Mukoko was abducted from her home by armed state security agents, at around 5am on December 3, 2008.
Her whereabouts were unknown until December 23.
Mukoko, then director of human rights organization the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), appeared in a Harare court on December 24, 2008 and she stated in her affidavit that she was tortured by the state security agents that abducted her.
She was later accused of attempting to overthrow the then president Robert Mugabe’s government.
Mukoko spent about three months at Chikurubi Maximum Prison in Harare.
The Supreme Court ordered a permanent stay of criminal proceedings against her in September 2009. Recounting her ordeal during a dialogue on organised violence and torture against women rights defenders in Harare last Thursday, Mukoko said Kashiri was against her unlawful detention.
The event was organised by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and various women’s groups.
“I want to appreciate that there were people, who approached Comrade Oppah Muchinguri,” Mukoko said “My lawyer told me that there was one person I want you to thank. It’s Oppah Muchinguri.
“She said if Oppah was not in Zanu PF she would have gone to the streets to protest against my unlawful detention.”
Mukoko was among other activists who had been abducted, detained and tortured for plotting Mugabe’s ouster.
Before her release, at least 30 people were believed to be in custody following a wave of abductions that started at the end of October 2008.
Mukoko, however, bemoaned how the Zanu PF government had instilled fear in citizens, which resulted in her family fearing to appreciate Kashiri’s intervention in her case.
“I want you to understand what the system has done to its people. It has instilled fear,” Mukoko said.
“I am told that Comrade Oppah Muchinguri would regularly call my mother and she was interested in talking to her, but my mother was so afraid of talking to Muchinguri even on the phone.
“She would just say hello and give the phone to my brother. So there is a gap there. People need not to be afraid of government or personalities within that government.”
Zimbabwe has over the years hogged the international limelight over rights’ violations including abduction, torture and arbitrary arrests of the victims.
On Monday night, former Mabvuku-Tafara MP, James Chidhakwa, was allegedly abducted by unknown assailants and tortured before being dumped.
Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) official Job Sikhala has clocked over 500 days in detention on charges of incitement to public violence. Political activist Jacob Ngarivhume was last year jailed for four years.
Ngarivhume will, however, spend three years after a year was removed. Mukoko said there was a need for citizens to show solidarity to political prisoners.
“There are some people I thought I would see in the gallery in court that I did not see and that nearly put me on the wrong road because I was starting to think that probably I really committed the crime that they say I did,” Mukoko said.
“I was saying to myself, if my friends cannot identify with me in this situation it means that I am guilty. Resilience is not something that you can touch.
“For me I told myself that I want to put smiles on the faces of many people who are facing injustices in this country the same way that a lot of people put their hands on the block for me demanding that I be released.” Standard
0 comments:
Post a Comment