Since December 2012, the ZANU-PF controlled police have carried out an
apparent campaign of politically motivated abuses against civil society
activists and organisations.
On April 10, 2013 three members from the National Youth Development
Trust in Bulawayo were arrested on Wednesday for mobilising residents in Pumula
to register as voters. The police in the country have mounted a crackdown on
anyone not from ZANU PF seen helping or mobilising people to register as
voters.
On March 17, 2013, police arrested prominent human rights lawyer
Beatrice Mtetwa in Harare and charged her with obstructing the course of
justice. She remains in detention despite a high court order on March 18
ordering her release. The arrest came after Mtetwa attempted, in the course of
her duties as a lawyer, to offer legal assistance to four employees from the
prime minister's office whom the police also arrested on March 17. The four
employees from the prime minister's office remain in detention and have not
been charged.
On February 15, police arbitrarily arrested and detained George Makoni,
an employee of the Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ), and a
local pastor for organizing a church meeting in Chegutu, west of Harare. Church
meetings do not require any prior notice. Makoni and the pastor were later
released without charge.
On February 13 and 14, police in Harare and Bulawayo forcibly disrupted
the annual Valentine's Day “love” protests by about 190 members of Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA). The police arrested, detained, and in some cases beat
protestors with batons, including the WOZA national coordinator, Jenni
Williams. The protesters were released without charge following the intervention
of lawyers.
On February 11, in what appears to have been coordinated action, police
raided the offices of the National Association of NGOs (NANGO) and Community
Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD) in Masvingo and the Zimbabwe
Peace Project (ZPP) offices in Harare.
On March 8, the ZANU-PF-controlled Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)
announced that any civil society organisation under police investigation would
be barred from monitoring the constitutional referendum and elections. This
directive would directly affect the main civil society organisations operating
in the country, including ZPP, Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights),
Zimbabwe Election Support Network, and Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition.
The recent police actions against civil society groups appear to have
had the approval of the highest levels of the police, Human Rights Watch said.
At the Senior Police Officers’ Conference in November, attended by country’s
top police officers, an official statement was approved noting “with concern
the negative influence and subversive activities” of nongovernmental and civil
society organisations in the coming referendums. The statement resolved to
“effectively utilize the intelligence units in monitoring the activities” of organisations;
“maintain records of all [organisations] operating in their areas;” “engage the
leaders of these organisations in respect to their activities;” and “take
appropriate action against [organisations] that are found to be operating
outside the provisions of the law.” A similar resolution was approved at the
ZANU-PF annual conference in December and attended by all security chiefs.
ZANU-PF also resolved to “instruct the party to ensure that government enforces
the de-registration of errant [organisations] deviating from their mandate.”
Soon after these statements were approved, the police began a sustained
and apparently systematic campaign to harass and intimidate civil society
organisations. On December 13, police raided the offices of ZimRights and
arrested four people, including one of the organisation’s staff. A month later,
on January 14, police arrested the ZimRights national director, Okay Machisa,
ostensibly in his capacity as director of the organisation, on charges relating
to a voter registration campaign. Machisa spent over two weeks in detention
before being released on bail.
On January 18, the ZANU-PF minister for youth and indigenization,
Saviour Kasukuwere, formally approved regulations requiring all youth
organisations to be registered with the Zimbabwe Youth Council or to be banned.
Under these regulations, no youth organisation may receive funding without
authorization from the youth council and all members or affiliates of
registered youth organisations are required to pay exorbitant annual levies to
the youth council. These regulations are likely to cripple the operations of
youth organisations throughout the country.
I join Human Rights Watch in urging the member countries of the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) to press the Zimbabwean
government to permit civil society organisations to be allowed to operate
freely without government harassment as a crucial part of creating an
environment conducive to holding credible, free, and fair elections.
WE ARE WATCHING!!!
Justice Melusi Sibanda
Organising Secretary – ROHR Zimbabwe/Bradford
Branch
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