accused of committing public violence on the 11th February – the day Amai Tsvangirai was buried. The MDC in Manicaland accuse the police of selectively using the law to target their supporters, leaving out the ZANU PF culprits. Muchauraya said they’ve been told by police sources that orders are coming directly from the top and named the Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri and Senior Police Assistant Commissioner Musarasana Mabunda from Harare as giving the directive to arrest MDC members.
“These are pure ZANU PF activists back at the police headquarters discharging their political duties. It has nothing to do with these so-called crimes committed. It’s just a ploy by ZANU PF to terrorise our supporters.”
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Posted by Dave Fish Eagle
on January 22, 2010. Filed under Local News.
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