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Following his travails in the hands of alleged abductors, Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda, a member of Parliament for Petauke Central, has now approached the courts to pursue the matter, after making allegations of torture against Levy Ngoma, Clayson Hamasaka, and Trevor Mwiinde.
Banda seeks legal declarations and damages for alleged human rights violations, including torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and false imprisonment.
He also requests an interim order restraining his arrest on charges related to a previously concluded matter.
According to the petition filed in the Lusaka High Court, Banda was questioned about his support for former President Edgar Lungu and his informants in government.
He claimed that he was subjected to physical assault, intimidation and attempted castration.
The petition named Ngoma, who is the political advisor to President Hakainde Hichilema, State House Media Director Hamasaka, UPND deputy youth chairperson Mwiinde, and the Attorney-General as first to fourth respondents, respectively.
Banda alleged that his abduction and subsequent treatment violated his constitutional rights under Articles 11(a), 13, and 15 of the Zambian Constitution.
Banda seeks a declaration that the trio’s actions, which included inflicting pain with a plank and cable, pulling his tongue with pliers and attempting to castrate him, constituted torture and inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of Articles 11(a), 13, and 15 of the Zambian Constitution.
Additionally, Banda seeks a declaration against his forceful removal from Medland Hospital to Maina Soko Hospital against his will and consent and that of his relatives, by the police violated Article 11(a) of the Constitution.
He wants the Lusaka High Court to find his confinement in a car trunk and being driven around for approximately two to three hours before being dumped in an unknown location constituted torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and a restriction of his movement, in violation of Articles 11(a) and (b) of the Constitution.
In the petition, Banda detailed the sequence of his abduction, alleging that he was tortured to reveal the source of support for former President Edgar Lungu and his informers in government, which they referred to as “the system.”
The petitioner was also questioned about an alleged encounter with a Mr. Nyambe, purportedly the Director General at the Office of the President, and the police whom they allegedly provided money during a trip to Ndola with the former President.
“When the petitioner answered negatively to the inquiries, Ngoma ordered that he be beaten with a cable and a plank while lying down on a countertop and was thus beaten,” the petition stated.
“The second respondent (Hamasaka) then ordered that the genitals of the petitioner be bound so that he is castrated, and he told an unknown person to look for a knife so that they could cut off his genitals,” he asserted.
When the person returned without a knife, Mwiinde then ordered that more beatings be inflicted on the petitioner.
Banda revealed that he was abducted around 01:00 hours, stating that he was blocked by three motor vehicles while driving. Six to eight armed individuals emerged, demanding he unlock his doors.
He said that when he refused, fearing they might be armed robbers, they smashed his windscreen and he surrendered.
They searched him, took his money (K50,000), keys, and phones, and physically assaulted him.
They taunted him, asking him to beg for his life and write an apology.
The unknown individuals eventually put him in the trunk of a sedan and drove him to an undisclosed location, where he was confined and questioned by the respondents.
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