Power of love overcomes

• Lobby and advocate on issues affecting women and their families. WOZA is also supported by Amnesty International

• On November 23, 2009, prominent WOZA member Magodonga Mahlangu and founder Jenni Williams received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. The award was presented by US president Barack Obama with the words: “By her example, Magodonga has shown the women of WOZA and the people of Zimbabwe that they can undermine their oppressors’ power with their own power – that they can sap a dictator’s strength with their own. Her courage has inspired others to summon theirs.”

• Amnesty International has expressed concern for the safety of group members and named WOZA a 2011 “priority case.” They continue to do so, at great risk to themselves.

I am deeply concerned that members continue to be subjected to arbitrary arrest, intimidation, harassment and ill-treatment because of their peaceful protests about the social, economic and human rights situation in Zimbabwe. Over ten years WOZA has conducted hundreds of peaceful demonstrations, but this has not been without its costs. It has been documented on numerous occasions through the media when WOZA members have been harassed, arrested and severely beaten while taking part in these demonstrations. Members often find themselves in filthy, flee infested prison cells and those who are pregnant or with a baby have not been spared.

Jenni Williams herself has been arrested 47 times, as she peacefully stands up for what she believes in. And yet despite these abuses, WOZA members continue to take to the streets in a show of unbelievable resilience and bravery. She has repeatedly echoed her fears for the year ahead, and that many human rights groups in Zimbabwe, including WOZA, might be targeted in the run up to this year’s election.

Zimbabwe is due to go to the polls in 2013. The last election in 2008 was marred by extreme violence with over 200 killed and thousands more injured and displaced. Many of those targeted were human rights defenders and civil society activists. Let us all campaign this year to avoid a repeat of those horrific scenes of 2008. Right now is a critical time to put pressure in Zimbabwe and its neighbours to ensure the bloodshed is not repeated.

We can show our support for WOZA and other human rights groups across the country by asking Zimbabwe’s neighbours to intervene to make sure that this time, Zimbabwe’s election is free from violence and fear. Please, think about it as you read this message and take action today.

As WOZA is celebrating its tenth anniversary – this time let us all support One Billion Rising, calling for an end to violence against these defenceless women.

Let us be reminded by taking an observation in the ruling by the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe on 26 November 2010 that it was in violation of their rights and fundamental freedoms, WOZA members were wrongfully arrested and detained over a peaceful demonstration in 2008 and that the state had failed to protect the activists from this abuse.

I urge all Zimbabwean authorities to respect the constitutionally and internationally agreed rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly without fear of harassment. In particular, I urge them to ensure the 2013 general election is free from violence against peaceful activists.

Please ensure that the authorities in Zimbabwe conduct thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all reports of human rights violations against peaceful activists and human rights defenders. Perpetrators of such violations should be brought to justice and their victims should receive reparation.

I look forward to a better Zimbabwe for all as long as we remember that the power of love overwhelms the love of power. – Pythias Makonese, Johannesburg