Zimbabwe woman wins US abuse settlement

Zimbabwe woman wins US abuse settlement

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By Staff Reporter

A ZIMBABWEAN woman will receive a $45 000 settlement of her lawsuit that alleged abuse by United States airport immigration officials, lawyers said.

The settlement agreement was filed on Wednesday in San Francisco's federal court.

Tsungai Tungwarara, then 18, arrived in San Francisco from Zimbabwe in January 2002 to visit her mother.

Instead, she was strip-searched, questioned and sent to jail because immigration officials believed she planned to attend college in the San Francisco Bay area in violation of her tourist visa, said her lawyer, Tony Schoenberg.

An inspector told her, "We won't allow these people here -- not after September 11. Go back to the jungle," according to Schoenberg.

The US Attorney's office denies any racist statements were made, said spokesperson Luke Macaulay. He added that Tungwarara's visa was two years old, she only had a one-way ticket and her mother already lived here. He also said Tungwarara admitted she came to the Bay Area to attend school.

The next day, Tungwarara was forced to return to Zimbabwe at her family's expense.

"It was quite shocking because I was placed in the same cell with other convicts," said Tungwarara, who's now 22 and recently relocated to the San Francisco Bay area. "The first time I go to a new country, I spend the night in jail."

Macaulay said jail staff followed their search policy and Tungwarara was examined by a woman.

In June 2004, Schoenberg, along with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, sued in federal court. The following October, a judge ruled the search unconstitutional. The case had been scheduled for trial in April.

In the settlement, the US government acknowledged no wrongdoing.

Tungwarara said the incident strengthened her resolve to study law at a university in South Africa.

Since the incident Ms Tungwarara has completed a law degree at Fort Hare University in South Africa, and has obtained a visa allowing her to live with her mother in the US

"I want to know what my rights are," she said, adding that she hopes the precedent set by her case prevent abuse from happening to others.

"I think officers will be more reluctant to treat people this way," she said. - Sapa-AP
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