Statement 8th January 2002

"The mere fact that so many Zimbabwean asylum seekers end up in Oakington Detention Centre on a fast track for decisions indicates a predisposition on the part of the Home Office to disbelieve their evidence of torture.

"The shorthand used by the Home Office to justify holding people in Oakington is that their cases are ‘straightforward’ and can be dealt with quickly. The unspoken official view is that they are prima facie manifestly unfounded.

"The Medical Foundation has actively sought the release of a number of Zimbabwean applicants from Oakington. In every case the applicants had reported suffering from the effects of torture to doctors there upon arrival and should have been released immediately.

"In the main the applicants tend to be mid-ranking MDC members whose names were known to the authorities. In most cases they had been picked up several times either at their homes or places of work, or sometimes between the two, and taken to waste ground and badly beaten. Women victims of the Mugabe regime are treated horrendously, with multiple rapes common.

"The Medical Foundation believes that the omissions in the Home Office’s Country Information and Policy Unit report on Zimbabwe highlighted by Professor Ranger of St. Antony’s College once again emphasise the need for an independent documentation centre providing country information rather than an in-house research unit.

"Such a centre would be able to draw on the kind of knowledge and expertise shown by Professor Ranger, and remain above the political agenda."

Statement 2nd January 2002

"The Home Office must err on the side of caution when considering to send failed asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe.

"The UK Government has acknowledged the level of political violence that has reigned unchecked for 18 months in Zimbabwe. This has included murder, rape, kidnappings and beatings.

"This violence is targeted against those perceived as a threat to the status-quo and if it is not orchestrated by Zimbabwean state authorities, it has certainly been condoned by them.

"This is not a situation to which the Home Office should be returning people if there is any chance they too may be attacked and victimised."