Police officers torture and assault detainees in Musina with impunity

On 16 October 2008 three Zimbabweans detained in immigration detention in Musina were subjected to cruel and inhumane assaults at the hands of a number of police officers. The detention facility, commonly referred to as SMG, is controlled by the South African Police Service in Musina.

The police officers tightly handcuffed one of the detainees with his hands behind his back.  Later the police officials forced one of the other two detainees to handcuff the other, forcing the detainee handcuffing his friend to continue tightening the handcuffs while he cried out in pain. Once handcuffed, the detainees were forced to get down on the ground and roll in the puddles of urine which line the holding cell where the detainees sleep, as they are usually deprived of access to the separate toilet facility at night. While being forced to roll in urine they were assaulted with hosepipes, and one of them was also kicked with booted feet. 

A medical doctor from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was called to SMG to provide medical assistance for the detainees. Physical examinations revealed suspected fractures, severe bruising and swelling, and/or multiple haematoma. One detainee was confirmed to have TB and was in urgent need of TB drugs to avoid treatment interruption. The MSF doctor accompanied the most severely injured of the three to Musina Hospital as the police refused to call an ambulance.

The actions of these police officials are criminal. They not only constitute very serious assault, but they also amount to cruel and unusual punishment, prohibited by the South African Constitution and the UN Convention Against Torture which South Africa has ratified.

Through the insistence of the LHR lawyer in Musina, two of the three detainees were eventually able to lay charges against the police officers involved. However after being removed from the detention facility, under the pretext of being assisted with lodging their complaints, they were shackled in leg irons and then themselves charged with 'malicious damage to property'. They are now being detained in police holding cells, pending their court appearance on 4 November 2008. The continued ill-treatment by the police clearly demonstrates their retaliation against these detainees for pressing charges against members of the force.

The assault was witnessed by at least a hundred other detainees, including children who are detained there with adults in contravention of the provisions of the Constitution. The youngest child was eleven years old. Most of the detainees who witnessed the assault have since been deported to Zimbabwe.

According to LHR lawyer, Sabelo Sibanda, based in Musina: "This assaul, by these police officials is the most serious of a spate of allegations levelled against police officials at the detention facility. In the last two weeks I have received at least 20 reports from men and women who complained that they have been assaulted by police officials, one of the women even sustained a serious laceration on her forehead. The problem is that they are deported so quickly, most are unable to lay charges against these police officials and in some cases they cannot identify their assailants. They are treated worse than animals because they are labelled 'illegals'. 

In another incident, a Zimbabwean national was assaulted by SAPS and SANDF officers at a SANDF base near the border on 20 October.  He was assaulted after informing these officers that he came to South Africa to seek asylum.

LHR continues to be extremely concerned about the degrading and inhumane treatment of the detainees at the facility. LHR is considering the necessary legal steps to ensure the end of the abuse and the impunity at the facility.

In light of the above LHR demands that:

• the Musina detention facility (SMG) be closed immediately; and
• that the South African Police Services conducts a thorough investigation into the complaints of assaults and ill-treatment of immigrants held at the detention facility.

.......

For more information, please contact:

Sabelo Sibanda                                                                    Gina Snyman

Refugee and Migrant Rights Project                                 Detention Monitoring Project

Lawyers for Human Rights                                                 Lawyers for Human Righst

Musina                                                                                    Johannesburg

074 634 3761                                                                        011 339 1960