13 Zimbabweans still in custody 10 days after SA church raid

By Tererai Karimakwenda
07 February, 2008

Thirteen Zimbabweans from the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg that was raided by South African police last week are still in detention, facing charges of being illegal immigrants. They are the last out of a group of 1,500 refugees who were arrested at the church shelter run by Bishop Paul Verryn.

Bishop Verryn said the remaining 13 detainees are due to appear in court on Tuesday. Most possess legal documents but they had not yet been given the opportunity to produce them. The Bishop confirmed that a small number had no documents at all. It had been feared that they would be deported but the Bishop said none had been sent back to Zimbabwe.

At the time of the late night raid, police said they were looking for criminals, drugs and guns. Nothing illegal was found on the premises and it is now the actions of the police themselves that are in the spotlight. Some refugees who were released last week accused the police of forcing them to pay bribes for their freedom. This was after Bishop Verryn reported that the police had used excessive force during the raid, assaulting him and his staff.

As a result the Independent Complaints Directorate is investigating the conduct of police officers who took part in the raid. Verryn said he is shocked at police treatment of foreigners in South Africa, both with and without legal papers. He explained: “One of the things that happened to some of the people that did have papers is that their papers were torn up by police officers and what was said to them was these papers came from the Mbeki government and he is no longer in power. Some of the stuff that is happening around the rest of the country is very, very difficult to understand in a human rights concept,” said Verryn.

The Bishop said the Zimbabweans arrested last week were released with assistance from prominent human rights lawyer George Bizos and lawyers from several private firms who volunteered their services. Bizos has represented opposition officials in Zimbabwe, including MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai.