The polices refusal to allow a human rights group to continue its public campaign against torture in Zimbabwe, has been brought up short, after a Bulawayo court ordered the force to stop removing billboards calling for the abolition of torture.
From the beginning of 2010, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has been running a campaign, calling for the eradication of torture in Zimbabwe. Through the billboards, the group has been calling on the government to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment and the abolition of torture.
When the constitution-making process began to gain momentum earlier this year, the Forum started using billboards in all major cities in Zimbabwe to carry its message on torture. With the required licences, the Forum erected billboards in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Masvingo, Mutare and Chitungwiza.
But on the 5th November Chief Superintendent Patrick Moyo and CID Officer Samakanda from Bulawayo contacted the Forum, demanding that all the billboards in Bulawayo be removed. The basis given for the removal of these billboards was that they were offensive. The Forum however said this claim was not substantiated.
It appears that futile attempts were allegedly made by the said officers to apply pressure on the City of Bulawayo to revoke the billboard leases. It is understood that the rationale cited to the City Council was that the locations did not meet Council standards on environmental friendliness and that they obstructed some important tourism features, the Forum said in a statement.
Chief Superintendent Moyo had summoned the Forum and agreed to a meeting on Friday the 12th November. But on the date of that meeting the Forum representatives found most of the billboards already destroyed. The Forum representatives refused to meet the police because it was apparent that the police were not acting in good faith, the group said.The police have now been ordered by a Bulawayo court to stop removing the billboards and other posters.
While the police chose to attribute the illegal action to politics and members of an unnamed political party, the Forum believes that the police must be held accountable, the Forum said.The group added they are dismayed that the police, who have been fingered in many cases of torture, seem to want to retain this abominable practice in our country.
The police actions are a clear sign of the ongoing clampdown against free speech in the country, where public fear is so high that even utterances against Robert Mugabe carry a harsh penalty. Most recently, a Karoi magistrate had to warn a man accused of insulting Mugabe to watch what he says in public or he will die for nothing. The accused man is an example of the fear in the country, because after making the reportedly derogatory remarks about Mugabe, he went to the local offices of the Central Intelligence Organisation to confess and beg for forgiveness. He was told to write a report before he was handed over for prosecution.
Post published in: Politics