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Published in: AfricaLegalBrief.com
Date: 24-07-2009
Category: Zimbabwe
Issue No: 06
By: Kumbirai Mafunda.
The Zimbabwean High Court Judge, Justice Tedious Karwi on Wednesday granted an application for referral to the Supreme Court of the matter involving two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) members, Manuel Chinanzvavana and Pieta Kaseke, who are seeking a determination on various of their constitutional rights which were violated as a result of their abduction, torture and incommunicado detention.
Justice Karwi, who was sitting with two assessors only identified as Ms Shava and Mr Mutambirwa, dismissed the State’s contention that the abductees’ application for referral of their matter to the Supreme Court was frivolous and vexatious as argued by Chris Mutangadura of the Attorney General (AG)’s office.
Justice Karwi said he had unanimously concurred with the two assessors and was satisfied that the application for referral should succeed.
In his application for referral of the matter to the Supreme Court Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) member and human rights lawyer Alec Muchadehama asked for a stay of prosecution on the basis that Chinanzvavana and Kaseke were actually victims of abduction, kidnapping and torture, which is outlawed under the Constitution of Zimbabwe and international law.
Muchadehama wants the Supreme Court, sitting as a Constitutional Court, to determine whether or not his clients’ abduction/ kidnapping constituted unlawful deprivation of liberty, and whether their right to protection from torture, protection of the law, and their right to a fair trial had been violated.
Mutangadura had opposed Muchadehama’s application. On Tuesday he applied for a postponement of the matter to the following day in order to file an affidavit deposed to by Sydney Sekeramayi, the Minister of State for State Security in the President’s Office. When he was unable to obtain a sworn affidavit from Sekeramayi, Mutangadura later filed an affidavit sworn to by Happyton Bonyongwe, the Director-General of the Central Intelligence Organisation.
In his opposing affidavit Bonyongwe “reiterated that no abduction ever took place” and that Chinanzvavana and Kaseke were “duly arrested on suspicion of committing crimes against the State”.
Referral of the abductees matter to the Supreme Court effectively delays their trial, which was scheduled to begin Monday 20 July 2009 together with three other abductees, namely Jestina Mukoko, Broderick Takawira and Audrey Zimbudzana. Their matters had already been referred to the Supreme Court by a Harare Magistrate in February.
The referral of the two abductees’ matters also follows the recent referrals of the constitutional challenges of Kisimusi Dhlamini, Gandhi Mudzingwa, Andrison Manyere, Regis Mujeye, Zakaria Nkomo, Mapfumo Garutsa and Chinoto Zulu, who were abducted in similar fashion to Chinanzvavana and Kaseke.
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