Reports of torture, assault continue

Allegations of torture by the security forces in Zimbabwe have continued, a coalition of human rights groups said in their latest report. "The majority of the perpetrators were reportedly dressed in army and police uniforms and, as such, the victims plausibly concluded them to be ZNA [army] and ZRP [police] personnel. [This] identity appears to have been confirmed by the use of police and army vehicles, and by arrest and detention at police stations following the act of torture," the Human Rights Forum said in their May update. "Soldiers and police officers have on many occasions been reported as forcing entry into victims' homes, assaulting them with baton sticks, booted feet and open palms, apparently on the basis of their real or perceived support of the opposition MDC [Movement for Democratic Change]," the report noted. The Human Rights Forum, a coalition of 14 NGOs, said it received reports of assault by members of the ruling ZANU-PF, pro-government youths from the Border Gezi National Youth Service Training Centre, members of the war veterans association and MDC youths. The forum recorded 16 cases of torture, one of murder, one abduction/kidnapping and six cases of assault between 1 to 31 May. It also said there were 58 violations of people's freedom of expression/association or movement, 24 unlawful arrests (defined as an arrest made with no reasonable suspicion that an offence has been committed) and 13 cases of unlawful detention (defined as detention for more than 48 hours without access to redress through the courts or subsequent release without charge). Violations pertaining to freedom of association and expression were perpetrated mainly around public protests such as a 5 May demonstration held in the capital, Harare, by MDC women protesting the conditions faced by Zimbabwe's women, the report said. From January to end May, the forum recorded 442 cases of unlawful arrest, 266 of torture, 180 assaults, 136 unlawful detentions, five politically related murders and five rapes.