SW Radio Africa (London)
Alex Bell
9 July 2009
Amnesty International has called on the unity government to put in place an impartial and independent police 'oversight' body, after four women from pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were assaulted by police members last month.
The organisation said on Wednesday that the body should be publicly accessible to investigate all complaints of human rights violations by members of the police. The call follows a ruling by a Harare magistrate on Tuesday that ordered the government to investigate the assault of the WOZA women while in police custody. The women were beaten and arrested after participating in a peaceful demonstration to commemorate World Refugee Day last month. The women were arrested about 50 metres outside a hotel where Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan was holding a press conference on the ongoing human rights crisis in the country. Police assaulted the activists and are reported to have accused them of embarrassing the government in front of international visitors.
The four women were kept overnight in holding cells and denied medical treatment, despite the serious injuries they had sustained. The four have also said they were beaten again by police members while in custody.
On Monday the State withdrew the charges of 'disturbing the peace' leveled against the women, after it failed to identify witnesses whose 'peace' had been disturbed during the demonstration. By dropping the charges it was clearly evident that the State hoped to get around the matter of the assaults of the WOZA members whilst in custody. But the women's defence lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa insisted that the matter of the assault be brought before the court, which saw the magistrate on Tuesday order the investigation.
Amnesty's Secretary General on Wednesday said that while the court decision is welcome, the authorities "must now get to the bottom of these allegations and bring those responsible to account."
"This is one of the many cases documented by Amnesty International that shows Zimbabwean police's poor record of policing peaceful demonstrations and ill-treatment of perceived political opponents while in custody," said Irene Khan. "The Zimbabwean authorities should set up an independent complaints body accessible to the public which investigates all allegations against the police."
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