Zimbabwe: OSISA statement on Zimbabwe Rights Abuses

ZIMBABWE: Call for the Protection of Rights

Johannesburg, South Africa – Monday 12 March, 2007

It has come to our attention that on Sunday 11 March 2007, Mr. Gift Tandare, a Zimbabwean citizen was shot and killed by police in Highfields, a suburb in the capital city of Harare.

He was on his way to a prayer meeting. Zimbabweans from different walks of life had agreed to spend their Sunday, the traditional day of Christian worship, in collective fellowship as comfort to each other. Their aim: to build some hope for their country, caught in a tangle of extreme political tension, economic hardship and spiritual distress.

The prayer meeting was organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, an alliance of individual Zimbabweans organized through their affiliations with their churches, their labour unions, students’ bodies, the media, youth groups, women's organizations and a variety of political parties.

Eyewitness accounts say riot police officers at the scene, advanced on the crowd and fired multiple shots at the unarmed civilians. One of the bullets hit Mr.

Gift Tandare, aged 30, in the chest. He died on the side of the road where others had dragged him before they fled the approaching police. The officer who fired the fatal shot has not come forward.

We extend our deepest condolences to Mr. Gift Tandare’s wife and three children, two daughters and a son, at this time of their loss. May you be comforted by the knowledge of our prayers and support for you at this tragic time.

Mr. Tandare was Youth Chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) for Glenview suburb in Harare. The NCA is a lawfully registered group that advocates for Zimbabwe to adopt a homegrown, people driven constitution. We take this painful moment of Tandare’s death to bring to the world’s attention our concern over the arrests of other civic and political leaders, among them Dr Lovemore Madhuku, Lecturer at Law and Chairperson of the NCA. He was beaten in police custody and rushed to Parirenyatwa hospital. He was treated for a broken arm and has had five stitches but remains in the cells at Marlborough Police Station.

We are additionally concerned at the arrests of the leadership of political parties, particularly those in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), among them MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai, who was beaten to the point of collapsing and was taken to Parirenyatwa hospital in the early hours of this morning. He has since been taken to Borrowdale police station and is unable to speak due to extensive injuries.

Other MDC members assaulted and in custody include:

Ms Grace Kwinjeh, beaten and held in custody at Braeside Police Station.

Professor Arthur Mutambara, and 4 others, held at Avondale Police Station. Their condition could not be ascertained as visitors were denied access to the detainees.

Mr. Tendai Biti, Honourable Member of Parliament for Harare East constituency, is in custody at Rhodesville Police Station.

The Honourable Nelson Chamisa, Member of Parliament for Kuwadzana is in custody at Highlands Police Station.

Mrs Sekai Holland and Mr Elton Mangoma, also of the MDC are in custody at unknown locations.

This horrific treatment of members of a legitimately registered political entity goes against the letter and the spirit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Guidelines and Principles on Free and Fair Elections and the regulations governing detainees as outlined in the African Charter for Human and People’s Rights. We raise further concern that Mr. Harrison Nkomo, legal representative for the arrested parties was not only denied access to his clients but also was himself assaulted for seeking to protect the rights of his clients.

We are additionally concerned by the reluctance of the Courts to treat this matter with the urgency it deserves by delaying its response to the urgent application placed before the Judge President on Sunday night.

A total of 49 Zimbabweans are currently confirmed to be detained at as many as fifteen different police stations across the capital city. Further arrests have been reported in Mutare, where 125 activists of the opposition were picked up, and in Masvingo. The detainees have been denied access to legal representation and medical attention.

This is the latest assault on the human rights of citizens in Zimbabwe.

Recalling that Zimbabwe is signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other instruments that promote and protect the rights and dignities of its citizens we urge immediate:

1. investigation of the death of Gift Tandare on March
11 following the police shooting in Highfield
2. release from further detention of all those citizens who are being held for having exercised their democratic right to peaceful protest through the prayer meeting
3. provision of quality medical attention to all those who have been tortured in police custody
4. access by lawyers to all those in custody.

Zimbabwe's citizens should be enabled to enjoy their freedoms of peaceful protest and assembly without fear of death from a police force whose mandate is to protect them. We call upon the relevant government authorities to repeal the ban issued in February on public meetings and protest expression.

ISSUED BY: The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, OSISA.

OSISA is a leading southern African human rights and advocacy foundation. Established in 1997 , OSISA is headquarted in Johanesburg and works in ten countries of the sub-region: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

OSISA’s vision is to promote and sustain the ideals, values, institutions and practice of open society.

OSISA’s vision is that of a vibrant Southern African society in which people, free from material and other deprivation, understand their rights and responsibilities and participate democratically in all spheres of life.

OSISA Angola Office Telephone: + 244 2 22 325 989/ 22 326 916 Fax: + 244 2 22 325 015 Luanda Angola OSISA Johannesburg office Telephone: +27 11 403-3414/ 5/ 6 Fax: +27 11 403-2708 PO Box 678 Wits 2050 Johannesburg Attention Isabella Matambanadzo Mobile Tel: + 27 82 610 6704 email: [email protected], [email protected]

Dear Colleagues, Friends and Partners
As indicated earlier please find hereunder the statement that we would like your support on. The statement will be run in a least one major newspaper in every country in the SADC region and at least 2 South African papers. What is required is that you mail your support to me, either as an individual or as an organization. The cut-off time will be tomorrow, 14 March 2007 at 16h00. We are trying to get as many signatures onto the petition as possible so please also forward to as many people as possible.

We look forward to your support in the fight for democracy and respect for human rights.

The OSISA Team

Zimbabweans fight while SADC Watches in Silence: A Call to Action
We represent the many people within SADC who believe in lasting and democratic solutions to the crisis in Zimbabwe. We issue this open letter to all citizens of this region, and in particular to our heads of state and government, members of parliament in the respective countries and senior leaders within the SADC and African Union Secretariats to take urgent action to end the crisis in Zimbabwe.

We learned with shock and dismay of the Zimbabwe state¹s attack on its citizens on Sunday 11 March 2007 which resulted in the death of Gift Tandare. We are horrified to learn of the arrest and detention of dozens of civil society, church and opposition parties leaders at a peaceful prayer meeting that took place the same day. Their subsequent detention without access to legal counsel and appropriate medical attention is cause for great concern.

We are outraged that not a single state within SADC and the AU has issued a statement decrying the situation and calling for the restoration of, and respect for, human rights in Zimbabwe.

For almost a decade the people of Zimbabwe have suffered under the unjust regime of Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party. Freedom of expression and assembly have been severely curtailed, virtually all independent media outlets have been shut down, and thousands of people have been dispossessed by an increasingly desperate party and its ruler.

For many years Zimbabwean activists have mounted protest actions and demonstrations, and have made it clear to the world that they aspire to live under a democratic dispensation. Using non-violent means, the people of Zimbabwe have used all legitimate structures at their disposal: the courts, their parliament and the media, with little or no effect.

Today, in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, we, the people of this region, must say that enough is enough. Our governments cannot continue to ignore this situation. Millions of Zimbabweans are displaced and are no longer able to live in their once prosperous nation. Millions more within Zimbabwe are hungry, sick and unable to access basic services.

If action is not taken now at the highest levels, there will be blood on the hands of all those states whose silence has aided and abetted Mugabe¹s regime. The time for a softly-softly approach ­ if there ever was one ­ is over. Those who defend Mugabe imply that his opponents seek to overthrow the Mugabe regime. This is simply untrue. We firmly believe that the future of Zimbabwe lies in the hands of Zimbabweans themselves. The future of Zimbabwe lies in national constitutional talks, in free and fair elections and in a return to the respect of human rights principles. The role of the regional and continental community is to facilitate this process.

We therefore demand regional and continental intervention to ensure:

1. Freedom of assembly, expression, opinion and association are respected;
2. The media is allowed to operate freely;
3. That the looming humanitarian crisis that prevents Zimbabweans from accessing basic social services including food security, health care, water and sanitation, be averted.

We urgently call upon all heads of state and government in SADC to ensure the following:

1. An independent investigation into the death of Gift Tandare on 11 March 2007 following the police shooting in Highfield;
2. The release from detention of all political detainees currently in custody as a result of exercising their democratic rights to peaceful protest on 11 March 2007;
3. Provision of quality medical attention to all those in custody;
4. Access to legal counsel by all those in custody;
5. Speedy resolution of this situation by the courts and compliance with court orders by the police.

Furthermore, we insist that African governments to use bilateral and multilateral means such as the SADC, African Union and the United Nations to urgently appoint and dispatch a high-level team of eminent persons to:

1. Assess the situation on the ground in order to prevent more shootings and harm to the general public, and
2. Develop a sustainable and inclusive diplomatic solution to the crisis which includes the hosting of inclusive talks.

NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT, THE FUTURE OF ZIMBABWE IS AT STAKE.

THE PEOPLE OF SADC
1. The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA)

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