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Statement
on arrest of Counselling Services Unit (CSU) staff
Zimbabwean Civil Society Coalitions
November 08, 2012
Civil Society
condemns the arrest and continued detention of the Counselling
Services Unit (CSU) staff by the police. We are concerned about
the safety of Fidelis Mudimu, Zachariah Godi and Tafadzwa Geza,
all senior Programme Officers with CSU. Since their arrest
on Monday 5 November 2012, no formal charge has been put to them.
They were not even informed of the reasons for the deprivation of
their liberty as required by law.
We note with
concern that prior to depriving the three of their liberty, police
had, on the authority of a "search warrant", conducted
a search at CSU's offices. The "search warrant" was too
broad and vague to be valid. The search in itself was therefore
not lawful by virtue of being based on the strength of an invalid
warrant. The "search warrant" did not establish a link
between the offence alleged, namely, defacing any house, building,
wall, fence, lamp-post, gate or elevator without the consent of
the owner or occupier thereof, and the items that were ultimately
seized such as computer processor and privileged medical records.
Fidelis, Zachariah
and Tafadzwa have spent their third night in the police cells, two
in Harare Central and last night, in Bulawayo Central Police
Station after they were transferred
to Bulawayo on Wednesday. Upon arrival in Bulawayo they were
not interviewed by the police, but immediately detained in the police
cells on a detention order which had been prepared in Harare.
Counselling
Services Unit is a lawfully registered medical clinic providing
non-partisan counselling and referral to all victims of trauma.
On Monday 5 November, the clinic was threatened with violence and
normal services were disrupted by the invasion of the clinic by
12 uniformed and non-uniformed police officers, including members
of the Bomb Disposal Squad and an Information Technology expert.
The clinic was surrounded by armed riot police who threatened to
fire tear gas into the building, which is also occupied by other
tenants. Patients awaiting services were left unattended for 4 hours
while the police demanded and forcibly accessed confidential medical
records. They removed a computer which contains confidential client
information and client records. No further booked patients were
able to enter the building to receive treatment.
Counselling
Services Unit adheres to the Environmental Compliance requirements
for health facilities, following the guidelines issued by the Ministry
of Health. The guidelines require separation of cleaning materials
for areas of ablution and areas of food storage and preparation.
The cleaning utensils are clearly marked using spray paint, and
the paint is stored on the premises in the work area of the janitor.
It is not hidden or stored secretively and was purchased in July
2012. CSU have handed the receipts of purchase of three 250ml cans
of spray paint from the local hardware store to the police. The
police fixated on the finding of this paint and refused to listen
to any explanation. With no further investigations, 5 staff members
were arbitrarily arrested and transported to Harare Central Police
station for further questioning. Two staff members were released
two hours later, and three have been detained since then with no
warned and cautioned statement and no indication of charges. The
removal of the three staff to Bulawayo after exceeding the required
time for a court appearance and the further detention order with
no defined charges or substantive evidence of illegal activities
constitutes serious and illegal harassment.
Civil Society
is deeply concerned about the protracted course of this situation
and the non-adherence to the law by the arresting officers.
The behaviour
of the police has led to the following:
- Disruption
of medical services to victims of trauma, and the unwarranted
terrorisation of patients awaiting services
- Illegal
access to confidential patient medical records
- The unwarranted
deployment of armed riot police to the offices creating alarm
and fear to the other tenants of the building and surrounds
- The illegal
removal of a computer, which is not covered in the search warrant
which stated a "search for material likely to deface any
house, building, wall, fence, lamp post, gate or elevator without
the consent of the owner or occupier thereof".
- The removal
of confidential medical and legal records without permission of
the patients to whom they pertain.
- The arbitrary
selection of staff for arrest with no concrete evidence of any
crime having been committed, particularly in Bulawayo where CSU
has no clinic.
- The illegal
detention and transfer of senior staff to Bulawayo without formal
charges, and exceeding the time limit for appearance before in
court.
Signed by:
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