Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2005 - Zimbabwe

Deportation of COSATU mission⁹⁴

On 2 February 2005, a mission of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), represented, in particular, by Mr. Zwelinzima Vavi, the Congress' secretary general, was expelled from Zimbabwe. Police forces disrupted a meeting between the COSATU delegation and members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which had started a couple of hours before at the ZCTU headquarters, and expelled COSATU representatives.

During the planned two-day mission, COSATU delegation was to discuss the obstacles hampering ZCTU activities. Similarly, on 26 October 2004, another COSATU mission had been expelled from Zimbabwe, a few hours only after a seminar organised at the ZCTU headquarters had been disrupted by police forces who attacked the premises.⁹⁵

Ongoing pressures against WOZA members⁹⁶

Infringements to freedom of assembly

On 31 March 2005, numerous activists of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), including women carrying babies, were arrested in African Unity's Square in Harare, where they had organised a prayer for the peace after the parliamentary ballot was held that day. Some were forced to lie on the ground and beaten with sticks by anti-riot police officers who then trampled on their bodies.

Thirty WOZA members had to receive medical care and nine of them had to be hospitalised. Several women were further taken to the Harare central police station, where they had to spend the night in an open courtyard. They were denied access to a lawyer, food and sanitary facilities. They were all released on the next day, after they paid a fine for "impeding public traffic".

Arbitrary arrest and threats against Mrs. Emily Mpofu and Mrs. Zodwa Nkiwane

On 28 May 2005, Mrs. Emily Mpofu and Mrs. Zodwa Nkiwane, WOZA members, were arrested in Bulawayo during the forcible dispersion of a peaceful demonstration protesting against hunger and the high prices of food on the market. They were then forced into a car and driven in the bush outside of the city. During the whole drive, police officers Levison George Ngwenya and Jospeh Hlongwane threatened them with death. The two women's whereabouts remained unknown until 29 May 2005, when they were reported to be held at Queens Park police station.

On 30 May 2005, Mrs. Mpofu and Mrs. Nkiwane appeared before the judge and were subsequently released, after being notified that they would be summoned again in the future if necessary. The hearing, scheduled for 22 September 2005, was then postponed until 19 October 2005, when they were both discharged.

Arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment

On 18 June 2005, twenty WOZA members, including Mrs. Jennifer Louis Williams, and Mrs. Magodonga Mahlangu, the association's leaders, were arrested while protesting against the governmental programme of illegal buildings and premises clearance "Operation Murambatsivina". Mrs. Williams' house was further searched without a warrant, whereas WOZA members living on their sales were informed that their selling licence would not be renewed.

In addition, Mrs. Siphiwe Maseko, WOZA member, was reportedly randomly designated for being tortured at the Police Internal Security and Intelligence (PISI) head office. Mrs. Maseko was notably beaten with sticks on the back and the soles of her feet by PISI officers who threatened and intimidated her so as she would enumerate the WOZA leaders' and donors' names. She was released after two days and had to receive medical care.

Whereas their demonstration was considered as illegal, the twenty women were indicted with "impeding public traffic", a charge liable with an up to three-month prison sentence or a fine, and released on bail on 20 June 2005. On 11 July 2005, however, the Bulawayo Provincial Magistrates Court ruled that "women demonstrating, and therefore moving, could not possibly block the sidewalk" and acquitted them.

On the International Day of Peace, on 21 September 2005, WOZA called for two demonstrations in Harare and Bulawayo. Thirteen members were arrested in Bulawayo while chanting slogans outside the central police station. They were detained all night, after refusing to plead guilty and pay a fine. In the same time in Harare, three WOZA activists were assaulted by security forces while on their way to the city hall. One of them was reportedly brutally beaten with bludgeons.

Both these demonstrations were violently disbanded by the police.

Continued harassment of ZimRights⁹⁷

At about noon on 19 July 2005, three police officers intimidated the security guard of the ZimRights headquarters in Harare, and ordered him to let them in to search the office, without giving any legal motive for their visit. The three officers then inspected the premises, indicating that they had been "assigned to work at the ZimRights premises for some times", without specifying whom such an order emanated from. They also went to the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) office, sheltered by ZimRights, where they found Mr. Briggs Bomba, ISO member, who was working alone in the office at that time. The policemen announced they would stay overnight to "protect people", while ushering intimidating messages over their walkietalkies. Mr. Bomba, scared, did not dare to leave his office.

On the next morning, the three officers eventually left the premises, but notified the building caretaker that another police team would come – a threat that has not been carried out ever since.

On 25 July 2005, ZimRights lodged a complaint with the Harare police station.

Arbitrary arrest and judicial proceedings against Messrs. Lovemore Madhuku and Bright Chibvuri⁹⁸

On 4 August 2005, the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a grouping of independent NGOs, organised a demonstration calling for the adoption of a new Constitution. Participants gathered in front of the Harare international conference centre, where the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs was holding a public consultation meeting on planned amendments to the Constitution, considered by civil society as further hindrances to fundamental freedoms.

The police riot squad dispersed the demonstration and arrested Mr. Lovemore Madhuku, NCA president, along with Mr. Bright Chibvuri, a journalist for The Worker, a newspaper published by ZCTU. Messrs. Madhuku and Chibvuri were charged with "organising a gathering conducting to riot, disorder or intolerance", and released on bail on 5 August 2005. No date had been set for the hearing of their trial by the end of 2005.

Infringements to GALZ freedom of expression⁹⁹

On 5 August 2005, a group of unidentified men approached the stand held by the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair and stated that the association was not allowed to be part of the Fair. After threatening GALZ activists, the three individuals started packing away the stand. In spite of the GALZ requests for assistance, the police officers and security guards patrolling the Fair refused to intervene. The activists, willing to avoid any violence, then decided to leave.

Ten years ago, GALZ had been illegally prevented by the government from attending the Zimbabwe International Book Fair. In 1996, however, the Supreme Court had ruled that the association was fully entitled to participate in such an event.

Abduction and ill-treatment of Messrs. Officen Nyaungwe, Claris Madhuku, Sozwaphi Masunungure, Isaiah Makatura and Wilson Shonhiwa¹⁰⁰

On 25 October 2005, Messrs. Officen Nyaungwe, Claris Madhuku, Sozwaphi Masunungure, Isaiah Makatura and Wilson Shonhiwa, five field officers of the Mass Public Opinion Institute, were abducted by a group calling themselves "the war veterans", in the "Beatrice" farming community outside Harare. The five officers were conducting a field research programme on the perception of democracy in Africa known as the "Africa Barometer".

Messrs. Nyaungwe, Madhuku, Masunungure, Makatura and Shonhiwa were then presented to the local community as "enemies of the national interests" and severely beaten with glass bottles and sticks. Their aggressors were soon joined by an officer of the national army, and confiscated their IDs. When they realised that Mr. Claris Madhuku was related to Mr. Lovemore Madhuku, they beat him up anew for "his brother's sins".

The five field officers had to be hospitalised at the Avenue Clinic in Harare upon release.

On 29 October 2005, Messrs. Nyaungwe, Claris Madhuku and Masunungure, along with Messrs. Alec Muchadehama and Rangu Nyamurundira, two lawyers and members of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), went to the Ushewokunze co-operative, in the outskirts of Harare, in order to identify their assailants. Although they could easily recognise the leader of the "war veterans", his arrest was prevented by the hostility of the co-operative workers and leaders, in particular that of Mr. Kunze, secretary general of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF, ruling party) for the Southern Harare region. Mr. Kunze and his supporters threatened Messrs. Nyaungwe, Madhuku and Masunungure with further attacks and accused them, along with their two lawyers, of supporting the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC, opposition party) and spreading unrest in the region. The limited police force present on the site could neither react nor arrest the assailants.

On 10 November 2005, the police came back to arrest Messrs. John Peter Chiko, Clerkson Duma and Alfred Mudoti, who were charged with "common assault" and released awaiting trial before the Mbare Magistrate Court. The Court postponed the hearing until March 2006 in order to enable the police to carry out its investigation.

Arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and judicial proceedings against trade unionists¹⁰¹

On 8 November 2005, some 200 trade unionists, including Messrs. Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe, ZCTU secretary general, were arrested in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare, Masvingo and Chinhoyi during peaceful demonstrations called for by ZTCU throughout the country to denounce poverty and repeated disregard for good governance and democracy.

Whereas the unionists detained were denied access to their lawyers during their questioning on 9 November 2005, members of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) were reported to have attended several interrogation sessions. A few hours later, 119 ZCTU activists were charged with contravening Section 19(1) (b) of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), which provides that "any person who, acting together with one or more other persons present with him in any place or at any meeting performs any action, utters any words or distributes or displays any writing, sign or other visible representation that is obscene, threatening, abusive or insulting, intending thereby to provoke a breach of the peace or realising that there is a risk or possibility that a breach of the peace may be provoked shall be guilty of an offence".

In addition, Mr. Mlamleli Sibanda, ZCTU spokesperson, Mr. Last Tarabuku, a journalist at The Worker, Mrs. Thabitha Khumalo, secretary of the ZCTU women's advisory council, and Mr. Leonard Gwenzi, head of the organising department, were reportedly arrested and detained for a few hours in Harare, after they photographed an army truck patrolling around the demonstrators.

Mr. Reason Ngwenya, member of the ZCTU regional section in Bulawayo, and Mr. Dzavamwe Shambari, vice-president of the section, who had informed the authorities of the holding of the demonstration, were arrested on 7 November 2005. Mr. Percy Mcijo, head of the ZCTU regional office in Bulawayo, was further arrested on 8 November 2005. Finally, four members of the Students' Executive Council (SEC), namely Mr. Garikai Kajauro, SEC secretary general, Miss Colleen Chibango, vice-president, Mr. Mfundo Mlilo, information and publicity secretary, and Mr. Wellington Mahohoma, legal secretary, were arrested on 9 November 2005 along with two other student leaders. All six were taken to St Mary police station and accused of inciting the students to participate in the ZCTU demonstrations.

Arbitrary detention of and judicial proceedings against Mrs. Netsai Mushonga¹⁰²

Mrs. Netsai Mushonga, coordinator of the Women's Coalition, an umbrella body gathering women's rights associations in Zimbabwe, was arrested on 8 November 2005 for having convened a working session in a local hotel. This training, sponsored by the NGO Women Peacemakers International, aimed at familiarising women with nonviolent methods in dispute settlement and conflict resolution.

Mrs. Mushonga was formally indicted with "organising a political meeting without informing a regulatory authority", i.e. the police, on 10 November 2005.

She was released on that same day and notified that she would be summoned to appear before the court once the police investigation closed. By the end of 2005, the proceedings were still pending.

The case of Gabriel Shumba versus the Government of Zimbabwe before the ACHPR¹⁰³

On 2 December 2005, the case of Mr. Gabriel Shumba, a lawyer working for the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum, versus the Government of Zimbabwe was heard before the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, The Gambia. Mr. Shumba, who had been arrested along with other MDC members in January 2003, had been tortured by national security agents while in detention. Although the Harare High Court had dismissed the charges pressed against him for "treason" for lack of evidence in February 2003, Mr. Shumba had been forced into exile and continued to receive threats even after his case was closed. During the hearing, Mrs. Loice Matanda-Moyo, representative of the Zimbabwean Government and director of Public Prosecutions, declared that Mr. Shumba was still subjected to judicial proceedings for activities relating to "treason" in the country, even though no arrest warrant had been issued against him. By the end of 2005, the Commission had not hand over its decision on the case yet.

[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

94. See Open Letter to the Zimbabwean authorities, 9 February 2005.

95. See Annual Report 2004.

96. Idem.

97. See Annual Report 2004 and Urgent Appeal ZWE 001/0705/OBS 053.

98. See Annual Report 2004 and Urgent Appeal ZWE 002/0805/OBS 068.

99. See IGLHRC Press Release, 5 August 2005.

100. See Urgent Appeal ZWE 003/1005/OBS 102.

101. See Urgent Appeal ZWE 004/1105/OBS 108.

102. See Urgent Appeal ZWE 005/1105/OBS 109.

103. See Annual Report 2003.