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Enforced/involuntary disappearance and extra-judicial executions must cease
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
May 23, 2008

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is greatly disturbed by the escalating phenomenon of enforced or involuntary disappearance of political party members and other human rights defenders which has been reported around the country. This is a particularly heinous violation of human rights.

Under international law, an enforced disappearance is defined as "the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the state or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the state, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law". Further, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in Article 1 states that, "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for enforced disappearance".

Unfortunate victims have reportedly been abducted from their homes or other locations by known or unknown individuals or groups, severely tortured, subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, assaulted and, in a growing number of extreme cases, extra-judicially executed. In horrific cases, the mutilated and decomposing bodies of these victims have been found in some remote areas around the country and, in the most recent case, turned up unexplained in a Harare morgue. Regrettably the silence of the authorities in the face of such atrocities can only be perceived by all reasonable persons as acquiescence and a fuelling of the impunity in regard to such violations.

ZLHR particularly notes the recent cases of Better Chokururama, Godfrey Kauzani, Cain Nyevhe and Tonderai Ndira, all of whom were abducted and whose bodies were subsequently found in varying stages of decomposition. They are by no means the only victims of enforced disappearance, and ZLHR is currently attempting to confirm several other such reported cases.

Chokururama, Kauzani, Nyevhe and Ndira were all key human rights defenders within the mobilizing structures of the Movement for Democratic Change. All four had repeatedly in the past been subjected to systematic attacks, arrests, detention and persecution by state agents. Some were maliciously prosecuted and tortured in police custody, denied access to legal practitioners and accused of having participated in various crimes, including the notorious "petrol bombings" in 2007, in which the charges were withdrawn before plea as the state did not have evidence to sustain its allegations. At the time of their enforced disappearances and extra-judicial executions, Chokururama and Ndira had filed court proceedings which were still pending for civil damages in relation to the violations of their constitutional rights by various state actors.

It is distressing to note that these systematic attacks - through the use of assaults, arrest, detention and unsustainable charges as a means of persecution rather than prosecution - appear to have been insufficient methods of dissuading the four from continuing to exercise their rights, particularly that of participating in the government of their country. They have now paid the ultimate price.

It is particularly distressing to note what has transpired in the case of Tonderai Ndira. After his abduction and lack of information as to his whereabouts for several days, a body was brought from Goromonzi to Parirenyatwa Hospital on 21 May 2008. Ndira's father was unable to initially identify the badly mutilated and decomposing body as that of his son. Additional family members then attended at the hospital, where they were initially denied access to the body by the police until lawyers from ZLHR intervened. They sadly identified Ndira by some scars on his legs and a bracelet he always wore.

A court order was obtained by consent to allow for a second independent post mortem to be carried out. The family is currently awaiting an independent pathologist. In the meantime, hospital officials have placed Ndira's body into the old morgue at Parirenyatwa, which has no refrigeration. This is causing the body to decompose at a faster rate. Lawyers attended at Parirenyatwa Hospital and made futile attempts to have the body moved to a place where it could be preserved. ZLHR is convinced, and has pointed out to hospital officials and police details that this is a contravention of the consent order which states that, " . . . members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police [are ordered to] adhere to all prescribed post mortem procedures" (our emphasis) which would necessarily include taking all reasonable measures to ensure that there is no further decomposition until such time as the second post mortem has taken place.

Further attempts to have the body removed to a location where it can be properly preserved will be undertaken by lawyers and Ndira's family early tomorrow morning (Saturday 24 May 2008).

This brings into serious question not only the intentions of the authorities, but also the basic standards of decency and humanity of those who have been involved in this matter. The extra-judicial execution of a human being on the basis of his political beliefs, and the callousness of the treatment of his body and his family, who have had to suffer so stoically the indifference of the officials whilst in mourning can only embarrass us and make us feel ashamed to be fellow human beings.

There is an urgent need for the authorities to take concerted and visible action to identify the perpetrators of these heinous crimes and make them accountable. There is also need for those who purport to be in positions of responsibility in state institutions to ensure that sanity is restored and these enforced disappearances and extra-judicial executions are brought to an immediate end.

All life is sacrosanct, and all human beings deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. It is time for Zimbabweans to stop, think and realize that every person is entitled to enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to participate in government, move freely without fear of attacks on their bodily integrity, and be protected by the law, irrespective of their political affiliation.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) must take immediate concrete and visible measures to minimize the occurrence of enforced disappearances and the associated impunity. The ZRP must also serve the community by protecting all persons against such illegal acts as articulated in Article 1 of the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials. The bereaved families must be provided with adequate protection of the law without discrimination on political or other grounds. Justice must prevail.

ZLHR reiterates that human life is inviolable. No person can be arbitrarily denied of their right to life. All acts that totally disregard human life must immediately cease. We deplore the ongoing violence occurring across the country. Victims of political violence must seek and receive protection of the law and are urged not take the law into their own hands but let justice take it course. Everyone must remember that they must exercise their rights with due regard to the rights of others.

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