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Abduction & torture of Jestina Mukoko -2008
1. It gives me no pleasure to write this. I do so because there is a very disagreeable line being purveyed by apologists, suggesting that the State cannot possibly be involved in the abductions because it makes no sense.
1. It gives me no pleasure to write this. I do so because there is a very disagreeable line being purveyed by apologists, suggesting that the State cannot possibly be involved in the abductions because it makes no sense.
2. This thread reproduces findings of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe. They aren’t my words. They are the words of Malaba DCJ, as he them was. What is happeniis not new, but the rate has certainly escalated since November 2017. The current regime cannot outsource responsibility.
3. So here goes:
“She was made to sit on a chair. When the blindfold was removed she saw the same people who had interrogated her earlier that day. When the interrogation commenced she was ordered to lift both legs and place the feet on the edge of a table. She did as ordered.”
“She was made to sit on a chair. When the blindfold was removed she saw the same people who had interrogated her earlier that day. When the interrogation commenced she was ordered to lift both legs and place the feet on the edge of a table. She did as ordered.”
4. Judge Malaba continued: “Two men struck the soles of her feet repeatedly with severe force using the same objects used to beat her in the morning. She said her feet felt very sore. She could hardly walk the following day.”
5. “One of the men brought gravel and put it on the floor to form mounds. She was told to pull up her dress above knee-level and kneel on the gravel. The interrogation began and continued with her in that position.”
6. “She said she was injured on the knees and felt severe pain. Each time she tried to move the knees to relieve the pain the interrogators ordered her to move back into position. She remained in that position for one hour.”
7. “The interrogators told her to write about the trip she had made to Botswana. She did as told. The next day she was told that there were some things the interrogators wanted deleted from the statement.”
8. ”She removed from the statement what the interrogators did not want and added what they said was to be added to the statement. She said she wrote the statement in the manner her interrogators wanted before signing it”
9. There is much more in the judgment. It’s very long and if you wish, you can read it here: archive.kubatana.net/docs/legal/sc_…
10. Last year, Mukoko won an award of $150000 in damages from the State. However, despite the damning judgments, there is no record of anyone ever being prosecuted for the torture of Mukoko. None. The system encourages impunity by not taking action against perpetrators.
11. Is it a surprise that abductions & torture have continued more than a decade after the abduction & torture of Mukoko? Those who do it know they are protected by the state. That is why it is arguable that the state is responsible for recent abductions. By doing nothing *END*
