via Mugabe will ‘never’ ratify UN convention against torture | SW Radio Africa 17 July 2014 by Tichaona Sibanda
President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF government will never sign the UN Convention on Torture because the practice has kept them in power since independence, a torture victim said on Thursday.
This comes at a time when foreign diplomats, international organisations and local civil society groups are urging the government to sign the convention on Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Zimbabwe has refused to join the ranks of 147 nations who have signed-up to the United Nations Convention against Torture. Of these 147 nations, 47 out of 53 are from the African continent. Nearer home, 12 are from the SADC regional bloc. Only Angola, Tanzania and Zimbabwe are the three that have not signed.
Sox Chikohwero, former head of intelligence for the MDC, said expecting the government to ratify the convention is as good as expecting career thieves or murderers to hand themselves to the police after committing their crimes.
‘ZANU PF depends on violence to stay in power. It is in their DNA, starting with the Gukurahundi, Murambatsvina and 2008 political violence. They know that being a signatory of the torture convention will put them at loggerheads with the UN if they continue with the practice. It is safe for them not to be part of the convention as they are not answerable to anybody,’ Chikohwero said.
On two occasions in 2002 Chikohwero was tortured by military intelligence, the CIO and police who used electric shocks to his body and genitals. They also used batons to beat the soles of his feet, a method that has left his feet insensitive to touch.
Lawyer and politician Obert Gutu said he was not surprised the government has not signed the treaty because of the obvious repercussions they will face from the International Criminal Court.
‘The ICC will have jurisdiction to all human rights issues and in Zimbabwe the issue of human rights has been topical for the last 15 years. The last thing these perpetrators of violence would want is to be subjects of the ICC,’ Gutu said.
The ICC is a body that can prosecute serious crimes against humanity no matter who committed them and to try people for gross violations of human rights, such as those committed during military conflicts.
COMMENTS
What is their explanation on this one.I wish someone engaged them verbally on the subject coz um more inclined on their response on this topic of humanity gesture.In all fairness there isn’t any rational to wish out of this global covenant of humans protecting humanity unless one knows they sometimes cross that line inhumanly.
Sorry, but your entire comment is disjointed and unintelligible. Can you rephrase it?
Anyone who had any doubts about violence been one of the tools used by ZANU PF to ‘win’ elections & stay in power; there is your proof right there. Why would any government that cares about its people refuse to sign a treaty that ensures they are treated fairly & humanely, according to the rule of law. Wait a minute, there is NO rule of law!
Wonder what he is going to tell God on judgment day?????
He will never get the opportunity to tell God a thing. There is someone else waiting for him.
The notion that Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, and all the others of history’s genocidal maniacs, would sign up to a non-torture protocol is ridiculous. So, RGM is in fine company!
Along with his fellow African murderers/torturers. ZANU-PF = corruption, torture and murder. Brilliant legacy!
I don’t know if you all saw the
wonderful “Mandela Doodle” on
Google’s start page yesterday?
It was an animation that, very
poignantly, traced the Great Man’s
walk through Life.
What a polar opposite when compared
to the useless life Mugarbge has led.
How right Mena Bona is, about who
will be waiting for this evil piece of
filth!
“…human rights issue in the past 15 years. .” Where has this Gutu been? He’s discounting Gukurahundi. That’s why Zimbabwe moves in circles because some of these people have no grasp of events.
Mugabe will sign up. When has he ever obeyed any law , even those he himself has penned in. He believes himself to be above all of that, do as I say not as I do!