VII. Harassment and Attacks on Civil SocietySince the March 29 elections, the ruling ZANU-PF government has sought to undermine the ability of various civil society actors who could possibly play a role in drawing attention to lack of freedom and unfairness in the runoff election for president. This includes threats, arbitrary arrests and physical assaults apparently intended to intimidate those who will observe and oversee the elections, such as government election officers, local election observers, civil society activists, lawyers and journalists. Such methods have been used in the past by the government of Zimbabwe against perceived political opponents. Attacks on Election ObserversSince March 29, police have arrested more than 100 presiding officers from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on allegations of fraud.101 Human Rights Watch believes that these charges are politically motivated and an attempt to instill fear into those observers who will oversee the presidential runoff. Most of those who worked as presiding officers were teachers who in the past have been routinely targeted and victimized as MDC supporters because of their positions. One presiding officer, a teacher from Chiweshe in Mashonaland Central told Human Rights Watch:
On May 7, 2008, the Herald newspaper reported that five presiding officers (all teachers) who took part in the March 29 general elections in Chiredzi in Masvingo province were found guilty of fraud and were told to pay fines or face jail terms of between three and 16 months.103 On April 25, eight Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police officers raided the offices of the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (ZESN), the only nationwide independent election monitoring organization, which had compiled its own data on the disputed March 29 elections. Police officers searched the premises and confiscated files and other sensitive information. They interrogated ZESN’s program manager, Tsungai Kokerai, for seven hours.104 On May 14, ZESN released a statement expressing concern about attacks on its election observers in Mt. Darwin, Mashonaland West by suspected ZANU-PF supporters who accused them of facilitating an MDC victory on March 29. At least 18 election observers from this area were forced to flee to Harare with their families, where they were in need of assistance. ZESN also reported that one of its observers died after being beaten by suspected ZANU-PF supporters in Mt Darwin East.105 On May 23, 2008, ZESN reported that two days earlier ZANU-PF youth severely beat and tortured three of its observers in Mt Darwin East, Mashonaland West.106 The two men and an elderly woman suffered fractured arms, fractured fingers, deep cuts and bruises from severe beatings. Arrests of Journalists, Lawyers and Civil Society ActivistsArbitrary arrests and intimidation of civil society activists, human rights defenders and journalists have intensified since the March 29 elections. On April 15 police arrested independent journalist Frank Chikowore for practicing journalism without accreditation under the Access to Information and Protection Act.107 Police changed the charges to “public violence” when they discovered that Chikowore was accredited, claiming that he was part of a group of MDC activists that burned a bus that day. After spending 17 days in custody Chikowore was granted bail on May 2.108 On May 8, police arrested human rights lawyer Harrison Nkomo who was part of the team defending Chikowore. Nkomo was held for two days on charges of insulting the authority of the president.109 Also on May 8, police arrested Lovemore Matombo, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, and Secretary General Wellington Chibebe a week after they gave speeches about the political crisis in the country on May Day. They were charged with “inciting people to rise against the government and reporting falsehoods of people being killed.” The two were held in custody at Harare remand prison for 11 days before being released on bail on May 19.110 On May 16, the police arrested Secretary General of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) Raymond Majongwe at the Harare High Court. The PTUZ had released repeated statements expressing concern at ZANU-PF attacks on teachers throughout the country in the aftermath of the elections.111 101 “Press statement on ongoing arrests of presiding officers,” Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, April 30, 2008. On file with Human Rights Watch. 102 Human Rights Watch interview with presiding officer, Harare, May 16, 2008. 103 “Five Teachers Fined,” The Herald newspaper, May 7, 2008. 104 “Zimbabwe surge in state-sponsored violence: security forces raid opposition headquarters,” Human Rights Watch news release, April 25, 2008, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/25/zimbab18653.htm. 105 “ZESN observers flee homes as violence escalates – Mt Darwin East,” ZESN statement, May 14, 2008. 106 “ZESN continues to receive distressing reports on observer attacks,” ZESN statement, May 23, 2008. 107 “Accredited Journalist Still in Police Custody,” Media Institute of South Africa Alert Update, April 16, 2008. 108 Human Rights Watch interview with Tafadzwa Mugabe, human rights lawyer, Harare, April 23, 2008; Human Rights Watch interview with Harrison Nkomo, lawyer, April 25, 2008. 109 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Beatrice Mtetwa, lawyer, Harare May 8, 2008 and Human Rights Watch interview with Harrison Nkomo, lawyer, Harare, May 11, 2008. 110 “Urgent Appeal,” The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, May 14, 2008, http://www.protectionline.org/Zimbabwe-Arbitrary-detention-of,6842.html, (accessed May 28, 2008). 111 “Urgent Appeal,” The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, May 16, 2008, http://www.protectionline.org/Zimbabwe-Arbitrary-arrest-of-Mr,6880.html, (accessed May 28, 2008). |