STATE TAKEN TO TASK OVER BRUTAL ASSAULTS Occupy Africa Unity Square (OAUS) leader Itai Dzamara and human right s lawyer Kennedy Masiye have instigate civil and criminal processes against the state, over the brutal assault they both suffered two months ago. Assistant Inspector Mutemi, based at Harare Central Police Station has been exposed as having led a group of more than 20 police members that brutally assaulted members of OAUS and Masiye on November 6, 2014. Mutemi was served with a notice of intention to sue last month by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights’ Denford Halimani, acting on behalf of Dzamara, in terms of section 6 of the State Liabilities Act, as read together with section 70 of the Police Act. The piece of legislation provides for citizens to sue the police or individual officers over acts of violation of rights. According to the law, individuals whose rights are violated can demand compensation for the pain and loss suffered through the acts of violation. The demands are submitted to the police force as well as individual perpetrators of the acts of violation. A period of 60 days is provided for the police force or individual officer to respond or honour the demands, after which and in the event of the violating parties not responding, the matter can be taken to court. In line with the law, the notice was also served to the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri and Home Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi. ‘This is a notice of our client’s intention to institute legal proceedings against you in your personal capacity for your wrongful, unlawful and unjustified conduct against him on the 6th of November 2014 at Africa unity Square in Harare,’ the notice served to Mutemi reads. ‘By assaulting our client for daring to exercise his constitutional right, you violated his bodily integrity. Your conduct was totally unacceptable and constituted a contumacious infringement of our client’s physical integrity, freedom and comfort. Your infringement of our client’s bodily integrity was unlawful, unjustified and wrongful. Your actions suggest that you did not care whether or not our client was dead or alive. He spent four days and four nights at a hospital before being discharged on the 10th of November 2014. Our client has never been charged of any offence as indeed he had not committed any offence.’ The notice further reads, ‘As a result of your vicious, inhuman, degrading, unprovoked, humiliating, unlawful, wrongful and unjustified assault, our client suffered general damages in the amount of US$100, 000. 00. In addition to this sum, you are also personally liable to recompensing our client for special damages being all medical expenses incurred when he was admitted to hospital, which is to the sum of US$1, 339.61. Accordingly, the total being claimed by our client is US$101, 339.61, excluding future medical expenses.’ On the day in question, Mutemi led his team in brutally assaulting Dzamara and other OAUS members. Dzamara lost consciousness and only recovered at hospital after more than an hour. Masiye was also brutally assaulted after he arrived at the scene and revealed his operating licence to justify his bid to represent Dzamara. Mutemi threw away the licence and proceeded to take the lead again in assaulting Masiye, who sustained a broken hand and other serious injuries, which made him spend a week in hospital. Masiye has also filed a criminal case against Mutemi and the police as well as started processes of claiming damages. Human rights defenders strongly condemned the barbaric conduct of Mutemi and his team, with calls being made for measures to taken aimed at bringing the senior cop and his colleagues to book.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 11:45:03 +0000
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