Human rights violators will be held to account

By Dewa Mavhinga

In a bizarre demonstration of panic, police in Harare on 19 February swooped on 52 rights activists and arrested them for watching a video of protests in Egypt and Tunisia.

Those arrested, including eleven women, university of Zimbabwe law professor Munyaradzi Gwisai and social justice activist Hopewell Gumbo, were initially denied access to medical attention and some of them claim that they were tortured while in police custody.

These acts by the police are a violation of the internationally recognised right to health and constitute a fundamental breach of Zimbabwe’s legal obligations as a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Several of the detainees are on critical Anti-Retroviral-Treatment (ART) which requires them to take medication daily, but despite the police being advised of this, they still refused the detainees access to medication. This is a contravention of the international right to the highest attainable standard of health.

Although there is a constitutional requirement for all persons arrested to be brought before a competent and impartial court of law within 48 hours, this provision was ignored, the detainees were only brought to court long after this period had lapsed.

Zimbabwe Police directly violated the right of detainees to health when they subjected them to beatings and torture. The government of Zimbabwe should swiftly cause an independent investigation to be conducted into the torture claims and those responsible to account.

The practice of torture is reinforced by a culture of impunity – where perpetrators of torture are not held accountable. If the inclusive government of Zimbabwe is serious about reform and about chatting a new political direction for Zimbabwe, then this culture of impunity must be brought to a swift and permanent end.

In this transitional period from authoritarian rule to democracy the message must be sent clearly that those who directly perpetrate abuses will be surely held accountable. It is not an excuse for a police officer or any state agent to claim that they acted on orders when they beat up or tortured civilians.

Torture is a criminal act that attracts individual responsibility and accountability. As a coalition of civil society groups we will continue to compile information on  all those remnants of the past who continue to commit abuses against their own people. The world is watching and will surely not remain silent in the face of injustice.

Dewa Mavhinga is the Regional Coordinator for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and can be reached on [email protected]