HARARE, Zimbabwe, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Human rights activist Jestina Mukoko alleges in a sworn court statement that she was routinely tortured while a prisoner in Zimbabwe.
Mukoko's allegations presented to a Zimbabwean court joined similar torture claims by more than a dozen activists who all alleged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government was responsible for the abusive acts, the International Herald Tribune reported Friday.
The activists also claim the acts of torture led them to offer false confessions which have resulted in their incarceration in the capital of Harare.
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Thursday that Mugabe must release those prisoners being "illegally detained" or face an end to power-sharing negotiations.
"Those abducted and illegally detained must be released unconditionally if this agreement is to be consummated," Tsvangirai said.
The Herald Tribune said Tsvangirai, the head of the Movement for Democratic Change party, is set to return to Zimbabwe Saturday after being gone for two months.
