Americans Claim Police Torture in Zimbabwe

Security police tortured three Americans charged with espionage, terrorism and sabotage in Zimbabwe, their lawyer said Saturday during the suspects’ first appearance in court.

The men, accused of being mercenaries and arms dealers, are missionaries for an Indianapolis-based Protestant group, defense attorney Jeremy Callow said.

The three were arrested when a handgun carried by one of them activated an airport metal detector Sunday. The men were attempting to board a flight to the United States via Switzerland.

Zimbabwean police said, and Callow admitted in court, that the Americans owned a truck found the same day at the airport. The vehicle contained assault and sniper rifles, shotguns, a light machine-gun, handguns, firearms, telescopic sights, knives, camouflage cream and ammunition.

State prosecutor John Musakwa told the court that a diagram of Zimbabwe’s presidential offices, which are across the road from President Robert Mugabe’s official residence, also was found in the truck.

Callow claimed police beat the men and applied electric shocks to their genitals last week while they were in custody, the state-run news agency Ziana reported.

A judge granted Callow’s request for a physical examination and a private physician for John Lamonte Dixon, 39; Gary George Blanchard, 34; and Joseph Wendell Pettyjohn, 35, all of Indianapolis.

The men were ordered held until March 26. They face life in prison if convicted on the weapon charges alone.

Mercenaries in Africa often pose as missionaries in order to mask arms shipments and travel unhindered.