We do not believe the interview took place although we cannot be sure.
The Forum hosted an invitation only event at Meikles Hotel in Harare on February 23, 2008. Professor Nowak was on a 24-hour private visit to Zimbabwe.  We were honoured to have Professor Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture join our celebrations as a special guest. In accepting the invitation to be the main speaker the Special Rapporteur made it clear that he did so on the understanding that officials from the Government of Zimbabwe would also be invited as he is keen to continue pursing the possibility of an official invitation from the Government.
The Forum opened the meeting by stating clearly that the Special Rapporteur could not talk about Zimbabwe in particular but only about torture in general. This was respected by all those who participated in the event. The Special Rapporteur made no Zimbabwe specific comments. During the event and the subsequent question and answer session, no journalist from The Zimbabwean or any other news outlet identified themselves.
A press release issued by the Forum invited members of the press wishing to see Professor Nowak to come to Meikles Hotel on Sunday 24 February. No journalists from The Zimbabwean or any outlet turned up to this opportunity.
NOEL KUTUTWA, Chair Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Â
Chief Reporter’s response: Prof Nowak did not make it clear to me that he was on a private visit to Zimbabwe and therefore off-the-record during the entire duration of our interview on the sidelines of the 10th anniversary of the NGO Forum at the Meikles Hotel on February 23.
We apologise for betraying the confidence of Prof Nowak but vehemently reject any suggestion that we did not follow due process. His remarks were published with good intentions and in the public interest and this was in no way meant to malign him. Â