via SA courts delay justice for murdered Zims – The Zimbabwean 29 January 2015
There is widespread concern that justice for victims of the illegal rendition carried out by Zimbabwean and South African authorities in 2010 will be a long time coming.
Members of the Central Intelligence Organisation, military intelligence and South Africa’s elite police unit, The Hawks, were accused of combined efforts in this internationally condemned action. They arrested the “suspects” and illegally sent them across the Beitbridge border to be murdered by Zimbabwean state agents. (Rendition is the illegal kidnapping and transfer of captives from one country to another.)
Witness Ndeya, Gordon Dube and Pritchard Tshuma were all killed by Zimbabwean security forces, after they were arrested as “illegal immigrants” and taken back to Zimbabwe in unmarked vehicles between 2010 and 2011. They were accused of having killed a police officer in their home country.
The SA courts last week forced a halt to recent suspensions of top police officers fingered in the operations, that resulted in at least four deaths and about 13 severely tortured victims.
Tip of the iceberg
At least 16 victims identified in a 2011 investigation are believed to represent the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of this practise by the South African authorities.
Ndeya, whose case is well-documented, was arrested, along with his nephew and two friends, for being “illegal immigrants” in November 2010. In a sworn statement by one of the four, Shepard Tshuma, they were all taken to the Beitbridge border by South African police and handed over to Zimbabwean officials.
Tshuma and Ndeya were detained at a Bulawayo police station before the former was released a week later. On November 20, Ndeya was found dead at Hippo Valley Farm in Bulawayo, his body riddled with bullets.
Zimbabwean police told his family that he was killed by other police officers and his death certificate reportedly confirmed the cause of death as “multiple gunshot wounds.”
The SA police ministry is said to have reports detailing the renditions, while Justice Minister, Jeff Radebe called for a probe in late 2011. An investigation was finally launched by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate in 2012, and two years later a report containing recommendations was handed to the National Prosecuting Authority.
At least eight members of the Hawks’ tactical operational management services in Pretoria and Johannesburg are suspected of being responsible for the renditions, in which they are alleged to have been operating on orders from high-ranking officers, in collaboration with officials from Zimbabwe’s CIO.
No action had been taken despite incessant calls by international human rights bodies until recently, when SA’s Minister of Police, Nkosinathi Nhleko, suspended Anwa Dramat, head of the Hawks, and Shadrack Sibiya, Gauteng head of the crack unit.
Although the courts have ordered Nhleko to reverse the recent suspensions, the ministry has stood its ground, with an official saying recently that more suspensions were on the way.
In court papers Nhleko questioned why the alleged illegal rendition and the death of two Zimbabweans had not been at the top of the Hawks list for Investigation. He likened the operation to apartheid-era cross-border raids in which freedom fighters were abducted, kidnapped and killed without a trace.
Surprisingly, Zimbabwean civil society and opposition political parties seem to have taken the renditions that rocked international headlines off their radar.
Samukeliso Khumalo, the acting Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) board chair, admitted civil society had abandoned the issue.
“It’s very sad that no-one seems to be focusing on the renditions despite the flagrant human rights abuses relating to the controversial deportations and subsequent murders. I am checking with my colleagues to find out what became of the matter,” he said.
“This is the problem with our political system. People are voted into power yet they don’t have the will or capacity to deal with human rights violations like the renditions. During the GNU, it seems some parties were more concerned with the benefits they could get from the coalition instead of standing for the people,” added Khumalo.
Police spokesperson, Paul Nyathi, said police had no records of the rendition related killings and promised but did not respond to emailed questions.
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