MatabelelandReport

It was usual for detainees to be taken first to the nearest 5 Brigade base, for 1 or more days, before being transferred to
Bhalagwe. Interviewees report being held in small 5 Brigade camps, until there were enough of them to fill an army
vehicle to Bhalagwe. A truck-load seems to have been around 100 people. In southern Matobo, the main `holding camp'
was at Sun Yet Sen, where both the CIO and the 5 Brigade were based.This camp reportedly held up to 800 detainees at
one time, and people were sometimes held here for a week or longer. There were smaller bases in the west and north.
Detainees in southern Matobo were commonly beaten before their detention, tortured at Sun Yet Sen, and then
transferred to Bhalagwe for further torture and detention. In addition to detentions after rallies or mass beatings, 5
Brigade also went through some areas on foot, hauling out villagers from the homesteads they passed, and then herding
them ahead on foot, while beating them. Some interviewees report covering extensive distances in this way, as 5
Brigade made a sweep through many villages in an area, gathering a growing number of detainees as they went.
E.BHALAGWE
The most notorious detention centre of all was Bhalagwe Camp, situated just west of Antelope Mine. From interviews,
Bhalagwe operated at full capacity throughout the early months of 1984, from the beginning of February until the end of
May, a period of 4 months. It continued to operate after this, but the phenomenon of mass detentions had dissipated by
then, and there were fewer new inmates after this.
On 15 May 1982 aerial photographs of the Bhalagwe area were taken for the purposes of updating maps of the area. An
enlarged section of one such photograph (see page ) shows that at this date, Bhalagwe was an operational military camp:
military vehicles are visible, as are soldiers on parade. It would appear that 1:7 Battalion was based here in 1982,
consisting mainly of ex ZIPRAs incorporated into the Zimbabwe National Army. At some point in 1982, the ZIPRAs
here were allegedly accused of being dissidents, and Bhalagwe Camp was surrounded by elite Paratroop and
Commando units and was shut down. However, a military presence was maintained here, as there are references to
Bhalagwe being used as a detention centre for ex ZIPRAs and others from mid 1982 onwards, when the anti-ZIPRA
sweep in the wake of the tourist kidnapping gained momentum.
Visible at Bhalagwe in May 1982, are 180 large, round roofed asbestos "holding sheds", each measuring approximately
12 metres by 6 metres, and 36 half-sized ones, measuring 6 metres by 6 metres. According to testimonies on record
since March 1984, which have been confirmed in interviews in 1996, these asbestos structures were where detainees
were kept. It is also clear from the aerial photography, that these structures were arranged, apparently within fences, in
groups of a dozen - eleven 12 x 6 metre structures and 1 smaller one. What is not clear is how many of these groupings
were used in 1984 to house detainees, and how many were used to house military personnel, or served storage or
interrogation purposes. Perhaps many were out of use. There is also reference by some detainees to some of the asbestos
sheds having suffered wind and storm damage, so by February 1984 the camp may have been less intact than it appears
in the May 1982 photograph.
Detainees confirm that 136 people were routinely kept in each 12 x 6 metre shed. There were no beds, and the floor
space was so limited people had to sleep squeezed together on their sides, in 3 rows. There were no blankets or toilet
facilities.
An assumption, based on affidavits, of 136 per shed would allow for the detention of at least 1500 people within each
fenced enclosure of a dozen sheds. Bhalagwe camp has been variously estimated by ex-detainees to have had 1800,
2000, 3000 up to 5000 people detained at one time. On 7 February 1984, the number of detainees was 1 856, consisting
of 1000 men and 856 women. This figure was given to CCJP in 1984 by a detainee who was ordered by 5 Brigade to
help others count the number of detainees. As the curfew had only been in effect a few days at this stage, and the phase
of mass detentions was just beginning, it is very likely the number rose over the following weeks.
It is quite clear from the aerial photograph that Bhalagwe's holding capacity was vast, and easily capable of absorbing at
one time the highest figure currently claimed, that of 5 000. However, the exact number detained at Bhalagwe's peak
remains unconfirmed.
The first records of detentions in the Bhalagwe area date from the middle of 1982, coinciding with the detention
exercises going on in Matabeleland North at that time. Reported detentions in 1982 and 1983 are few, however: it is in
February 1984 that Bhalagwe becomes the centre of detentions throughout Matabeleland.
71