This is the first time the commission has ruled against the Zimbabwean government since it was established 26 years ago. Shumba, a human rights lawyer, fled the country in 2003 after being tortured by State agents for representing human rights activists and MDC supporters. He brought a complaint before the African Commission in 2004.
He is currently head of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, a rights group based in South Africa that lobbies for human rights issues and democratic governance back home.
“This important ruling adds to Africa’s struggle against impunity, and the case is representative of thousands who have suffered torture and various indignities at the hands of a repressive regime in Zimbabwe,” said REDRESS, an NGO, in a statement.
REDRESS cooperates with civil society groups around the world to eradicate the practice of torture once and for all and to ensure that survivors can move forward with their lives in dignity. It has intervened in a range of leading torture cases.
According to the statement, the African Commission considered that Shumba had submitted “more than adequate evidence” to support his allegation of torture and ill-treatment, including being subjected to prolonged electric shocks in the mouth, genitals, fingers, toes and other parts of the body.
The Commission said Zimbabwe failed to open an official investigation into the matter and that it should do so and bring those responsible to justice. The decision also alluded to the impunity with which torture is being committed in Zimbabwe which made it impossible for Shumba to seek justice before Zimbabwean courts.
The commission further said “there was no guarantee that he would not have been arrested or subjected to the same treatment he had been subjected to the previous time” if he returned to Zimbabwe seeking justice.
The commission also observed that remedies in Zimbabwe “are inadequate, ineffective and unavailable.”
David Padilla, Shumba’s lawyer, said: “This decision is emblematic of the widespread use of state terror to coerce and cow a subject population. It is not merely a legal decision in favour of a single victim but rather a recognition by Africa’s most important and prestigious institution that the practice of disappearing people and beating them to within an inch of their lives will no longer be ignored by Zimbabwe’s neighbours.”
Post published in: News