Asylum hearing to determine policy on Zimbabwe begins in UK High Court

By Tererai Karimakwenda
06 March 2006

Three high court judges began listening to arguments on Monday morning in a UK asylum case that will determine the fate of many Zimbabweans who currently cannot be returned home. Last year an immigration tribunal ruled that it was not safe to return failed asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe. The Home Office was not happy with this decision and they filed an appeal claiming the majority of those Zimbabweans claiming asylum were not genuine cases. Sarah Harland of The Zimbabwe Association was in the courtroom Monday. We spoke to her during a break and she said the arguments were very technical and legal ones that are going to present a challenge for the judges.

The case, known as the AA and LK hearing to protect the identity of the Zimbabweans involved, is being heard at the Royal Courts of Justice by
Justices Laws, Brook and Sir Christopher Staunton. The Reverend Martine Stemerick also attended the hearing Monday. She told us the solicitor for the Home Office, who was first to present arguments, is trying to convince the court that there is a difference between genuine victims of political torture and the vast majority of Zimbabwean asylum seekers who just simply do not want to be sent back. The Home Office lawyers admit that it is not safe to send back political activists, but they insist most of those applying for asylum do not fall into this category.

We then spoke to Jenatry Hatirarame Muranganwa, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker who said he was looking for the best way to approach his case because he was tortured in Zimbabwe. Muranganwa said he had been a worker at Tel-One, the government phone company, and was arrested in Chitungwiza and assaulted during the elections in the year 2000. He was part of the group that included Krispen Kulinji and Patson Muzuwa, well-known asylum seekers who were detained in the UK and released after last year’s ruling. Muranganwa said his brother in Zimbabwe has disappeared and lost contact with the family. He said he has been informed state agents came to his Chitungwiza home looking for him 2 months ago. They may have taken his brother instead. He fears he will be tortured again should he be sent back.

Muranganwa’s fate and that of many Zimbabweans lies in the decision that will be made by the 3 justices hearing this asylum case. There will be arguments on Tuesday by lawyers for the Zimbabweans AA and LK.