By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

HARARE, Zimbabwe – On a trip to distribute AIDS medication to the poor in Harare, five Americans, including two doctors, two nurses, and an organizer, were arrested on Thursday on charges of operating without proper medical licenses and dispensing medicine without the supervision of a pharmacist. A Zimbabwean doctor assisting the Americans was also arrested on related charges.

They are expected to appear Monday before a magistrate in Harare.

The Americans are being held in poorly ventilated cells at the Harare Central police station. They were supposed to appear in court on Saturday, but the police said that they had not finished the paperwork.

The group was in Zimbabwe on behalf of the Allen Temple Baptist Church of Oakland, California, which has sent its members to Zimbabwe three or four times a year since 2000 to distribute antiretroviral medicine, vitamins, clothing and food baskets to people with AIDS. The doctors and nurses were sent on this trip to provide care in the capital of Harare and at the Mother of Peace Orphanage in Mutoko.

Jonathan Samukange, the lawyer in Zimbabwe representing the detained workers, said they have proper licenses and were only supervising a pharmacy that mainly gave out AIDS medications.

The church said that “there’s been some kind of miscommunication.” Reverend Theophous Reagans, minister of global missions at Allen Temple Baptist Church, said, “We’ve always had a good relationship with authorities and people.” He added that people in the Harare area have indicated that the group is in good spirits and have food and water.

Reagans identified the four Allen Temple volunteers as Dr. Anthony Jones, nurses David Greenberg and Gregory Miller, and Allen Temple Baptist Church AIDS Ministry administrator Gloria Cox-Crowell.

Zimbabwe has among the worst HIV/AIDS rates in the world. The decline of the public health system has been blamed on President Robert Mugabe’s policies. Most people in need are unable to receive help.

The team had brought with them a four-month supply of antiretroviral drugs for AIDS patients, some of them orphaned children.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Church: American medical team hopes to be released in Zimbabwe – 13 September 2010

Reuters Africa – Zimbabwe holds 4 US health workers over AIDS drugs – 12 September 2010

Associated Press – Zimbabwe arrests 5 Americans over licensing – 11 September 2010

New York Times – American Doctors Held in Zimbabwe – 11 September 2010

NPR – US Church Wants To Resume Zimbabwe AIDS Work – 11 September 2010

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MANZINI, Swaziland- Swaziland’s Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini stated yesterday he thinks dissidents and foreign protestors should be punished with the torture method sipakatane.  This comes just a week after 50 pro-democracy protestors were arrested in Swaziland’s main commercial center Manzini, some of whom are from neighboring South Africa.  The punishment, sipakatane, involves beating a person’s bare feet with a pedal that has wooden or metal spikes attached, often causing paralysis.  A statement from the government owned paper, Times of Swaziland, tried to put Dlamini’s comments in context stating, “Dlamini said every country or community had its own dissidents and it was up to government to deal with the noisy minorities, whom he said he wished would behave in a grown-up manner and stop behaving like children.”

Those in the trade unions say the prime minister’s statements are a “declaration of war” on all who oppose the government of Swaziland, both Swazis and foreigners.  The trade unions mobilizing their protests for democracy state several South Africans brought in to help have already been deported.  The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) deputy international secretary, Zanele Matebula, was driven to the border after police came in his hotel room and arrested him and other South Africans.  Protestors are advocating for democracy in Swaziland which is currently under the rule of Africa’s last absolute monarchy led by King Mswati III.

For more information, please see;

Guardian.co.uk- Swaziland Pro-democracy Protesters Threatened With Torture– 10 September, 2010

BBC- Swaziland Democracy Protests: ’50 Arrested’– 7 September, 2010

BBC- Swaziland Unions Condemn ‘Foot Torture’ Threat– 10 September, 2010

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands- On Monday, a witness (identified in the transcript as DCT-008) answered questions regarding the Small Boys Unit (SBU) of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) during Taylor’s trial.  The prosecution claims the children in the SBU were forced into action for the NPFL on the front lines of conflict, made to man checkpoints and assigned as body guards to officers, including Taylor.  The witness denied using children in any military capacity and that the only SBU he knew of consisted of the younger brothers and sisters of adult members of NPFL who would perform household chores for their siblings.  This witness also testified that the NPFL turned over all their weapons to the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) peacekeepers managing the disarmament in Liberia during the mid-90’s.  This witness, who was a radio operator for Taylor’s Special Security Services (SSS), also testified about his duties as a radio operator and the activities he saw at the Executive Mansion when Taylor resided there.  The following day, witness DCT-008 was again questioned by the defense and testified that unbeknownst to Taylor, SSS Director Benjamin Yeaten was friends with Revolutionary United Front (RUF) commander Sam Bockarie, giving him and the RUF aid from Liberia.  Taylor’s defense team has indicated that witness DCT-008 may be the last person they call to testify.

For more information please see;

Charles Taylor Trial- DCT-008 Concludes His Evidence– 8 September, 2010

Charles Taylor Trial- Prosecutors Conclude the Cross-Examination of DCT-008– 7 September, 2010

Charles Taylor Trial- Witness Disagrees that Charles Taylor’s NPFL Had a Small Boys Unit– 6 September, 2010

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

DAKAR, Senegal – The arrest and convictions yesterday of seven Koranic teachers who forced their students to beg is a huge step forward for children’s rights, Human Rights Watch said.

Though Senegal outlawed begging in 2005, the recent crackdown marks the first time the law has seriously been put into effect.  A letter from the United States Embassy threatening to sever aid if Senegal does not curb human trafficking and pressure from other international donors forced the country to take immediate action.  In 2009, Senegal received more than eighty-five million dollars in economic aid from the United States.  The country is expected to receive hundreds of millions of dollars more through the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation.  But it is unclear by how much the aid would be lessened if Senegal does not take steps to improve its human trafficking problems.

The practice of begging is widespread throughout Senegal.  Young boys, known as talibés, are entrusted to their Koranic teachers and are then exploited and abused.  The boys, ranging from four to twelve years old, are forced to beg on the streets for long hours, seven days a week.

In April 2010, Human Rights Watch documented the abuse that the boys were subjected to, which included severe beatings and cases in which children had been chained and bound for failing to hand over the fruits of their begging.

Defense lawyers at trial argued that it has always been tradition that Koranic teachers make their pupils beg, and that the State had always tolerated the offense.  The accused, six Senegalese and one from Guinea-Bissau, in addition to receiving jail sentences, were fined one hundred thousand francs.

However, the teachers will only get their jail time if they force children to beg within the next six months.

The actions taken by the country are encouraging, said Human Rights Watch.

“The arrest and conviction of these men represents a welcome step toward ending the exploitation of vulnerable children under the guise of supposed religious education,” said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Senegalese government should continue prosecuting abusers while at the same time ensuring that the boys are safely returned to their families.”

For more information, please see:

Asia One – Seven Koranic teachers sentenced for making pupils beg – 8 September 2010

BBC – Senegal teachers convicted over children’s begging – 8 September 2010

Human Rights Watch – Senegal: Abusive Teachers Sentenced – 8 September 2010

United Press International – HRW lauds sentencing of Senegal teachers – 8 September 2010

Washington Post – US pressure leads to ban on beggars in Dakar – 8 September 2010

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

LUSAKA, Zambia- Human Rights Watch has released a new report on the torture tactics used by police in Zambia.  HRW interviewed inmates at six different prisons throughout the country and learned that police routinely physically abuse detainees and offer to release female detainees in return for sex.  In particular, many reported being hung from a ceiling and beaten with metal and wooden rods and electric prods.  Rona Peligal, Africa director for HRW stated “The government needs to call an immediate halt to police abuse, investigate violations, and strengthen grievance mechanisms.”

The agency in Zambia charged with handling complaints made against the police, the Police Public Complaints Authority, settled only 27 of its 245 cases.  Additionally, reports from the U.S. Department of State and Human Rights Commission show that many reports were dropped last year after the officer in question intervened through coercion or payment to the complainant to end the investigation.  Many cases of police abuse have gone unreported altogether due to fear or lack of knowledge about the Police Public Complaints Authority.  The Authority itself is largely ineffective due to inadequate funding and resistance from police.

Many of those who have suffered police abuse in Zambia still bear scars and injuries.  Detainees report they have permanent nerve damage as the result of being handcuffed too tightly for extended periods of time.  Some have lost feeling in their hands or have fingers left crooked from being broken with bats and batons.  Tandiwe, a 27 year old woman currently held in the Lusaka Central Prison recounted her arrest in detail, stating she was undressed, whipped and then hung from the ceiling.  Police swung her while beating her and when she started to cry out they put a cloth in her mouth.  Tandiwe was beaten so severely she fainted from the pain.  When she was taken to a doctor a month later for her injuries, she says the officer told the doctor, ‘Just a simple torture that she was given, not much.’

As it has done in the past, Zambia’s government is not responding to any of the allegations.  Neither acting police spokesman Ndandula Fiyamana nor Police Minister Mkhondo Lungu have commented on the Human Rights Watch report.  Peligal stated “The government needs to call an immediate halt, train police to interrogate suspects properly, and punish violators.”

For more information, please see;

Times Live- Torture in Zambian Prisons– 7 September, 2010

Zambian Watchdog- Zambia Police Hang Suspects From Ceilings to Coerce Confessions– 7 September, 2010

AP- Rights Watchdog Accuses Zambian Police of Abuse– 7 September, 2010

AFP- Zambia’s Police Torture Inmates: Human Rights Watch– 7 September, 2010

U.S. Dept. of State- 2009 Human Rights Report: Zambia– 11 March, 2010