L/stone Worker Compensated K150,000

By Madube Pasi Siyauya

A Livingstone employer, who assaulted his worker on March 7, 2002, has compensated his employee after reading the story in The LRF News.

Kenan Zulu of Kombe Drive in Livingstone assaulted Robert Malipenga for going to his house to ask for Mealie Meal to cook Nshima at lunch time.

After the assault, Malipenga reported the matter to the Livingstone Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) and the story and picture of Malipenga appeared in the March LRF Newsletter.

When Zulu read the newsletter he and Malipenga went to the LRF offices where they told LRF Paralegal Patricia Phiri that they wanted to settle the matter out of court.

Malipenga demanded for K150,000 and that he retains his job. Both his demands were agreed to by Zulu and he has since been paid.

Zulu praised the LRF for their work and said he had learnt his lesson and appealed to all employers to find other ways of resolving issues other than beating up employees.

Malipenga thanked LRF for what they are doing helping the under privileged. He urged all employees who are intimidated by their employers to approach LRF for assistance.

Phiri, however, warned Zulu not to take the law in his own hands. She said if an employee has made a mistake, the employer can warn them verbally or in writing.

Man Shot By Police
A 22-year-old man was on September 1, this year accidentally shot by Constable Kakoma of Zambia Police Post at Lusaka City Market as the officer was chasing a suspect.

Nalikena Nosiku of Chibolya compound said the action of Kakoma was unprofessional.

Nosiku told Kanyama Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) Centre paralegal officer Mary Chisanga that on September 1, this year in the evening, he was shot by a police officer when he was in his shop at Soweto market.

He said he was with his friend in the shop when he heard a gunshot. The bullet entered his arm, went through the chest and came out in the back. He was taken to University Teaching Hospital (UTH) for treatment

According to his friend Golias Daka, Kakoma was chasing Andrew Phiri, one of the men who sells spare parts at the same market. Phiri ran and sat outside Nosiku’s shop. Kakoma who was armed then caught him and started beating him. As he was trying to lift Phiri, the gun went off and shot Nosiku who was in the shop.

Daka took Nosiku to the police station where he was given two police officers to accompany him to the hospital.

Phiri told the LRF the MMD branch chairman accused him of drinking beer at the market and took him to the branch office. The branch chairman released him after he found him with no case to answer. When Phiri was going back to his shop, he saw a police officer chasing him.

He was advised to run by some friend who said the branch chairman sent someone to call th9.5Inspector Lwanja of Zambia Police Post told the LRF he has no idea of Kakoma’s whereabouts.

He said the officer-in-charge at Lusaka Central Police Station wrote a letter to him instructing him to find Kakoma so he can retrieve the gun from him. He said the case is not yet in court as the police are still investigating.

C 5 - Police Torture Chamber

There is a room at lusaka central police station called c5 which is specifically used for torturing people, some police officers have confirmed.

"This room has nothing in it except ropes hanging from the roof," one officer who sought anonymity said.

"They use it when they want to extract information from a suspect and as a way of punishing culprits though the constitution does not allow such a practice."

Some officers said they are allowed to torture people because some suspects do not reveal information unless beaten.

Another police officer from the same police station, who also sought anonymity, said torture is real though police deny it. He said in so many police stations and posts, officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) torture suspects as they please in the CID rooms.

"In this Kampelwa system, you are inflicted with so much pain. They handcuff From Page 1

you and put your hands in between your legs with a rod across which is suspended on two tables. I worked with the CID for a long time and know what happens. We could take two tables and place a rod in between the tables and then tie a suspect’s hands and legs with a strong rope and leave him suspended before we started beating him up," he said.

He said it was first-degree torture because one was made to reveal non-existent things and most of them became confused.

"I remember torturing a man for six days because our "superiors" instructed us to do it. As at now, whips, shot batons and electric shock are still being used," he said.

The other type is where one is tied, a rod is put in the same way as described above and a rope is hang from the roof such that when one pulls it the person tied to it is left suspended in the air.

In support of torture, a female inspector told the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) News the methods used were not torture but a way of punishing the suspects. She said this was so others would learn from them.

"I do not think it is what you call torture, we just punish them so that they do not do the same thing," she said.

She said suspending a suspect on two tables was not what actually happened.

"People exaggerate when they hear from those who have been victims. However, officers beat some suspects because they find it hard to carry on with investigations as most suspects behave in a disorderly manner," she said.

She claimed officers give suspects what they call "reasonable minimum force".

But other police officers expressed disappointment at the conduct of their colleagues.

A retired police officer disagreed with the inspector’s comments saying he worked in the service for 38 years and he knew Kampelwa torture was real.

"This torture is the first class kind of torture that officers use especially when investigating a criminal offence," he said. He demonstrated to the LRF News how the Kampelwa torture is conducted.

In his demonstration, the suspect’s legs are tied to the rod, which is then put on two tables. Due to the weight of the body, a person turns upside down and this exposes his back to the officers to beat him on it.

"By the time they finish beating him he would have agreed to committing the offence and revealed false information," he said.

Last month, a State House police officer, who is currently on suspension pending disciplinary charges, narrated to the LRF News how he was tortured by fellow police officers. He said some officers from Mosque Police Post approached him and asked him to accompany them to the police post in the presence of his wife.

He said when they reached the police post, these officers started beating him as he tried to find out why he was to be detained. He told them he was a police officer and no one was supposed to beat a person who is not charged with an offence.

This officer was detained on November 12, 2000, at about 15:00 hours and released the following day at 13:00 hours. He was charged with being in possession of stolen property.

According to him, he refused to sign in the Arrest and Prisoners Property Book (APPB) because it showed he was arrested for less than ten hours. He sustained injuries on the back and had a swollen face.

"It is true torture exists and police officers apply maximum force using both long and shot batons since they do it out of their own wish," he said.

Another victim, Charles Manase Manyika, 25, told the LRF News how he was tortured by Chiwempala Police Station police officers Chrispin Aujuwa, Stanley Simwanza and Banda in Chingola.

Manyika, now detained at Kamfinsa Prison, said on November 6, 1998, he was blindfolded, his hands and legs were tied and a cloth was put in his mouth so that no one could hear his screams.

He said the officers hanged him on a metal rod placed between two tables so that he could "swing". The officers beat him using long batons as they were trying to make him admit to murdering a person. Manyika sustained a broken leg as his patella fractured and a ligament of his knee joint was also torn.

All this happened when Manyika surrendered himself to the police after learning his family was put in custody on allegations that they knew his whereabouts.

A Lusaka businessman Emmanuel Mwale of Chelstone said his young brother was early this year tortured at Chelstone Police Station by some officers who forced him to name people allegedly involved in aggravated robbery.

He said the brother was put on a swing and suspended upside down, his head facing down and legs folded on the rod.

"My brother was tortured at this police station, not in the building where there are cells but in the next house which they use as offices. These offices are adjacent to each other and they have their CID room there. My brother was put on the rod placed between two tables and was beaten on his back," said Mwale.

He said when he questioned the officers about the beating, they refused saying the young brother was beaten by his cellmates because he did not obey their orders.

Another police officer from Sikanze Police Station confirmed the existence of the Kampelwa system.

"Torture is real, people who have been tortured will agree with me that it is real. I am saying what I see because I am a constable who is against the idea. My fellow officers at one time reported me to my seniors because I refused to suspend a suspect," he said.

Police spokesperson Lemmy Kajoba denied torture existed in the police service.

He said all those who claim to have been tortured do not say the truth.

However, he agreed police can use "considerable minimum force" if they have reasons beyond doubt that the person can help in giving out the required information.

"The police is only allowed to give reasonable minimum force, if they suspect the person can help them with investigations on a particular matter. Only those people who are angry can say anything even if they haven’t been tortured," said Kajoba.

He said if a person felt his rights had been violated by the police, they advise them to follow the legal channels.

Kajoba said no police officer was above the law and no one was allowed to torture a suspect apart from using the required force.

The foundation has been receiving cases of police brutality and some officers have been sued in their personal capacities.

Immoral Behaviour Leads To Torture
ELEVEN men were last month detained and tortured by Kanyama Police Station officers on a charge of immoral behaviour.

Danistan Chisanga, 25, one of the 11, said this happened on January 17, 2001 when police and the neighbourhood watch group beat them up because they were suspected to have killed a person.

Chisanga told the LRF News it was between 22:00 and 23:00 hours in the night when police went to his house and asked him to open the door. When he did, they got in and started beating him and his friend, Brivo Mumba, using a sjambok, an electric cable and shot baton.

"When we asked them what they wanted, they said we had a gun and started searching the house. They got away with some money since they could not find the gun. We were dragged to where the other nine were lying in the mud. At this point they took turns in whipping us," said Chisanga.

He said police later pointed at a corpse of a man killed the same night and asked if we could recognise him but we could not. They asked us to put the man in the van and took us to the police station.

Chisanga said at the station they were undressed and subjected to so much torture before they were put in custody.

"When my parents came the following morning to sign a police bond for me, the officer known as Sakala refused saying we were all being charged with aggravated robbery, which was non-bailable," he said.

A few days later, Chisanga said, they were all made to slash the surroundings of the station and then released after being charged with immoral behaviour.

LRF paralegal operating from Kanyama Centre, Mary Chisanga, took up the matter and referred him to Lusaka Central Police Victim Support.

"Those people were tortured badly but the officer refused to give them a medical report. I have also asked him to give us the names of all the police officers who were involved so that we can take the matter to court," said Mary.

She said police violated their rights and wanted to know why they were tortured.

When contacted for comment, a police officer at Kanyama Police Station denied there was a Sakala at that Police Station but agreed the 11 were detained and could not say why.

"I’m not police spokesman and I can not give my name. The people you are talking about were here its true but I’m not the arresting officer so I can’t give you the details leading to the arrest," he said.

It is believed Sakala is a reservist at the police station but he could not be traced by press time.

Woman Compensated K100, 000 For Loss of Eye
By Delphine Hampande

A 24 year-old woman who lost her right eye whilst on duty and compensated K100,000 has asked all legal practitioners to start sensitising farm wokers on their human rights as their employers were abusing them.

She said it was a pity that even at a time when a lot of human rights bodies were formed, a number of serious human rights abuses were still being recorded especially for those in the rural areas.

Mary Chabala of Lusaka’s Chawama township complained that a lot of farm owners were suffering because they had no idea about human rights abuse issues.

Chabala used to work as a gardener at Salim Farms in Makeni area and had her eye removed after an insect and some fruit liquids entered it while on duty as she was plucking some fruits from trees on July 9, 2001, permanently damaging it.

The same day she rushed to the owner of the farm Salim and told him about the accident but he refused to give her money to go to the hospital for treatment.

Chabala said she was only given K20, 000 by Salim plus a K50, 000 contributed by all workers the following morning which was not even enough, but when she reached the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), she was told that the eye had already been destroyed and the only possible thing they could do was to remove it.

On August 13 this year, her eye was removed, Chabala said the saddest thing was that when she went back to work, she was given a dismissal letter informing her that her job had been terminated because she had missed from work for one month.

She was compensated K100, 000 and accepted it as she thought it was enough.

Chabala praised the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) for conducting the Legal Bus Projects because that was the time when she discovered that her job was unlawfully terminated and the money she was given for compensation was very little.

LRF Chawama advisor Ernest Mukelabai is handling the case.

Assaulted Bricklayers Ask LRF For Justice

By Delphine Hampande.

A Meter Construction Manager last month ordered Woodlands police officers to torture two of his employees whom he suspected to have stolen a water pump from his house in Lusaka's Bauleni Township.

The two suspects who sustained back and legs problems due to the severe beating have since asked the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) to help them prosecute their boss Brightford Guy so that he can compensate them for assault.

The two bricklayers James Nsama of John Laing compound and Godfrey Kanamani of Soweto, used to work for Guy. They were extending his veranda.

On November 17, 2001, Guy told the two bricklayers to stop reporting for work for four days because they had run out of cement but ordered the people making bricks to continue reporting for work.

On the fourth day, Kanamani went to check whether their boss had bought cement.

When he arrived, he was asked where he had left his friend Nsama to which he replied that he (Nsama) was not feeling well but would report for work the next day.

The next day, the two reported for work but immediately they reached, the boss told them to go back to their homes, because there was not enough cement in order for them to do their work.

As they were about to start off, Guy called the two bricklayers and told them that he was going to give them a lift up town so that it would be easy for them to get to their respective homes.

The bricklayers explained that when they reached near Nyumba Yanga police station, Guy told them that he wanted to get something from the police. To their surprise, police officers ordered them out of the car and they were told to immediately remove their shoes. They were thrown in the cells.

After two hours they were taken out of the cells and made to give statements on the missing pump. They all said they did not know where the pump was.

The police then took Nsama to an isolated small room where they handcuffed him and put him on the famous Kampelwa. He was beaten resulting in his sustaining several injuries on his back and buttocks. The same thing happened to Kanamani.

The two are now asking LRF to assist them bring to book both the officers who tortured them and their boss for assault.

Armed P/Officers Go On Rampage

By Delphine Hamapnde

FIVE armed police officers went on rampage in Mumbwa’s Mafuwa area on May 7, 2002 stealing, burning houses and beating up one of the victims to near death.

Officers Kaputa and Mulenga stole K1.5m from Henry Simwiinga's Grocery, beat him up badly and further burnt two houses destroying goods worth millions of kwacha belonging to Simwiinga's relatives.

And two of the five officers have since been arrested at the insistence of the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF).

Westwood Sub-Inspector Musonda said the two officers were from Shibuyunji Police Post and they had been charged with aggravated robbery, arson and assault.

Officer in charge at Shibuyunji, Phiri, when contacted for a comment, said he was aware of the matter adding that officers Kaputa and Mulenga were not on duty on the material day.

He further wondered how they were allowed to book for an AK47 Riffle with 11 rounds of ammunition to be used for unknown purposes.

Musonda said on May 7,2002 Simwiinga went to West wood police station and reported a case of aggravated robbery and assault involving five police officers, two of whom he identified.

He said his office delayed to arrest the two officers because they were still waiting for the victim who was admitted to the University Teaching Hospital from May 7, to May 14, 2002.

And Simwiinga narrating the ordeal said on May 6, 2002 two police officers from Shibuyunji, Kaputa and Mulenga went to his shop where they demanded for beer which he subsequently gave them. However, problems started when Simwiinga asked Kaputa why he was moving around with a gun when he was not on duty.

This angered Kaputa who left the premises and warned Simwiinga that he would deal with him severely.

The following day around 19:00hours, while Simwiinga and his friends were chatting at his shop, a group of armed people appeared on the scene ordering everyone to lie down and started beating Simwiinga until he became unconscious.

Others went to burn the houses while the rest went in the shop and stole K1.5m. Simwinga, however, managed to identify Mulenga. Simwiinga subsequently went and reported to Westwood but no arrest was made. He then reported the matter to LRF who assisted him in getting the police officers identified and subsequently arrested them.

And a medical report from UTH obtained by The LRF News stated that Simwiinga had been assaulted by known people and sustained deep cuts on his head, back and swollen head and severe body injuries.