5.26.2. It was revealed that during the week of 14 to 18 January, residents were beaten up after barricades had been erected in roads, and Dombotombo Police Station had been stoned, property destroyed and dockets and other important documents had been destroyed. Due to fear and suspicion, members of the public refused to be interviewed. 5.26.3. The ZHRC followed up on a complaint which had been received during the week of the stay away. The complainant revealed that he and others had been rounded up from Dombotombo flats by soldiers who beat them up and accused them of having participated in the barricading of roads. 5.26.4. The complainant revealed that soldiers kicked doors wide open and broke people’s windows as they ordered them outside where the assaults took place. He stated that due to the beatings, his identity card fell and so did his MDC membership card. When the soldiers realized that he was an MDC member they intensified the beating and accused him of having information from Nelson Chamisa about the disturbances which took place. He received treatment and counselling from the CSU and was released into a safe house. While at the safe house he and others who had been receiving treatment were besieged by unknown, plain clothes men who attacked them and beat them up at night. In this group there were people from Karoi, Bulawayo and Dzivarasekwa and they were accused of having burnt a ZUPCO bus at White House in Harare and being trained to become armed rebels. He reported that they were then taken to Harare Central Police Station where they were profiled and charged with arson and public violence but later released in batches of threes. Among the group were juveniles who received the same treatment he got. The ZLHR had assigned a legal practitioner for the complainant and his group members but they were not taken to Page 50 of 68

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