We are writing to you about the torture by the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) of two journalists, Mark Chavunduka and Roy Choto. Both men were arrested in January 1999 in connection with a story printed in the Standard on January 10, 1999 alleging a plot within in the ZNA to over throw your government.
On January 12 Standard editor Mark Chavunduka was illegally arrested by the ZNA's military police. He was detained incommunicado for six days at Cranborne military barracks in Harare, in defiance of a January 14 High Court judgment ordering Minister Moven Mahachi and Major Mhonda of the ZNA to release him.
Ray Choto turned himself over to the civilian police on January 19, after the ZNA sought to arrest him in connection with the story.
The two were taken to Harare police headquarters on January 19 to give statements to the civilian police and were handed over to military police and alleged that they were tortured for 24 hours at a torture center on a farm outside Harare. Chavunduka and Choto claim that their torture included beatings with fists, wooden planks and rubber batons, the use of electric shocks to the body and genitals, and having their heads wrapped in plastic bags and submerged in water tanks. Both men were threatened with death if they did not reveal the sources of their information and were told their relatives would be tortured too. After their release they were handed back to civilian police, and were taken to hospital.
Chavanduka and Choto were released on bail on January 21 and charged under the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act with publishing false information likely to cause alarm, fear or despondency to the public. Since their release a doctor who examined them has confirmed that he found evidence of injuries consistent with their allegations of torture. Human Rights Watch has obtained a copy of this report. They are due to appear in court again on February 22.
Human Rights Watch believes that Mark Chavunduka and Ray Choto were imprisoned and tortured solely on account of their legitimate activities as journalists andcall for the charges against them to be withdrawn. We also call for an immediate inquiry into their unlawful detention and into the allegations that their captors threatened to kill the two and torture their families unless they revealed their sources. The officers in charge of the two men while they were in detention should be suspended from duty pending an independent inquiry into the torture allegations. We also believe that the findings of such an investigation need to be made public, and for those responsible to be brought to justice.
We would like to remind you that these arrests, incarceration and ill-treatment contravene Articles 5 and 19 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights which Zimbabwe has signed, and Article 7 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We are sure that it is in your own interest and that of your governments to respect these international laws and covenants.
We look forward to hearing your response.
Respectfully,
Peter Takirambudde, Executive Director
Human Rights Watch, Africa Division
cc: Mr. Moven Mahachi
Minister of Defense
Mr. Dumiso Dabengwa
Minister of Home Affairs
