Programme News
31 October 2014
(News)
The SAPS said on Thursday it will comply with the Constitutional Court's order to investigate claims of torture against senior Zimbabwean officials.
“In principle, this is the end of the matter. We are required to comply with the judgment,” national police spokesman Lt-Gen Solomon Makgale said.
“We only got the judgment today. Our legal team is looking at it.”...
31 October 2014
(News)
SA’s police must investigate allegations of torture by Zimbabwean authorities in the run-up to Zimbabwe’s 2008 election, the Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered.
The judgment broke new ground in SA’s international law obligations, ruling that even though the alleged torture was committed in Zimbabwe, by Zimbabweans, of Zimbabweans, the South African Police Service...
30 October 2014
(Press release)
In a ground-breaking judgment, the South African Constitutional Court has unanimously ruled that the South African Police Service (SAPS) must investigate crimes against humanity perpetrated in Zimbabwe in 2007.
The so-called ‘Zimbabwe torture case’ was brought by the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) and the Zimbabwean Exiles Forum (ZEF) to compel South Africa to abide by...
30 October 2014
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights welcomes today’s Constitutional Court ruling that the South African Police Service must investigate crimes against humanity committed in Zimbabwe.
This landmark case began in 2008 when the South Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) handed over a dossier of evidence of these crimes to the SAPS and National Prosecuting Authority. The evidence dealt specifically with...
30 October 2014
(News)
The Constitutional Court in a landmark case ruled unanimously that the South African Police Service (SAPS) are obliged to investigate allegations of torture committed in Zimbabwe, which were reported to them.
In a judgment handed down on Thursday, the court held that “the SAPS had a duty to investigate crimes against humanity of torture allegedly committed in Zimbabwe…where the...
22 October 2014
(News)
Following numerous reports of abuse, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has asked the organisation to establish an office at the centre.
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, under pressure from Parliament to account for reported human rights abuses at Lindela Repatriation Centre, has invited the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to establish an office at the centre.
Last week the...
21 October 2014
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights are concerned by the ongoing practice of police stations being used to detain people for immigration reasons - often in poor and overcrowded conditions and for excessive periods of time.
This was demonstrated by the detention of more than 200 people for over two months at the Benoni Police Station and detention of more than 20 people at the Primrose Police Station on the...
21 October 2014
(News)
Two London-based critics won't testify at the Seriti commission of inquiry, despite the commission saying that it will reissue their subpoenas.
Arms deal critics Paul Holden and Andrew Feinstein will not testify at the arms deal commission, despite the commission’s previous announcement that it would reissue their subpoenas.
It emerged on Monday that Holden’s subpoena...
21 October 2014
(News)
Hennie Van Vuuren, author and key critic of the arms deal, has declined to take the oath or give evidence at the arms procurement commission.
Hennie Van Vuuren is currently a researcher at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation and co-author of The Devil in the Detail: How the Arms Deal changed everything.
Van Vuuren and co-researchers Paul Holden and Andrew Feinstein withdrew their...
21 October 2014
(News)
Legal action will be taken against arms deal critic Hennie van Vuuren for refusing to testify, the Seriti Commission of Inquiry said on Monday.
Chairman of the inquiry, Judge Willie Seriti, told Geoff Budlender, SC, representing Van Vuuren, that the course of action would be decided on.
“The law is there. It will have to take its course. We will decide in due course on the sort of...