On Tuesday police officers from Harare Central Police Station raided the offices of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, before going on to search the home of the groups Director, MacDonald Lewanika. The police were armed with a search warrant signed by Chief Superintendent Peter Magwenzu. They said they were looking for anything subversive, such as t-shirts, documents, fliers, or anything incriminating.
The officers confiscated copies of the Crisis Coalitions Civil Society Monitoring Mechanism reports, as well as copies of the Legal Monitor, published by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
The raid comes a few days after Lewanika was arrested and detained for several hours, on his way to a concert in Chitungwiza on Saturday. He was eventually released but was told on Monday that he was being charged with behaving in a way that can disrupt peace.
Meanwhile, police have once again summoned Abel Chikomo, the director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, to report to Harare Central Police Station. Chikomo on Monday reported to the police in the company of his lawyer Harrison Nkomo and was set to return on Wednesday. Over the last few months, Chikomo has been repeatedly interrogated and told to report to the police, in connection with some of the activities carried out by the Forum. This includes the recently launched Campaign against Torture, the Transitional Justice National Survey and several press statements issued this year about the resurgence of politically motivated violence.
International human rights defenders group, The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, on Wednesday said it was concerned that these acts form part of an ongoing trend of harassment by the Zimbabwe Republic Police against the Forum and more generally against human rights defenders in the country.
The Observatory is a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Seynabou Benga, a coordinator with OMCT told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that the harassment on Chikomo is very worrying.
We are concerned that these series of summons could eventually lead to Mr. Chikomos arrest. We would want the Zimbabwe authorities to immediately and unconditionally put an end to this harassment which we believe is sanctioning his human rights activities, Benga said.
Benga also raised concern that this is just one example of the harassment that is steadily intensifying against human rights activists in Zimbabwe.
What we see right now is very revealing. With forthcoming elections and a referendum of the Zimbabwean constitution, we see that the authorities are deliberately putting pressure on human rights defenders, Benga said.
The Observatory has echoed calls by Amnesty International for the public to write protest letters to high ranking authorities in Zimbabwe, calling for an end to the harassment and intimidation being suffered by activists. The letters are meant to be addressed to the likes of Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Attorney General Johannes Tomana, and even directly to Robert Mugabe.
Observers have already commented that such letters, although of good intention, will have very little influence against these top instigators of persecution in Zimbabwe.
Post published in: News