Jailed activists pass out during brutal torture and assault while in unlawful custody, court papers show.
Kisimusi Dhlamini was abducted from his home in Harare in November last year. He was taken to Goromonzi prison complex where he was subjected to brutal beatings torture and mock drowning, all in an effort to extract information about the training of bandits in Botswana by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). His captors took him to undisclosed locations force him to disorient him and confess out a confession on bombing police stations and railway lines.
“On the third day, being 27 November 2008, in the morning, I was blindfolded, handcuffed from the back, and led outside to a car which was parked very close. I was driven around in circles for some time in attempts to disorient me,” said Dhlamini.
During this time, Dhlamini was being told hungry crocodiles would feed on him, that his captors had brought body bags, picks and shovels in order to deal with him. He was then led to a bushy area, all this time he was blindfolded and his hands cuffed behind him.
Dhlamini was told to cooperate and release information pertaining to alleged terrorists who were being trained by the MDC in Botswana, who in the MDC was behind the alleged bombings of police stations in Harare, and who in the army, police, central intelligence and ZANU PF were supplying information to the MDC.
He denied any knowledge of this.
“Before I had a chance to say anything, the torture commenced. I was told to lie on my stomach, with my hands now cuffed at my front, and I was severely assaulted by many individuals who took turns to beat me on my back and all over my body non-stop. The soles of my feet were also beaten with hard objects, falanga style. Each time I did not provide a satisfactory answer (as I had no knowledge of what they were talking about), I was brutally assaulted.
The torture included being handcuffed and suspended.
“I then, still blindfolded, had my legs tied together, my hands were cuffed behind my back, and I was suspended from a considerable height. The first time I was hung upright and subjected to further assaults, including further beatings on the soles of my feet.
“I felt like Jesus must have felt upon his crucifixion and was completely delirious. I would pass out and then wake up, thinking I was in my bedroom and I would reach as if for my cellphone, only to remember where I was and what was happening to me,” said Dhlamini.
“The second time I was hung upside down, and fell or was dropped from this height to the ground, sustaining injuries on my upper forehead and below my nose. I was bleeding profusely over my face and shirt,” he said.
He was forced to implicate at least one person who was involved. Initially Dhlamini denied all knowledge of this and was again thoroughly beaten. He decided to play good boy to save his soul. He implicated one Ezekiel Nkomo, but the captors went and kidnapped Zacharia Nkomo, a case of mistaken identity.
As it was getting to noon, it was very hot in this field and was already weak from not being fed for a long time.
He was being given a 2litre bottle of water each morning and told that that was his breakfast and lunch. How sad.
“This together with the severity of the assaults led me to lose consciousness at least twice. Eache time, I was revived by a woman (I could see a little underneath my blindfold, which had been loosened when I fell to the ground) who would spray water on my face,” said Dhlamini.
He was then interrogated at 0300hrs in the morning, possible of the following day.
Dhlamini said he was collected from his cell, blindfolded and driven for some time until he ended up in an office in an unknown location. There was a conference table there and eight people were seated there watching him while he was being filmed. They demanded that he repeat his confessions he had made in the field of torture but he indicated that the information they had extracted from him was false as nothing of the sort of allegations had ever been done. They wanted him to admit that he had indeed discussed the alleged training of bandits with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. He flatly denied.
His captors hurriedly removed him from the room and heard that the individuals were rushing to finish the video as it had to be taken to South Africa for use in the talks between ZANU PF and the MDC.
However, the torture did not stop. By this time they were now forcing him to admit that he had participated in the spate of bombings of police stations in Harare.
Dhlamini was then taken to a prison complex, blindfolded. He was taken to a large outdoor cement sink.
“My blindfold was removed and a sack was placed over my head and neck. I was lifted up and my head was submerged in the sink and held there for long periods by someone, in a mock drowing, which is another severe form of torture (water boarding) to which I was subjected during my unlawful abduction and detention. The mock drowning went on and on, until I felt that I was on the verge of dying,” said Dhlamini adding that this operation was being run by a woman who was being referred to as “Aunty Daisy”.
Doctors have prescribed that due to the excessive torture Dhlamini must go for further examination and treatment. But the state feels otherwise.
Dhlamini decided to save his life by providing false information which his captors swallowed hook, line and sinker.
“I wish to state on record that all the information that I provided, and all and any confessions made and supposed evidence given, was false and was provided in a will attempt to save my life,” he said.
Other times, Dhlamini would be subjected to lectures about how bad MDC was and how good ZANU PF was, and how if he co-operated he would benefit from the “Look East policy”, a phrase used for Zimbabwe’s cooperation with Eastern countries.
He was kept in solitary confinement from 25 November when he was unlawfully abducted and disappeared, until 22 December 2008.
All this time he was denied access to his legal practitioners, denied food and visits by his relatives.
“I was placed in an overcrowded cell in inhuman and degrading conditions, with no access to water. I was not even allowed to bath,” he said.
Dhlamini had to rely on the generosity of fellow prisoners.
“I had to rely on the generosity of my fellow cell mates in order to get some small bits of food noiw and again, but I was essentially and intentionally starved by members of the police manning this station,” he said.
Dhlamini is praying the court that these complaints be “investigated seriously by a parliamentary team set up to investigate the allegations I make as I am informed and verily believe that the police have in the past failed to investigate themselves.” “Alternatively a team of police officers working hand in hand with my lawyers should be tasked to investigate these complaints,” he said.
He wants his abductors arrested and prosecuted.
“I also wish that those who abducted me, those who kept me and those who sanctioned my abduction, detention and torture and all their accomplices be investigated, charged and prosecuted for international crimes and enforced disappearance, which constitutes a crime against humanity,” said Dhlamini.
His affidavit was deposited in court to support his bid for freedom.