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Abducted MDC councillor sexually abused by army officer
Violet Gonda, SW Radio Africa
January 13, 2009

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news130109/mdcsexabuse130109.htm

Bothwell Pasipamire, the elected MDC councillor from Kadoma who was abducted from his home at gunpoint on December 13th, has revealed shocking details of the torture he was put through at the hands of state agents before managing to escape. He was abducted a week after civic leader Jestina Mukoko was kidnapped from her home in Norton. Several other civic and political activists, plus a two year old baby, were abducted in the last few months of 2008.

Pasipamire becomes the first victim of the current abductions to escape and openly expose the nature of the brutal crackdown.

The councillor was smuggled to South Africa and held a press conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday where he gave a detailed statement about his ordeal, which included sexual abuse by an army warrant officer who introduced himself as Mabhunu.

The MDC councillor was taken to a torture base at a farm near Goromonzi in Mashonaland East province, where some of the other activists who were missing were facing the same ordeal.

Over 40 political detainees are facing charges of recruiting "bandits" to overthrow the government. However all the victims deny the allegations. They say they were all tortured into making guilty statements.

At least 11 are still missing.

Bothwell Pasipamire said he miraculously escaped with the help of 'insiders'. Narrating his ordeal he said members of the Central Intelligence Organisation had compiled a dossier of information, including photographs of him taken at the Council Chambers in Kadoma. He was accused of being too vocal in Chambers and was "a problem to ZANU-PF in the district".

Pasipamire gave a harrowing account of the nature of the torture, including sexual abuse by army officer Mabhunu

In a written testimony Pasipamire said: "There was a steel table in the room with a hole in the middle. I was told to take off my shoes and slip headfirst into the hole. My hands were cuffed behind me and Mabhunu started beating the soles of my feet."

He was bombarded with questions about alleged attacks on trains and the interrogators wanted to know the 'MDC' people responsible. When he couldn't respond he was told to strip and remove all his clothes, including his underpants.

"I was then told to lie on the table and he (Mabhunu) began playing with my private parts. It seemed he was trying to embarrass me in front of the other two who were still in the room. He would fondle me like a lover, and then suddenly squeeze my testicles so that I cried out in pain. There followed some humiliating abuse, which I do not wish to talk about except to a doctor."

The Kadoma councillor told SW Radio Africa other abducted activists were forced to 'play-act' the beating of soldiers in front of a film crew, suspected to be from the ZBC, to corroborate the fact that they were killing soldiers.

It is believed the soldiers were those arrested after taking part in cash riots in Harare in December. "A young soldier in camouflage uniform was brought to stand in front of us. I remember thinking that he looked more scared that I was and I think he had been abused or threatened, though there were no marks on his face. We were made to pretend we were beating and kicking him and he rolled on the ground crying. The film crew covered it all."

Pasipamire was given a scripted question & answer interview in which he had to admit that he was trained in Botswana and had re-entered Zimbabwe with other guerrillas to kill soldiers. This 'interview' was recorded.

He alleges that the abducted activists were also made to say they were funded by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who got the money from Andrew Pocock the UK Ambassador and James McGee the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe. He said he was told to say on camera that the money was paid by the US and the UK through President Ian Khama of Botswana.

The MDC official said he was locked up in a room where he heard "other men being tortured nearby. It was terrible to hear people screaming and crying. There was only one blanket in the room and I held it around my head to keep out the sound. Late that night, some officials opened my door, and when I came out, I saw other men like myself standing in front of other doors and rooms where they had been kept. A hose was turned on and we were all sprayed and then our rooms were sprayed, including my blanket."

"Late into the night, there were still the screams of people being tortured and beaten. I cannot properly tell you how terrible it is to be cold, wet, unable to sleep and surrounded by the sounds of men crying in pain. This was the worst torture of all and it will be with me all my life."

Such was the level of abuse that the councillor said by the following day he was ready to 'to cooperate' in order to survive.

It is believed the female victims who had also been abducted were being kept at the same place near Goromonzi, as he heard the CIO's referring to them, but he never saw them himself.

Pasipamire said he was held for three days and was repeatedly sprayed with cold water. By the third night he was so cold and depressed that he thought of hanging himself with the wet blanket. He said he was injected twice on the fourth day, although he was not told what was being injected.

"I was not given food that day and in the evening I was driven to Harare. No one gave me any information on where I was going or why, but I had a feeling that they were planning to kill me. At this time, I cannot reveal any details of my escape because it will be a danger to the people who helped me. There are some inside ZANU-PF and CIO who do not believe in what they are doing."

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