|
IDHAE INFORMATION
|
|
In Zimbabwe Human rights lawyers
and their families have faced a surge in violent harassment, including
arbitrary arrests, detention and violent physical assaults during April and
May 2007. On May 8, 2007, Mrs. Beatrice Mtetwa, president of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, Ms.
Irene Petras, acting executive director of ZLHR, Mr. Mordecai Mahlangu, a
senior lawyer and former president of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, Mr. Chris
Mhike, Councillor of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, Mr. Colin Kuhuni,
Councillor of the Law Society, and another senior lawyer Mr. Fitzpatrick,
were severely beaten by the police in Harare Zimbabwe, for leading the legal
profession in Zimbabwe to defend the rule of law and protest the frequent
harassment of lawyers in Zimbabwe by the police and the now endemic defiance
of court orders by the government. Beatrice Mtetwa, president of the
Law Society of Zimbabwe, suffered bruises on her back, arms, and legs after
police in Harare beat her and three colleagues with rubber clubs for several
minutes. The four attorneys were forced to lie face down before being beaten,
said Mtetwa, who was treated at a local hospital and released later that day.
The four lawyers, dressed in
professional robes, had been forced into a police truck and driven to an open
area in Harare’s outskirts after officers broke up a protest of more than 60
lawyers outside Zimbabwe’s High Court, said Irene Petras, acting director of
the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. The lawyers were gathering to present
the justice minister with a petition protesting the treatment of two
colleagues arrested last week, according to news reports. The two arrested
lawyers were challenging the government’s detention of several opposition
officials accused of involvement in bomb attacks after a police crackdown on
the opposition in March. Also injured in the beating were
lawyers Chris Mhike, Colin Kuhini, and Terence Fitzpatrick, according to
Petras. In February, police banned
demonstrations for three months, but Mtetwa told CPJ the gathering was lawful
since required notice had been served to police the day before. The legality
of the ban is being challenged in court. Mtetwa has defended dozens of
journalists and fought for press freedom, all at great personal risk. In
March, police officers manhandled and threatened her while she was serving
them court papers, according to news reports. In October 2003, she filed
charges against police after being detained on specious allegations of
drunken driving for three hours, during which she was beaten and choked. On 25 April 2007, the wives of
the two lawyers received anonymous threatening telephone calls. On 4 May, the
human rights lawyers Alec Muchadehama and Andrew Makoni were arbitrarily
arrested. On 8 May, riot police violently disrupted a peaceful gathering
outside the National High Court in Harare of approximately 60 human rights
lawyers representing the Law Society of Zimbabwe in order to protest against
police harassment of lawyers, the defiance of court orders by the government
and the arbitrary arrest and detention of two senior human rights lawyers. Reportedly, three truckloads of
riot police, uniformed officers and individuals in plain clothes armed with
automatic rifles, shot guns and batons initiated the attack, verbally abused
the lawyers and physically attacked them on charges of '”not dispersing fast
enough.” A number of lawyers sought protection inside the Attorney General's
office but were physically attacked by riot police and additional officers
waiting inside the building. The lawyers Beatrice Mtetwa, Colin Kuhuni, Chris
Mhike and Terrence Fitzpatrick were placed onto a police truck and driven to
Eastlea, a nearby suburb where they were ordered to lie on the ground on the
side of the road and beaten in full view of the public. The lawyers were then
released on the roadside. Front Line believes human rights
lawyers and their families are been targeted as a direct result of their
peaceful and legitimate activities in the defence of human rights. Front Line
urges the Zimbabwean authorities to immediately end this violent harassment
and bring those responsible to justice. ACTIONS REQUIRED: Please write to the authorities
of Zimbabwe urging them to: i. Guarantee in all circumstances
the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. Alec Muchadehama and
Andrew Makoni, as well as all persons above-mentioned; ii. Conduct a fair, impartial and
independent inquiry into the events above-mentioned, in order to bring the
authors to justice and pronounce sentences proportional to the gravity of
their crimes; iii. Put an end to all acts of
harassment against Messrs. Alec Muchadehama and Andrew Makoni as well as all
other human rights defenders in Zimbabwe; iv. Conform with the provisions
of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General
Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its article 1,
which states that “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” and
article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary
measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone,
individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats,
retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any
other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of
the rights referred to in the present Declaration”; v. Ensure in all circumstances
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with
international human rights standards and international instruments ratified
by Zimbabwe. Addresses : President of Zimbabwe, Mr. Robert
G. Mugabe, Office of the President, Private Bag 7700, Causeway, Harare,
Zimbabwe, Fax : +263 4 708 211 Mr. Khembo Mohadi, Minister of
Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, 11th Floor Mukwati Building, Private
Bag 7703, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe, Fax : +263 4 726 716 Mr. Patrick Chinamasa, Minister
of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs, Fax: + 263 4 77 29 99 / +263 4 252 155 Mr. Augustine Chihuri, Police
Commissioner, Police Headquarters, P.O. Box 8807, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe,
Fax : +263 4 253 212 / 728 768 / 726 084 Mr. Sobuza Gula Ndebele,
Attorney-General, Office of the Attorney, PO Box 7714, Causeway, Harare,
Zimbabwe, Fax: + 263 4 77 32 47 Mrs. Chanetsa, Office of the
Ombudsman Fax: + 263 4 70 41 19 Ambassador Mr. Chitsaka Chipaziwa, Permanent
Mission of Zimbabwe to the United Nations in Geneva, Chemin William Barbey
27, 1292 Chambésy, Switzerland, Fax: + 41 22 758 30 44, Email: mission.zimbabwe@ties.itu.net
Ambassador Mr. Pununjwe, Embassy of Zimbabwe in Brussels, 11 SQ Josephine
Charlotte, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 762 96 05 / + 32 2
775 65 10, Email: zimbrussels@skynet.be Please also write to the
embassies of Zimbabwe in your respective country. PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
|
|||
|
|
-->