Human Rights Voices

While the UN devotes its human rights operations to the demonization of the democratic state of Israel above all others and condemns the United States more often than the vast majority of non-democracies around the world, the voices of real victims around the world must be heard.

Zimbabwe, September 18, 2006

Labor leaders tortured

Original source

Business Day (South Africa)

"An alliance of independent human rights groups yesterday demanded the immediate prosecution of police and soldiers who allegedly assaulted and injured labour leaders attempting to stage antigovernment protest marches across the country. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum said torture in the troubled southern African nation was "both widespread and systematic" as evidenced by what it called the savage ill-treatment of the main labour federation's leaders while in custody after they were arrested in Harare on Wednesday... Wellington Chibebe, the federation secretary-general, suffered a broken arm, hand and severe head injuries... [he] told human rights campaigners the activists held at Matapi were taken into cells in pairs where they were beaten by police and attackers who he thought - from the language they used - to be soldiers. Lovemore Matombo, the head of the opposition-allied labour federation, suffered head injuries and a broken finger... The government has made no comment on the assaults which have been condemned by western states."