The Trial and.Detention of Nationalists in

The Trial and.Detention of Zimbabwe Nationalists in Zambia 57 Zimbabwe nationalists have been held in Zambia since March, 1975, on suspicion of having assassinated Herbert Chitepo, the National Chairman of the Zimbabwe African National Union, ZANU. We believe that these men ought to be given a fair and open trial, or else be released from detention to continue the fight against Smith. The death of Herbert Chitepo was a tragedy for the African cause in Zimbabwe (). We believe this tragedy would be compounded if the real facts of the case were not to come out. Very sadly, we are not convinced that the detainees in Zambia will get a fair trial based on proper evidence. Already one of them, Chigowe, has been tried and found guilty of the murder of a fellow Zimbabwean. We find it disturbing that part of the trial was held in camera, that much of the evidence was based on confessions which have since been repudiated, and that the sentence was only given after the Commission appointed by the Zambian Government had reported. Chigowe was given the death sentence. We have set up a Committee to try to collect money to help with legal fees, to pay part of the expenses of an observer from the International Commission of Jurists, and to help the detainees' dependalits. As a Conmittee, we are not anti-Zambia. This state has borne the brunt of South African and Western imperialism more than any other state in Africa. Furthermore, we do not prejudge the outcome of a fair trial. But we feel that we must do all that we can to make sure that the detainees are dealt with justly.o We believe iti i m portant to let the detainees speak for themselves. In the following excerpts, the detainees talk of torture. We have independent evidence of this, but we are greatly impressed by the fact that the Zambian Government stopped the torture employed by some of their more lowly functionaries as soon as Amnesty International brought it to their notice. Excerpts from Detainees' Letters Detainees' Reply to Chitepo Commrission Report These excerpts are taken from a letter written by the ZANU DARE external leadership), ZANL Military High Command, and all ZANU cadres in various prisons in Zambia. The letter is dated April, 10. 1976., and is a reply to the Zambian appointed Commission on the Assassination of Herbert Chitepo. The methods of the Commission were perfunctory and highly prejudicial to our case. Firstly, the Commission heard evidence in camera. The witnesses included people who had nothing to do with ZANU, like Chikerema and Muzsoewa people who had spported our detention and asked the Zambian Government tQ hang us. All our sworn enemies were called and given ample time to accuse us in our absence. No dross examination of these false witnesses was allowed. We the accused were not allowed to call witnesses in our defence., we the people who were accused and found guilty wre either called at short notice (often our lawyers were not informed until we stood before the Commissio and were not given time to talk to us and on two oc0asions two of us saw our lawyers harassed and intimidated until the lawyer was forced to abandon the clients by Mr. Chona) or were never called. The Commission has' condemned the whole ZPMU Supreme Counrcil (5 people) and the Military High Commsand (18 people), butt only three High COmmand detainees, namely Man ika, Tongogara and Chimurenga, were called to give evidence. The rest - 15, were simply condemned un heard. Up to now the Commissioners did not see 46 of the 57 people languishing in Zambian prisoners since March, 1975. ?The Commission admits it only saw 1 of the detained ZANU leaders, but 30 of their enemies. To us the Commission was reduced by the Zambian Government to nothing'better than a secret inquisition using Star Chamber methods. The result was Kangaroo justice which has been meted out to us..

2 We wish to reiterate at least for the benefit of posterity, that the members of the ZANU Supreme Council, DARE, and ZANLA High Command, publi4 as a whole, are innocent of Comrade Chitepo's death. It is in our view see oi absurd to suggest a group of 23 committed and seasoned fighters conspired writ and passed a resolution to kill one man, their Chairman. That would have can't been certainly unnecessary, and patently imprudent of us even if we had our ih a motive which we did not have, for Comrade Chitepo was on our side and Publi4 against the ZANU rebels. There could have been a possibility that one or Zambii two criminal elements among us, who had personal grudges against Comrade to geChairman. We had hoped the Zambian Government, through the Commission, might help us to discover such elements. But by their methods and prejudgements, they have failed to do so and fallen back on the absurd testi- us ou: mony of our rebel group who became their cheap police informers for the stipu. very reason of escaping criminal investigation. We also expected other human possible culprits to be investigated, i.e.: was f: (1) The Mukono-Mutambanengwe-Mataure-Nhari group; barba: (2) Agents of Rhodesia, South Africa, C.I.A., and other bruta imperialists; regin (3) Rival Zimbabwe parties, e.g. FROLIZI, 1APU and ANC. Elect: None of this was given any consideration, and we fear that whatever happens chairi to us,the truth about Comrade Chitepo's death may never be known while for a this Zambian Government remains in power. comral as To: For the present, we call upon President Kaunda to realise that and w we are not fighting him or his government. Our only enemy is British bodie, imperialism and its manifestation in the settler regime in our country suffe Zimbabwe. We are innocent victims of the lies of a handful of informers only who should not have been given credence, but should be tried for their recov crimes against the Zimbabwe people, and for betraying the revolution. The Chite Commission Report including all the evidence against us and the evidence ment. some of us gave to the Commission, and not only conclusions culled out of of go context should be published. For President Kaunda has said "Zambia has fusin nothing to hide." Furthermore, any trial of one or more of us must be in of th open court and international observers should be allowed to attend. We and protest against the secret proceedings of the Chitepo Commission and some parts of the Chigowe trial, which the Director of Public Prosecutions the Z demanded to be heard in camera knowing that he had obtained confessions event through torture, which he wanted to conceal from the public. We do not their expectthereismuchroomforjusticetobedoneforus,butatleastwe own h expect President Kaunda to allow that what his tribunals do to us ig made open to public scrutiny. Zambi sente murde Kaunda' s Hostages: ZANU Detainees in Zambian Jails to th These excerpts are taken from a letter dated June 1, 1976. Fore The title above is the one given by the prisoners themselves, Force The letter was written by Josiah Tongogar, ZANLA Chief of of In Defence; Robson Manyika, ZANLA Commander of Camps; Joseph Chimurrenga, ZANLA Provincial Commander; Chemist N'cube, ZANLA Comander; and Sadat ufa Mazuva, Chitepo's surviving bodyguard. prisc When we were arrested n March 23, 1975, the Zambian Security prisc officers asked us to cooperate with and help them in their investigations. like We also cooperated with the Commission o f Inury set' upby President 29 fe . We could have refused to cooperate with both the Zambian We ha * would police officers and the Commission of Inquiry if we wanted to. But since in pz we felt that the truth should be established with respect to Comrade Deter Chitepo's death we assisted the Zambian Government in every way possible. Deter However what we got from the Zambia Government for our cooperation with cong them was brutal torture on us and the accusation that DARE and Chimurenga High Command members were responsible for Comrade Chitepo's death....

'V 1.,3 3 at Our situation has been compounded by the fact that since the nd, publication of the Chitepo Commission Report we have not been allowed to see our lawyers for legal advice. We for example want to apply for a ed writ of Habeas Corpus and to appear before the so-called tribunal but we Lve can't do this without legal advice. We are told by Prison officers that I our lawyers can only see us if they get permission from the Director of Public Prosecution. Because of continued harrassment and threats by the or Zambian Government on our lawyers, they are now scared to go to the DPP le to get permission to see us. Apart from these gross violations of our human rights by denying ti- us out right to see our lawyers and also to be visited by our friends as stipulated in law, we have also been subjected to some of the most inhuman torture imaginable. During the height of our interrogation which was from April to June, 1975, most of us were subjected to the most cruel, barbaric and humiliating interrogation that can only be matched by the brutal interrogation often meted out to our comrades at home by the Smith regime's special branch. We were stripped naked and physically tortured. Electric shock methods were used. We were beaten by pieces of broken pens chairs; fprced to do continuous exercises and dumped into cold water for a night. The interrogation usually lasted 72 hours, but some of the comrades spent a week if not even more under torture. Some comrades such as Tongogara,Hlupo Chigowe and Chimurenga were tortured until they fainted and were only revived after the police poured tome cold water over their bodies. Others like comrades Chalres Dauramanzi and Patrick Mupunzarima suffered broken ribs and fingers. Even Comrade Sadat Kufa Mazuva, Chitepo's only surviving bodyguard, was severely tortured before he had even fully recovered from the injuries he sustained in the bomb blast that killed The Chitepo. Most of us were never allowed to go to the hospital for treat,e ment. Our wounds were left to heal on their own. Even today the question of of going to hospital is a burning issue with the prison authorities refusing us permission to see doctors. Of course, they realize that most in of the diseases we suffer from now are largely derived from the torture and .injuries sustained during our interrogation last year. )me The most shocking phenomenon about our interrogation was that the Zambian Security officers were not interested in our version of the events leading to the death of Cmrade Chitepo. They were interested in their nearly typed statements which they asked us to copy and sign in our fe own handwriting so that they would appear as if they were voluntarily made by us. These were the false confessions which Dickson Mupundu, the Zambian Assistant Commissioner C.i.b. who headed our investigation presented to the so-called Commission of Inquiry as evidence that ZANU men murdered Comrade Chitepo. The tZuthl is that these statements presented to the Commission by Dickson Zupundu were falsely extracted from most comrades andhave since been refuted by the people who made them at the Force Headquarters. And all the Comrades who appeared at the Commission of Inquiry denied any responsibility for the death of Comrade Chitepo. ird. Living conditions in Zambian prisons are depressing. The Zambian prison system is still colonial. Of course conditions vary from prison to prison. Central Prison is the worst jail in Zambia. We are packed 2ns. like sardines. Sometimes we are over twenty people in a cell of about 29 feet by 15 feet. At one point the average was about thirty-two people. an We had to give a signal if we wanted to turn so that all sleeping comrades would turn in one direction. Why the Zambian Government can't place us in proper detention places such as Mumbwa or Mpima which are State le. Detention Camps is beyond us. Such a move would, of course, relieve the I congestion in places like the Lusaka Central.

The most debili ting aspect of Lusaka Central is the unsanitary state of the toilet and shower system. The toilets hardly flush and are rarely cleaned. They are only cleaned when important Government functionaries pay a visit, e.g. judges, magistrates, prison commissioners. Toilet papes are a rare coodity, A prson has to improvise. Flies from the toilets help themselves on our food which is kept and served in an open place. T!he greatest problem we face at the Maxim~um (Security Prison) is isolation. We are kept in a small section 'thout communicating with anybody except the prison authorities who unlock us up in the morning and lock us up in the evening. Ue are not allowed to receive newspapers or to listen to the radio.... .We are not allowed to read revolutionary or political books even by such African rev l utioaries like Ai.a. . Cabral or Frantz Fanon. Even Humanism (by President Kaunda) is not allowed at least to us. We can only read western novels if one can get them..... Many people may wonder why Zambia and in particular President Kaunda wh ha always claimed to be the campion of the libration of Zimbabwe should arrest, detain, torture and even murder femal and vetera ZANU freedom fighters. The answer is very simple at least for us in ZU w know or Zambian friends. First, our arrest, detention torture and even murder by Zambians were Zambia 's contributon toward~s the detente exercise in Soutern Afrca. It is a wel-known fat that President Kju4a is very btter over the failure of the detente exercise i which he had invested so much in bothx money