Outspoken opposition legislator Job Sikhala says he is
preparing a mega lawsuit against soldiers behind the brutal attack of children
as young as 12 during the recent army crackdown against dissent.
Sikhala, who has been representing people arrested during a
police and army crackdown that followed the violent January 14 protests against
a hike in fuel prices, said he was shocked by the extent of abuse of children
caught up in the dragnet.
“A statement must be sent to the world that Zimbabwe is a
torturing state. It must be exposed for what it is,” the Zengeza West MP told
The Standard last week after he secured the release of a group of young boys
arrested on public violence charges.
“It is a testimony that Zimbabwe is still a primitive state
that cannot be defined as part of the civilised global village,” he added. Sikhala
said the boys were now in desperate need of counselling after they were
allegedly tortured while in custody.
The five boys were acquitted by a Chitungwiza magistrate
last Thursday after prosecutors failed to prove a case against them after they
spent three weeks at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
One of the boys, Peter Butau, narrated in graphic detail
how two soldiers and two police officers tear-gassed his family house before
they seized him on January 14.
“I was picked up by the police on January 14 on allegations
that we had barricaded the road with stones,” he said.
“They came to our house, calling out my name and when I
enquired who they were, they shouted that I should give them goods that I had
looted.
“At that point my mother closed the door, but they threw
teargas into the yard and I then decided to get out of the house.
“As soon as I stepped out, they clapped me and I fell down
before they handcuffed me.”
Butau said the soldiers ordered him and the other boys to
lie in a pool of water before they started kicking them and tried to force them
to confess that they had broken into a boutique in Unit L.
“When I said I was not involved as I spent the day at home,
they said I would confess by the time we got to Makoni Police Station,” he
said. “They continued assaulting us until we got to Makoni.”
Butau said on the way, the soldiers and police officers
picked up other boys and when they got to a place known as Jambanja they forced
them into a commuter omnibus, which they commandeered to take them to the
police station.
“When we got to Makoni, they ordered everyone to lie on a
table at the reception area to get 10 slashes with a sjambok, before we were
forced into the police cells,” he said.
“While in the cells they would slap us and beat us under
the feet as well as our backs.”
Butau said the plainclothes police officers that tortured
them while in detention kept saying he must confess that he broke into a
Chicken Inn outlet while others were “allocated different crimes”.
The beatings went on for days until the boys were moved to
Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
“When they came to our cell, they would separate us
according to our ages as we had boys as young as 12,” he said.
“They would group those between 12 and 13 together, the 16
to 19-year-olds and those above 20.
“The detectives would strike us with an iron bar and up to
now my left leg is not functioning properly. Each morning it would be swollen.”
Butau was only treated for bruises on his behind while at
the prison. “I am pained because I was tortured for a crime that I did
not commit and I was being forced to admit to other crimes,” he said.
“The police tried to force me to confess that I broke into
Chicken Inn and Choppies as well as that I burnt a bus.
“Maybe it’s a case of bad luck. I am powerless to do
anything to them.”
Another boy from Bulawayo was arrested during the crackdown
after police officers said they saw him sweating while walking in town.
Human rights groups say tens of children were caught up in
the clampdown against civil society and opposition activists, which has been
roundly condemned by the international community. Standard
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