HARARE - The International Labour Office (ILO) has intervened to ensure the safety of trade unionist Gertrude Hambira who last week evaded an abduction attempt by suspected state intelligence agents.The United Nations labour body has written to the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ) assuring them that they have intervened with the President and the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
Hambira -who is General Secretary of GAPWUZ- went into hiding for a week after three masked men ransacked her home in what was seen as an attempt to silence the militant unionist from exposing the gross human rights violations in the farms.
However in spite of these attempts, Hambira went on to launch a daming report on depicting the disastrous effects of the land reform programme since 2000. The 57 page report if something is wrong was launched together with a 26 minute documentary focusing on the current human rights violations by senior government officials who are seizing land from white commercial farmers.
Deputy Director of the International, Labour Standards Department,Responsible for freedom of association said in the letter, ILO said it had requested the President and Prime Ministers offices to take the necessary measures to ensure the physical safety and the abstention of any acts that would harm the psychological well-being of Ms. Hambira and her family.
Hambira is currently out of hiding and in an interview she said there has not been any fresh incident so far. The government of Zimbabwe is on record for descending brutally on human rights activists through abductions, arbitrary arrests and torture.
Last year, prominent human rights activist and director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) Jestina Mukoko was abducted and later charged with terrorism and banditry but was acquitted this year after a protracted court battle. The offices of the President and the Prime Minister could not be reached to comment on the letters.
Post published in: Politics