Dictatorships, especially in the tropics, use torture as a weapon of governance. The soldiers in the pay of the regimes are used to extort confessions or just out of sheer malice, by carrying out inhuman and degrading treatment of the victims. If in most cases, men are the most exposed, women are not spared either. This is notably the case of JestinaMukoko, who was subjected to torture in Zimbabwe under the regime of the former patriarch Robert Mugabe. After a long legal battle, she won her case in court against the state. A first in the history of this country that should serve as an example to others.
The Zimbabwean judiciary sentenced on October 5, 2018 the state to pay 150,000 dollars in compensation to JestinaMukoko, a human rights activist of this country, tortured and illegally detained under the regime of Robert Mugabe. Jestina Mukoko, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, was kidnapped by unknown assailants in 2008 after she vehemently denounced Robert Mugabe’s rule during that year’s general elections. She was held incommunicado and tortured for several weeks before being accused of participating in a plot to overthrow the head of state. The charges were finally dropped in 2009. She was released in early March 2009 after three months in detention following the payment of bail.
“It is good that she has been released but her freedom of movement remains limited. She has to report to the police and the charges (of conspiracy) are still there even though she knows she didn’t do anything,” said her lawyer, attorney Beatrice Mtetwa, adding that a bail of $600 (476 euros) had to be paid.
Accused of involvement in a plot to overthrow President Robert Mugabe, she denied the allegations and said she was not a member of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). These were spurious accusations that were clearly unfounded.
His long legal battle finally paid off. Especially with the change of regime in this country. On Friday, October 5, the High Court ordered the government to “pay $150,000 (130,000 euros) by October 31, 2018” to compensate the activist, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights organization said in a statement. A sum of $100,000 will be paid to JestinaMukoko and the rest is to cover her legal fees.
JestinaMukoko welcomed the decision. It is “an encouragement for human rights defenders. The risks of their work are not in vain,” she said. This judgment “sends a strong signal that crimes covered up by the state cannot go unpunished,” she said.
This court decision is certainly a reparation of the damage suffered by JestinaMukoko. Only the perpetrators of this heinous crime have not been identified and punished. EmmersonMnangagwa’s government must work in this direction to give a strong signal to the agents who execute these dirty deeds. This courageous decision of the Zimbabwean justice system should also inspire other countries where crimes of torture are commonplace.
As a reminder, JestinaMukokoav received the International Women of Courage Award from Michelle Obama, then First Lady of the United States.
Shalom A
