Tortured lawyer argues case at African Commission

By Lance Guma
30 November 2005

A lawyer who was tortured in police cells, Gabriel Shumba, argued his case against the Zimbabwean government at the African Union on Wednesday. The Commission on Human and Peoples Rights is currently sitting in the Gambia to hear various cases from across Africa. The move has forced the Director of Public Prosecutions Loise Matandamoyo and two other government lawyers to travel to Banjul the capital of Gambia in order to put up a defence. Shumba was arrested by police in January 2003 and tortured for three days only to be released on bail five days later. He told the commission that torture on the African continent was indefensible and that he had every right to pursue a remedy to his torture. Government is arguing amongst other things Shumba’s evidence is inadmissible, he has not exhausted all the legal options in Zimbabwe and that he is actually a fugitive from the law. Shumba scoffed at the claims saying when he travelled out of the country to Canada, the police issued him with a clearance letter and this would not have been possible if he was wanted. The government has not denied Shumba was tortured. A fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe by the same commission in 2003 cites Shumba’s torture case as one of the most serious violations to occur in the country to date. Shumba told the commission that torture is an offence, which is not recognised under Zimbabwean law and that was why he had brought the issue to the commission. From Gambia, Shumba told Newsreel most of the questions by the African Commissioners during the hearing were directed at the government lawyers and this had made him confident they would rule in his favour. A decision is expected in a few weeks.