Back to Index

Only bruises on the soles of their feet! Torture and falanga in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
February 18, 2009

Download this document
- Word97 version (430KB)
- Acrobat PDF version (149KB)
If you do not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe website by clicking here.

Introduction

"We beat prisoners beneath the foot, we are not crazy enough to hit the whole body because that can be used against us in court."

This is what a senior Zimbabwean police officer is reported to have told a South African newspaper in an interview, thus confirming the use of torture by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, (ZRP) and it is still the case that the ZRP resort to this horrible practice, as evidenced in the allegations of the use of falanga in the torture of Jestina Mukoko and the other 41 abductees.

Although torture has been seen in all three previous decades of Zimbabwe, it has become so commonplace since 2000 that it is only when particularly repugnant episodes occur that there is publicly expressed revulsion of it. Since its formation in 1998, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum [Human Rights Forum] has issued a large number of reports about torture, urging an end to this vile practice. Despite this torture still continues to be practised on a widespread basis in Zimbabwe.

Falanga is unequivocally a form of torture and constitutes a serious criminal assault under Zimbabwean law. This form of torture has become particularly prevalent in the past five years. Although falanga has been reported in previous decades, it now appears to be very widespread indeed, and almost routine, both inside and outside of places of detention. It is used by the police as well as non-state actors that are supporters of the government.

The police have a constitutional and professional duty to protect people against unlawful assaults and yet members of the police force are frequently perpetrating acts of torture as is documented in this report and has also been documented in previous reports of the Human Rights Forum. The evidence establishes that the practice of torture, including falanga, is not carried out by a few aberrant law enforcement officers but instead is widespread and systematic. It is evident that it is not only the ZRP that are guilty of falanga, but that it has become a widespread practice carried out by proxy forces of the Zimbabwe government, and mostly by supporters and members of ZANU PF.

Download full document

Visit the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP