Zimbabweans who cross into neighbouring Bostwana for economic or political reasons but have no papers risk being severely canned when caught, as shocking details emerge of wounded Zimbabwe torture survivors.
Early July nine Zimbabwean men reportedly sustained severe injuries after they were whipped on the buttocks with switches by a chief’s security forces in Botswana, according to a report. It is further reported that one of the victims of the assault, Ezekiel Mukuya spent three days unable to sit because of the severity of the injuries.
The Senate Committee on Peace and Security has petitioned the Botswana government over this gross ill treatment of Zimbabweans, with Zanu PF MP for Rushinga, Damian Mumvuri reporting to Parliament the gross abuses his committee had witnessed at the border post.
Mumvuri told Parliament; “The committee managed to witness a group of Zimbabweans at the no man’s land, between Zimbabwe and Botswana who had been deported. They could hardly walk and had wounds all over their bodies. “They submitted that they had been beaten up by both the Botswana police and the traditional chief courts,” Mumvuri said. Botswana police have confirmed the canning incidents, explaining that the country’s chiefs were responsible for giving corporal punishment of six cuts.
Volumes of Zimbabweans cross into Botswana and other neighbouring countries in search for work, as Zimbabwe’s economy continues to deteriorate. Botswana’s law enforcement agencies conduct patrols along the border with Zimbabwe, as well as urban sweeps, to find illegal migrants. However, the deportees quickly find their way back through illegal entry points.