Zimbabwe Activists May Have Been Tortured, Official Says

[maddezmom]

Zimbabwe Activists May Have Been Tortured, Official SaysBy CELIA W. DUGGER
Published: February 28, 2011
A lawyer for the detainees told the investigator, Juan E. Méndez, that a dozen of the activists had been beaten with broomsticks, metal rods and blunt objects on their bodies and the soles of their feet. They were tortured to force them to testify for the state, and they have since been denied medical care for their injuries, the lawyer, Jared Genser, said.

“Among the same group, six detainees received a series of lashes, which were administered while they lay down on their stomachs,” said Mr. Genser, with the American nonprofit group, Freedom Now, which seeks the release of political prisoners.

Mr. Méndez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, said in an e-mail that he had not yet heard back from the government of Zimbabwe and could make no further comment.

more:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/world/africa/01zimbabwe.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Magistrate Fails to Show Up in 'Egypt Protest' Activists Case
Lance Guma
28 February 2011

Munyaradzi Gwisai and the 44 activists arrested on the 19th February for watching video footage of protests in Egypt and Tunisia, will spend a 10th night in custody after the trial magistrate failed to turn up for a scheduled hearing on Monday.

Defence lawyer Alec Muchadehama told SW Radio Africa that his clients went to the Harare Magistrates Court as scheduled, only to be told by the Public Prosecutor that Magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi had failed to turn up, claiming he was attending a meeting somewhere else. It was left to a stand-in magistrate to postpone the matter to Tuesday 11:15am.

Gwisai, a former MP in Prime Minister Tsvangirai's MDC party, was arrested alongside 45 other student and trade union activists for holding a meeting at which footage of protests in the Middle East and North Africa was shown and later discussed. Last week Wednesday they were charged with treason or alternatively plotting to 'overthrow a constitutionally elected government.'

One of the activists arrested was released on Thursday after apparently 'defecting' and deciding to write an affidavit as a state witness. This meant the number of those charged went down from 46 to 45.

more: http://allafrica.com/stories/201103010073.html

[LAIEN]

1. where is that?

where is Zimbabwe?

[maddezmom]

2. some links to help you out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1064589.stm

edited to add this link from Al Jazeera...video also available

Violence deters Zimbabwe activists

Arrests following a meeting to discuss north Africa uprisings highlight risks of staging anti-Mugabe protests.

Munyaradzi Gwisai is a former opposition member of Zimbabwe’s parliament and the man who convened a meeting last Saturday in Harare to discuss the uprisings in North Africa.

Gwisai and 45 others were arrested and allegedly tortured by Zimbabwean police. They now face a charge of treason that carries the death penalty.

In neighbouring South Africa, where Zimbabweans have come to find work and safety in their many hundreds of thousands, there is fairly open talk about what events up in north Africa could mean for Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe's three-decade rule has been marked by repression.

But with elections marred by violence in the past and so many among the youth and educated middle classes having fled, it is unclear where change will come from. And now activists meeting to discuss the recent unrest have been rounded up.

more:http://english.aljazeera.net/video/asia/2011/03/20113151258342215.html

[Uncle Joe]

3. Mugabe is evil, I hope the people of Zimbabwe can find justice and democracy.

Thanks for the thread, maddezmom.