BY RICHARD MUPONDE
LEGAL think-tank, Veritas, has proposed a draft Bill, which, if taken on board, can implement some of the provisions in the Constitution and eradicate torture.
The proposed Bill against torture was published in Veritas’ latest Bill Watch bulletin, where it described torture as a crime against humanity.
“This would be a good time for Parliament to fulfil its constitutional duty to ensure that the Constitution is fully implemented by resolving that the government should introduce a Bill against torture. All of us who share a common humanity must be concerned that torture should be eradicate, in Zimbabwe and throughout the world,” Veritas said.
“The Constitution itself recognises that general statements are not enough — which is why section 11 lays down that: ‘The State must take all practical measures to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in chapter 4 (Constitution) and to promote their full realisation and fulfilment’.
“It is sometimes suggested that these constitutional provisions and our criminal law render it unnecessary to take further steps to punish and combat torture. Past experience and our history give the lie to that suggestion — Zimbabweans cannot claim that torture does not occur here, and indeed it occurs to some extent throughout the world.”
Veritas said under the Criminal Law Code, physical torture can be prosecuted as assault or, in serious cases, attempted murder.
“Other forms of torture, such as starving prisoners or detaining them under intolerable conditions, can be prosecuted as criminal abuse of duty on the part of the perpetrator (a crime for which the maximum sentence is 15 years’ imprisonment). But to create a single clear crime of torture will indicate that the government is determined to eradicate it in all its manifestations.”
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The legal think-tank said section 53 of the Constitution prohibited physical and psychological torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment.
It said Zimbabwe should show that torture, in all its forms, is unacceptable in order to give weight to international conventions like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which it is signatory to, and to make all acts of torture an offence.
The State has been accused of systemic torture of opposition members, activists and human rights defenders through abductions and torture of victims.
- Follow Richard on Twitter @muponderichard
