Judgment No. CCZ 3 /13 2
Constitutional Application No. CCZ 287/12
at Harare Central Police Station and then taken to Harare Remand Prison on 23 February
2011.
The applicant avers that he was subjected to various forms of ill-treatment
during his detention at both prisons and that his fundamental rights were consequently
violated by the respondents. In particular, he complains that at Harare Central Police
Station he was not allowed to use his cell-phone and was thereby denied access to his
anti-retroviral medication. Furthermore, he was required to remain barefoot and with
only one layer of clothing. In addition, the toilet facilities in the holding cells were
unhygienic and deplorable. At Harare Remand Prison, he was denied access to his
prescribed medication regime. Moreover, together with other inmates, he was stripped
and made to jump up and down, and placed in solitary confinement for four days when he
complained.
Having regard to this ill-treatment, the applicant seeks a declaratur to the
effect that the respondents contravened ss 15(1) and 20(1) of the Constitution relative to
the protection against inhuman or degrading treatment and his freedom of expression, and
that the conditions in the holding cells at Harare Central Police Station and the practice at
Harare Remand Prison of requiring inmates to strip naked be declared inhuman and
degrading. He also seeks an order requiring the respondents to ensure that inmates be
allowed full access to their respective anti-retroviral regimes, that no inmate be required
to walk barefoot or be left with inadequate clothing, and that the toilet facilities in the
holding cells at Harare Central Police Station be rehabilitated.