High Profile Zimbabwean Rights Lawyer Physically Assaulted By Police

Full Independent Investigation Necessary, Says LCHR

NEW YORK - A full independent investigation should be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the alleged beating by a policeman of a high-profile human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights said today.

“All persons responsible for serious human rights abuses must be held accountable, including members of the security forces,” said Neil Hicks, Director of the Lawyers Committee’s Human Rights Defenders Project. “A prompt, thorough and independent investigation into the alleged assault on Beatrice Mtetwa must be carried out, and those responsible should be criminally prosecuted.”

Mtetwa, a Zimbabwean attorney who is an outspoken advocate for greater respect for basic rights and has represented many individuals targeted by the government, filed a sworn statement on October 15, saying that a police officer beat her severely - at times in plain sight of other officers who did nothing to stop the blows. She reports that she summoned the police after an attempted car-jacking as she was driving in Harare on October 12. But rather than pursue the thieves, the police allegedly detained her, claiming that she was driving while intoxicated. Mtetwa demanded the administration of a breathalyser and blood test, but no tests were carried out. Instead, she alleges, a police officer beat her in the back of a police vehicle and the beating continued, in plain sight of other officers, when they arrived at the Borrowdale police station. She subsequently received medical treatment for the injuries sustained to her head, face, arms, back and thighs. She later identified the police officer who beat her and filed a complaint against him with the commanding officer at Borrowdale police station.

This latest attack is part of a pattern whereby lawyers in Zimbabwe who provide legal representation to government critics, members of the political opposition, or other individuals who are unpopular with the authorities are targeted for abuse. Earlier this year, Ms. Mtetwa represented Andrew Meldrum, the Guardian journalist who was illegally deported from Zimbabwe despite a court order. In March of this year, Gugulethu Moyo, attorney for the now-banned Daily News, Zimbabwe’s last independent daily newspaper, was also physically assaulted at a police station. In addition to these serious physical attacks, lawyers in Zimbabwe are routinely threatened and verbally insulted, as well as being denied access to their clients or otherwise obstructed.

"These are serious allegations of police brutality and they ought to be investigated seriously," said Hicks. "We are concerned that this action was meant not just to intimidate Mtetwa, but to send a message to all Zimbabweans who might be inclined to stand up for their rights." He continued, "attacking such a high profile figure - and getting away with it - suggests that no one is safe from these sorts of brutal acts."

The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights has been monitoring deteriorating human rights conditions in Zimbabwe for the past several years. The current crisis in Zimbabwe is characterised by attacks upon human rights defenders, including lawyers, judges, journalists, trade unionists and even church leaders. On October 23, Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, an outspoken critic of government abuse of the Zimbabwean population, will be honoured at the 25th Human Rights Award Dinner in New York.