Gwenzi Kahiya – abducted 29 October 2008 in Zvimba,
Ephraim Mabeka – abducted 10 December 2008 in Gokwe,
Lovemore Machokoto – abducted 10 December 2008 in Gokwe,
Charles Muza – abducted 10 December 2008 in Gokwe,
Edmore Vangirayi – abducted 10 December 2008 in Gokwe,
Graham Matehwa – abducted 17 December in Makoni South
Peter Munyanyi – abducted 13 December 2008 in Gutu South.
Three other activists who the police had denied holding were released
last week, after spending over four months in illegal detention. Their
names were released for the first time by the MDC, also on Tuesday.
Lloyd Tarumbwa, Fani Tembo and Mrs. Terry Musona were part of the group
kidnapped from their homes in Banket, Mashonaland West province at the
end of October and accused of plotting to topple the Mugabe regime
through banditry and terrorism training.
A detailed statement from the MDC said the three, like the other
political prisoners were severely tortured and subjected to inhumane
treatment by State security agents during their illegal detention in a
bid to force them to confess to the false charges. They said they
were denied food and medical treatment.
The activists were also denied their right to lawyers and were not
taken to court in the four months they were incarcerated. Tarumbwa
said: In fact when we told the persecutors that we wanted access to a
lawyer or to be brought before the courts, we were severely beaten,
threatened with death and denied food for up to two days.
The three were released last week without charge. The MDC said after
spending months in isolation the three abductees were taken away
quietly at night and dumped some kilometers outside Banket. They had to
complete the rest of the journey on foot.
Three other political detainees, Chris Dhlamini the MDC head of
security, Gandhi Mudzingwa, a former personal assistant to MDC
President Morgan Tsvangirai and photo journalist Shadreck Andreson
Manyere are the three known abductees still in detention.
They are all facing terrorism charges despite repeated statements by
the MDC, the Botswana government and South African President Kgalema
Motlanthe that these are flimsy charges.
It was reported Wednesday that Robert Mugabe told the visiting
Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development, Erik
Solheim, that there are no political prisoners in the country and that
all those arrested have criminal charges to answer to.
SWRadio Africa
Post published in: Politics