Mail & Guardian reporter
A brother-in-law of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is under investigation after he allegedly sexually assaulted a teenage girl at his home in Ottawa, Canada, last week.
Police were called to the home of Simbarashe Reward Marufu, a second-ranking diplomat at the Zimbabwean high commission in Canada, on October 5. They summoned paramedics to the diplomat’s residence to attend to the girl.
Detectives with the Ottawa-Carleton police child abuse and sexual assault unit were also dispatched to the house. The teenager has since been been placed in protective custody.
No charges have been laid against Marufu, whose sister is Mugabe’s second wife. Even if he is charged, Zimbabwe could invoke diplomatic immunity to pre-empt prosecution.
Due to sensitive issues surrounding the investigation of foreign diplomats in Canada, a decision on whether to charge Marufu won’t be made until late next week.
Under international rules, a diplomat charged with a crime in a host country can claim immunity from prosecution. The host country can then ask that the individual be sent out of its jurisdiction.
Under the same rules, the diplomat can waive immunity, and the host country’s justice system can proceed as if the envoy were a citizen of that country. The former option has been the rule in Canada when diplomats are charged with crimes.
According to Canadian foreign affairs representative Stewart Wheeler, pending the findings of the investigation into Marufu’s actions, Canada could ask the Zimbabwean government to waive his diplomatic immunity and allow charges to proceed in Canadian courts.
If Zimbabwe refuses, Canada has the option of requesting that he be sent back to his home country.
Efforts to interview both Marufu and high commissioner Lillie Chitauro were deflected by diplomatic staff.
Marufu was peripherally involved in the scandal around the looting of Zimbabwe’s War Veterans’ Compensation Fund shortly before he was assigned to the high commission in Ottawa earlier this year. The scandal saw several people close to the president accused of looting the fund, which was set up to aid victims of Zimbabwe’s war for independence 18 years ago.
Nearly one third of the $1,5-billion compensation package disappeared during an eight-month period in 1996. Marufu was awarded $34 000 for sustaining a scar on his left eye, ulcers, recurrent aching feet and arms, backache and post-war stress syndrome.
War veterans were outraged at the disappearance of funds and demanded an investigation. Mugabe’s attorney general headed the inquiry, which ended in charges against several people, but Marufu was not among those charged.