CIO shave union leader’s head with knife during torture
This is a grave crime against humanity, a genocide by neglect that cannot be tolerated, says ARTUZ
By Staff Reporter
The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) says central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) agents shaved union secretary general Robson Chere’s head with a knife and further shoved it in water after the detained activist was seized from a departing plane on Wednesday to face the abuse.
Chere faces disorderly conduct together with prominent rights defenders Namatai Kwekweza, Robson Chere, Vusumuzi Sibanda and Samuel Gwenzi.
The four were ejected from a plane which was moments away from take-off at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
Police say the rights defenders were involved in disorderly conduct during detained former CCC senator Jameson Timba and 77 party activists’ court hearing earlier in the week.
“The torture methods used against Cde Chere are truly abhorrent – shaving his head with a knife, waterboarding, and assaulting him with metal rods,” ARTUZ said in a statement on Friday.
Added the teachers union, “Despite the unequivocal ban on torture under Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Zimbabwean government has brazenly defied international law and subjected our comrade, Cde Robson Chere, the national secretary general of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, to horrific acts of torture and abuse.”
“This heinous act represents an unnoticed eradication that has been occurring for years, one that the world has been unwilling to acknowledge.
“The government of Zimbabwe has a moral and legal obligation to protect its citizens, yet it has shamefully allowed its own people to perish by denying them access to basic care.
“This is a grave crime against humanity, a genocide by neglect that cannot be tolerated.”
ARTUZ said, “we are not a terrorist group; we are an organisation of educators who are being terrorised by those who are supposed to serve the people.”
“The government of Zimbabwe cannot maintain its grip on power by silencing progressive voices. This will only serve to exacerbate the unrest and instability in the country.
“The government is clearly afraid of its own citizens and their opinions, and it is resorting to horrific acts of violence to suppress dissent.”
