Cops thrash MOZA member in custody

Following on from a peaceful march to Parliament yesterday, 1,200 members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe marked International Peace Day with a peaceful protest to Southampton House in Bulawayo this morning.

Southampton House is the provincial headquarters of police in Bulawayo. No arrests have been reported as yet but as several police vehicles are still driving around central Bulawayo, this may change.

Meanwhile the 83 members arrested in Harare yesterday remain in custody. It has also come to light that a MOZA member, Lazarus Mandondo, was severely beaten with baton sticks by police officers during a routine counting exercise last night. It is unclear why he was beaten but there is some concern for his welfare as apparently the beating was severe and witnessed by all detainees.

As in Harare, the aim of the peaceful protest was to highlight community safety issues and police behavior in communities and to hand over a set of demands for members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the Police Commissioner and the co-Ministers of Home Affairs to police officers stationed outside Parliament. The full list of demands can be found on our website.

Four separate groups converged on Southampton House where leaders addressed the peaceful group, calling on police officers to revive their Service Charter and Service Standards. As the demonstrators arrived, a senior-ranking police officer was leaving the building. He was presented with the list of demands, which he accepted and took back into the building.

As plain-clothed officers came downstairs to make arrests, the last group arrived on the scene, swelling the numbers of protestors. Leaders also called upon all those present to arrest themselves if as much as one person was arrested. The officers decided against arresting and merely observed as the group then peacefully dispersed.

As the group processed through the streets, a uniformed police officer was overheard commenting that “these women are telling the truth” as he read the Woza Moya newsletter.

Please continue to phone Harare Central Police Station on +263 4 777777 to demand that the WOZA activists be released immediately and that they be treated with dignity and respect.