ZWE 006 / 0907 / OBS 117
Arbitrary detentions / Ill-treatment / Judicial proceedings / Harassment / Releases
Zimbabwe
September 21, 2007
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Zimbabwe.
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources that several members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested, detained and harassed for their involvement in the organisation of a “stay away”, a form of job boycott occurring in Zimbabwe to peacefully protest against the deterioration of living conditions and other related issues such as salary freezes, job losses, runaway inflation, corruption and unemployment, that was due to take place on September 19 and 20, 2007.
According to the information received, on September 13 and 14, 2007, three ZCTU members, Messrs. Eliot Muposhi, Willmore Makure and Tafara Tawengahama were arrested in Masvingo and taken to the police station of the city where they were interrogated by police officers from the Law and Order section and members of the Central Intelligence Organisation, concerning the planned ZCTU stay away. After the interrogation which lasted three hours the three were released but threatened with reprisals if they went ahead with the stay away.
In Harare, on September 17, 2007, three ZCTU members, Messrs. Michael Kandukutu, Justice Mucheni, who is also a member of the Food Federation, as well as Mr. Tennyson Muchepfa, also a member of the National Engineering Workers union (NEWU), were arrested in Harare's Workington area while trying to distribute fliers for the stay away. In the framework of these arrests the ZCTU members were assaulted by police officers before being taken to Mbare police station where they were further assaulted. They were then transferred to Harare Central police station where they were submitted to serious ill-treatment. On September 20, they were taken to court and released on bail. They remain accused of “criminal nuisance” under Section 46 of the Zimbabwean Criminal Code and will face these charges in court on October 3, 2007.
In Bulawayo, on September 18, 2007, Mr. Isaac Teveteve, the Secretary of the Gweru branch of the ZCTU, was arrested and sent to detention in Gweru, before being released a few hours later. On the same day, three WOZA members, Ms. Magodonga Mahlangu, Ms. Rosemary Siziba and Ms. Sitshiyiwe Ngwenya were arrested and taken to the Bulawayo police station where they were charged under the Criminal Codification Act for "malicious damage to property owned by the State". The charges relate to messages reading "choose love over hate" that have been written on roads around Bulawayo. Ms. Mahlangu was reportedly removed from Bulawayo police station and brought to a police station located 30 kilometres away from the city. While she was in detention, Law and Order officers subjected her to intensive interrogations and threatened her with death. The three activists were then brought to court on September 19, 2007, where lawyers facilitated their release.
The Observatory expresses its deep concern regarding the above-mentioned cases of arbitrary arrests, detentions and ill-treatments against Zimbabwean human rights defenders, in a context of increasing repression against any initiative from the independent civil society and recalls that according to Article 1 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”.
The Observatory further recalls the 2005 Resolution on the situation of human rights in Zimbabwe of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, which "urges the government of Zimbabwe to respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of expression, association and assembly [...]".
Please write to the authorities of Zimbabwe urging them to:
Please also write to the embassies of Zimbabwe in your respective country.
Geneva - Paris, September 21, 2007
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Email : Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel et fax FIDH : + 33 1 43 55 55 05 / 33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel et fax OMCT : +41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
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