An independent doctors’ group in Zimbabwe expressed deep concern on Monday over the growing number of people admitted to hospital with injuries allegedly inflicted by the police and state agents.
”We have witnessed an increase in the number of persons presenting with injuries reportedly sustained from assault and torture inflicted during the course of arrest, during raids on the victims’ homes and while in police custody,” said the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR).
The association said in a statement it was deeply concerned at the level of force being used in the arrest of opposition and civic rights activists since the start of a crackdown on March 11.
Six people had received gunshot wounds, including activist Gift Tandare who was shot dead by police on March 11, it said.
Forty-nine people had required hospitalisation for injuries sustained at the hands of police over the past month, while 175 others had been taken to hospital and discharged, the group added.
More than 180 of the victims had received moderate to severe soft tissue injuries, the doctors said.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai was among dozens of activists arrested and severely assaulted by police officers on March 11 as they tried to hold a prayer rally in Harare’s Highfield district.
The authorities in Zimbabwe have continued to arrest opposition officials and activists including MDC member of Parliament Paul Madzore and national executive committee member Ian Makone.
The men, who have reportedly been assaulted in police custody, have been accused of organising a string of petrol bomb attacks on two stores owned by ruling party stalwarts, as well as on a passenger train and police stations.
They deny the charges and say they’ve been framed.
In one incident condemned eight opposition activists were dragged back to police cells from a Harare hospital where the court had ordered them to seek treatment for injuries inflicted by the police.
Such behaviour by security forces continues to intimidate health workers who treat victims of organised violence and torture and to hinder the ability of victims to have access to healthcare without fear, the statement said.
Last week Tsvangirai claimed around 600 MDC activists had been abducted and tortured by state agents in the past three months. ‒ Sapa-DPA