‘No foul play behind crash’:Tsvangirai tells mourners

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Monday that a car crash that injured him and killed his wife was an accident.

“In such incidents there is always speculation, but in this case I want to assure you that if there was any foul play it would probably be one in 1 000,” he told mourners outside his home after returning from Botswana where he received medical treatment.

“It was an accident which unfortunately took a life. I am sure that life has to go on and I’m sure she [his wife Susan] would have liked for life to go on.”

The tragedy comes at a difficult time for Tsvangirai, who is under mounting pressure to rescue the shattered economy under a new unity government with President Robert Mugabe, his old rival.

Many Zimbabweans are suspicious about Friday’s crash on a dangerous potholed highway, neglected like many others during the southern African country’s economic decline.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Saturday called for an investigation into the car crash, but warned Zimbabweans not to jump to conclusions about the cause.

Rumours that the crash that killed Susan Tsvangirai was not an accident were inevitable given the history of political violence in a country battered by economic and humanitarian crisis.

AFP:Morgan Tsvangirai pictured with
his wife Susan in Harare in February

“We cannot talk of foul play … until it has been proved what has really transpired,” said Tendai Biti, Tsvangirai’s No 2 in the MDC party and the country’s new finance minister.

He added that the crash “could have been avoided” had Tsvangirai been afforded the kind of motorcade that usually travels with Mugabe. At a news conference at party headquarters in Harare, Biti called for an investigation.

The driver of the truck that slammed into Tsvangirai’s vehicle and forced it to roll appeared at a court in Chivhu, 150km south of Harare, on Monday, accompanied by three plain-clothed policemen.

Chinoona Mwanda’s application for bail was granted and he was remanded to appear back in court on March 23, said his lawyer Chris Mhike.

Tsvangirai’s wife of 31 years described as a pillar of strength during his 10, often trying, years of opposition to Mugabe, is expected to be buried on Wednesday.

Questions may arise over how quickly Tsvangirai can recover from the loss and get down to the urgent task of easing an economic crisis squeezing millions of Zimbabweans.

Ian Makone, a secretary to the prime minister and member of his MDC party, said Tsvangirai was “very devastated by the death of his wife”.

‘Truck was transporting Aids medicine’

A United States embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official spokesperson was not immediately available, said on Saturday that the truck involved was transporting Aids medicine donated by the US government. It was driven by a Zimbabwean contracted by the US.

State television said the truck swerved on an uneven stretch of road. Tsvangirai’s spokesperson James Maridadi earlier said Tsvangirai’s car sideswiped the truck and rolled at least three times.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri told the state-run newspaper the Herald the truck may have struck an object on the road before it veered.

The Herald also reported on Saturday that the two other people in Tsvangirai’s car — the driver and a bodyguard — were also injured.

The paper added the driver and occupants of the truck were taken to a police station, but it was unclear whether they had been arrested.

Susan Tsvangirai (50) was pronounced dead soon after arrival at a clinic about 40km from Harare, Makone said. He said her children were flying to Zimbabwe from Australia and South Africa and funeral arrangements were being made.

Britain and the US, both supporters of Tsvangirai, sent condolences. South Africa, which played a key role in negotiating a power-sharing deal that made Tsvangirai prime minister, also expressed condolences.

Mugabe spent about an hour at the hospital late on Friday. He and other senior aides, who also visited, did not speak to reporters or Tsvangirai supporters gathered outside.

‘I just prayed’

Tsvangirai, who turns 57 this week, was sworn in on February 11 as Zimbabwe’s prime minister in a power-sharing deal meant to end almost a year of deadly stalemate with Mugabe.

The unity government was formed under pressure from neighbouring governments who wanted Zimbabwean leaders to turn their attention to a growing humanitarian and economic crisis after years of rivalry between Tsvangirai and Mugabe, who has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980.

Zimbabwe has the world’s highest official inflation rate, a hunger crisis that has left most of its people dependent on foreign handouts and a cholera epidemic blamed on the collapse of a once-enviable health and sanitation system.

Tsvangirai formed his MDC party a decade ago.

As it emerged as a serious political challenger, Tsvangirai repeatedly faced the wrath of Mugabe’s Zanu-PF. He has been beaten and was once nearly thrown from a 10th floor window by suspected government thugs.

Tsvangirai’s party on Saturday quoted his wife as once saying there were times when she so feared for her husband’s safety that “sleeping was no longer part of my life. I just prayed.

“But at the end of the day, I had to support my husband.” — Sapa-AP, Reuters

Source: Mail & Guardian Online

Lorry death enquiries continue

THE death of a suspected illegal immigrant found in a lorry near Winchester looks unlikely to be suspicious.

Police are investigating the death of a man discovered on the M3 at Winchester.

The man, believed to be east Asian and 25-30 years old, was discovered by officers who stopped an Italian-registered lorry on the southbound motorway between junction ten and nine at around midday on Tuesday.

The 45-year old Italian driver was arrested and was today (WED) being held at North Walls police station in Winchester.

A post-mortem by a Home Office pathologist Debbie Cook on Tuesday evening was inconclusive.

Coroners officer Barry Thomas said: “There are no injuries to the body. It will be down to histology and toxicology tests. It is looking like natural causes.”

The central Hampshire coroner has been informed and an inquest was expected to open next week.

A spokesman for Southampton and Winchester Visitors’ Group, which supports asylum seekers and refugees, described the man’s death as “tragic.”

She said: “Unfortunately it happens too often. To get this far, he has probably been in the hands of ruthless people traffickers.

“He may have given them his life savings or borrowed heavily from his family in order to get away from China either to make a better life for himself or because he did not feel safe.”

Detective Superintendent Dave Williams from Hampshire Major Crime Department said: “At this stage there is no pathological evidence to suggest foul play. Although the man was wearing several layers of clothing and seemed prepared for the cold conditions, we can’t rule out the possibility he died through hypothermia or other natural causes.

“Our enquiry team is currently liaising with the UK Borders Agency, Surrey Police, Kent Police and our partners in Human Trafficking intelligence with a view to identifying the man and the circumstances surrounding his death.

“From other clothes we found inside the trailer, we’re concerned that there were other people, possibly a woman and child, stowed away in the vehicle.

“It’s possible they managed to get out of the vehicle on either the M25 or the M3.” – thisishampshire.net

Investigation into claims of abuse on asylum-seekers

Claims by hundreds of asylum-seekers that they have been beaten or abused by British guards during their detention and removal from this country are to be independently investigated for the first time, The Independent reported yesterday.

The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, has appointed Nuala O’Loan, the former Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland, to conduct an investigation into mistreatment allegations first reported in this paper last year. Dame Nuala, who won praise and criticism from Catholics and Protestants for her robust style in dealing with complaints against the police and led the inquiry into the handling of the Omagh bombing, has been given a wide remit to reopen cases of alleged brutality. She has also been asked to report on any failures of a system that allows private security guards to use “reasonable force” in restraining asylum-seekers.

The Home Secretary’s intervention follows the publication of a detailed report in July that revealed nearly 300 cases of alleged physical assault and racial abuse in the past four years. The report, entitled Outsourcing Abuse, raised concerns about the control and use of private security firms in the detention and deportation of some of the most vulnerable people in British society.

Nearly 50 of the complainants contacted by the researchers and lawyers gave permission for the Government to reinvestigate or begin fresh investigations into their claims. Their names have been passed to the UK Border Agency.

On Monday night, the authors of the report welcomed Dame Nuala’s appointment. Emma Ginn, of Medical Justice, which helps victims of abuse, said: “The Home Office had previously described allegations as ‘unsupported assertions’. We note their change of tone now that national and global organisations have picked up on the issue.”

Romain Ngouabeu, of the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, added: “We continue to get allegations of assaults, including one on the day we published our report.”

Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, said on Monday: “I am very pleased to hear that Nuala O’Loan has been appointed to look into the allegation of abuse against immigrant. This is an incredibly serious matter that deserves nothing less than the most rigorous of investigations. I look forward to the results of the investigation – both in terms of justice being done and in terms of a concrete improvement in the way immigrants are treated while being detained or deported.”

Many of the allegations, often supported by medical evidence, concern the use of excessive force in the removal of failed asylum-seekers on a scheduled flight. In some cases, pilots have refused to take off while the refugee is still on board, citing concerns for the safety of passengers.

Noreen Nafuna, a 38-year-old Ugandan woman, came to the UK three years ago after claiming to have been detained and beaten by the Ugandan army. Her application for asylum was turned down and she was held at Yarl’s Wood removal centre in Bedfordshire before being taken to Gatwick by private security guards employed by the Home Office.

“I was carried up to the plane. I started screaming when I was brought to the top of the stairs. I was only wearing underpants and a bra. A jacket was placed over my neck and I was held around the neck so I couldn’t make a noise.”

In her complaint about her treatment, Ms Nafuna recounts: “Two of them sat on me. One of them placed her hands over my mouth to stop me shouting out. I was finding it hard to breathe. The plane was not full of passengers. A lady in a red suit came up with another woman. I heard her ask if I was still alive as I had stopped moving or making any sounds. They got off me then so I sat up. I was crying again. Then other passengers became aware of what was going on and told the officers to leave me alone. Everyone saw me bleeding. Eventually they called the pilot and he came up and said, ‘We are not taking her.’”

Her complaint was eventually upheld by the Home Office after her legal action for assault was settled by the security company.

In another case, HM, a 16-year-old girl from Rwanda who claimed asylum after coming to Britain as a sex-trafficking victim, says she was assaulted by guards who removed her from a shower unit in a detention centre. She says she suffered bruising when she was handcuffed from behind in a semi-naked state and taken to a holding cell. Her claim was investigated and dismissed by the Home Office, although there was criticism of the way the guards had handled her.

The Home Office says that it properly investigates all complaints of such a nature but it does not recognise the large numbers contained in the report.

Asylum abuse claims

*In July last year, RH, an asylum-seeker from Burundi, was taken from his room in a detention centre by immigration escorts. He was handcuffed, and his legs were crossed at the ankle before being tied together with tape.

After struggling on his way to a van bound for Heathrow, he says he was beaten and kicked by the escorts before being dragged half-naked on to the plane. During the alleged assault, his handcuffs caused him to incur severe injuries to his wrists which were clearly visible.

The pilot came to investigate, and told the escorts he would not fly Mr RH out of the country in his current physical state. Other cases include that of Amos Alajaibo, a Nigerian who says he was beaten unconscious by guards after admitting he had talked to the media during a protest, and an Algerian man who was allegedly assaulted while in a wheelchair.

Suren Khachatryan, an Armenian, suffered a punctured lung after allegedly being stamped on by his immigration escorts in the back of a security van. Another detainee said he was “bound up like a parcel” by officials trying to force him on to a deportation flight. None of these complaints has been upheld. - The Independent