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South African nationals illegally detained at Masvingo remand prison
Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR)
February 10, 2010

A journey to Masvingo turned into a nightmare for two South African nationals, Gahaodus Petrus Delport (52) and Marco Paulo Santos Oliveira (18) of number 2A Simon street Johannesburg, when they were arrested on the 2nd of February for allegedly entering the country without valued traveling documents.

Information made available to ROHR Zimbabwe is that hell broke loose for the two foreign nationals believed to be working for the Salvation Army Church in South Africa after they were robbed of their personal belongings including their traveling documents. A voluntary attempt to file a report with the police led to their subsequent arrest and since then things have gone bad to worse.

Despite the fact that it is illegal under the current Zimbabwean constitution to be detained for more than 48 hours without being presented for trial, Gahaodus and Marco are entering their 8th consecutive day languishing in filthy remand prison facility in the absence of their right to a hearing within a reasonable time and legal assistance. Their plight is further compounded by the outrageous demand of approximately R 20 000 by the Immigration office for their travelling documents to be processed.

A close family member to one of the detainees has expressed health concerns and security fears over the prolonged illegal detention of his brother. 'I don't even know where I am supposed to get that kind of money to get him out' said Hank speaking to ROHR Zimbabwe.

Efforts to get hold of the South African embassy are still futile. Mean while ROHR Zimbabwe's National Chairman, Ray Muzenda has expressed shock over the deteriorating human rights standards among the law enforcement agents on the failure to handle accused persons within the confines of the law before they are proven guilty. He also castigated the relentless move by the Immigration office of taking advantage of stranded foreigners by charging them exorbitant fees as a per-requisite for the processing of traveling documents.

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