COPS TORTURE ‘MURDER’ CONFESSION

Thuli Rudd, the lesbian woman on trial in Swaziland for the murder of her partner, says she was tortured by more than 20 police officers who forced a confession out of her.

When she complained to a Swazi magistrate, the magistrate reportedly said he knew suspects were sometimes tortured by the police because he was a former officer.

Rudd told the High Court in Swaziland that officers at the Manzini Police Station tortured her during interrogation by tying her to a bench with rope and suffocating her with a plastic bag. She alleges that this happened after her arrest on 27 December 2009.

She also told the court that police officers, especially the investigator, Assistant Superintendent Aaron Methula, would insult her during interrogations, which took place over the course of two days.

Rudd was giving evidence in court during the trial in which she is accused of having murdered Pitseng Vilakati. Rudd denies murder.

She told the court that police did not initially allow her to meet with her attorney, Gigi Reid. She said that she reported her torture at the hands of the police to Manzini Magistrate Dumisani Mazibuko. She said Mazibuko told her that he was aware that suspects were sometimes tortured by the police because he was a former officer.

She said that he phoned the police and instructed them to transfer her to Mawelawela Women’s Correctional facility, but they did not oblige.

‘I was smelly and my arms were bruised. Methula insulted me with words I cannot repeat in court and I was degraded. My Lord, what I want to say is that I do not know who killed Pitseng. I was tortured in order to admit having committed the offence,’ Rudd said.

Torture by police of suspects is commonplace in Swaziland. I have reported numerous cases in the past year where this has happened. For details, click here, here, here, here, here, here, and here,

Strangely, as the US State Department noted in its 2009 report on human rights in Swaziland, although torture is prohibited by the Swaziland Constitution, ‘the provision prohibiting law enforcement officials from engaging in torture is located in the “policy” section of the constitution and is not enforceable in any court or tribunal. The law does not specifically prohibit such practices.

‘Security officials who engage in such practices may be punished, but no punishments were reported during the year [2009], and only one case was investigated. Security officers reportedly used torture during interrogation, assaulted citizens, and used excessive force in carrying out their duties. Reported practices included beatings and temporary suffocation using a rubber tube tied around the face, nose, and mouth, or plastic bags around the head.’

See also

WILL SWAZI LESBIAN GET FAIR TRIAL?

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2010/01/will-swazi-lesbian-get-fair-trial.html

MURDER AND GAY HATE IN SWAZILAND

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2010/01/murder-and-gay-hate-in-swaziland.html

SWAZI ARMY HARASSES LESBIAN

A female soldier who is said to have ‘wept uncontrollably’ at the funeral of a murdered lesbian woman is being harassed by the army.

The soldier, who is reported by the Times of Swaziland to have been an ex-lover of the dead woman Pitseng Vilakati, says since the funeral she is being harassed at work.

She is also being investigated by the Intelligence Department, presumably because he is suspected of being a lesbian.

The media have been exciting themselves over the past few months since Vilakati and her partner Thuli Rudd announced they were to marry in what was believed to have been the first ‘lesbian wedding’ in Swaziland.

Vilakati was found dead last month (December 2009) and her partner Rudd was accused of her murder.

Although she at first admitted committing the murder (possibly after being beaten by police) Rudd has now denied the charge.

The soldier (who understandably wanted to remain anonymous because of the hatred media coverage of homosexuality has been generating in Swaziland) told the Times ever since the funeral, she had been ridiculed by some of her superiors.

‘I have also gathered that I am being investigated by the Intelligence Department. I really do not understand what they want from me as I was mourning someone I loved,” she told the Times, Swaziland’s only independent daily newspaper.

The soldier said her colleagues always mock her when she passed by.

She said at one time, they had gone for a parade and the instructor allegedly said they would leave no stone unturned in this matter as it was tarnishing the name of the force.

She said life is now difficult for her at her workplace as a day does not pass without the superiors saying something regarding this matter.

Since the media, the church and other sections of Swazi society condemned the lesbian couple, international human rights groups have rallied to their defence, calling for greater understanding of homosexuality.

They also want to ensure that Rudd gets a fair trial, fearing that she has already been tried and convicted by public opinion before a hearing has even started.

WILL SWAZI LESBIAN GET FAIR TRIAL?

Concern is growing that the lesbian woman charged with murdering her partner in Swaziland will not get a fair trial.

Thuli Rudd was arrested after the body of Pitseng Vilakati was found in a churchyard in December 2009.

Rudd later appeared in court and pleaded guilty to a charge of murder. She was said to have been covered in bruises when she appeared, raising suspicions that she had been beaten by police.

The couple had made news in Swaziland when they announced they were to marry in what was believed to be the first lesbian marriage in the kingdom.

The media, the churches and ordinary people vilified the couple because of their sexuality.

The case has attracted international attention in human rights circles.

Monica Mbaru of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in Africa says that Thuli is being tried and convicted by the media and the public before the investigation has been completed and that a strong possibility of this being a hate crime by homophobic persons may be ignored in the haste to prove Thuli guilty and further feed into the already high levels of homophobia.

Fikile Vilakazi of the Coalition of African Lesbians, a pan African network of over 20 member organizations of lesbian women and transgender people in 13 countries across Africa, appealed to all fair-minded and freedom loving people in Swaziland to continue to resist and challenge all forms of discrimination, including that based on homophobia in this country.

Dawn Cavanagh, an activist on the Board of the Coalition of African Lesbians, applauded all those who wrote and called in to the media throughout the publicity around the relationship between the two women and their later engagement.

She called for sustained courage in speaking out for the rights of all, including those in same sex relations, to choose with whom to have intimate relationships.

Fikile Vilakazi strongly condemned the sustained and vitriolic verbal attacks on the persons of Thuli Rudd and Pitseng Vilakati. She stated that this constituted emotional abuse and a violation of their rights and the rights of all LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people in Swaziland.

LGBT activists in Swaziland have consistently declared that same sex relations are a reality in Swaziland, as they are worldwide. The movement to open up society and to enable those who are attracted to members of the same sex is strong and vibrant. It is a fact that same sex relations have been in African societies for centuries.

The Coalition of African Lesbians and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission strongly condemned the murder of Pitseng Vilakati and all other acts of violence against women in Swaziland.

It calls on the state to ensure a prompt, full and thorough investigation to bring the murderer or murderers to book. ‘We call on the state in its prosecution of Thuli Rudd to exercise fairness and to ensure that the homophobia that exist, even within the criminal justice system, and the violations of the rights of LGBT people are not allowed to permeate and colour the state’s case. Thuli has the constitutional right to innocence until proved guilty following thorough investigation and a fair trial,’ it said in a statement.

The Coalition of African Lesbians and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission says ‘it will ensure that Thuli Rudd has access to her constitutional rights and that this case is carefully monitored and documented to ensure that justice is done, both for Thulani and for the late Pitseng Vilakati’.

PRESS VILIFIED OVER LESBIAN’S DEATH

The murder of lesbian woman and Swaziland gay rights activist Pitseng Vilakati is beginning to attract international attention.

The latest reaction questions the role of the Swazi media in vilifying Vilakati and Thui Rudd, the woman she was planning to marry.

Rudd has been arrested for the murder of Vilakati, but people are beginning to question whether Rudd is really guilty or whether she has been set up by the Swazi media which hysterically attacked the couple after they publicly declared their love and their intention to marry.

Clarisse Thorn, writing on carnalnation said, ‘I’ve been tracking Pitseng’s story at a distance—and the Swazi media, bloodthirsty and intent on creating a circus, made it easy to track. There was a small furor after the engagement announcement in August [2009], when Pitseng and her partner Thuli Rudd declared their commitment at an upscale restaurant.

‘In September, Thuli Rudd's mother told the newspapers that her daughter had abandoned two children to her care and refused to give any help supporting them. In October, Thuli Rudd was supposedly committed to a hospital after attempting suicide. More recently, the pair was seen in court because, apparently, Thuli had stolen some items from Pitseng—but the wedding was set to go on. Then, on December 22nd, Pitseng's body was identified. She'd been found dead three days before, on Saturday.’

Thorn goes on, ‘Though it wasn't exactly explicit, the media swiftly made it clear that there was one major suspect for Pitseng's murder. Gleefully reported was the fact that Thuli was out of the country when the body was identified, and that she didn't attend her fiancée's funeral. She was detained at the border when she re-entered Swaziland, and on the 31st, it was announced that Thuli had confessed to the crime.

‘Did Thuli avoid the funeral out of guilt or because she knew the world was presuming guilt? Did she confess because she murdered her lover or because she hoped for lenience if she gave a suitably tearful apology? The paper vaguely notes that she cited "ill treatment" by police, which makes it impossible not to ask—just how voluntary was that confession?’

To read the full article click here.

MURDER AND GAY HATE IN SWAZILAND

The following is an extract from the sexgenderbody website about the murder of Swazi woman Pitseng Vilakati who was vilified by the Swaziland press after she announced that she and her lesbian partner Thuli Rudd were to marry each other. Thui Rudd was arrested late December 2009 and charged with the murder of Vilakati.

‘Since August 2009 when Rudd went public with her engagement to the late Pitseng Vilakati, they have been in the spotlight with many people in Swaziland condemning their relationship. They have been under extraordinary pressure and both women demonstrated incredible courage in the face of this pressure.

‘Whilst in South Africa, Thulani had met with activists and discussed the endless violations of her and her partner’s human right to dignity, freedom and equality throughout 2009. There had been major media coverage of their relationship with numerous distortions and misrepresentations as well as a massive public reaction which was largely hostile, insulting and deeply disrespectful.

‘Monica Mbaru of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in Africa expressed concern that Thulani is being tried and convicted by the media and the public before the investigation has been completed and that a strong possibility of this being a hate crime by homophobic persons may be ignored in the haste to prove Thulani guilty and further feed into the already high levels of homophobia.

‘Fikile Vilakazi of the Coalition of African Lesbians, a pan African network of over 20 member organizations of lesbian women and transgender people in 13 countries across Africa, expressed concern about the levels of homophobia in Swaziland and elsewhere on the continent and appealed to all fair-minded and freedom loving people in Swaziland to continue to resist and challenge all forms of discrimination, including that based on homophobia in this country.

‘The Coalition of African Lesbians also extends its condolences to the family of the late Pitseng Vilakati. We remember Pitseng Vilakati as a powerful activist for human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as well as of people living with HIV and AIDS. She was a leader and showed enormous courage in a context of the hostility and discrimination against people in same sex relationships in Swaziland.’

To read the full article click here.