zimbabwe: amnesty wants action on rights abuses

* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *

21 October 2002
AFR 46/047/2002

To mark African Day on Human and Peoples' Rights on 21 October,
Amnesty International's Secretary General, Irene Khan, has written to
South African President Thabo Mbeki expressing the organization's
concern regarding the deteriorating human rights situation in
Zimbabwe. Over 13,500 people from 126 countries signed an Amnesty
International petition in support of the call for action from
President Mbeki.

Open letter from the Secretary General of Amnesty International to
the President of South Africa on the occasion of African Day on Human
and Peoples' Rights

21 October 2002

Dear Mr. President,

On the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the coming into force of
the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, I would like to
express my deep concern about the deteriorating human rights
situation in Zimbabwe. Amnesty International warmly welcomes South
Africa's influential role in helping to mediate the crisis thus far,
noting in particular South Africa's participation in the Commonwealth
troika and your role as current Chair of the African Union. However,
Amnesty International believes that African leaders, including your
government, need to intensify efforts to publicly signal to the
Zimbabwean government that human rights violations including those
perpetrated by "militia" linked to the state, are unacceptable and to
remind them that these acts are in clear violation of the human
rights principles enshrined in the African Charter.

Most recently through the African Union and the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD), African leaders reaffirmed their
commitment to take effective and concrete measures to promote
principles of human rights. The NEPAD Declaration on Democracy,
Political, Economic and Corporate Governance, which South Africa
played a key role in drafting, promoted the principle of peer review
and formally recognized the need for regional accountability. The
disparity between the principles enshrined in the African Charter and
the NEPAD Declaration, and the reality of human rights violations in
Zimbabwe creates an urgent need for effective peer review in
practice. The test is whether the good intentions of NEPAD and the
African Union can be realized as a new dawn for human rights
protection in Africa, particularly in countries like Zimbabwe, where
human rights are constantly under attack.

Amnesty International has been monitoring closely the human rights
situation in Zimbabwe. In June 2002, Amnesty International published
a report entitled Zimbabwe: The toll of impunity (AI Index: AFR
46/034/2002), a copy of which was sent to you and other members of
the South African Government. The report surveyed the range of human
rights concerns which Amnesty International has documented in
Zimbabwe, particularly over the past two years. As the report
indicates, there is a serious level of human rights violations
occurring in Zimbabwe including extrajudicial executions, torture,
and denial of the rights to freedom of expression, association and
assembly.

According to the latest figures released by the Zimbabwe Human Rights
NGO Forum, approximately 58 politically-motivated killings and over
1,050 cases of torture have been reported in 2002 alone. Furthermore,
the conduct of the country-wide local council elections recently held
in late September 2002 indicates that the pattern observed in other
elections of state-sponsored threats, intimidation and attacks on
opposition supporters in the run-up to and during elections
continues. According to the MDC, approximately half of the MDC
candidates who intended to contest the elections were allegedly
unable to, largely in response to threats, intimidation and violence
perpetrated by government authorities and state-sponsored 'militia'.
These events confirm that conditions for elections free from violence
and intimidation do not exist in Zimbabwe, and that grave human
rights violations continue to occur:

Political manipulation of the police

The investigation and prosecution of suspected state-sponsored
perpetrators of human rights violations continue to be blocked by the
political misuse of the police. The Zimbabwean government has
undermined the effectiveness of the police, and distorted their
professional role as impartial protectors of the community. This is
evident in incidents which show their collusion with "militias" or at
the very least their acquiescence in the face of "militia" assaults;
the failure to bring to justice those responsible for this violence;
and the failure to bring to justice police officers who are colluding
with or acquiescing in violations by the "militias".

Not only have the police consistently failed to take adequate steps
to prevent incidents of violence and arrest those responsible, they
have also been directly involved as perpetrators by carrying out
arbitrary arrests, beatings and torture during the past two years.
A climate of impunity persists as police, apparently under political
instructions, fail to arrest and investigate those who commit human
rights violations. The terrible consequences for victims of this
situation is compounded by the impunity enjoyed by police who commit
human rights violations without fear of being held accountable.

Erosion of the independence of the judiciary and circumvention of
its effectiveness

The judiciary has a crucial role to play in enforcing the law and
ending impunity for suspected perpetrators of human rights violations
in Zimbabwe. However, Government attempts to harass and intimidate
magistrates, and force out judges perceived to be critical of state
policy, undermine the role of the judiciary, erode confidence in its
decisions and damage it as an institution.

Several attacks on local magistrates have taken place in response to
judgements they have made. For example, Godfrey Gwaka, the magistrate
for Zaka district, Masvingo province, was stabbed on 26 August 2002
at Zaka service centre. It is suspected that the attack is related to
judgements made by Godfrey Gwaka which were allegedly perceived to be
in support of opposition supporters.

The government also continues its campaign of harassing senior judges
as witnessed most recently by the arrest on 13 September 2002 of
retired High Court Judge Fergus Blackie on charges relating to
alleged irregularities in his handling of an appeal case prior to
retirement. Judge Blackie was released on bail, however the charges
have not been dropped. Amnesty International fears that the real
motivation for his arrest stems from his ruling on 17 July 2002 that
Patrick Chinamasa, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs, was guilty of two counts of contempt of court. Judge Blackie
is the sixth judge to leave the bench since 2001. His departure
highlights the government's ongoing efforts to intimidate the
judiciary. Judges who have shown any sign of judicial independence
have been threatened with investigation and disciplinary action for
supposed misconduct.

Evasion of justice through the granting of presidential amnesties,
clemencies and indemnities

The continued issuing of presidential pardons benefiting perpetrators
of human rights violations represents a lost chance for justice and
for breaking the cycle of impunity that has plagued Zimbabwe for
decades. By formalizing impunity for gross human rights abuses,
presidential clemency orders have encouraged state agents to continue
to commit or condone human rights violations in the knowledge that
they will not be held responsible for such crimes by the government.

The most recent clemency order was granted in 2000 following the
parliamentary elections. However the pattern stretches back to before
independence, creating a longstanding climate of impunity for
perpetrators. These orders are a breach of international human rights
law. They allow perpetrators to escape justice, deprive victims of
access to any remedies and leave the society as a whole vulnerable to
a cycle of violence.

Obscuring the identification of the state's agents in perpetrating
human rights violations

In an attempt to escape accountability for human rights violations,
the Zimbabwean government uses its "militias" to abduct and torture
individuals who are known or suspected supporters of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, including people who
acted as polling agents or stood as MDC candidates in recent
elections. The evidence in cases documented by Amnesty International
as well as local human rights organizations shows a clear link
between the "militia", the government and the ruling party.

The "militia" groups constitute a powerful weapon for suppressing any
form of political opposition. They are allowed to operate without
interference. They appear to enjoy logistical support from government
and party agents. Documented acts of torture and assault, as well as
rape and other forms of sexual violence, committed by "militias" as
groups or individuals, have clearly occurred in a context of
state-sanctioned violence. In allowing these abuses to occur, the
Zimbabwean government is flouting Zimbabwe's Constitution and evading
its obligations under international human rights law.

Attacks on human rights defenders and the independent media

The increasing clampdown on Zimbabwe's independent media and human
rights NGOs is indicative of the government's efforts to silence the
media and prevent the investigation and publication of human rights
violations. Since the enactment of the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act on 15 March 2002, at least 16 journalists
have been arrested for allegedly contravening various sections of the
Act. On 29 August 2002, the Harare office of Voice of the People, one
of Zimbabwe's two independent broadcasting organizations, was bombed
by unknown assailants.

On 29 August 2002, Dr. Frances Lovemore, Medical Director of Amani
Trust, a leading human rights and service organization in Zimbabwe,
was arrested in Harare and charged with "publishing or communicating
false statements prejudicial to the state". The charge stemmed from
press reports which referred to Amani Trust's work with victims of
torture and politically motivated rape in Zimbabwe. The offices of
Amani Trust were raided and searched by police. Police also initially
obstructed access to Dr. Lovemore by her family and lawyer. Dr.
Lovemore was released the next day and all charges against her
dropped due to insufficient evidence.

On 13 September 2002, the government issued a public notice advising
NGOs to register with the government as per Section 6 of the Private
Voluntary Organizations (PVO) Act. The notice warns that those NGOs
which continue to operate without being registered risk prosecution.
Although the PVO Act was enacted in 1997, it has not been fully
enforced. Given increasing state repression of freedom of expression
and assembly in Zimbabwe, Amnesty International is concerned that
this recent notice signals intensified efforts on the part of the
government to silence organizations perceived to be critical of the
state.

Based on this, Amnesty International therefore urges African leaders
including from South Africa to take a more public stand in condemning
state sponsored repression and violence in Zimbabwe. I believe that a
stronger stand by South Africa, along with other leaders from the
African Union and the Southern African Development Community is vital
to ending impunity in Zimbabwe and to protecting the human rights of
all Zimbabwean citizens. I therefore once again call on your
government to use its highly influential voice to encourage the
Zimbabwean authorities to bring an end to human rights violations
perpetrated by the government.

Yours sincerely,

Irene Khan
Secretary General

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