/ 19 March 1999

AMERICANS ‘NOT TORTURED’

MEDICAL reports on the the three Americans awaiting trial in Zimbabwe for alleged espionage and terrorism show that they were not tortured during interrogation, state media reports. The state-controlled Herald newspaper quotes prisons medical officer Dr M Madhombiro and independent specialist surgeon AC Harid on Friday as agreeing in their reports that there was no force used against the trio. The medical reports were compiled following complaints by Garry Blanchard, Lamonte Dixon and Joseph Pettijohn of torture during questioning.