Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2004 - Zimbabwe

Renewed legislative obstacles to freedoms of association and expression108

The 2004 NGO Act

In November 2002, the Zimbabwean government reported its intention to adopt a new law on NGOs to replace the 1967 Private Voluntary Organisations Act (PVO), some provisions of which had been reasserted in September 2002.

The 2004 NGO Act was adopted by the Parliament on 9 December 2004.

This law imposes heavy restrictions on freedom of association and especially targets human rights NGOs. Indeed, the legal definition of an NGO has been made much wider than in the PVO Act and, in particular, includes "any institution, the objects of which include or are (...) the promotion and protection of human rights and good governance" (Article 2[1]). Previously, human rights associations were operating under the same legal status as "trusts" which carried easier registration and financial conditions.

To comply with this new Act, all NGOs have to register with the NGO Council placed under the authority of the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare or will be liable to fines and imprisonment.

This Council, the establishment of which is provided for by Article 3, is composed of five civil society representatives and nine members of the government. It is not only responsible for registering the NGOs but also for investigating their administration, management and activities.

To be able to register, each organisation, inter alia, has to provide "the names, nationalities and addresses of its promoters, its sources of funding, and its plan of action or projected activities for the next three years..." thus enabling the authorities to control the NGO's activities; no details are given concerning the grounds for refusing the application for registration. Furthermore, Article 9[4]: states that "no foreign nongovernmental organisation shall be registered if its sole or principal objects involve or include issues of governance", "issues of governance" including, according to Article 2, "the promotion and protection of human rights".

The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare also has substantial discretionary powers and, in particular, is entitled to dismiss the members (whether elected or not) from an association, call for the election of a new board of directors and cancel the certificate of registration.

Lastly, the 2004 NGO Act imposes various financial restrictions on local associations which, by virtue of Article 17 are not authorised to receive "any foreign funding or donation to carry out activities involving or including issues of governance".

At end 2004, the NGO Act had not come into force since Mr. Robert Mugabe, President of the Republic, had not yet signed the bill into law.

The AIPPA Amendment Act and the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act

The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) adopted in 2002 was amended by the Zimbabwean Parliament in November 2004. The amendment provides for sanctions of up to two years imprisonment for journalists who are not accredited by the Media and Information Commission (MIC). According to this law, "any journalist, not accredited, who continues to practice whether by himself or herself or in partnership or association with any other person" may be liable to imprisonment. President Mugabe signed this bill into law on 7 January 2005.

On 9 December 2004, the Parliament also adopted the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act which provides for prison sentences of up to 20 years for any journalist communicating or publishing "false statements perceived to be prejudicial to (the security of) the State". By the beginning of January 2005, President Mugabe had not yet signed the bill into law.

Continued pressure against NCA members109

On 4 February 2004, hundreds of members of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a grouping of independent NGOs dedicated to the promotion of democracy and the rule of law in Zimbabwe, were violently dispersed by the police while demonstrating in front of the Parliament in Harare to call for a reform of the Constitution. Over 150 people were wounded and 116 demonstrators were arrested and taken to the police station where they were accused of disturbing peace and public order, according to Article 7 of the Miscellaneous Offences Act (MOA), and organising an illegal event. They were all released that same day, after having paid 10.000Z$ bail each.

During these events, Mr. Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of NCA, was arrested and forced into a police vehicle that took him away. Six other people were also arrested, but they were released a short while thereafter. One of the policemen hit Mr. Madhuku violently and another one said: "since you are not afraid of prison, that's the gun you deserve". Mr. Madhuku was left for dead about 15 km from Harare on the road to Bulawayo. Later on, he was taken to a clinic for medical care.

On 25 February 2004, while on his way to a seminar organised by the Center for Peace Initiatives in Mutare, Mr. Madhuku was arrested at a police barrage 5 km from Mutare. One of the policemen said he had been instructed to "put him in detention because he is known for his involvement in various demonstrations". Mr. Madhuku was released on the same day thanks to the intervention of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights association (ZLHR).

On 15 May, the NCA and the Civil Alliance for Social and Economic Progress (CASEP) organised a work session in Gweru. The police violently interrupted the meeting and arrested 80 people, including Messrs. Madhuku and Lyson Mlambo, national coordinator of CASEP. All detainees were released a few hours later, except Messrs. Madhuku and Mlambo, who were accused of having organised a public meeting without prior authorisation, as required by Articles 24(1) and 6 of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). They were released on the next day without charges.

On 1 September 2004, Mr. Madhuku participated in an NCA-sponsored event to support constitutional reforms. On 9 September 2004, he was arrested at his home and taken to the Harare central police station but was not told the reasons why. After several hours of detention, he was accused of participating in a illegal gathering according to Article 26(5) of the POSA. He was released on the next day without charges.

In October 2004, an NCA member was attacked by security forces and left for dead just after he met with Mr. Madhuku. This person was again threatened on several occasions while being in hospital.

Continued pressure against members of ZimRights110

On 27 April 2004, Mrs. Mabel Sikhosana, representative of ZimRights in Masvingo, was arrested by agents of the Masvingo police station and accused of organising a meeting without prior notice to the authorities. She was released the same day without charges.

Mrs. Sikhosana was apparently arrested in connection with the peaceful march that had been organised on 28 April 2004 in Harare in support of democracy and reforming the Zimbabwean Constitution. Before and after the event, the police arrested many people who were suspected of participating.

On 28 April 2004, Mrs. Sheba Dube Phiri, vice president of ZimRights and a member of Amnesty International and the NCA, was arbitrarily arrested by policemen in plain clothes, and detained at the Bulawayo police station. The police searched her apartment without a warrant, and confiscated reports, files and documents concerning the activities of ZimRights, Amnesty International and the NCA.

Mrs. Dube Phiri was arrested along with Mr. Félix Mafa, a member of the Post Independence Survivors Trust (PIST), an NGO that provides assistance to the victims of the Gukurahundi massacres in the 1980s, Mr. Goden Moyo, a NCA member, Mr. Reggie Moyo, a member of Agenda Bulawayo, a group of activists advocating for democracy in Zimbabwe, and two other people. All five men were taken in for questioning and released two hours later without charges, although the police informed them that they might be called in again some time in the future.

Arbitrary detention and torture of Mr. Tinashe Lukas Chimedza111

On 22 April 2004, Mr. Tinashe Lukas Chimedza, a student and defender of social and youth rights, was arrested at Mount Pleasant Hall in Harare while giving a speech on the right to education during a peaceful gathering.

He was taken to the Marlborough police station and brutally beaten up by policemen who kicked and hit him with their fists and sticks. He was hospitalised in an extremely critical condition after lawyers Mr. Otto Saki, a ZLHR member, Mr. Jacob Mafume, a member of the Forum for Human Rights and Mr. Tonderai Bhatasara, insisted that he be given medical care.

Mr. Chimedza apparently left the country shortly thereafter.

Continued pressure against the members of WOZA112

On 14 June 2004, 43 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested at a meeting in a community hall in Bulawayo. All 43 women (some with young children) were taken to the central police station in Bulawayo where they were interrogated about WOZA activities. The police apparently threatened them and slapped some of them. That same day, 39 of them were released. The other four were accused of having organised a meeting without prior authorisation from the police and were detained until the next day when they were released without charges. On 19 June 2004 WOZA-Bulawayo organised a demonstration to protest against the economic deterioration of Zimbabwe and to celebrate the international refugee day. The police encircled the group and arrested 73 women who were taken to the central police station. They were released the same day after paying a fine of 25,000 Z$ each. While the women were still in detention at the police station, some WOZA representatives, who had avoided the police round-up, assembled another group of women and marched to the police station. Eleven of them, including Mrs. Jennifer Williams, Magodonga Mahlangu, Memory Mushore, Anna Moyo, Erika Sithole, Edith Mbofana, Anna Dube, Emma Sibanda and Selina Ncube, were arrested and taken to the Donnington police station. The 11 women were accused of disturbing public order (Article 7 of MOA); they were questioned by the court, and remanded in provisional custody. They were released on 6 July 2004.

Last, on 5 October 2004, close to 50 women, mostly WOZA members, were arrested and taken to the central police station in Harare for demonstrating in front of the Parliament in Harare in order to present a petition against the adoption of the NGO bill. They were only allowed access to their lawyers the next day.

The women were detained until 11 October 2004 when all the charges against them were dropped.

Further, Messrs. Tsvangirai Mukwazhi, Desmond Kwande and Howard Burditt, three journalists who were accredited and registered by the MIC, were arrested while filming the demonstration. They were held until the next day, released without charges and were not informed of the grounds of arrest.

Continued pressure against members of ZCTU113

On 23 January 2004, Mr. Lovemore Matombo, chairman of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), was dismissed from his job at the Zimbabwe post (Zimpost) for participating in the Congress of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) in Khartoum from 5 to 12 December 2003.

Although Mr. Matombo had complied with all requirements to obtain a special leave, which his employers granted, the latter accused him of being absent of his post without prior official authorisation.

On 5 August 2004, Messrs. Wellington Chibebe, Timothy Kondo and Sam Machinda, respectively secretary general, advocacy coordinator, and vice chairman of the ZCTU central region branch, and Mrs. Lucia Matibenga, vice chairperson, were arrested in Gweru at a workshop on the repercussions of the tax increase on labourers, HIV/AIDS, and the conclusions of the annual meeting of the international labour conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

They were at first accused of organising the workshop without prior permission from the police. The four ZCTU leaders were remanded for "disturbing public order", "uttering words (that could) provoke a breach of the peace", (Article 19-1b of the POSA).

Messrs. Chibebe, Kondo and Machinda and Mrs. Matibenga were released on bail (amounting 200,000 Z$ each – 28 euros) on 6 August 2004 and summoned to appear before the court on 8 September 2004. On that date, the hearing was postponed until 3 November 2004, when the charges brought against Messrs. Kondo and Machinda and Mrs. Matibenga were dropped. However, proceedings against Mr. Chibebe were still pending, the next hearing being scheduled for 1 March 2005.


[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.]

108. See Annual Report 2003 and Open Letter to the Zimbabwean authorities, 13 August 2004.

109. See Annual Report 2003 and Press Release, 18 February 2004.

110. See Urgent Appeal ZWE 002/0504/OBS 032.

111. See Urgent Appeal ZWE 001/0404/OBS 028.

112. See Annual Report 2003.

113. Idem.

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