A brutal attack by soldiers during the January 14 protests
against steep fuel price increases has ruined the life of a 38-year-old
Chitungwiza man, who is struggling to heal and his relatives fear he might be
losing his mind because of the savage beatings.
Philemon Mutoko* said he was walking home around 9pm when
the heavily-armed soldiers descended on him like a tonne of bricks and up to
now he has no idea what crime he committed to invite the full might of the
security forces.
Mutoko says he is now living in fear and in serious pain
but has no money to seek proper treatment.
He often hallucinates and shouts on top of his voice
claiming he would be seeing heavily- armed soldiers who want to finish him off.
During the panic attacks, Mutoko would be groaning and
trying to bolt out of the house, but his poor health fails him.
He often broke down and hallucinated during the interview
where he narrated his ordeal at the hands of the ruthless soldiers.
“I was close to my house at around 9pm when I met a group
of soldiers who ordered me to lie down,” he said while fighting off tears.
“They said I was part of a group that was insulting them
during the afternoon. I tried to plead my innocence, but they were not
interested in what I was saying and they started hitting me on the head. I
screamed for help, but the moment I did that, they intensified the beatings.
“I tried to flee, but I met another group of soldiers who
started assaulting me again. The ones who beat me first caught up with me and
joined in the assault. I couldn’t do anything.”
Mutoko said after the incident he spent about four days at
his house without receiving any medical attention.
When he finally gathered the courage to venture out of the
house, he went to a local clinic where his wounds were treated.
However, his church mates were not impressed by the
treatment he received at the clinic and encouraged him to go to Chitungwiza
Central Hospital where he was only able to buy pain killers.
Mutoko does not have money for X-rays and a scan to
determine the extent of his head injuries.
“I didn’t participate in anything that they were accusing
me of,” he added. Now my life is miserable and I cannot work for my two
wives and three children.
“I am always in pain and ‘see’ the soldiers coming for me.
They said they would come back for me and I always have visions of them even
when I am sleeping. I have no peace at all.”
Doctors recommended that the man should be treated by a
clinical psychologist, but he has no money to pay for the services.
One of Mutoko’s wives said they feared he was losing his
mind due to the savage attack.
She said her husband wails in the dead of the night, saying
he was seeing the soldiers that assaulted him.
“How could soldiers be moving around and assaulting anyone
that they meet? I think they must take responsibility for this problem that we
have,” she said. “They must at least pay for his medication.”
Mutoko is one of hundreds of people brutalised by the army
during the crackdown that followed the three-day stayaway called by the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and #ThisFlag movement to protest against the
deteriorating economic situation in the country.
A report released by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
last Friday said 17 cases of extra-judiciary killings allegedly committed by
the army had been recorded so far.
The NGOs said they had documented at least 1 803 violations
committed since January 14 by the security forces across the country.
They include at least 17 cases of rape or other violations
of a sexual nature, 26 abductions, 61 displacements, 81 assaults consistent
with gunshot attacks, at least 586 assaults and torture, inhuman and degrading
treatment including dog bites, 954 arrests and detention (including dragnet
arrests), among other violations.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has repeatedly
denied that soldiers were behind the violations, but the president promised to
bring the perpetrators to book after Britain’s Sky TV recorded two police
officers and a soldier brutalising a suspect during the protests.
The government blames the MDC Alliance for the violence
that erupted during the stayaway and claims that protesters stole guns at
police armouries, which they were using to kill people.
The military said it used force proportionate to the level
of the threat posed by the protesters, where 165 shops were looted countrywide,
an assertion challenged by the NGO Forum report.
“The violations are systematic, unleashed mainly by male
perpetrators whom the victims identified as wearing either military or police attire,
armed with AK rifles and or baton sticks, travelling in army and police
vehicles,” the report says.
“The targets of attack were initially the male population
in highdensity suburbs, but later became indiscriminate to include women and
young girls.”
The NGOs said they had started the process of pursuing
justice and accountability for the
victims and so far at least 24
letters of demand
had been issued
claiming about US$1 200 000 from
the perpetrators.
They urged the government to establish an independent
complaints mechanism in
line with section
210 of the
constitution that is designed to receive
and investigate complaints
against the security services and accused the State media of abetting the
rights violations.
“The Forum calls upon the state media that is funded by the
taxpayer, to stop its current propaganda that is fuelling state violence and
fanning hostilities in violation of the founding values of the constitution of
Zimbabwe and the values of peace journalism,” the report added.
“The state media must do its work responsibly in service of
the nation and not be used in pursuit of a partisan parochial political
agenda.”
A fortnight ago, the government reacted angrily to a report
by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission that accused the security forces of
gross human rights violations.
Human Rights Watch’ southern African director Dewa Mavhinga
said Mnangagwa’s government must investigate the cases involving the army and
ensure justice for the victims.
“All cases of people with physical and psychological
injuries from the security forces crackdown on the January protests must be
treated with utmost urgency by the government,” he said.
“President Mnangagwa should, through the minister of
Health, issue an open public invitation from all such people to go to the
nearest hospital or clinic for urgent medical support on the government’s
account.
“A government that cares about its citizens will not look
aside in the face of such a catastrophe, it steps in to help.”
On August 1, soldiers killed at six people in Harare after
they opened fire on protesters that were demonstrating against what they said
were delays in the release of presidential election results.
A commission appointed by Mnangagwa to investigate the
killings, which was led by former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe,
last December recommended that soldiers and police officers behind the killings
must be prosecuted. Standard
0 comments:
Post a Comment