On September 28, the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe ruled that human rights activist Jestina Mukoko could not be prosecuted for crimes of terrorism since she herself “had been terrorized when state security agents abducted and tortured her,” The New York Times reports. The decision comes as a “rare triumph” in a nation with a poor record of human rights. Mukoko was abducted last December and held for three weeks, later testifying that she had been “held in secret locations, where her abductors forced her into a false confession, making her kneel on skin-piercing gravel and relentlessly beating the soles of her feet.”

The head of a civic group that had been monitoring and documenting human rights abuses prior to the contested March 2008 presidential election, which ultimately led to a power-sharing deal between Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe, Mukoko had been jailed along with dozens of other activists, prompting Western diplomats to claim that Mr. Mugabe was unwilling to respect human rights and restore the rule of law in Zimbabwe. The New York Times further reports that the decision is all the more a victory when considering that “the Zimbabwean judiciary has been deeply compromised in recent years, with many judges accepting luxury cars and farmland from the Mugabe government.”

Irene Petras, executive director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, commented on the ruling:

“Today’s decision can be read as a movement toward the restoration of an independent justice delivery system.”

Zimbabwe Court Frees Rights Activist - The New York Times