Human rights activist Jestina Mukoko is a fighter and a strong woman. Her bravery has inspired many people in Zimbabwe. Read more on Mywage Zimbabwe.
By Wongai Zhangazha
A fighter and a strong woman are the words that can best describe human rights activist Jestina Mukoko. She is a woman who has braved all kind of threats in the fight against human rights abuses in Zimbabwe in her job as director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project NGO.
Very few could stomach the ordeal of being abducted by security agents and accused of malicious crimes just because of the work they do in exposing rampant human rights abuses. But Jestina, a single mother and former journalist, has.
After having produced a report that exposed the perpetrators of violence that took place during the run up to the June 2008 runoff presidential elections, Jestina’s life was under threat. The report exposed how people were tortured, raped and murdered in the hands of suspected Zanu PF youths and war veterans as they campaigned for President Robert Mugabe. Due to the violence MDC president and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the race.
In November 2008 Jestina was abducted from her home by state security agents and charged with terrorism and training youths in Botswana with the intention to overthrow President Mugabe and his government. While in detention she was tortured and denied access to her relatives, lawyers and medication.
The abduction
According to Jestina’s affidavit, in the early hours of December 3 2008 a group of six masked men and a woman who did not identify themselves invaded her house in Norton took her to an undisclosed place in a Mazda Familia with no number plates.
Jestina was wearing only a nightdress with no undergarments and her request to collect other personal belongings like eye glasses and medication was rejected. In the car she was told to lie low on the seat and a woolen jersey was put across her face covering her eyes, nose and mouth. She had difficulty breathing.
When they arrived at a destination she could not recollect, a woman gave her plastic sandals, underwear and a dress. She was kept in a room for an hour before she was taken to what she called the interrogation room.
The detention
While in detention Jestina was totally distanced from the outside world. Each time she wanted to use the ablutions she had to knock on the door for a lengthy time and someone would come and cover her eyes with a blindfold and lead her to the toilet.
Interrogation and Torture
On the first day of the interrogation Jestina was taken to a large room with five males and one female who did not identify themselves. She was asked about her organisation and the names of the board members, the funding organisations and where the organisation was located.
But the questioning later changed to accusations of recruiting youths to undergo some form of “military training and forge links with people at Harvest House (MDC headquarters)” to topple President Robert Mugabe and his government.
Jestina said: “I denied the allegations. Firstly I was assaulted underneath my feet while I was seated on the floor, with a rubber-like object which was at least one metre long and flexible. Later I was told to raise my feet onto a table, and the other people in the room started to assault me underneath my feet. This assault lasted for at least 5 to 6 minutes. They took a break and then continued again with the beatings.”
On the third day of her detention Jestina was given two new pairs of underpants and few sanitary pads as she had began her monthly menstrual cycle.
"You will suffer"
“One of the interrogators said I was going to suffer, and I would have to make the choice of either becoming a witness to these alleged cases of military training or becoming extinct as no prosecutions were to be held,” she said.
Jestina was also asked about her meetings with the Elders - President Jimmy Carter, Mrs Graca Machel Mandela AND Mr Koffi Annan.
She said: “One of the men went out and came back with gravel, which he spread onto the floor and asked me to pull up my clothes and kneel onto the gravel. The interrogations continued whilst I was kneeling on the gravel.”
End of the ordeal
Jestina finally appeared in court on December 24 2008 after close to 30 days in detention.
Today she is a free woman after the Supreme Court permanently stayed prosecution in prominent human rights activist’s case last year. While she celebrates the end of her horrendous ordeal, her alleged torture in detention remains a compelling issue of public interest. The collapse of her case and her subsequent legal action to demand damages due to her torture has awakened the country and the international community to the continued existence of this abhorrent practice in Zimbabwe.
Her bravery has inspired many people.
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